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pancake-breakfast · 5 months

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Jujutsu Kaisen Ch. 242 Spoilers Ahead

Seeing Takaba's power in full swing is such a great reminder of how absolutely borked the power rating system is in Jujutsu Kaisen. The system is described as being a way to determine which sorcerers go to which jobs by having a sorcerer's grade show they're somewhat more powerful than curses of the same level, but throughout the series we see that both ability mismatch and politics make the system a bit more arbitrary than perhaps one would want when determining what curses they're gonna go up against.

Ability Mismatch Part 1: Nanami vs. Mahito

We first get discussion of this back in Junpei's arc with all the stuff between Nanami and Mahito.

Akutami makes it clear that, while technically a jujutsu sorcerer at a certain rank should be able to take out curses at their rank and lower (and Nanami, while only Grade 1, has an ability that allows him to do a LOT of damage to even special grades), a mismatch of powers can really upset the "rank" balance.

Both Nanami and Mahito are most deadly at close range, but Nanami's attack requires precision that Mahito's doesn't, and Mahito, being a curse, can just regenerate while Nanami can't. This means that while Nanami might be able to take down a special grade with a similar cursed energy level to Mahito, Mahito himself is going to give Nanami trouble because Nanami doesn't just have to have perfect offense. He also has to have perfect defense. Mahito, on the other hand, doesn't have to be perfect about anything.

Nanami's tough enough that the single hit he took from Mahito back then didn't kill him, but it did do a decent amount of damage.

It's easy to think that taking so much damage might be more or less a common job hazard for Nanami, but when he fights Jojo Siwa Shigemo Haruta in Shibuya, we see that's hardly the case. For all Shigemo's cowardice, he's actually reasonably competent, and between that, his ruthlessness, and his ability, he might actually qualify as semi-Grade 1. But when he kicks Nanami, Nanami doesn't even flinch, and Shigemo himself compares the feeling of the kick to kicking a wall of stone. What's more, the sword slash he landed on Nanami might have sliced Nanami's fancy shirt, but Nanami himself doesn't have a scratch on him. (Also, Nanami didn't flinch for that, either.)

Nanami's a tough cookie. Even Dagon, a low-to-mid-level special grade, comments on this when he sees Nanami didn't simply survive Dagon's fish attack, but has all his limbs and his wits (even if Nanami is a bit worse for the wear).

And, as anyone who watched the after-credits scene for Thunderclap knows, Nanami even took a direct hit from Jogo, who appears to be the strongest of the three cursed spirits Kenjaku's currently allied with, and whom he describes as being "as tough as eight or nine of Sukuna's fingers," and Nanami survived. Survived and is walking around, still holding his weapon, even when severely burnt by an attack we first saw Jogo use on Gojo's head when those two fought.

Point being, Nanami, a Grade 1 sorcerer, can absolutely hold his own against "lower tier" special grades, and is even likely to survive long enough to escape against some low-to-mid grades. But if he's up against a Grade 1 curse (or a low-level Special Grade like Mahito) with the wrong kind of close-range attack, they're gonna give him more trouble than expected.

But we actually see this "earlier" in the series, too, and against no one less than The Strongest himself.

Ability Mismatch Part 2: Gojo vs. Miguel (and theoretically some others)

I glazed over it in Part 1, but it's a bit difficult to gauge the exact grade of curse users. And I'm about to glaze over it again (for now), except to say that Miguel, the person Geto assigns to "keep Gojo busy" during the Night Parade of A Thousand Demons in JJK0, is probably (like Nanami) a rather tough Grade 1. He might maybe, possibly, be a Special Grade, but even if he is, what does it matter? He's up against the man, the myth, the legend, Gojo Satoru himself.

This fight should be a cakewalk for someone at Gojo's levels. Miguel might be a talented fighter, but you might have noticed he canNOT land a blow on Gojo. Meanwhile, Gojo is slapping him silly.

So why'd this fight last so long?

I mean, sure, Gojo was trying not to seriously injure any of Geto's family, but he starts the fight by telling Miguel he's in a hurry, and then reiterates he doesn't have time for all this later on. Why can't he speed things up?

