#gege has to give yuji a break look at his face

[boyofzoot]

Itadori

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[honeycreammilkshake]

"Overall, I definitely agree with you. Gege has shown investment in Sukuna as a character, and I'm hoping he doesn't give in to fan influence to abandon the progress he's made so far. "

After last chapter giving sukuna haters funny faces that look like those edits his haters make, I'm not that hopeful anymore. Giving Sukuna an awful and humiliating death to please THAT fandom sounds really disappointing from Gege, at the very least defend Sukuna since you obviously like him, have some PRIDE, show him smiling at yuji and admitting he grew.

Meanwhile Kenjaku who cut Yuki in half as well apparently deserved a comfy fight and good ending while his sins may be even greater than Sukuna lmao. Sorry I'm just pissed, I don't want fan pressure to ruin Sukuna and Yuji forever

Hi, anon!

Yeah, Sukuna definitely has a lot of haters in this fandom, despite the fact he is arguably not the worst character in JJK. He's also one of the most dynamic and fascinating of the villains, and most of that is because of his complex relationship with Yuuji.

So far, we've seen so many interesting things that really highlight how contradicting Sukuna is as a character and that also show how much influence Yuuji has over him versus pretty much everyone else. Even if Gege decides to not doing anything with all these developments, it still doesn't change the fact that they are undeniably there.

One of the most compelling developments so far, to me, has been Sukuna's willingness to listen to Yuuji, even if he claims to despise the brat's ideals and wants to break them.

After their fight in 237-238, Kashimo asks Sukuna if it's lonely being the strongest. Sukuna's concept of love is similar to competition: By being the strongest, other sorcerers admire him for that strength and come to challenge him; Sukuna responds to that "love" by vanquishing them all. He lectures that people like Gojo and Kashimo, who lament the loneliness that comes as an effect of this singular strength, are greedy. Yet when asked if he himself was satisfied with being the strongest, Sukuna doesn't even acknowledge the question. He has no good answer for why he split his soul and became cursed objects that could "cross the ages." Instead, he replies to Kashimo's question by saying love has no worth or meaning.

If his vague non-answer wasn't suspicious enough, he goes on further by trying to justify his philosophy as "a perfect way to pass time until death."

The biggest thing I want to point out is how absolutely childish Sukuna's philosophy is. It's literally just indulging himself how ever he wishes, doing as he pleases, all to pass the time. Because he is the strongest, he claims to be above weak feelings like love or loneliness, but if his lifestyle was so great... why escape it by becoming a set of cursed objects in order to awaken in the future?

(Sukuna: No comment.)

He himself describes indulging in humans as "fleeting." Even if there are in fact endless flavors for him to try, none of them last, so nothing can be savored, nothing can be remembered, and nothing can truly satisfy if it's all so passing and worthless. Even him saying it's a way for him to "pass time until death" sounds so hopeless and unfulfilling.

It's seems like to me that by becoming the strongest, he's completely lost touch with how senseless his actions are. What happens when he runs out of humans to eat, or when he runs out of lands and challengers to conquer? If he's truly convinced his self-absorbed, depraved philosophy is the ideal way he should use his strength, then how come so many of the people he meets are convinced he's lonely?

And also why does someone like him elicit Yuuji's pity? Why is Yuuji the only one who really seems to get to him?

During their fight in chapter 248, Sukuna completely shuts down and starts obsessing over why Yuuji bothers him so much. Whenever literally anyone else questions Sukuna's philosophy or his motives, he disregards and mocks them for it. Yet when it's Yuuji, he's on the defensive. Yuuji really is making him reconsider things, and he can't stand it.

(btw yes that's a literal pout he's doing right here)

When Yuuji confronts him, Sukuna has a full-out melt-down. He's literally staring into space, completely losing track of everything else that's going on. Unlike anyone else who ever questions Sukuna, Yuuji is the only one who's actually making Sukuna think for once.

When reflecting on all the other people whose ideals Sukuna was so dismissive and dispassionate about, even the King of Curses himself admits that with Yuuji it's ~different~

Okay so... I guess Yuuji being in your way wasn't good enough reason to want to him gone? No, it's his ideals and resilience that bothers you that much. Why is that? Could it be that he's gotten too far under your skin, far enough to touch your non-existent heart?

Yeah right....

Also, this relates to how Yuuji is the only one who can come close to shattering Sukuna's hard-set ways. While there have been quite a few who wanted to teach Sukuna how to "love," they went about this in a way that's much closer to the definition of competition than what is actual love, much like how Sukuna sees it.

Yorozu became completely obsessed with Sukuna because to her his loneliness was "singular." When she is reincarnated, she believes she is the one who can teach Sukuna what "true love" is.

Back in chapter 218, their confrontation is so much less complex than Yuuji and Sukuna's. Sukuna dismisses her so easily and hardly reflects on it. Her "love" is weak to him. Though she is powerful, she cannot hope to contend with the level of Yuuji's determination and dedication to his ideals.

Likewise, Gojo was also convinced Sukuna was affected by the same loneliness he was. He claims that he will be the one to teach Sukuna love because he's the closest - some people say equal - one can come to Sukuna's level of power.

Sukuna, however, is not terribly moved by this. Though he has respect for Gojo's strength and says he will remember their fight forever, he is still nowhere close to being shaken... not like he is with Yuuji.

So what makes Yuuji's approach to teaching Sukuna love so different? It's because he's so much weaker in terms of power compared to any of the others Sukuna was confronted by. He comes from an entirely different perspective that no one else has gotten close enough to Sukuna to share. And because of this, he's not making it a competition. He's being empathetic about it instead.

The whole of chapter 265 is basically Sukuna actually listening to Yuuji. It's so interesting because there is absolutely no fighting going on. Usually when someone confronts Sukuna, they do so right before, after, or during a battle with him. But in this case, it's peaceful. It's completely different than any other time someone has tried to "connect" with the King of Curses.

Yuuji's approach to connect with Sukuna is to tell him his life story and show him all the places he grew up in. It's extremely casual, close, and intimate. In response all Sukuna can say to this is -

The way he suddenly interrupts Yuuji, when before he was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the time and willing to go along with it, is very telling. He described this kind of intimacy as "creepy" to him ... which is an interesting choice of words. The mythic, immortal, all-powerful King of Curses is "creeped out" by a little oversharing and walking through Yuuji's unthreatening memories? Really?

And what's even more interesting is Yuuji's way of destroying Sukuna's world view so simply.

He's essentially telling Sukuna that his philosophy is useless.

Sukuna believes in this rigid hierarchy where only the strong can rule, and only the most selfish and heartless of the strong can sit atop that hierarchy. But what Yuuji is telling him is that... there are no set roles humans are born with. Lives aren't worthless and aren't defined by whatever "roles" they are forced into. Which means that a caste system built entirely on the "strengths" of people is about as stable as Sukuna's sanity.

Yuuji has tremendous empathy throughout this whole scene. Instead of asserting that his viewpoints are the only ones that are right, he instead admits that maybe he could be wrong... which is far different from Sukuna, who wouldn't dare admit he could be wrong.

And the way Sukuna pauses before he says he doesn't feel anything about what Yuuji is saying and showing him makes me think he's lying or downplaying how much Yuuji is affecting him.

Although some fans might argue that the purpose of this scene was to show how irredeemably heartless Sukuna is, I just can't accept that there isn't so much more going on here than that.

So... to make a too long meta short: Whatever ending Sukuna and Yuuji get, it can't take away these amazing interactions between them that defy all the expectations we had for a "static" villain like Sukuna and a "useless" hero like Yuuji.

They will forever be one the most interesting, complex, and fascinating relationships in manga to me, and I'd sell my soul for them to get the ending they deserve.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry for the mess of this post ;-;

[raamitsu]

PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON JJK CHAPTER 261 ⭐

Sorry for the fact that it took me a VERY long time to share this and yes, it was pretty long so just scroll if you do not want to read it :")

one thing about me that took me by surprise after chapter 261 leaks came out, was that I was one of many people who quickly adapted and accepted the chapter itself. even at this moment, I am so hyped to read everyone's thoughts and opinions regarding it. maybe I don't care anymore or maybe I was so confused plus tired but most importantly I wanted to see how the story progresses from this chapter. now, it concerns three people at once: Yuta in Satoru's body (considering Yuta is one of my favorite characters too and there is a highly chance he will die), Yuji who was punched and tossed aside once again by Sukuna and Todo who reacted weirdly. The chapter itself was too interesting for me to get emotional but then when I looked at Satoru's face, suddenly it feels like an open wound.

as a long time fan of Gojo Satoru myself, I won't lie to you that even I wished he would return but at the same time I didn't expect him to. had a quick realization and said to myself, "wait- maybe he should have not? because then he will have to get his ass back to the battlefield and fight Sukuna, and then what? he will die again. why would he have to repeat the same shit all over again? yeah that's enough of a burden already." and here we go... again.

seeing how the chapter has turned out, you can say that it is as if my wish was finally granted but it came with a gruesome, brutal twist behind the anticipated awaiting. if you think me seeing Satoru's physical body being used [as a weapon] once again is painful to death, imagine the heartache I had to go through realizing that Yuta was the one who took over his body; and again learning the fact that HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO COMMIT SUCH INHUMANITY MOVE ON HIS BELOVED TEACHER 😭💔 and yet, Satoru consented him - mental breakdown after another, I must say. I almost passed out (not really) while reading the chapter but surprisingly I have read it at least five times. I felt sick to my bone, however, it was an unbelievable experience and I respected Gege for that (still, it does not mean that I won't hate him ☺️👊🏻)

now... I do not want to undermine the advantage of criticism but as what I have seen/read during the break week on twitter, there are nothing but nonsense. for example, there was this one person expressed about the way they felt [as an Asian] to witness Gege implementing JJK with dark element and claiming that treating a deceased body like a playground was seen as "taboo" in Japan - meanwhile the "taboo" in question here does not only apply to one specific Asian country. while their opinions and feelings were somehow valid, it was still not applicable to speak for everyone especially the majority of Asian JJK readers who love this chapter and has no issue in understanding the points that Gege wanted to come across through his readers.

since I am unfortunately not in a great shape right now- I will do my best to make it short: the hate train against Yuta and Shoko should not be warranted in the first place. all they did for the past few chapters was trying their best to come out with alternatives in order to defeat Sukuna - and that included using Satoru's physical body as their "last resort" as we have learned in chapter 261. you can deem it as "not morally right" which indeed it is and still able to look pass at it rationally for the fact that it was not a baseless desperate move, and Satoru was not being forced by a third party to give consent for his corpse to be used - even if it was not Yuta. to be fair, re-reading the chapter again after I have done posting leaks, I cannot help but found it so tragic for my man and for my beloved boy to make themselves out to be a monster out of their own willingness - and this is why I am deeply thankful for the fact that the one who "inherited" Satoru's memories was Yuta instead of another villain.

no one, not even a sorcerer, can remain their sanity until the end - not when the situation they are in requires an unprecedented decision making thus resulting them into putting aside their morality and humanity to "level themselves up" against a calamity that knows no limit. even if it costs the lives of many, they will execute the only alternative they had left. a dire situation will tell you, show you exactly what human beings are capable to do. you should be able to understand the sentiment while still being judgmental upon it.

and lastly, the amount of uneasy feeling I have even after looking at these panel for couple of times already like LORD-

that is all. after this I will do another re-read to form a separated post with different opinions. Insha'Allah.

