# Koyoharu Gotouge (吾峠呼世晴)
**Koyoharu Gotouge** (吾峠呼世晴) is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist who created *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* (鬼滅の刃), serialized in Shueisha's *Weekly Shonen Jump* from 2016 to 2020 and collected in 23 volumes with a cumulative circulation that has surpassed 220 million copies.[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) • [2](https://kimetsu.com/about/) The artist's real name, gender, age, and birthplace have not been officially published; announcements are made through an avatar of an alligator wearing glasses.[3](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/) • [4](https://note.com/quickfans/n/nd1ec6c753004)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pen name | Koyoharu Gotouge (吾峠呼世晴, ごとうげ こよはる); identity not publicly revealed, represented by a bespectacled alligator avatar[3](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/) |
| Newcomer award | Honorable mention (佳作) at the 70th JUMP Treasure Newcomer Manga Award in 2013 for *Kagari-gari* (過狩り狩り)[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) |
| Commercial debut | One-shot *Monju Shiro Kyodai* (文殊史郎兄弟) in *Shonen Jump NEXT!!* 2014 vol. 2[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) |
| Signature work | *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba*, *Weekly Shonen Jump* 2016 issue 11 to 2020, 23 volumes, over 220 million copies in circulation[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) • [2](https://kimetsu.com/about/) |
| Short story collection | *Koyoharu Gotouge Before Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* (吾峠呼世晴短編集), published October 4, 2019, 200 pages, ISBN 978-4-08-882084-2[5](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?jdcn=08882084882084315501) |
| Anime adaptation | TV anime by ufotable premiered April 2019; *Mugen Train* film (October 2020) became the highest-grossing anime movie in the world[6](https://kimetsu.com/anime/about/) • [3](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/) |
## Early career and one-shots
Gotouge entered the 70th JUMP Treasure Newcomer Manga Award, held in 2013, with *Kagari-gari* (過狩り狩り) and received an honorable mention.[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) The commercial debut followed in *Shonen Jump NEXT!!* 2014 vol. 2 with the one-shot *Monju Shiro Kyodai* (文殊史郎兄弟), a story about assassin brothers.[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) • [7](https://www.viz.com/koyoharu-gotouge-before-demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba) Two further one-shots ran in *Weekly Shonen Jump*: *Rokkotsu-san* (肋骨さん) in 2014 issue 39 and *Haeniwa no Zigzag* (蝿庭のジグザグ) in 2015 issue 21.[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) • [5](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?jdcn=08882084882084315501)
These four works were collected in *Koyoharu Gotouge Before Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* (吾峠呼世晴短編集), published by Shueisha on October 4, 2019, in print and digital editions.[5](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?jdcn=08882084882084315501) VIZ Media describes the collection as showing how the creator of the worldwide sensation got started, and notes that one story, a vampire hunt starring Tamayo and Muzan, served as the direct inspiration for *Demon Slayer*.[7](https://www.viz.com/koyoharu-gotouge-before-demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba) Before the serialization began, Gotouge was already drawing attention from core shonen manga readers as an up-and-coming artist.[8](https://book.asahi.com/article/13961334)
## The making of Demon Slayer
**The editor's role.** Tatsuhiko Katayama, Gotouge's first editor, recounted the path to serialization in a Shueisha Manga Plus interview. He was assigned Gotouge after the artist had finished the second Jump one-shot, *Rokkotsu-san*. Gotouge wanted a series, and the two worked on *Haeniwa no Zigzag*, which failed to be serialized and became the third one-shot.[9](https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/web_pages/234/)
Katayama concluded that an easy-to-understand theme would work best and proposed building on the award-winning debut *Kagari-gari*, whose Japanese motifs, swords, and demons needed no explanation to a Japanese audience. A storyboard based on it, called *Kisatsu no Nagare*, was rejected for serialization because of its serious tone, lack of comic relief, and dark story. Katayama then asked Gotouge whether there was a brighter, more ordinary character in that world; this question produced Tanjiro and *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba*.[9](https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/web_pages/234/)