Well, Gojo tells us himself.

The regardless of Miguel's own power level, the whip he wields contains a special-grade curse. Later in the manga (you were warned there'd be manga spoilers; get out while you can), we learn the curse negates other cursed techniques. Despite Miguel being unable to land a blow on Gojo, the curse is still mucking with Gojo's abilities. Gojo is basically slowly burning the whip away with sheer cursed energy, and he's probably only able to do that because, well, he's the strongest.

I think there's some discussion to be had on whether this fight gets dragged out because Gojo's concerned about Miguel using the whip on other allies of his, or if Gojo just wants something that might muck with his own abilities gone, or if Gojo's allowing himself to be distracted because he wants to give Yuuta a chance to tap more deeply into his abilities... but that's neither here nor there. The point is that Miguel, a considerably less strong sorcerer than Gojo, was still able to keep Gojo busy for so long Geto tells him he's late when he finally shows up. If Miguel hadn't had that technique-negating whip, it would have been much harder for that fight to have dragged on as long as it did.

But while we don't really see any other sorcerers or curses (beyond Sukuna and a quadruple-team-up of Jogo, Hanami, Choso, and Mahito) giving Gojo any real trouble in fights, the narrative lets us know that a few lower-grade characters (such as Grade 1 Sorcerer Hakari and the aforementioned Hakaba; Yuuta doesn't count at this point since the story's made it clear he pretty much matches Gojo at this point) might actually give Gojo a run for his money simply because of how their techniques work.

In fact, that stupid little ass Shigemo might also manage to escape Gojo (at least temporarily) or land a blow (though maybe not a killing one) due purely to his technique, and both Hakari and Hakaba definitely outrank him. Hells, Nobara might be able to get a hit on him if she could manage to create an appropriate shikigami, and she's not even Grade 1. Which reminds me....

(Seriously, guys. Get out now if you don't want spoilers for Shibuya.)

Ability Mismatch Part 3: Nobara vs. Mahito

Nobara might go into Shibuya under the premise that she's going to be assessed for advancement to Grade 1, but at this point, she's ranked as a Grade 3. And while one could make an argument that she should be Grade 1, it's also worth noting that when she sees watches Nanami go to town on Shigemo, she immediately feels horrendously outclassed.

So between those two things and just how much trouble Mahito gives Nanami, when Mahito goes after her, it should be an easy victory for his Special Grade self, right?

Wrong.

Unlike Nanami, Nobara's technique works best at range. She doesn't need to be close to Mahito to do damage to him. So once she gets him pinned down, she can start hitting him with relative ease.

What's more, at this point Mahito has split himself in two. AND one can't just damage his physical form to take him down. They also have to damage his soul, his sense of who he is. This isn't an easy task. At this point, only two characters have succeeded in it: Mechamaru (although he burned through a TON of power to do it) and Yuuji (because his technique is weird and because housing Sukuna makes him a Special Grade). AND Nobara isn't even fighting the real Mahito, so this duplicate is a bit more disposable than Mahito's actual body would be.

But Nobara's technique utilizes sympathetic magic. She only needs to damage part of the whole (or even just a doll that's been prepped as a stand-in with the smallest part of the whole) to hit a curse to its core. So by pinning Copy Mahito down and then smacking him with Resonance, she manages to land what's absolutely the most devastating blow Mahito has received yet.

That's right; the worst blow this Special Grade takes is from a Grade 3 (or, at most, a Grade 1 who's still technically outclassed by Nanami, who had to flee his first fight with Mahito, only did as well as he did in the second one because Yuuji was there, and... well, if you're reading the manga, you know how the third one goes). It's so bad that Mahito decides he's going to need to run away from her for a bit while he sets up a new strategy to take her out.

If she hadn't let her guard down at just the wrong moment, there's a good chance he wouldn't have won that fight. Man, what a difference that would have made....

But I've talked enough about ability mismatch. Let's move on to politics. Don't worry; this bit only needs one part, because there's one character who embodies getting screwed over by politics more than any other....