[suqueenaryomen]

Sukuna & Yuji's skeptical twin theory

Why some people don't believe in the twin theory? I will give some examples of speculation as to why this is the case, and whether we may have misunderstood something about the symbol or the word TWIN. Not everything that is DOUBLE or VERSATILE is automatically a TWIN. Or a doppelganger is also double. Almost everyone has something like this in life. Someone who looks like you and then there are two of you, but it doesn't have to be your twin who is related to you. (But you could also call this a twin)

What some people doubt and many questions unanswered:

1. We are talking about twins here, not siblings who were born older or younger. But those who were born at the same time and look the same, namely twins! If Sukuna and Yuji were really twins, then Yuji would have to be the same age as Sukuna. This means Yuji is not a 15-year-old boy, but in reality an old man or an adult like Sukuna. Or vice versa, Sukuna would have to be 15 years old like Yuji. (the little lost boy Sukuna) 🤣. The best example would be Maki & Mai, same time, same age.

2. If Sukuna and Yuji were really twins, why does Yuji have multiple parents? Jin Itadori, Kaori Itadori and DNA scientist + creator Kenjaku, who also simultaneously serves as a mother and father 😅. Then they would all have to be Sukuna's parents or relatives. But I believe Gege once said that this is not the case, or rather that it is not going in this direction? It has been officially confirmed that Sukuna has no wife or family, etc.

3. If Sukuna and Yuji were really twins, why does Yuji have several siblings like his brother Choso? Then they would all have to be Sukuna's real siblings or relatives. (kind of crazy the whole thing)

4. If Sukuna and Yuji were twins, who the hell are their real parents? I'm serious. Only the parents of these twins. Face to face, DNA to DNA, blood to blood, etc. (I think I go nuts) xD

5. Or could it be that all of this is meant differently and we have misunderstood it with regard to the symbol of the twins? I mean, the name Ryomen means two-faced or double-faced, right? One could compare or even confuse this with twins. I mean, Sukuna can have multiple hands, multiple eyes, and even create multiple faces if he wants. But that doesn't necessarily mean he is a twin. He can only duplicate himself or is simply very versatile with his body. This must be due to his nature with his ability!

6. But why does Sukuna then say that this boy is from back then? Or from that time? Sounds like a fighter from the Middle Ages or like a reincarnated fighter like Kashimo, etc. Or is this again a mistranslation or misunderstanding. As has happened more often lately, and yet Kenjaku created Yuji? You still wonder how the hell. Strange shit happens here again, I tell you....

Gege has a lot of shit to explain (and that's a lot of history, including his very long breaks). So the manga certainly can't end so quickly. Otherwise, it will become very lazy and sloppy! But it will soon end either this year 2024 in a few months or a whole year again if we are lucky? Otherwise, things will look very different again in 2025!

[l-lou-u]

HUGE JJK SPOILER

CHAPTER 221 (short) ANALYSIS and thoughts

I will use traductions by @ king_jin_woo on twitter

Ok i am not gonna talk about how refreshing seeing gojo was I missed him so much and Gege’s art style really made him look so good and he really was a breath of fresh air because I could talk about it for hours, no, i want talk more seriously about what happened

I think Gojo might have a plan to separate Sukuna and Megumi. He looked bothered that Sukuna was in Meg’s body and I know he isn’t really Mr.Emotional but he didn’t even freeze for a sec, he probably got himself ready for any kind of situation in that box and didn’t want either sukuna or kenjaku to see any kind of emotion (weakness) on his face, but this ? He didn’t seem to think much of it, since right after this ⬇️ he already thinks about something else.

Yuji and Yuta also said they had some plans, and Yuki’s diary about the souls ? Something’s going on and I don’t think Meg will be possessed by the end.

When we saw Megumi in the abyss :

I thought I was going crazy for seeing a infinite symbole reflecting on his face,meaning that Gojo will have a role in his saving, but maybe that wasn’t so stupid after all. And even if it’s a reach, that doesn’t really matter. Even if megumi is at the bottom of the abyss, there’s still light, there is still a way out of this, he just is in too much despair to see it.

(I’m still worried about the « let fate toy with you and die like a fool/clown » quote by Reggie tho)

Now about the fight gojo vs kenjaku & sukuna being postpone to the 24th december. When Kenjaku questions it, Gojo says that it would be confusing if Geto dies two different days, but that doesn’t make sense, when he comes out and sees Kenjaku, he tells him to be careful with his words as their will be his last, and he also said he came here to bury Geto properly. He didn’t give a shit about what day it was. So I think he has a plan and that was just an excuse.

The 24th December, the day they are supposed to fight, is obviously an important day for Geto and Gojo, as it is Geto’s death but also the day they (kinda) reconcilated, or at least, came to terms with each others. (Doesn’t that mean the same thing …?)

But it’s also and MAINLY an important day for …

Yuta (and Rika) !!!

Lets not forget that the 24th December was pretty much Yuta’s awakening day. Also, Yuta vs Kenjaku was teased long ago then never bought up again, when Yuta sait he would kill Kenjaku by himself and not let Gojo kill his best friend a 2nd time.

I really don’t think Gege would randomly drop that to never make anything with it again. Maybe we’ll see Yuta surpassing Gojo in term of strength, as he was always teased to be his successor as the strongest sorcerer. I do hope so. In anyway, I think Yuta will play a MAJOR role that day, and that Gojo has something in mind about him.

~~

Overall, I loved this chapter, (bonus points for Shoko wearing sunglasses (I hope they’re gojo’s) looking unimpressed and Kirara filming Gojo’s unboxing)

It makes me so hyped for what’s to come next, even if Gojo learning about Nanami’s, Yaga’s and his students fate will break my heart. I also wonder how he will react seeing Choso alongside everyone, since the last (and first) time he saw him, Choso was pretty much trying to kill him and kill innocent people soooo yeah, maybe he’ll be a little reluctant but if he sees that everyone is chill with him, Choso should be fine haha

During the one month wait for the final fight, I hope we’ll have more interactions between the characters. Especially GOJO AND SHOKO PLEASE their friendship is so cute and I need Gojo to realise that he’s not alone, which might be hard considering the context and their different strength levels (I will adress this more in gojo’s analysis I SWEAR ITS COMING)

But Yeah, after all those fights, I hope we’ll have more development about character’s relationships, and some more world building, especially about the souls stuff and how sukuna who was human became a curse

Thank you for reading !

[aliensupersyn]

Chapter 251 Fight Choreography PbP

Yuta reveals that Rika swallowed the final, missing finger that Sukuna had inferred to be in Gojo's possession. Even though Sukuna caught the blade, Yuta was still able to release the cursed technique within it.

Yuji immediately follows up Yuta's cleave with a punch to the face. Sukuna's hardly phased. Yuta then palm thrusts Sukuna's stomach mouth.

Yuji then grabs Sukuna head and knees him to the face this time, yet Sukuna's still unphased. He quickly grabs Yuji in return and cleaves his entire torso!

Yuji uses that damage to spit his blood into Sukuna's face, setting up his future attack. Yuta quickly uppercuts Sukuna right after. Once again, Sukuna, Yuji, and Yuta all go blow for blow!

After consecutive hits from Yuji, Sukuna notices the toll it takes on his soul's grasp over Megumi's body. Rika joins in again and lifts Sukuna with ease, throwing him into a kick from Yuji! Despite all of this, Sukuna keeps his hands clasped, maintaining Hollow Wicker Basket, and ultimately, his composure.

Yet, Sukuna suddenly beings undoing his hands, and all three act immediately.

Yuta reaches into Sukuna's stomach mouth and rips out the tongue. He suffers a direct cleave to the head, but Yuta keeps fighting regardless.

Yuta quickly slashes the top mouth before Sukuna sends dismantles at him. Still, Yuta heals and keeps fighting, shaking off the damage while closing in for more attacks. At the same time, Sukuna notices something wrong.

The blood Yuji spit onto him begins to burst across his face! While he's distracted, Yuta takes Sukuna's bottom left arm.

Rika and Yuji grab Sukuna's remaining arms and Yuta finally activates Jacob's Ladder.

Check notes for added information regarding everything after this page.

Yuta quickly uncasts JL then slices through Sukuna bottom right arm. After he and Rika stepped out the way of JL, Yuji quickly runs up to Sukuna, who's caught by Rika yet again.

After multiple punches and a JL, Sukuna and Megumi's souls were separated enough for Yuji to finally help Megumi awaken.

Off-screen, Sukuna heals his top mouth and performs the enmaten hand sign.

While Yuji was inside Megumi’s soul, Sukuna broke free from Rika’s grasp using slashes, then performed the hand sign. When the perspective switched back, Sukuna had already chanted, and Gege now shows him aiming at Yuta, then firing off dismantles against Rika and Yuji. The final panel doesn’t depict Sukuna breaking free from Rika’s grasp; he’s instead doing a victory pose. Which sounds wild, but Gege shows Sukuna’s right hand turned up, no longer aiming at Yuta by the end of the swift sequence of events.

Also, notice how Rika's been torn down the middle!

Maki enters the barrier immediately after Yuta breaks it, surprising a celebrating Sukuna who thought he'd eliminated Gojo's two favorite students.

Notes:

Looking back, it makes sense why the narrator said Sukuna was making a "desperate gamble." If Sukuna let the fight go on any longer and Yuji just kept hitting him, he would have been put in an even greater disadvantage. Even though he was most unphased by Yuji's punches, his soul was still slipping from Megumi's body. He really was desperate.

A controversial chapter. Was it world dismantle? If so, how did Sukuna perform it? This is only my take and has already been criticized elsewhere. I apologize for not having more information to give other than my own understanding of Gege's purposefully messy depiction of action. In the end, I do think Gege meant for the last few events in this chapter to be fast and messy. Perhaps he had the two different narrative voices saying "Sukuna's going to use world dismantle" to let readers know what was happening, in spite of the confusion he knew the last few pages would cause.

Other than that, the chapter's action was pretty straightforward.

[chad-chungus]

Am I disappointed in the recent JJK chapter? Yes, definitely. For starters, Gojo’s reaction to Nanami’s death felt very underwhelming. Like I don’t expect Gojo to breakdown and cry because that would be out of character for him as he is a character that is build upon concealing his emotions through a facade. He buries them deep within him so he can still call himself the strongest, and bear the burden of what it means to wield that power so others don’t have to. But the fact that we didn’t get any emotion out of him, like not a single panel of him looking frustrated, clenching his fists or an inner monologue of his thoughts felt SO wrong.

Another thing I need to mention is the time skip. Like I had expected Gojo to unleash all his pent up anger and emotions right then and there when he faced Kenjaku but nope. Especially considering the fact that Kenjaku is in Geto’s body - his one and only true friend! Like I feel like maybe those two having a small fight and then bringing all that tension down with Gojo reuniting with his friends and students really could have given us more in sight into Gojo’s thoughts and really added more depth to his character, especially considering he has been out of the series for over 100 chapters. And like I just really would love to see how much all of the deaths and Gojo being in the prison realm effected his mental and emotional state, because SURELY it affected him, right? Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks this?