A separate account of the development adds that Gotouge, determined to win a serialization "within 2015 or quit being a manga artist," wrote storyboards for *Haeniwa no Zigzag* and then a series proposal called *Don Tetsu Kazaguruma* (鈍痛風車). Katayama, reflecting that the work had leaned too far in a niche direction, proposed incorporating the "Taisho era," "vampire," and "sword" elements of *Kagari-gari* so that elementary, junior high, and high school readers could understand it.[10](https://www.tv-ranking.com/detail/57828/profile/) Katayama also recalled that the overwhelming talent was recognized by those around Gotouge, and praised the character work, saying of a scene in which Tanjiro holds the hand of a demon he has defeated that he had never seen such a protagonist.[10](https://www.tv-ranking.com/detail/57828/profile/) • [11](https://times.abema.tv/articles/-/10002403)
## Demon Slayer and its success
*Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* began serialization in *Weekly Shonen Jump* in 2016 issue 11, built on the foundation of *Kagari-gari*, and ran until 2020, collected in 23 volumes.[1](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653) • [12](https://opac-t.time.u-tokai.ac.jp/iwjs0018opc/pp.23_50._?key=FKJYMS) The story is set in Taisho-era Japan, where the boy [Tanjiro Kamado](https://www.edgepedia.org/tanjiro-kamado) joins the Demon Slayer Corps to turn his sister Nezuko, transformed into a demon, back into a human.[13](https://www.viz.com/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba) Cumulative circulation of volumes 1 through 23 has exceeded 220 million copies.[2](https://kimetsu.com/about/) • [6](https://kimetsu.com/anime/about/)
The ufotable anime adaptation premiered in April 2019 with the *Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc*, followed by the *Mugen Train* film in October 2020, the TV *Mugen Train Arc* and *Entertainment District Arc* in 2021 and 2022, the *Swordsmith Village Arc* in 2023, and the *[Hashira Training Arc](https://www.edgepedia.org/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-season-4)* in 2024.[6](https://kimetsu.com/anime/about/) According to *Time*, the *Mugen Train* film broke a record previously set by *Spirited Away* and became the highest-grossing anime movie in the world.[3](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/)
## Anonymity and public image
The mangaka has not publicly revealed their identity and uses the pen name Gotouge, appearing as an alligator in glasses when making announcements about the series.[3](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/) A survey of officially published information finds that only the pen name and the list of works are public; gender, age, real name, photographs, and birthplace do not appear in official Shueisha book information or the official *Demon Slayer* portal site.[4](https://note.com/quickfans/n/nd1ec6c753004) Commentators have noted that the artist's distinctive, delicate linework was described by some early readers as an acquired taste, and that the pre-*Demon Slayer* one-shots carried dark fantasy themes of loss, transformation, and obsession that were later sublimated into the serialized work.[14](https://note.com/keroring/n/n0756cda7e5c0) • [15](https://realsound.jp/book/2020/06/post-566279.html)
## References
1. [吾峠呼世晴 人物プロフィール, 集英社オンライン](https://shueisha.online/list/persons/65aa14df8ce1159272000653)
2. [鬼滅の刃とは, 「鬼滅の刃」公式ポータサイト](https://kimetsu.com/about/)
3. [Everything to Know About 'Demon Slayer', TIME](https://time.com/5941594/what-is-demon-slayer-about/)
4. [鬼滅の刃の作者・吾峠呼世晴さんについて、公表されている情報だけを並べる, Quick fans (note)](https://note.com/quickfans/n/nd1ec6c753004)
5. [吾峠呼世晴短編集, 集英社](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?jdcn=08882084882084315501)
6. [アニメ「鬼滅の刃」とは, アニメ公式ポータルサイト](https://kimetsu.com/anime/about/)
7. [Koyoharu Gotouge Before Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, VIZ](https://www.viz.com/koyoharu-gotouge-before-demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba)
8. [いちからわかる「鬼滅の刃」の魅力, 好書好日 (朝日新聞出版)](https://book.asahi.com/article/13961334)
9. [Interviewing editors at MangaPlus vol.5 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Shueisha](https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/web_pages/234/)
10. [吾峠呼世晴のプロフィール, tv-ranking](https://www.tv-ranking.com/detail/57828/profile/)
11. [アニメ「鬼滅の刃」の原作者・吾峠呼世晴先生ってどんな人？, ABEMA TIMES](https://times.abema.tv/articles/-/10002403)
12. [東海大学紀要（『鬼滅の刃』連載期間の記述）](https://opac-t.time.u-tokai.ac.jp/iwjs0018opc/pp.23_50._?key=FKJYMS)
13. [Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, VIZ](https://www.viz.com/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba)
14. [吾峠呼世晴は、何故世界的コンテンツの原作者となり得たのか, 青沼静馬 (note)](https://note.com/keroring/n/n0756cda7e5c0)
15. [『鬼滅の刃』作者が描きたかったのはダークヒーロー？, Real Sound](https://realsound.jp/book/2020/06/post-566279.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Children's, comics, and media-genre writers › Comics and graphic-novel writers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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