Politics: Maki and the Sway of Jujutsu Houses

Of all the students at Jujutsu High, Maki ranks the lowest: Grade 4.

Her own twin sister calls her a weakling, and by Jujutsu Society standards, her inability to sense or even see cursed energy without tools makes her worthless, little more than a normal human even if she has a Heavenly Restriction. To make matters worse, House Zen'in is old-school misogynist. Once it was clear she was born female, her only chance of being seen as a worthwhile human being by her family was by displaying impressive cursed energy and technique (preferably the house technique), but they already knew that wouldn't happen.

When twins are born into a family with jujutsu in their bloodline, any cursed energy they might inherit ends up split. Neither Mai nor Maki would ever have the kind of cursed energy their house demanded. While Mai ended up with some, it's barely enough to fabricate anything useful unless she seals it with a binding vow... which she does exactly once as she bestows the last of herself to her sister.

Maki's Grade 4 ranking puts her at the bottom of the stack, but she likely wouldn't even have that ranking if it weren't for Gojo. It's not like the Zen'ins were keen on her going to any Jujutsu High. They didn't want her to train, and saw her as little more than a failure and a bother. But Gojo wants to surround himself by strong allies in his students, and while I don't remember off the top of my head if he directly sponsored her enrollment, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he did.

And then he puts her up for assessment to jump straight from Grade 4 to Grade 1.

This might seem drastic if one has never encountered Maki, but as Miwa was quick to notice during the Exchange Event, Maki's Grade 4 title is hardly an accurate gauge of her ability.

While Maki's just as blown away as Nobara is by Nanami's display in Shibuya, when she ends up in Dagon's domain, she doesn't even slightly end up fish food. This is of course due in no small part to Dagon grossly underestimating her, but as she points out, his perception of her power level is inaccurate enough that he's unable to finish her with one blow.

Shibuya Arc Maki probably would have lost to Dagon, and lost hard, had she been on her own. Even with two Grade 1s fighting beside her, they weren't able to make a lot of progress. But then everybody's favorite (and Maki stans most-loathed) character Toji shows up to give us a bit of foreshadowing of what Maki can become. Because it's not any of the sorcerers that takes Dagon down. They mostly stand there slack-jawed while Toji, a man with zero cursed energy whatsoever and thus who couldn't hold a rank in Jujutsu Society on technicality alone, beats the shit out of Dagon.

It takes a while before Maki reaches (and then quickly surpasses) Toji's level, and after she does, she eventually goes toe to toe with Sukuna, the King of Curses himself.

Sukuna immediately recognizes her as a tough opponent. She withstood the rain of fire he sent via Nue and doesn't have a scratch on her. And while Sukuna notes his cursed energy output is all over the place, he also notes his physical movement is fine, right where it should be.

This doesn't stop Maki from landing several hits on him, even without Itadori running support. In fact, she and Itadori might have taken down Sukuna then and there if his backup hadn't shown up, so I think it's safe to say she's definitely at Special Grade level now, and probably even outclasses de-Sukuna'ed Itadori.

But at this point in the story, Grades are pretty much irrelevant. After all, they're a function of Jujutsu Society, and between Geto's disappearance, Maki's slaughter of Clan Zen'in, and Kenny's murder of all the Jujutsu higher-ups, subsequent forceful takeover of the resources in House Kamo, and Idle Transfiguration to bring back both a bunch of old-timey sorcerers and awaken a bunch more sorcerers (including a large number of Special Grades), formalized Jujutsu Society is effectively gone.

Even when it was there, it had a TON of outliers just due to politics. Maki aside, curse users are by definition separated from it, and as such they aren't granted ranks. Maybe there were more Special Grades hiding amongst them this whole time, but who can say? They're largely untallied, unaccounted for, and untested.

Jujutsu Society never had room for outliers. How fitting, then, that the house known to be the most unforgiving toward outliers would fall to the person they saw as their worst outlier?

But Let's Get Back To Takaba

And we thought Hakari's cursed technique was weird.