And also like seriously... there is no mention of Nobara whatsoever... like excuse me, if she is 100% dead, Gojo should have been told about her death too! Like honestly her death is left so ambiguous it’s so fucking painful. Arata literally stated that she had a slim chance for survival and if the confirmation was literally Megumi being SILENT and Yuji saying “oh, I get it.” is one of the WORST death confirmations I have ever witnessed because it is SO ambiguous and is just based on the assumption of Yuji believing she is dead! And if Gojo literally hasn’t been told, or if he has but Gege didn’t decide to show his reaction is so bad. And also I want to know so badly if Gojo knows that the old fart killed principal Yaga because Gojo is literally seen walking next to him with Utahime. And speaking of Utahime... gege remembered she exists. But I honestly doubt she’ll remain relevant in this last arc considering how the female writing took a fucking nose dive. And Miwa... like her appearance a few chapters back in the culling games really shook me and it was just never brought up again... like excuse me!!! It’s just so baffling like I seriously think Gege just doesn’t give a shit about his series anymore and has like forgotten what has happened in his own series. 

I just feel like Gege just wants to get to the end by any means necessary, he just doesn’t care if it coherent or paced well; he only wants to get to the finish line by the end of this year. It just makes me feel like he doesn’t even understand his own characters and what is happening in his own story at this point and it is so unbelievably disappointing. And like over the whole culling games arc it has just been action after action with no down time with the characters whatsoever that it just feels like a whole power play between characters, like they have to prove who is stronger and who is the better fighter, and they have all lost their depth to adher to the spectacle of the fights. Not all the characters but still, it’s just so unbelievably jarring seeing the direction JJK is taking. Like the theme of JJk is literally what it means to die a good death, and how no matter how powerful you are, cycles will always remain a constant and that they are rather extremely difficult or rather impossible to break. 

JJK used to be one of my favourite series of all time. I loved it so much and its characters, and while I still love some aspects and some characters, I can’t comprehend anything that is happening now. It’s very disappointing.

[halveablock]

maki

i just wanted to properly verbalize exactly why i love maki so much. in particular, the way her character development is shown through her design. i suppose this is a bit of character design rambling. contains manga spoilers up to chapter 149.

to be quite honest, maki didn’t catch my eye that much when i first read jujutsu kaisen. she felt awkward actually; design-wise, it felt like gege couldn’t commit to a type of feeling. her style felt just vaguely unkempt and bit feminine, but had no real identity. part of that is the characters are all in dark uniforms, but they can be customized to give off a certain feeling. yuji, for example, wears hoodies not because he’s a hoodie guy but because he can be indecisive (volume extra).

but this all changed once i saw this infamous chapter cover:

i immediately went: shit, i wish maki actually looked like that. she didn’t really have this masc energy until this chapter cover. (and then upon rereads, maki really captured my heart...) there, i saw what maki could be, so i was wondering why her pre-shibuya design felt so dissonant to this image, which felt perfect for her.

i think gege decided on her “aesthetic,” so to speak, once he designed toji. not that toji wasn’t designed or concepted before, but it’s possible that gege hadn’t thought to push the toji-maki parallels that early until his design was finalized, since this is just 2 chapters before his appearance. and she has gotten only closer and closer to him in aesthetic until in chapter 149, gege blatantly draws a side by side comparison to make sure you really saw it, in case you hadn’t realized it yet.

it’s interesting then that with ogi’s appearance, maki’s previous ponytail had some meaning.

the way the ponytail is drawn is virtually identical; it’s as if maki was striving to be her father, in a way. i imagine the image of strength she had in her head was ogi before she saw toji on the beach: there, she saw what she could become. (btw, i don’t think it’s a coincidence that she meets toji on the beach as her old self, and then says good-bye to mai on another beach as her new self)

gege most likely designed maki first then ogi, so i think giving him a ponytail was definitely intentional to indicate the shift in maki’s understanding of what she could be.

at any rate, post-shibuya, i think gege had fully embraced the masc style for maki, while keeping up with his high waist fashion obsession for the ladies. he may have also felt creatively limited by jujutsu tech uniforms, so he probably wanted to break some rules around that. the cape gives her a strong leadership look as indicated by her role among the students and a distinct silhouette so i think maki will keep it despite not having it on at the end of ch149.

maki’s new hair has the double function of getting closer to toji while making her look even more identical with mai. a crossroads of sorts: she could either become like toji, or stay in the bottom with mai. we all know what happened at that, albeit it wasn’t really her choice. in another sense though, she became both, gege deliberately putting both maki and mai in their sleeveless outfits (remember maki still had her cape on after waking up, before shedding it in the epic spread) in the beach scene to convey this merging even more.

as for her writing itself: on the surface, she’s a “strong” female character: stubborn, sassy, ambitious. an action girl, if you may. but the recent chapters showed that she’s actually filled with doubts and that a lot of this attitude is airs she put on to live as a self-affirmed human being since her family could never give her that affirmation. her choices, too, were driven by her fierce love for her sister, something she couldn’t openly express for fear of her sister facing even more prejudice.

and just in the meta sense, she’s everything i’ve ever wanted out of a female character in a shonen manga. i’ve seen her type of character for sure, but not really in a shonen: her abused history, insane family drama including a complicated relationship with her sibling, these two chapters becoming her tragic origin story, the way her trauma is carved into her skin with the burns and the eye scar, the way her trauma is reflected in her characterization without her succumbing to it. the way she constantly echoes an existing feral, violent male character, suggesting that she will embody similar traits. the way her goals were centered around her ambitions, but underneath that, her sister as her core motivation; the way the plot actually impacts her goals, and how they are now changed to destroying everything, including the family, the system that refused to acknowledge her.

in short: i love you with my entire heart maki, and i can’t wait to see where you go next.

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE EIGHT || BOREDOM

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara + gojo satoru + zenin maki + inumaki toge + panda + aoi todo + zenin mai + miwa kasumi + gakuganji yoshinobu (mentions of itadori yuji + ieiri shoko) from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of violence + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 02 march

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 5.8k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : assault 

↳ next episode : small fry and reverse retribution

↳ barista’s notes : hi there everyone! right now i know i haven’t been the most active i have been but i really thankful on how patient you all are ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆ my procrastination has reach a new all time high since my birthday is on saturday and i am dreading becoming 18 because that means i will be a legal adult and i also have exams soon...ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ moving on from that, i hope you all enjoys today’s episode!

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5 for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique

no cursed spells used this episode... 

but the little flick that Y/N does is inspired from this video here

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“You really need to stop with your assaults Gojo,” Fushiguro stated, as he pressed his index and middle finger on the middle of his forehead, as he remembered the pain that came along with your flick as well as complaining about the side head slap he had gained from you.

“Nah, you just got to stop asking stupid questions Fushiguro,” you commented back before asking Kugisaki want she was planning to get.

‘So make sure you’re not alone in this world like I am Y/N, I want you to be happy even when we’re both stuck with this burden!’

‘I’m trying mother,’ you thought, as you tightly gripped your phone that was still in your pocket.

                                              ꕥ

“I never really thought you were the type that would go to the beach,” you commented, as you leisurely walked towards the calm ocean with a pair of arms wrapped around yours (that was holding your shoes) since your mother wanted to walk side by side with you to enjoy this tranquil moment together.

“I never thought that about myself either, but it’s better to be surprised then going back to the city again, is it not?” your mother asked with a let out a gentle laugh before instantly halting the moment you both felt the warm water covering your bare feet.

“I guess so,” you stated before using your other arm to partly cover your face due to the sunlight brightly blinding your eyes. However, it seemed like where your mother was standing wasn’t causing her too much irritation - maybe it wasn't as bright from where she was.

Currently, it was sunset at Tatadohama beach - to which surprised you that there weren’t as many people as you thought - where your mother had taken you since she thought you both deserved a bit of a break before you could go back to school since it was the summer break and to be honest, you needed it since you and your mother just came back from a job of exorcising a grade-one curse while trying to escape the scene before any other jujutsu sorcerers came.

“You look beautiful though, your mother has good taste doesn’t she?” your mother teasingly asked in a rhetorical manner, as she took her time to observe you rather than the sunset that was in front of her. Right now, you were some simple jean shorts that were somewhat quite large letting the gentle breeze cool you down leading you to fasten a black belt with a silver buckle which tucked in a simple short-sleeved oversized white button-up shirt that was loose, so you wouldn’t feel tight around your upper body as well as dressing for the warm weather that was approaching.

“It is quite plain, but it’s simple and cute,” you commented, as you peered down at your mother’s clothing choices before looking back up to view the beautiful setting in front of you, as your mother smiled gently before placing her head on your shoulder.

“Promise me that you’ll be okay,” your mother suddenly uttered quietly, leading you to give off a confused look before turning your head down slightly only to discover a small smile on her face with softened eyes as if she was relishing the moment with you.

“You’re acting like you're going to die tomorrow,” you comedically commented, leading your mother to laugh at your statement which caused you to giggle slightly since your mother’s laugh was always contagious when you were with her. Taking a deep breath in to calm down, your mother slowly calmed down before lifting her head up as she sighed.

“Well, anything can happen and I want your word that you will do anything to be safe,” your mother expanded on her previous statement, causing you to turn to her to look at her in the eye, trying to see and understand what your mother really wanted you to know before you nodded at her with a small smile.

“I promise mother” 

                                               ꕥ

“Oi Y/N, wake up”

Slowly opening your eyes, you slowly blinks a few times as you try to get a clearer view from what you were looking at before steadily realising that you were at the track field where you were training with the rest of the students.

Shifting your eyes to look up slightly, only to discover all the upperclassmen looking down at you with the tree leaves covering you from the sunlight that was beaming down right now.

‘Oh...that’s right, I’m at Jujutsu Tech’

“Sorry for making you fight with all of us, I bet you were exhausted, but we need you to check up on Megumi and Nobara since they went to do some errands,” Panda expressed with hands pressed together as a sign of forgiveness.

“Kelp,” Inumaki commented as if affirming Panda’s statement leading you to sit up slowly before stretching your arms to get read of the stiffness that was consuming them before taking in Zenin’s outstretched arm to help you up - something you both been doing for quite some time during the week - before picking up the black track top of brought out for today’s training that you were laying on top of.

“Sorry for sleeping, where are they?” you asked, as you covered your mouth to yawn since you didn’t want to seem rude to your second-year seniors.

“They should be getting a few drinks for themselves and us from the vending machines, they didn’t want to wake you up, but we knew they probably need some help remembering what we want,” Zenin answered, as she used her thumb to point behind her the direction you needed to take.

“Sorry, I’ll get going then,” you commented before tying the track top around your waist before picking up your black katana since you didn’t want to leave it alone before waving at them when you were beginning to head off.

“I’ll see you guys later,” you mentioned before Inuamki shouted ‘Salmon’ back at you before you swiftly made your way up the stone steps to find both your classmates Fushiguro and Kugisaki to get the drinks that the other wanted since you knew that they’ll probably both forget or take too long for your senior’s liking.

“I’m surprised she can still run after all those practice matches,” Panda stated, as he continued to stare at the direction that you headed out in.

“She’s strong, there is no surprise Gojo has taken her into his family and out of training to take some missions,” Zenin commented before continuing with, “she comes back really quickly to resume training with us,”.

“Mustard leaf,” Inumaki mentioned, as he nodded at his classmate’s remark about you before all of the second years went off for their walk, as they gave you time to run your errands before coming back to the field to train for the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event.

                                               ꕥ

Looking at her drinks in front of her, Kugisaki was disappointed at the lack of variety that the machines had as she groaned in annoyance before pressing her choice of the cold drink she wanted before checking to make sure there was orange juice in the vending machine since she knew you would want some when she got back to you.

“Couldn’t they put in a few more vending machines?” Kugisaki asked in an irritated tone, as she bent down to collect her drink from the takeout port before turning around to look at her classmate, who was standing behind her.

