Hotaru Haganezuka

Hotaru Haganezuka (鋼鐵塚 蛍, Haganezuka Hotaru) is a supporting character of the dark fantasy manga and anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. He later became one of the tritagonists (alongside Genya Shinazugawa and Kotetsu) of the Swordsmith Village Arc and its third season adaptation. 
He is one of the swordsmiths who makes the Nichirin swords for the Demon Slayer Corps, and is rather infamously known for his shot-temper involving his swords. Because of this, Tanjiro is one of his only few clients for the swords.
He was voiced by in Japanese and in English.
==Appearance==
Hotaru first appears at the start of the story as a man with average height that is always seen wearing his mask and a white fabric with black dots that is wrapped around his head. He wears a kaki kimono with sunflowers and a dark brown haori underneath. He had a Japanese straw hat with several glasses of spheres that has flower designs on it and with papers attached underneath. 
During the Swordsmith Village Arc, when Gyokko broke Hotaru's mask, it is shown that he has an attractive face while he has long black hair and thick black eyebrows. In the Swordsmith Village Arc, he was seen shirtless revealing him to have a very muscular body compared to his appearance at the start of the series. After withstanding attacks from the Upper Moon, he has lost his left eye and several grievous scars around his body.
==Personality==
Hotaru is a very passionate swordsmith to the extent that the only things he seems to care about are his swords and he otherwise shows very little about anything else. Swords are so important to him that in one case, even after being told that Gyokko was right behind him, he continued ignoring the demon to forge one, which continued even after he suffered several deadly attacks, including losing his left eye. He would also quickly get mad at anyone who damaged or broke his swords, as shown by him threatening to kill Tanjiro Kamado simply because his sword turned black when he first forged a sword for him or when he breaks or loses his sword (though this is usually presented in a comical manner, and he could easily be calmed down with various methods, like simply eating mitarashi dango to other people pinning him down and/or tickling his armpits). That being said, due to Tanjiro praising his skills as a swordsmith and the trust he places in him, Hotaru has a lot of respect and appreciation for him, especially due to him otherwise having few clients and friends as a result of his poor social skills, and is willing to make new ones for him to continue on the fight, although he would quickly try to deny that he has respect for the boy. 
==Etymology==
*The name Hotaru means "firefly" (蛍).
*Hotaru's surname Haganezuka means "steel" (鋼鐵) (hagane) and "mound, hill/hillock, heap, knoll, pile, drift, stack, bank, grave" (塚) (tsuka/zuka).
**The kanji "鋼鐵" in his surname is a reference to his occupation as a swordsmith.
==Gallery==
===Anime===
Hotaru meeting Tanjiro.webp|Hotaru upon first meeting Tanjiro Kamado.
===Manga===
Hotaru4.webp|Hotaru upon first meeting Tanjiro Kamado.
Inosuke chips his sword.webp
Hotaru45.webp
Hotaru432.webp
Haganezuka angry at Tanjiro for breaking his katana.webp|"You lost your sword!? How dare you lose your sword! You deserve to die ten thousand times over!"
Hotaru trying to stab Tanjiro CH51.webp
Letters to tanjiro.webp|Letters that Hotaru wrote to Tanjiro after he broke his sword again in his fight again Akaza
Hotaru looks at Tanjiro.webp
====Colored====
File:Hotaru colored profile 3.webp
==External Links==
*Hotaru Haganezuka on the Kimetsu no Yaiba Wiki
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