Takaba's ability bends reality to his will. If he wants things to go a certain way, they do. If he thinks something's funny, it happens. And everyone around him is caught up in it.

He's basically a World of Darkness marauder dropped into Jujutsu Kaisen. I'd say, "Thank God he's on our side," but long-term, that might not actually pan out so well. His lack of awareness of his own powerset means if he's in the right mood, he could easily sweep up allies and foes into his particular brand of reality fuckery, complete with altering their states of mind to what he needs for whatever scene he's creating.

Kenjaku is losing to him.

Since he was so eager to flee Gojo, it might be easy to forget that Kenny is MORE than competent with Geto's body both in hand-to-hand combat and in cursed technique use. At the end of Shibuya, he implemented Geto's technique to a level we never even saw Geto use as he employed several techniques from the array of curses he'd collected, signing it all off with Mahito's Idle Transfiguration on a national level. Geto wishes he could have pulled this off.

Then, when Kenjaku went after Tengen, he soundly beat Choso (who might be inexperienced, but is quick to adapt and hardly weak) and, with a much greater level of difficulty, took down combat specialist and Special Grade layabout Yuki.

Point being, he can hold his own in a fight. What's more, he's repeatedly shown he has a mind for strategy and is more than willing to take the time to plot out elaborate plans that take lifetimes or even centuries to come to fruition.

But that's just it. Takaba is not letting him think. Literally. All his thoughts just become part of the bit, which gives Takaba an advantage and keeps Kenjaku on his toes.

I'd say this is a true battle of wits, but Takaba seems to be acting more on instinct than anything else, so I'm not sure wits come into play at all on his side of things.

But until he showed up, Kenny hadn't spared Takaba a second thought. Takaba isn't brimming with cursed energy like Yuuta and he hasn't been overtly displaying his strength in a way the Culling Game measures like Higuruma, and so he wasn't even a consideration to this centuries-old sorcerer in a Special-Grade body.

Is Takaba Special Grade? Who knows. His output of cursed energy isn't high enough for others to be actively targeting him, but his technique itself is so bonkers-crazy it's taking down someone else who was once called The Strongest and who's being piloted by an evil mastermind. And it's doing it casually. Takaba is having the time of his life, seemingly having completely forgotten that he and Kenny are locked in a fight to the death (if Takaba ever knew that in the first place).

Maybe it was nice to think this was a series with a stereotypical power structure that could be easily defined and ranked up within. Then again, it was also nice to think this was a series where the stereotypical hero-type characters come out on top through the power of friendship, and look where that's got us.

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anonymousewrites · 5 months

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Of Two Worlds (Book 3) Chapter Six

Fushiguro Megumi x Half-Curse! Reader

Chapter Six: Angel

Summary: (Y/N) and Megumi meet the Angel, reunite with Itadori, and the next phase of their plan begins. Oh, and other people's schemes are coming to fruition.

Mouse Note: Lots of plot, both Gege's and mine.

(Y/N) jerked up as she awoke, instantly summoning daggers in case she was in danger. Beside her, Megumi woke at the sudden movement and sat up.

“Good morning, Destined One, Celestial One,” said the Angel, smiling at them. “Did you sleep well?”

“How long were we out?” Megumi looked away from the Angel to a familiar face standing at the window. “I’m talking to you, Itadori.”

“About two days? It’s the night of the fourteenth. (L/N) nearly woke up a few times, but she needed time to heal as well,” said Itadori.

(Y/N) nodded. Her injuries had sealed within her, but her usage of Reverse Cursed Technique hadn’t completely healed her. It made sense that her energy had been sapped. But if I could summon it again, the exhaustion would be worth it.

“Yo! Are you awake?! You must be hungry, so I swiped us some eats!” A strange man in a half-naked, half-clothed outfit and covered in smiley-faces.

“Pino ice-cream!” said Itadori excitedly.

“Did they have chocolate mint?” asked the Angel.

“Yep! At shops where there’s still electricity, the frozen foods are still good. But why’s the power on?” asked the man.