“They can’t. There are only so many workers who can come in here,” Fushiguro answered, as he turned to look at her only for the female to turn back around to place more money into the coin slot. “What else are you buying?” Fushiguro asked since he knew that Kugisaki as well as himself didn’t know what the upperclassmen wanted - that was usually your job.

“Gojo really likes orange juice, so I wanted to buy her some since she did train with all of us, I bet she’s still sleeping,” Kugisaki commented before contemplating if you wanted to bottle or carton version of the citrus juice since she didn’t know if you always bought the carton one on purpose.

However, before she could come to the conclusion on what you probably wanted, she noticed from the corner of her eye that there were two people standing at the other side of the outdoor hallway they were at. From what she can observe, it seemed like those two people were from Jujutsu Tech due to their uniforms as the male had what seemed to be an angry expression while the other student - who looked similar to Zenin Maki - had a sly smile on her face.

“What are you doing here, Zenin-senpai?” Fushiguro asked in confusion since he wasn’t expecting anyone from Kyoto Metropolitan Curse Technical College to come to their side.

“Oh, she’s one, too?” Kugisaki queried while turning her head to look at Fushiguro before continuing with, “They do seem similar, are they sisters?” as she turned back to look at the female student to get a closer look at her.

“They’re twins,” Fushiguro answered quickly.

“Don’t call me that, Fushiguro-kun. You make me sound the same as Maki, call me Mai,” Mai stated, as she gave the two Tokyo students a wink.

“So there are the pinch hitters for Okkotsu and the third-years?” the male student stated with a hostile tone while glaring at them with a look of pure disappointment.

“We came here with the principal because we were worried about you. Your classmate died, right? Was that rough? Or did you think nothing of it?” Mai asked with the smirk still painted on her face, leading Fushiguro and Kugisaki to tense at her sudden but somewhat offensive questions.

“What are you trying to say?” Fushiguro asked tensely, as he suddenly felt a slight bit of annoyance building up in his stomach.

“It’s okay, some things are hard to say out loud, so I’ll say it for you,” Mai amusingly stated before proceeding, “‘Vessel’ makes it sound nice, but it means he was a half-curse monster. Having such a tainted, inhuman being beside you brazenly calling himself a jujutsu sorcerer must have been revolting right? Aren’t you feeling better now that he’s dead?”. However, her questions only lead to extremely vexed expressions appearing on both of the Tyoko student’s faces.

“Mai, don’t bring up such pointless topics, I’m only here to see if these guys are fit to take Okkotsu’s place, that’s all I want to know,” the large male declared as he took a few steps forwards before throwing his school jacket to the side, leading to the shikigami sorcerer to tense up once again as he began to worry what was about to happen.

“Fushiguro, was it?” the large male asked before shouting in a proud manner…

“What kind of woman is your type?”

Suddenly perplexed, Fushiguro as well as Kugisaki, shifted their heads to the side simultaneously to convey their unexpected confusion to the two Tokyo students especially to the male that had just asked the weird as well as absurd question.

“Depending on your answer, I’ll beat you half to death right here and drag Okkotsu, or at least the third-years, out to the exchange event,” the large Kyoto student threatened as he processed to unexpectedly and violently ripped his purple shirt into shreds, showcasing his large muscular upper body before positioning himself in his usual fighting stance as he then suddenly announced, “by the way, my type is a tall woman with a big ass!”.

“Why do I have to talk about my taste in women with a guy I just met?” Fushiguro annoyingly asked as he began to express an irritated expression on his face at the Kyoto student that suddenly declared a fight out of nowhere.

“He’s right. That’s a tall hurdle for an antisocial guy,” Kugisaki unintentionally comedically commented, as she pointed at her stoic classmate, leading Fushiguro to express a more vexed expression.

“You be quiet. This is confusing enough already. You’ll just make it more complicated,” Fushiguro mentioned as an irked mark became more visible on his right cheek, displaying his displeasure on what was happening right now.

“Kyoto, third-year, Todo Aoi,” the Kyoto Tech sorcerer introduced himself. “Introduction over,” Todo announced as he then continued by saying, “now we’re friends. Hurry up and answer, if you prefer men, that’s fine too,”.

“A person’s fetishes reflect everything about them,” Todo explained, indicating the reason why he was asking his laughable question in the first place. “People with boring taste in women are boring people themselves,” Todo passionately proclaimed, as if he was presenting a speech to the whole of Japan at this moment in time before he exclaimed, “I hate boring men.”

“And I hate drags like you”

Turning his head slightly to view what was going on behind him, Todo managed to get a glimpse of a person that was right behind his school mate. A female standing with her hands in her pockets with what seemed to be a katana hanging horizontally unlike Okkotsu, who had his vertically, with a nonchalant expression painted on her face.

“Also your drag ass friend, she has quite a big mouth for a Grade three sorcerer from what I can sense, is this what I’m really fighting against Fushiguro?” you asked before you started to walk past the other sorcerer as you made your way to the vending machine to grab the drinks that the second-years usually requested when they made you run errands during a break from training.

“Gojo! You’re awake?” Kugisaki asked as she smiled at you before quickly mentioning there was money already in the machine since she was planning to get you your drink.

“You heard everything?” Fushiguro questioned as he turned his view to you, only to discover you pressing on the button that correlated to the carton of orange juice as you mentioned to Kugisaki that you were going to pay her back before turning your head to look at your other classmate.

“Yeah, I heard everything. You guys are loud and to be honest, both of them need to shut up, they’re such drags,” you muttered disrespectfully since you could tell they were at least a year or two years above you in the academic year.

However, it seemed like your insult didn’t stop Todo from explaining his passion for people’s preferences in a partner as he continued to declare his speech with pride, much to your complete dismay.

“As I was saying, the exchange event is where my soul can be free as blood boils and flesh clashes, who knows what I might do if my last exchange event ends up boring me?” Todo rhetorically questioned as he maintained his fighting stance as if he was ready to pounce within a  second with a confident smile on his face.

‘Shut up...I have to meet with Gojo-sensei later and I don’t want a massive headache to come in before it becomes worse when I see him’

“Hey, aren’t the Jujutsu Tech schools four-year schools?” Kugisaki asked in an unsure manner as she turned to look at Fushiguro since she was trying to take note from you on what drinks to buy in case you weren’t able to for the seniors. However, she was confused about why Todo mentioned that this was going to be his last exchange event when he was a thrid-year.

“Only third-years and under can join the exchange event,” Fushiguro quickly answered Kugisaki’s question as she then let out an understandable ‘Hmm’ to inform her classmate that she acknowledged what he had just told her before swiftly turning back to notice that you had brought a cold water bottle for what seemed to be for Zenin (Maki) since you and her were looking at your phone to see a note displayed on the screen.

“As a show of kindness, I’ll let you off only half-dead right now,” Todo threatened again before repeating the weird question that instinctively started this whole situation, “answer me, Fushiguro. What kind of woman is your type?”

“Is this some kind of comedy routine?” the shikigami user angrily asked, as he increasingly got annoyed at what was happening right now and was confused on why he was picked in the first place.

“Don’t get into a fight, I seriously can’t be bothered to use any reverse cursed technique to heal your wounds if you do and we need to get back to training soon,” you stated before pressing on the last button for the last drink that was needed to be given for Inumaki when you get back.

However, it seemed as if both of your classmates didn’t listen to you since Kugisaki was now observing the other student behind Todo due to her uniform. “Is that your summer uniform?” Kugisaki asked in a light tone, as she admired the outfit before continuing with “ticks me off, but it’s nice”.

“Are you both even listening?” you muttered in annoyance before grabbing the small bag - that you kept from the time you went to your mother’s grave - in the pocket of your nylon cargo pants to place the drinks after you had got them from the dispenser since you didn't want to struggle to carry them.

Looking to his side, Fushiguro looked at his classmate as he began to analyse the situation that was currently going on. From what he could gather, Kugisaki was unarmed and didn’t have her usual hammer with her like she normally did meaning he was wanting to avoid any confrontation that could happen at this moment in time, while you were armed with your usual katana, yet he didn’t want to risk you revealing your true identity to the Kyoto students - not like he really had to worry about that.

‘Not forgiving people isn’t a bad thing. That’s just part of your kindness, isn’t it?’

That’s what his sister said to him once.

“I don’t have a particular preference, as long as she has unshakeable character, I won’t ask for more,” Fushiguro answered, to which you were surprised since you predicted that he wasn’t the type to reveal that sort of information. On the other hand, it seemed like Mai was pleased with the answer as she smiled sweetly at the boy causing you to shudder.

‘Ain’t...they like….family…?’

“Not a bad answer, if you had said something like ‘big boobs,’ I’d have killed you,” Kugisaki mentioned with a please expression on her face since she was relieved at the fact Fushiguro wasn’t suggestive like the Kyoto student in front of you three right now.

“Shut up,” Fushiguro muttered in an irritated tone.

However, it seemed like not everyone was pleased with his answer, as a tear was shed on a cheek.

“I knew it...You’re boring, Fushiguro,” Todo stated in a depressed manner before swiftly pushing himself to swing Fushiguro violently outside the hallway you were standing.

“DIDN’T I SAY NOT TO GET INTO FIGHTS, YOU DRAG?!” you screamed, as you turned your head to the direction where Fushiguro was struck away.

“FUSHIGURO!” Kugisaki panicked as she began to rush to his aid before a pair of arms was wrapped around her to halt her movement.

“Poor Fushiguro-kun, even a talented second-grade jujutsu sorcerer is nothing more than a first-year against the top-grade Todo-senpai, I’ll have to comfort him later,” Mai expressed with a sickly-sweet tone. However, you already had something to say.

“That may be true, but your Todo-senpai is nothing against a special-grade,” you mentioned with a smirk on your face, causing the female sorcerer to look towards you with widened eyes before suddenly remembering what Kugisaki called you by.

“Gojo…” Mai stuttered.

“Gojo, I’m okay! Just make sure Fushiguro is,” Kugisaki said to you with a proud smile on her face, causing you to drop the bag that you had in hand before quickly untying the red charm that was at the end of your katana.

‘I don’t need to unsheathe my katana, but I can’t use any of my curse spells to restrain him, so the chain will have to do’

“Hold this for me!” you shouted as you swiftly tossed the charm in her direction to which she caught easily since her arms still had movement before you rushed towards the scene where Fushiguro and Todo was.

‘This is such a drag right now…’ you thought, as you made it outside to find Fushiguro kneeling on the ground with a few new scratches on his face as well as his now stained blue track. However, it seemed as if Todo wasn’t done with his first attack since he was talking towards the Tokyo student like he was his prey.

On the other hand, you didn’t seem to care as you looked at him with an annoyed expression - even though you knew it wasn’t his fault. “Didn’t I say not to get into any fights? I can’t be bothered to use any reversed cursed techniques right now and I don’t want to bother Shoko-san since I need to train with her to know how to use it properly!” you raged, yet once again, it seemed like both of the male sorcerer’s weren’t listening to you.

“I knew at first glance that you were a boring guy, but you shouldn’t judge a person by their looks, right?” Todo questioned rhetorically again, causing the flames of rage to increase inside your soul since this situation was getting a little too similar to the one back at the detention centre.

“So I went out of my way to ask you, but you just trampled on my kindness,” Todo whined with a pout on his face while wiping the dripping tears that continued to fall.

“Is your brain as pineapple as your head?” Fushiguro insulted, as he gave the senior a weirded-out look.

“You’re the one to talk, hedgehog!” you screamed in annoyance since you were getting frustrated at the fact that no one was listening to you.

“I heard you don’t use cursed techniques.” Fushiguro randomly mentioned as he got up on his feet causing you to look at him with a death glare as well as suddenly being curious about what he meant by ‘don’t use cursed techniques’.

“Huh? Oh, that’s rumour’s false, I used them against the special-grade,” Todo plainly stated like it was an everyday face before raising his arm to wave his hand side to side as if to ‘slap’ away the rumours that were going on about him before continuing with, “but I heard rumours going around about a girl that went toe-to-toe with Sukuna, she was fighting with you right? Where is she?”

‘MAYBE THE GIRL THAT IS BEHIND YOU, SHOUTING AT YOU DRAGS!’

“That’s a relief to hear!” Fushiguro declared as if he was confident, causing you to look at him enraged with fury.

“THAT IS NOT A RELIEF TO HEAR, YOU DRAG!” you screamed, as you were now handing on an extremely thin piece of thread that was going to snap any second, leading you to attack both of them if this got out of hand.

However, once again, Fushiguro and Todo didn’t listen to you for one second as the shikigami sorcerer began to signal his shikigami to appear with the familiar hand-sign of ‘Nue’ back with you fought with him against Sukuna and ‘Gama’ from when you were training with him - yet, you were completely perplexed on what he had combined when both together.

Suddenly, a familiar shadow began to swiftly emerge from the ground before it suddenly took form into something you didn’t really expect from the Ten-Shadow Technique sorcerer.

“Frogs with wings?” you muttered, as you stared at the sight in complete surprise since you didn’t expect to see a few frogs with wings appearing in front of you - you never thought you see something like this in your life, to be honest.

“Bottomless Well!” Fushiguro chanted before a few of the frogs croaked in response causing you to stare that the creature in a now unreadable expression.

‘They will be weaker than their counterpart shikigami but they do have many benefits....didn’t Gojo-sensei mention something about the Kamo’s family?’

On the other hand, it seemed like your future opponent in the exchange event didn’t seem so nervous about the technique. Of course, from what you remembered from training as well as some knowledge that you had gained just from seeing one movement from Todo, you had come to the conclusion that he was a close-range fighter, probably had some experience with weapons since it would be foolish if a fighter didn’t have any sense it was a risk of them just having knowledge with their hands.

However, before you could even continue to gain more knowledge just by looking at the back of the well muscular sorcerer, there was a quick shift in the air causing you to snap out of your trance only to find Todo behind suddenly behind Fushiguro as he processed to wrap his arms around your classmate’s waist.

“Flimsy and shallow...Both your body and your taste in women!” Todo shouted before lifting Fushiguro upwards like he weighed nothing before aggressively smashing his headfirst into the ground behind him, causing you to discover how flexible the Kyoto student was before he suddenly jumped up into the air to give his opponent a punch, only for Fushiguro to dodge just in time, yet that didn’t seem to last since the second he moved away to gain some distance, he was violently smacked with a fist.

“Fushiguro!” you shouted, before quickly forcing the soles of your sheet to push your body forward to an extreme length, just in time to get in between both of the male sorcerers that were fully ignoring you since the moment you entered into the conversation to grab the drinks.

“Gojo!” Fushiguro yelled out in a panic since he was extremely worried that you were now taking a hit for him.

However, it seemed like Todo was now suddenly the one that was worried since his incoming punch seemed to hit something really small since it didn’t cover all his knuckles, yet it didn’t break like he thought it would, causing him to let the debris slowly clear away as his eyes began to notice the sight of a sleek black wooden scabbard standing vertically from the ground halting his extremely large fist, while you were kneeling down behind it, holding the handle with an extremely displeased look on your face with Fushiguro behind you as your other hand had a grip on the collar of his blue track jacket.

“You know Fushiguro, you are full of surprises but a complete drag when it comes to not listening to me,” you muttered, before slowly letting go of his collar as your turned your now free hand to face Kyoto Student in front of you, who was looking down at you with a shocked expression on his face.

“Todo Aoi right? You see, Gojo-sensei asked me to meet up with him and I don’t want a headache since I know he’s gonna give me one later, so I’ll see you later okay?” you sinisterly stated, before opening your palm to him as you slowly bend your middle finger towards you while placing your thumb on top of it, right on the nail.

“That looks like a nice construction sight,” you nonchalantly mentioned as you looked up at the wooden structure behind you before speedily flicking out your middle finger, causing Todo’s body to suddenly be pushed back with an extremely large force of cursed energy leading to the wooden panels to instantly break once his body made contact before you assumed his body landed on the wooden flooring that was above since you couldn’t see him anymore.

“Gojo…” Fushiguro muttered in shock as he didn’t expect something like that to happen before he noticed the same hand that flicked his opponent away was coming towards him with the same gesture. 

Flicking his forehead gently, you turned to look at him with a straight face before you used the same palm to let your cursed energy become slowly positive with some concentration to heal his wound that was on his head.

“It’s not much since I haven’t perfected it yet, but it will deal with the blood loss before you go to Shoko-san, you drag” you commented before sighing.

‘There was no need for me to remove the charm after all, but that’s enough for me to gain information for the event’

“Megumi! Y/N!” someone shouted, causing you both to look up only to find your second-year seniors Inumaki and Panda looking down below you to where you remembered flicking Todo towards, leading you to assume that they went to where there was the most ruckus was happening. However, next to Panda was Todo, who smirked down at the sight of both of you below.

“Fushiguro, let’s train our hardest okay?” you muttered, so only your classmate could hear, leading him to look at your with confused eyes before you turned to him with a smile, “you’re really strong, but I know you and Kugisaki can get stronger, so just follow me when I need you to okay?” you asked, before standing up on your feet once you managed to stop the blood loss from Fushiguro’s head.

“Panda-senpai! Inumaki-senpai! Can you take Fushiguro to Shoko-san, Gojo-sensei said he needs me for a discussion, I assume Maki-san is with Kugisaki!” you yell out.

“Salmon!” Inuamki shouted back before all of the three sorcerers were out of your sights, causing you to turn back to Fushiguro before giving your hand to him to help himself up.

‘Grade-one Todo Aoi and grade-three Zenin Mai ha?’

                                          ꕥ

“Ah Y/N, my daughter there you are!” Gojo cheered in delight once he saw you on the other side of the sliding door before you decided to step in since it was left open, to who you assumed was your adoptive dad that opened it earlier for his own reason.

“Excuse me,” you muttered before taking a quick glance around the room before noticing that there were only two more people with you and Gojo right now. From a side glance, you noticed a girl, probably the same age as you or maybe a year older at the latest, with long blue hair with a slightly slanted fridge wearing a suit that seemed to suit her really well even if her youthful and adorable face. 

‘A semi grade two? No..maybe three like Mai…’

However, as your eyes shifted to the sight on the opposite side where Gojo was seated, there was an old man seated while holding onto a wooden cane, who seemed to be somewhere in his late 80s but you wouldn’t tell since he seemed too hollow for you liking, yet something about him gave you an off-putting feeling.

“I wanted to tell you about the two special-grade curses that attacked me the other day,” Gojo happily mentioned with a smile on his face, causing you to look at him with a confused expression since he seemed too happy for someone that got attacked.

“Why do you look so happy? That should be the opposite reaction Gojo-sensei,” you remarked, as you made your way towards him only for his response to be a little pout.

“How many times do I have to tell you? You can call me your dad,” Gojo childishly whined.

“Never,” you shut down his offer as quickly as you could before uttering him to tell you about the special curses he wanted to inform you about, only for him to suddenly pull out a piece of paper with two childish drawings on them, causing you to look at the art in a fed-up manner before snatching it off his hand to get a closer look at the curses that he masterfully drew.

“As I said before, the two cursed spirits were capable of communication and they probably have allies who are just as strong,” Gojo declared in a serious manner, causing you to shiver at the 180-degree personality turn that he had done right in front of you. 

“It’s not just our enemies, either. Hakari, Okkotsu, your Todo and now my daughter Gojo. The level of our students has risen drastically in recent years, as well,” Gojo stated as he stared at the old man before he processed with, “then there was last year’s incident with Geto Suguru and now, the appearance of Sukuna’s vessel,”.

“What are you trying to say?” the old man asked, as he looked at your adoptive father with an expressionless look on his face (not that you could ever tell if there was any expression in the first place).

“Hehe, you don’t know? The wave of power you guys have been trying to hold back with your pointless status and traditions has grown bigger than you can handle and is now descending upon us. You won’t be able to measure the coming age with the classification of ‘special grade’ if you think I’m the only one who’ll be fighting back, you’re going to get hurt, old man,” Gojo declared with a smirk on his face as he felt the presence of the realisation that was coming to you now.

‘That man...was the reason why…..Itadori….’

“I think you are getting a bit out of line,” the old man lightly threatened in a lower tone as he glared at the sorcerer in front of him.

“I think it’s you that’s getting out of line,” you muttered in vexation as you glared down hostility at the man sitting on the opposite side of the table as the paper that you were holding began to crumble in your grasp. “If you get to kill someone by using me as a tool, let me return the favour next time with your head,” you threatened in a spiteful manner causing the old man to look at you with the same hollow eyes as he did with Gojo.

“Oh! Scary! Well, that's all I wanted to say, I’ll be going now with my daughter,” Gojo mentioned, as he got up from his seat before placing his hands on each of your upper arms to push you towards the direction of the door, before guiding himself through that gap that was left open.

“Oh, Principal Yaga will be coming in about two hours. Later!” Gojo departed cheekily, before closing the door as he then guided you away from the room the higher-up was in since he knew you were in a state of shock at the discovery you had made about your deceased classmate: Itadori Yuji.

‘Those higher-ups are so useless, all they do is command other sorcerers to do their dirty work while acting if they are superior dear. If I could, I would kill all of them’

‘Mother….’

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 160: How much of Yuji’s life has been orchestrated? + Megumi the stage-five clinger

Happy JJK-Sunday!

If I had to describe chapter 160 with as few words as possible, I would say: Oh f*ck...

My favorite moment was, of course, Megumi acting like a stage-five clinger. His interaction with Yuji in this chapter is especially ominous in light of Yuji being adamant of protecting Megumi from Sukuna.

A second favorite was Sasaki showing up in this chapter because of the implications moving forward.

Let’s jump right in. 

How much of Yuji’s life has been orchestrated by Kenjaku?

We start the chapter with Kenjaku talking to none other than Sasaki, one of the members of the Occult Club at the high school in Sendai that Yuji used to attend.

Of course, the bomb that Gege dropped on us in this chapter is when Kenjaku thanks Sasaki “for getting along with my son”. 

Like... excuse you?

Not only does this 100% confirm that Kenjaku used Yuji’s mother’s body to give birth to him, but this specific moment + some foreshadowing from previous chapters also opens an interesting can of worms about Yuji’s life: just how much of Yuji’s life has Kenjaku orchestrated?

For me, the implication is that Sasaki had an assigned role to play in Yuji’s life that would inevitably lead to him eating Sukuna’s finger. 

I am assuming this because although we don’t see Kenjaku’s interactions with the other people in Sendai, we get to see that, in addition for thanking her for getting along with Yuji, Kenjaku is incredibly kind to Sasaki. We also learn that she’s the only one who has received a special message from him (thanking her).

Ready to make this whole interaction more ominous? Someone pointed out that the kanji in Sasaki’s name means assistant. 

All of this brings us right back to Yuji’s free will--or lack thereof?