“Can’t you guess?” said the Angel as they opened their sweet treat. “There hasn’t been an earthquake, and cursed spirits don’t attack buildings. There might be leakages, but it was decided to supply power from outside for the people left behind.” They glanced at the smiley-face man. “Takaba, you became a player outside, right? On the way here, did you hear anything on the news?”

“I don’t watch much news,” said Takaba.

“Naïve adults are just evil, you know?” said the Angel.

“Maybe Kenjaku did it through the higher-ups so that it wouldn’t interfere with the Culling Game,” said Megumi, sitting beside (Y/N) on the edge of the bed. “For now, I gotta use the toilet and take a bath. Give me the details after I’m done.”

(Y/N) nodded. “I need to get cleaned up, too.”

“I can help you,” said the Angel, offering a hand to Megumi.

He ignored her and instead lifted (Y/N) up with him, gentle and careful in case she was still injured. It was odd, but with everything happening, he didn’t care about acting gentle with her and revealing his preference towards her.

Later, once (Y/N) and Megumi were clean and had food in front of them, the discussion of their situation and the state of the Culling Game continued.

“So…Itadori came across Takaba fighting, and then you came across Kurusu—” the Angel’s host, a teenage girl “—with (Y/N) and I?” said Megumi.

“Yep,” said Itadori.

“You should have been more careful,” said (Y/N).

“Aw, well, you know,” said Takaba, Itadori, and Kurusu jovially.

“But thank you,” said Megumi, bowing his head, and (Y/N) made the same gesture.

“Anyway, check this out, Fushiguro, (L/N),” said Itadori excitedly. He gestured to his kogane that displayed various player information. “Hakari got one hundred points! And that’s not all. Okkotsu snagged 190! Add in your guys’ points and Kurusu’s, Takaba has none, and we’ve got 379! We’ve met out quota! Fushiguro, now we can help Tsumiki!”

Yes, yes! All that’s left is to figure out how many points are needed to leave the game, thought Megumi in relief.

(Y/N) smiled slightly at the idea of saving Tsumiki.

“Can we use yours, though?” said Megumi, glancing at Kurusu.

“I don’t really have any use for them,” said Kurusu, smiling at him.

“I have more questions for you, Kurusu,” said Megumi. “We’re looking for a player called ‘the Angel.’ We heard they were in Tokyo Colony No. 2. So…are you the Angel? Why did you help us? And why are you in Tokyo No. 1?”

“Yes, I’m the Angel.” A mouth opened up on Kurusu’s cheek, and the group started. “You shouldn’t ask girls so many questions.”

(Y/N) blinked. So, Kurusu and the Angel were like Itadori and Sukuna (though hopefully not as cruel).

“Oh? She’s like me,” said Itadori.

“To answer your question,” said the Angel. “The reason Hana saved you is previously you—”

“Gah!” Kurusu laughed nervously and slapped a hand on her cheek. “Why not help a guy who’s collapsed? And his friend.”

“What a kind soul!” said Takaba and Itadori.

(Y/N) was unused to the idea of someone acting out of kindness and doubted it. But, she also couldn’t understand what another option could be. Then again, she wasn’t good with emotions.

“You must know my Cursed Technique if you were looking for me,” said the Angel, their mouth appearing on the back of the hand covering their original mouth. “I negate Cursed Techniques. Barrier Techniques, including seals, are no exception, so we can go in and out of barriers. There are more curses than players in Tokyo Colony No. 2. Maybe it’s because of the sea. That’s why I came here.”

“Why? If you avoid the night, predicting what curses will do is easier,” said Megumi.

“My objective is to wipe out all players who’ve reincarnated,” said the Angel. “Most of them do it by suppressing the vessel’s originally owner, whether intentionally or subconsciously. And that’s against God’s laws, so it’s wrong.”

“God?” said (Y/N), cocking her head.

“That’s just a name I give to my beliefs. Pay it no mind,” said the Angel. “So I’ve decided to live in symbiosis with Hana.”

“Then don’t reveal stuff about me, okay?” huffed Kurusu.

“Can your technique let vessels take back their bodies?” asked (Y/N).