We already know that Kenjaku claims he made Yuji “ingest” Sukuna’s finger and that Megumi is rightfully concerned with this idea because he witnessed Yuji eat Sukuna’s finger “of his own free will.”

It’s also becoming increasingly obvious that Yuji was "created” solely for the purpose of becoming Sukuna’s vessel. 

What this new reveal about Sasaki does is that it makes everything feel like certain events have been part of Kenjaku’s master plan all along. While this still feels a little farfetched, it will come down to how Gege works this idea into the story moving forward.

Come to think of it, even Yuji’s grandfather’s dying words to Yuji take on a new meaning since we know Wasuke knew something was definitively up with Yuji’s mother.

Another possible bit of foreshadowing all the way in chapter 1: While the intersection in the second panel below could be ANY intersection in Japan, it sure looks like the Shibuya crossing:

A quick note on the importance of kanji meanings in JJK before moving onto the next section: knowing the meaning of Sasaki’s name tells us that names are important in JJK. If you haven’t, I recommend you read my break down on the meaning of Megumi’s FULL NAME. His first name is important, but so is his last name.

The plans moving forward

Going off to Tokyo Colony #2 are Panda and Hakari. 

As the strongest, Hakari feels like he should take on Hajime. As for Panda, it looks like his focus will be on hunting down Angel.

Side note: I love that Hakari is still calling Megumi names. Guess Senpai can’t help himself.

I must admit I was disappointed to find that Kirara will stay behind to report, but it is what it is. I am assuming Gege could see no use for Kirara and decided to leave the character out of the action for the time being. 

As for Megumi and Yuji, they’ll be heading to Tokyo Colony #1 to target Higuruma, everybody’s new favorite Law & Order boss. 

This brings us to Megumi’s current state of mind...

Megumi the stage-five clinger

I had a hard time coming up with the title for this section because what I see happening is that Megumi is starting to feel the pressure of the looming deadline for Tsumiki joining the Culling Game. What his behavior shows, however, is that he needs Yuji with him and is clinging onto him but won’t come out and say it--opting instead for aggression towards Yuji, the very same person he needs most. 

His behavior reminded me of how Megumi could be mean to Tsumiki even though he clearly adores her. Apparently that’s the meaning of being tsundere. I’ve read about the term tsundere before but it never “clicked” until this moment and I just love Gege’s interpretation of the trope through Megumi’s character. 

It goes without saying that it was REALLY interesting to me to see Megumi’s dynamic and interaction with Yuji in this chapter because it looks like Gege is letting us know Megumi’s state of mind continues to be one of desperation--remember that dogeza bow from chapter 157?

The thing about Megumi is that he looks stoic on the outside, but he’s actually an incredibly emotional person who doesn’t often show how he’s feeling. 

I hadn’t caught on, but in chatting with @justafrenchlondoner​ about the chapter, they pointed out Megumi’s behavior in his dynamic with Yuji appears nervous and aggressive.

Upon a second look I have to agree that Megumi is acting out of character and aggressive with Yuji when all that Yuji really wants is to protect Megumi from Sukuna.

And yes, let me go ahead and sound like a broken record as I remind you of Yuji’s rather ominous words from chapter 143 yet again:

And this is the part of the chapter that knocked the air out of me: Megumi telling Yuji to stfu about Sukuna but Yuji thinking to himself “as long as I’m around you will suffer” back in ch143 is so damn ominous.

Oh f*ck...

But this is what REALLY gets me about this whole interaction and why I’m calling Megumi a stage-five clinger...

Even though Megumi is calling Yuji selfish, in reality, the one being selfish is Megumi.

This is, of course, my own interpretation of the situation, but to me it feels as though Megumi is clinging onto Yuji’s strength for dear life. 

It’s almost like Megumi needs not just Yuji’s physical strength, but also his unwavering conviction or mental strength.

If you think about it, Megumi has only recently started fighting to win. Remember how unsure he was of himself when fighting Sukuna for the first time? It wasn’t until he went up against the Cursed Spirit from the Yasohachi bridge that he let go of his inhibitions.

Megumi’s battles during Shibuya were the pinnacle of his growth as a character in that moment. If I remember correctly, according to the timeline of events, the Shibuya incident happened around two weeks prior to the current chapter. You could say that although he is more comfortable in his strength than before, Megumi is still growing into his strength at this point.

The thing about Megumi is that everybody and their Divine Dog believes in him and sees his potential except for him. As Gojo tells him “you undervalue yourself.”

Looking back, the way Megumi asks begs Yuji for help in chapter 143 is very enlightening of how Megumi needs Yuji’s strength: 

I initially had read this to mean Megumi needed Yuji’s physical strength. Upon second look, however, Megumi has always seemed to have admiration for Yuji’s conviction.

With the looming deadline for Tsumiki’s vow to join the Culling Game, as Megumi starts to feel the pressure to make his plan work, who better to keep around than the person who will always go for the home run and whose strength he admires?

In other words, like hell he’s going to let Yuji leave his side. Which, again, only makes it more heartbreaking to think Sukuna is up to no good regarding Megumi and Yuji wants to protect him from that.

Oh f*ck.......

The panel below feels like a bit of a lighthearted and comical moment, but it’s also interesting to note that this is the second time they “fight”.

The first “fight” having taken place during the Cursed Womb Arc.

If you will remember, Gege used the Cursed Womb Arc and the Origin of Obedience Arc to show us how much our favorite trio had grown. 

Not sure Gege is going to parallel something here again, but just interesting to note.

Oh f*ck...

Ya, please excuse the French.

Despite the many words I’ve shared here, this chapter left me mostly speechless. 

I feel like I’ve been trapped in Gojo’s limitless domain expansion and all I can think is “oh f*ck” or “halloween” (if you catch my drift).

Chapter 160 was incredible because it looks like Gege has finally finished putting all his pieces into place and is ready to go for the kill by: 

Starting to unravel the story bit by bit, giving us all of the twists we both saw and did not see coming, and

Ramping up the stakes. Taking into consideration the estimates that JJK is somewhere around 60-70% done at this point, It’s not a matter of whether some of our beloved characters will die, but about who, when and how they will die

One last detail

I love the last four panels of the chapter showing Panda, Hakari, Yuji and Megumi all wearing their uniforms (barring Panda) and getting ready to become official participants of the Culling Game by entering their respective barriers.

Knowing that Gege is a very talented artist capable of showing and expressing emotions through his art, I feel like these panels tell us a lot about what the characters might be thinking and I thought I’d expand on that. 

Bear in mind this is my personal interpretation as an artist:

Panda looks excited and ready to fight, perhaps even confident. Panda is saying “bring it!” with his body language

There’s a hint of something I can’t describe in Hakari’s face. It’s almost like he’s coming face to face against how big of a challenge this is going to be and yet he’s resolved to walk straight into “the depths of hell itself”

Yuji looks focused, determined to go in and give it his best no matter what comes his way--that’s just who he is

And then there’s Megumi. I’ve been drawing Megumi recently, and one thing I noticed is that he has very specific micro-expressions. In his panel, he’s warming up his wrists as though he’s getting ready to fight, he has a focused look on his face, but the shadows around his eyes say he might be feeling like he is carrying the heavy burden of the uncertainty surrounding the situation he’s going through

With all that being said... the Culling Game is officially starting and we’re in for a one-way ride straight to hell.

Thank you for reading and happy JJK-Sunday!

What about you? What did you enjoy most about chapter 160?

[megumisbimbo]

- Six -

megumi fushiguro x reader

genre: fluff, slight angst

summary: (y/n) was nothing special. A human being who had no idea that curses walked the same earth they walked. But then they locked eyes with Megumi Fushiguro. Can Fushiguro focus on the task ahead or will he be distracted by the king of curses and his new love interest?

series masterlist

©️ @megumisbimbo — all rights reserved. Please do not repost, modify or translate my work. Reblogs and likes appreciated!

Credit for the main storyline and characters goes to Gege Akutami.

tags: @xreemie @kitkozume @noyakura @vanilnya20 @tobi--o​ 

the songs are indicated throughout the story at certain points!

songs used:

in repair - john mayer

find you - nick jonas

streets - doja cat

— in repair - john mayer —

It’s been three days since the news of Yuji’s death reached you. To be honest, you’ve been a mess. Megumi has been as helpful as possible, cooking for you, tending to whatever needs you had. You’re more than grateful, and he is more than willing to help.

“(y/n), are you hungry?” Megumi asks, leaning against the doorframe.

“Mm a little bit.”

“I can make you something if you’d like, unless you’d rather order takeout.”

“I’m fine with whatever.” You say paying little attention to what he’s saying due to your inability to focus on anything. He notices your far away demeanor and settles on deciding for you.

“ok, then I’ll be back in a bit.”

“ok.”

Megumi’s eyes linger on your broken expression. He shared in your grief, and he understood that Yuji was very important to you and his death is affecting you intensely. He made his way to the school kitchen. A loud female voice pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Oi what are you doing?”

“Kugisaki. I’m making (y/n) something to eat.”

“What are you making?” She asks, walking over to the counter Megumi was standing behind.

“Itadori taught me how to make meatballs and I remember them mentioning that they like them so.”

“Need any help?” Nobara asks, tying her hair back away from her face, ready to help Megumi with his cooking endeavor.

“Sure, it’ll take less time then.”

Megumi and Nobara began working on the meatballs, carefully following the recipe that Yuji had taught.

You sat on your bed staring out the window, patiently waiting for the food Megumi would soon bring. However, your mind was elsewhere. Thoughts of Yuji flooded your mind.

Could you have stopped him from going?

No, he had to go. There’s nothing you could have done to stop him. He wanted to save everyone, even if it cost him his life and in the end, it did. The more you thought about him, the more your heart hurt. A knock at the door momentarily broke you from your grieving.

— find you - nick jonas —

“Come in.”

A tall figure walks into the room, a smile plastered across their face.

“Maki? do you need something?”

“Not really, just came to check on you. Megumi is currently slaving away in the kitchen making something for you and he said you were alone so I thought I’d keep you company.“ She responds, another smaller figure emerging from behind her.

“Salmon.”

“Oh, Inumaki you’re here too.”

“Tuna tuna.”

You giggle at his choice of words, still not used to the onigiri ingredients speech he tends to use.

“So do you have a curse?” She asks.

Do I have a curse.

Well if you count all the unfortunate events that seem to happen in your life, then yes, you had a curse. But you knew that’s not what she was talking about.

“No I don’t.” You respond.

“Well I don’t either, so we’re in the same boat.”

You give her a confused look.

“Wait, then how are you a sorcerer?”

“I use weapons imbued with cursed energy and my glasses help me see the curses I’m fighting. If I’m being honest (y/n), I came here to ask if you wanted to train with us, for the Kyoto exchange.”

Your confused expression turned into an absolutely bewildered one.

“No no I couldn’t, it’s only a month away, that’s not enough time for me to learn anything. Anyways I’m supposed to be keeping a low profile, I’m not supposed to be here. So there’s no way I could fight in a school wide event.”

“Well, we could train you in secret and then present you to Principal Yaga, he can give a placement test and if you pass you’ll be able to fight with us.”

“Salmon.”

You contemplate the suggestion carefully. Could you even become mediocre enough to fight alongside them? Well it’s worth a shot.

“I’ll do it.”

For Yuji.

“Alrighty then, we’ll get started tomorrow.” She says with an amused smirk.

“What starts tomorrow?” Megumi asks, walking into the room with two bowls and two sets of chopsticks. Nobara is trailing behind him carrying a large pot.

“I’m going to teach (y/n) how to use cursed tools so she can participate in the exchange.” Maki says.

“Is that enough time for them to learn? The Kyoto students are no joke.” Megumi responds.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Maki says winking at you. Inumaki exits with her leaving you three to eat your dinner.

Megumi directs Nobara over to the small table located in the center of the room. She places the pot on a small mat and opens it up. The familiar aroma fills your nose.

“Are those meatballs?!”

“Yeah come eat, Kugisaki made some ramen as well.”

“It’s my special ramen recipe, you’ll definitely like it (y/n)!”

You smile at the pair sitting before you. Oh how lucky you were to have such caring people in your life. They make this difficult time a little bit easier. You drop yourself onto the floor next to the table and Megumi hands you a pair of chopsticks. Kugisaki grabs one of the bowls and serves some of the ramen and places it in front of you.

“Ittadakimasu.” You say, more than ready to dig into the food your friends so carefully prepared for you.

“(y/n) try this.” Megumi says a meatball in between his chopsticks, which are sitting right in front of your face. You lean forward and bite into it, Megumi’s hand sitting underneath your chin in case you spill. Your eyes widen.

“This tastes just like Yuji’s!”

“I’m glad you think so, he taught me how to make them a little while ago and I remember you saying you liked them.”

Your expression softened as you stared deep into Megumi’s eyes. Both sets of eyes full of care towards the other, a small smile playing across each face.

“Bleh, save it for when you’re alone you two.” Nobara says, forcefully making her presence known.

You turn away from him, a light blush tinting your cheeks. The three of you sit and eat in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

Although, it did feel too quiet. You secretly hoped Yuji would burst through the door with a big smile and break the silence with a verbal sledgehammer. You missed his loud voice, his energy, his bravery, his hugs, his hands, his lips. You shake your head.

What were those thoughts about? Since when did you miss the way he felt?

You feel a hand land on yours jolting you slightly. You turn your head and see Megumi’s hand half clasped around yours, rubbing his thumb across your flesh.

“You’re crying (y/n), are you ok?”

Crying?

You touch your face and feel a dampness sitting on your cheek. When did you start crying?

Megumi lets go of your hand and wipes your cheek with the back of his. His hand lingers on your cheek and you lean into his warm touch.

I like the way his hands feel too, I wonder what his lips feel like...

“I’ll wash up the dishes” Nobara says, standing and collecting all the dirty bowls scattered across the table.

— streets - doja cat —

She exits the room, leaving you and Megumi alone. His hand finds his way back to yours, as he mindlessly scrolls through his phone. You lean your head onto his shoulder, wrapping your arm around his. He turns and gives you a soft kiss on your temple. His lips felt soft and warm. You wanted to feel them again.

“We should sleep. It’s getting pretty late.” He says, his face mere inches away from yours.

“Will you..stay next to me...just until I fall asleep.” You hesitantly ask.

“Sure.” He responds with a sweet smile. He smiles more often now, but only when he’s with you. As if, he only wants you to see him smile. As if his smile belonged to you.

“You can take a shower first.” He says, as he reaches his hands out to you pulling you up from the ground and into his arms. You let go of him and make your way over to the closet. You grab some pajamas and your shower stuff and walk into the bathroom. You take a quick shower, desperate to sleep this awful day away. You walk out of the bathroom, a towel around your neck, protecting your clothes from the water that drips from your hair. Megumi walks behind you, taking the towel off of your shoulders. He drops it back on top of your head, and begins gently massaging your hair.

“You don’t have to Megumi, I could have done it myself.” You say, a soft blush painting your cheeks.

“It’s fine, I wanted to do it anyway.” He responds, His fingers expertly rubbing your damp hair. His gentle movements slowly put you to sleep, and you catch yourself leaning back onto his chest. He throws the towel into the laundry bin and picks you up bridal style carrying you to your bed. You’re too exhausted to try and stop him, so you allow yourself to melt into his hold. He places you on your bed and gets into it himself. He keeps himself above the covers, giving you space so you can feel his presence without feeling uncomfortable. You slowly drift off to sleep.

You wake up when you feel the bed move. Your eyes open slightly catching Megumi sitting on the edge of your bed, ready to go to his own. You reach over and lightly tug on the edge of his shirt, getting his attention.

“Where are you going?” You ask, your voice groggy and strained.

“Back to my bed, I thought you were asleep.” He responds, brushing his soft fingers across your cheek.

“...Stay.”

He looks at you with a faint shocked expression.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I’m only a few feet away you could-“

“Stay.” You say, cutting him off mid sentence. He gives in, and lays back down on the bed next to you.

“Are you cold?” You ask.

“No I’m ok.” He says.

You know he’s lying. He’s actively shaking next to you, and he thinks you won’t notice? Nice try Megumi.

“Get under the covers, you’re shaking.”

He gives you a questioning look, making sure you actually know what you’re saying.

“You sure?”

“Yes Megumi I’m sure.”

He sits up once again, pulling the blankets up and over himself. You slot yourself next to him, facing his back. You subconsciously wrap an arm around him, placing your chin comfortably on his shoulder. Your breath tickles his ear, causing him to smile ever so slightly. He intertwines your hands and enjoys the warmth radiating from your body.

He wakes up early the next morning, your legs tangled together and your lips dangerously close to his. He must have turned in his sleep. He sets his smooth hand on your still sleeping face, running his thumb across the apple of your cheek.

“Cute.”

[autumn-foxfire]

A couple of disjointed notes on jjk designs

Along with female characters having you know personalities, motivations and arcs they also have very nice and non sexualized designs. Like its been so long since i saw so many female characters non of which felt like they were dressed up a certain way for the audiences sake. Like we got so many! We got five known girls out of just students so far and they all have varied designs in the way they wear their uniform and all of them seem to speak more about their personal sense of style and aesthetics rather than being made with horny teenage boy in mind. Like Maki has the shortest dress but she never once feels sexualized in it, its really great.

N like i didnt fully expect this because i remember watching the first ep and seeing yujis classmate get groped by a curse n sitting there like ah :) anime. But i think this was something that was on its way out of geges artstyle even then (with exception of meimeis brand new almost tit shot but meimei already makes me uber uncomfy so thats not out of line considering we barely see anything). Like in the prequel we also see a woman get groped by a curse n maki isnt wearing her hhh whats the english word stockings? So her legs are more bare but even then we dont ever see like anything we arent supposed to even tho she like does splits n stuff, mad impressive. So that leaves to me an impression that even back then Gege was hhh about this sort of stuff n maybe did it here or there cuz 'this is how shonen is done' but fortunatly decided to completely drop it by the time Nobara joined the team n honestly mad props cuz its rare that a manga makes me feel so comfortable about liking female characters, like off the top of my head id name nozaki kun n ouran and have beastars balance on that line sorta, its just so rare, especially in anime. N as a woman its so much easier to relate and love the female cast when they arent constantly being presented as blow up sex dolls. Its just really refreshing n really good n god bless geges soul for putting miwa in a suit to joy of every lesbian ever bls give her a scythe next BLS.

On a slightly different note, Momos anime design....YIKES. Like i think the anime so far did a p good job with colors, as far as im aware they changed toges color scheme p much entierly n he looks great, yuji has this dusty pink that looks real nice n maki has this dark green that looks very good. Miwa is sitting on a line for me tbh like she looks ok but i do think her hair color should have been idk like a little less pure blue? Little less saturated? Idk art lingo, but for me shes sitting on a line of 'she looks ok but ciuld have been better'. Like its weird in the op she looks nicer, the lighting gives her hair this silver-whitey feel that works very well for her but then in the anime her hair is just a tad bit too bright blue for me, still digestible tho.

Momo in my humble opinion looks like a disaster n im not just saying that cuz for some reason i thought her hair was sorta dusty pink like yujis. Like her hair is just so...bright. its this weird lemoney yellow that is such an eyesore n distracts me whenever i see a group photo, likw my eyes immidietly fly to her she sticks out like a sore thumb between everyone else with more natural looking/ better made unnstural colors. Like maybe if they went with a darker or more natural looking blonde??? Idk. Her hair is very bright n her face is the sort of pinkish pale n the two colors together seem to at the same time clash n melt into each other where at the same time the outline between her face n hair doesnt seem clear n they both just scream at you. Ill probably get used to it as the anime goes on but rn the prevailing feeling is '...is it too late to fix that?'

Oh also gojos eyes have been bothering me less so i think i got used to them after all, but mad props to both gege n the mappa (it botheres me more in anime cuz also color) to be able to convey a feeling of an ultimate top of the chain predator through eyes alone like SKILL. i think they also bother me cuz without his blindfold gojo just looks like a completely different character to me like if you showed me the two pics of him before i watched/read jjk i would probs say those are brothers not the same person. In conclusion im basically like a baby who starts crying when her dad shaves off his beared cuz she cant recognize him anymore.

That ends my notes on design for now

XD Lucy, I’m so glad you’ve fallen in love with JJK like I have. 

It’s a really interesting manga and I can’t wait for the anime to animate everying we’ve seen from the manga so far (it’ll hurt so good T-T). I especially love the girls designs because they just feel so much more... natural, then most female designs you get in anime. They feel like girls (also, can I just say how much I love how excited Nobara was to get a tracksuit of all things. It’s not something you really see in manga/anime and yet a girl that gets excited over comfy clothes is so much real to me XD).

I have similar feelings about Miwa’s hair. It’s way too bright in comparison to the rest of the anime designs, they should have dimmed it or something, she just stands out in a way that she shouldn’t have (though I do admit that I like the colour of blue... I’m so conflicted). And I don’t really mind Momo’s hair too much though I do think it could have been better colour of blonde (JJK using bright colours even though it’s such a heart-breaking anime T-T).

Gege and Mappa really did do a great job though T-T

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 12/21/19

Daytime Shooting Star, Vol. 3 | By Mika Yamamori | Viz Media – There’s less humor and more romantic drama in this volume, but that’s OK as the romantic drama seems to be slightly better. It helps that the teacher rejects the student, though I’m sure that’s not the end of it, and that scene manages to be the best in the volume. That said, Suzume is not the only one Shishio’s having issues with, and a lot of this book amounts to “sometimes you really do break up for the right reasons even if it doesn’t feel like it.” Honestly, the best relationship in the series so far may be Suzume and Yuyuka, who aren’t a romantic pairing but have the potential to be great friends provided they get past the love quadrangle. This is shaping up to be decent shoujo. – Sean Gaffney

Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 1 | By Gege Akutami | VIZ Media – Yuji Itadori is a member of his school’s Occult Research Club and when he finds a cursed object (a mummified finger that he eventually eats – ew!) he gets involved with a group of jujutsu sorcerers aiming to collect all the fragments of a powerful demon before they fall into the wrong hands. Spurred on by his dying grandfather’s words that he should help people, and by the realization that he’s the only person who can nullify the demon fragments before they cause more harm, Yuji joins up with their cause. This first volume was intriguing, if a bit gross at times, but Yuji feels really flat as a protagonist so far. I’ll keep reading for a bit in hopes that it all becomes more compelling. – Michelle Smith

Missions of Love, Vol. 19 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – This has always been a fairly saucy manga for Nakayoshi, and it feels appropriate that the final volume has Yukina and Shigure, now a couple (if you’re surprised perhaps you should look at the cover), snowed in and Yukina being far too forward… at least till she’s taught that sex really is a step too far for someone still brand new to her feelings of loving someone else. Elsewhere, the manga is somewhat satisfying—I just don’t like Hisame, and even though the triangle with him and Mami is left unresolved it feels like he’s going to win, which doesn’t make me happy. But Yukina is cute, and we even get a callback to the glasses/social awkwardness thing. This was VERY up and down, but worth the ride. – Sean Gaffney

Monster and the Beast, Vol. 2 | By Renji | Yen Press – I enjoyed and was greatly intrigued by the first volume of Monster and the Beast, a somewhat unusual BL manga, so I’ve been looking forward to reading the series’ second volume. As the plot continues to develop, it’s revealed that Liam’s natural charm isn’t entirely natural. He puts it to honorable use in this volume, but it seems it’s gotten him into trouble more than once in the past. While Liam and Cavo travel together, Liam softens and opens up a bit towards his companion, making it clear that he actually does care for him and isn’t just taking advantage of the demon (something Liam would be completely capable of). As for Cavo, he becomes a little more daring in expressing his feelings and desires, although he still gets delightfully flustered. Monster and the Beast has its cute moments as well as some deadly serious ones. – Ash Brown

Our Fake Marriage, Vol. 2 | By Kiwi Tokina | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Yae Sendo is living with her chidhood friend Takumi Natsume, now a famous architect, and posing as his wife to act as a buffer for all the chicks who want to bone him. Of course, he immediately starts putting the moves on her. Where are Yae’s family and friends to question this arrangement? Nonexistent. This premise was not the best to start with, but things take a downhill turn in volume two when Takumi tells her, “Resist if you want to. But I got no intention of stopping tonight.” By this point, she’s into it, but still.. this man basically said “I am fine with raping you” and it sends up no red flags! I assume readers were supposed to find story this sexy and/or romantic, given the implication that Yae was Takumi’s first love, but I find it icky and problematic. I shan’t be reading any more. – Michelle Smith

PENGUINDRUM, Vol. 1 | By Isuzu Shibata and ikunichawder | Seven Seas – Once again, I have not seen the anime this is based on, and I get the sense that a lot of the imagery probably works better when watched rather than read. Two brothers are dealing with a sister who’s dying, only to find her corpse possessed by the spirit of… something. Now they have to find a Penguindrum… and are not told what that is. And, on top of everything else, they run into a girl who’s very, very obsessed with her teacher. There are tidbits of a very interesting story here, and the possessed Himari can be quite funny (SURVIVAL! TACTIC!), but as with a lot of Ikuhara series that aren’t named Utena, I find it very difficult to get emotionally involved with it. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 12 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – I asked for more of Takane and Hana smirking at each other, and instead I get to what amounts to Takane losing his mind. He finally admits his feelings to Hana, who’s a bit poleaxed, and then proceeds to be an absolute ass for almost the entire rest of the book. He still has no idea how to properly interact with a girl he likes, and I hate to break it to him, but the solution to a relationship between a rich heir and an underage schoolgirl is not “well, whatever.” Hana spends much of the book simply exhausted, and I felt like that as well. Hopefully the next volume will get back on a more even keel, as I just don’t like Takane when he’s like this, and I don’t think Hana does either. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 18 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – MORE Negima flashbacks, as the author tries to sell me on a Negi/Eva romance I still really don’t want, and essentially finishes giving us the backstory related to how things got this way. Next it’s time for more romantic stuff, as Chamo wants Pactios. Kirie isn’t able to do it because of her power, but Kuromaru can… and finally works up the nerve to confess about their future gender choices. Tota, of course,l takes everything in stride, but still it feels as if, as with Negima, any romance in the series moves at the speed of a slug. We also add in Karin towards the end, who wants to pactio with Eva but is steered towards Tota, and confesses some of her past as Judas Iscariot to him. If you’ve read all of both series, this was OK. – Sean Gaffney

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | VIZ Media – I never doubted for a minute that this series would have a happy ending, but man, Toma-sensei really nailed the Water Dragon’s God’s terror in the face of mortality as well as Asahi’s abject despair when she believes he has died. It’s heartbreaking (and relatable). I also loved that Subaru’s confession prompts Asahi to take the initiative and get her smooch on with the Water Dragon God, and that he cries from his happiness. I will try not to think about how they’re going to navigate their future together and just be happy that they’re together. Looking forward to more Toma-sensei in the future! – Michelle Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 4 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – Another of the quartet of young apprentices takes the spotlight: Richeh, who wants to make her own magic and hates compromising. Sadly, that makes it hard to take tests, and she’s doing the next one, along with Agott and a third apprentice, a young man who seems to be abused and belittled by his instructor, but has a wealth of knowledge once he gets over his self-hatred. As always half the reason to read this is the art, which gives us the snake-like path that the test-takers travel down. And of course there’s Coco, who may not be taking the test but still finds a way to get herself into trouble, though more accurately trouble comes to her. This is still gorgeous and compelling. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 159: Justice is blind + Foreshadowing from chapter 6 and JJK0?

This chapter we’re introduced to Higuruma, one of the players in the Culling Game with 100 points who Yuji and Megumi will most likely target in an attempt to add new rules to the game. 

As I mentioned before, JJK is the equivalent of Murphy’s Law on steroids and we are guaranteed for Gege to pull the rug from under our feet. For all you know, the odds that Higuruma agrees to help them without a problem are 50/50.

Onto this week’s theories... This is a long one so brace yourself.

Higuruma’s Shikigami is the stuff of nightmares

Higuruma’s Shikigami, if that’s what it is, is loaded with symbolism. Perfect for my Cursed Technique of reading between the lines and over-thinking every single detail.

What I love about Higuruma is that he is a man on a mission--sort of like a Shonen Protagonist. He is single-minded in his pursuit of saving those he sees as victims to the monster that is the Japanese legal court system.

Despite continuing to put himself on the line for the people he is trying to “save,” the oppressive system that they are part of makes it impossible for him to achieve his goals. And yet, he keeps trying to fight the beast that is the legal system even when the odds of him ever winning are .1%.

In the end, it isn’t the legal system itself that breaks him, but rather his own unwavering conviction combined with his frustration and the anger from those he promised a victory he was not able to deliver despite his greatest efforts.

The only thing granted to all is an unfair reality

Lady Justice has been depicted as blind since the 16th century. Her blindfold is meant to represent her objectivity and impartiality before the law.

But Higuruma knows that a 99.9% conviction rate is anything but objective and impartial. Keeping his “eyes open” is his desire to bring awareness to a system that is broken.

What I found interesting, however, is that while Higuruma is intent on keeping his eyes open, his Shikigami’s eyes are sewn shut, as though they are being forced shut by thread.

If there is anyone who is closest to embodying the ideal of blind justice, it is Higuruma.

This makes me wonder how we’re going to see Higuruma’s character evolve, especially as he comes across Yuji and friends.

Higuruma vs. Megumi/Yuji?

Remember I said Higuruma might be willing to help Yuji and Megumi add a rule? I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen, but it is still a possibility. He does seem like a fair (pun intended) person after all.

What’s being set up, I feel like (and I could be wrong), is a showdown between two opposing belief systems: 

Higuruma’s blind trust in serving and facilitating justice vs Megumi’s self-serving justice.

Ironically, they both 

want to save good people, 

neither considers himself to be a hero, and 

their sense of justice is self-serving... they just have different criteria for what that means

Higuruma wants to facilitate justice for people who are innocent but are victims of the Japanese Law system. He’s done the research and he believes these people to be innocent and as having done nothing wrong. 

On the other hand, Megumi wants to facilitate justice for people he cares about no matter how potentially dangerous they are (and this last bit is really important). 

I realized recently that despite Sukuna having killed a lot of people during Shibuya, Megumi has not attempted to kill him since the Cursed Womb Arc. 

Remember, Megumi has said he’s responsible for those deaths since he was the one who saved Yuji.

In addition, not only does Megumi need Yuji’s strength to save Tsumiki, but I am going to go as far as saying that Megumi cares deeply for Yuji to the point he still doesn’t want him to die even after everything that has happened up to this point.

Which begs the question, how is Higuruma going to react to Yuji’s existence?

This brings me to the possible foreshadowing from all the way back in the Cursed Womb Arc and possibly even JJK0.

Foreshadowing from chapter 6 or Crack Theory?

When I first read the new chapter I was intrigued that one of the characters Higuruma is defending as an attorney has a similar backstory to Tadashi from back in chapter 6.

Although their face structure looks similar...

The circumstances are slightly different in that Tadashi’s case involved driving without a license and Higuruma’s client was drunk driving.

But if we’re willing to suspend judgement for a minute, this is important because, if it is, in fact, Tadashi he is referring to here, then this panel just goes to show that Gege foreshadows like a boss. 

And what if that girl who got ran over happens to be Rika from JJK0? 

There isn’t necessarily concrete evidence that Tadashi is the one who ran Rika over AND I would need to look at the timeline of events more closely, but if it IS the case... talk about butterfly effect in action.

But the foreshadowing doesn’t end there. Someone pointed out that in chapter 143, Megumi tells Yuji they aren’t heroes fighting for justice and that no one can truly ever judge JJS.

So... no one can judge sorcerers, unless judging is exactly what Higuruma has been doing to rack up points...

The fact that Higuruma has 100 points tells us he’s been on a killing rampage, and from everything we see him go through in the chapter and from that look on his face in the last panel, we should not be surprised that he’s gone off the deep end.

Honestly, characters who loose their shit (hello Feral Megumi) are one of my favorite things about JJK.

I am writing all of this because it goes to show that Gege does not show you anything in his story that doesn’t have meaning in the grander scheme of things. Which leaves room for interpretation about whether Saori and Yuko will have roles moving forward.

Right along these lines, in looking for a specific line from chapter 9, I ran into this little gem:

Is this foreshadowing about Tsumiki too? 

Maybe, maybe not.

As I said before, half the fun is in going through the journey of JJK unfolding before our very own eyes, while putting the pieces together from all of the breadcrumbs Gege dropped along the way.

But the fun doesn’t end there. I am fascinated at how as a fandom we willingly get traumatized when Gege kills off everybody and their mom that you cared about, while simultaneously loving every single minute of it.

We know it’s coming, and we’re there for it.

That’s Gege’s Cursed Technique for you... he gives you what you didn’t know you wanted.

Gege setting up the stage for madness

All in all, Gege has been painstakingly setting the stage for the madness that is to come during the Culling Game and the hype just keeps on escalating. If the Culling Game arc is anything like Shibuya, we can expect, again, Murphy’s Law in full effect. 

I was chatting with @darthdutton​ about how I started reading the Shibuya Arc only a few months ago and therefore I did not get to experience it as it was unfolding. 

It makes me so happy that I now get to experience the Culling Game as it happens and I am both so distraught and excited for whatever comes our way.

And when I say “whatever comes our way” I mean that I trust Gege to continue to surprise me.

I am here for the hype but I stay for the story

I loved this chapter! 

I thought it was the f*cking bomb.com because you can see Gege starting to tie loose ends from possible foreshadowing he shared at the beginning of the story. 

Plus, we got to see his story-telling skills in action as he creates yet another relatable character.

I truly admire Gege as a writer--the fact that he can come up with a story on a week-to-week basis, execute on it, create very human and relatable characters, set up foreshadowing all the way back at the beginning, and drop breadcrumbs along the way is just mind-blowing to me.

God, I love Jujutsu Kaisen.

Anyways... this was a bit long but I just felt like I had a lot to say about this seemingly insignificant chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, and as always, I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it!