“It’s not impossible, but it’s extremely likely they will die,” said the Angel. “Because the cursed object and body fuse. So it’s difficult to strip one away. Is there someone you want to fix? Sorry, but I doubt I can help.”

“No, we want you to remove a seal on the Prison Realm, a Special Grade Cursed Object,” said Megumi.

“Yeah, I can probably do that,” said the Angel.

Megumi and Itadori fist-bumped, and (Y/N) nodded.

“First I need your cooperation. Then I’ll remove the seal,” said the Angel.

“Surely, you don’t want us to kill every incarnated player,” said Megumi, narrowing his eyes.

“I am not that greedy,” said the Angel. “There’s one I especially want to butcher. The Disgraced One. I promise that if we kill that player, I won’t hesitate to help you.”

Itadori started suddenly, and all eyes went to him.

“Itadori? What’s wrong?” asked Megumi.

“I, uh…don’t feel well,” said Itadori.

(Y/N wasn't good at emotions, but she could tell he was lying.

“Kurusu, mind if I lie down on the sofa?” said Itadori.

“Go ahead,” said Kurusu, and Itadori moved behind her.

While Kurusu still faced Megumi and (Y/N), Itadori gestured behind her. He pointed at himself and drew shapes over his cheeks. Megumi and (Y/N) glanced at each other to confirm their fears.

Sukuna Ryomen was the Disgraced One. The Angel wanted to kill Sukuna, and that meant killing Itadori. (Y/N) and Megumi knew Itadori wouldn’t mind. He’d let himself die to save others. But (Y/N) and Megumi were unwilling to let that happen.

“That’s odd,” said the Angel suddenly, breaking the stream of thoughts each member of the trio had. “A large number of people are entering the colony.”

“You can tell?” asked Megumi.

“No, not me,” said the Angel. “The kogane!”

“Yes, indeed,” said the Angel/Kurusu’s kogane.

“Display the number of players from ten minutes ago,” said the Angel.

Sure enough, there was a steady uptick in the numbers, into the hundreds. Something was happening.

“We must leave at once,” said the Angel.

No one argued, and they all stood and ran out of the apartment and down the stairs.

“I suspect that Kenjaku’s goal is the mass slaughter of non-sorcerers by cursed spirits,” said the Angel.

“But why?” asked Itadori.

“It’s a fail-safe in case the Culling Game players don’t produce enough cursed energy,” said the Angel.

“But why would a thousand normal people come flooding into the colony?!” cried Itadori.

“It’s probably my fault. My fans are rabid,” said Takaba.

“This is no time for jokes,” said Megumi.

“Sorry!” said Takaba.

“I thought jokes were supposed to be funny and make people laugh,” remarked (Y/N).

“He’s not a good comedian,” said Megumi, steering (Y/N) away from misunderstanding.

The group ran through the common room of the apartment building, and the moment they were in the open, a handheld device was thrown at them. It landed by them, and Itadori kicked it up to the ceiling before it exploded around them.

A troop of soldiers stormed into the room around them, holding guns to their heads as the sorcerers were faced with regular humans as enemies.

Military? (Y/N)’s eyes narrowed. Kenjaku is sending them to die, and they have no idea.

The soldiers opened fire, and the group dodged behind columns. (Y/N) pressed against the stone beside Megumi.

“They’re not here to protect the civilians, are they?” said (Y/N) darkly.

Megumi raised his hands to summon his shadows and fight. “We’ll have to ask them directly.”

Lunar Cycle: Half Moons. Her war fans would take some bullets from human weapons.

“I hate that man,” said Ren, leaning back against a pillar after Kenjaku had left.

“We need his connections to fulfill our plan,” said Uraume, keeping their wife focused as they began to prepare a room fit for a king. “Let him do as he pleases while we wait for the time to come.”

“Tengen is no concern to me,” said Ren. “It is the mere fact due to our husband’s foolishness, we have to put up with such a man.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Do not forget his contract with Sukuna allowed him to return,” said Uraume.

“He wouldn’t have needed a contract if he never went into business with Kenjaku,” responded Ren.

Uraume hummed. She was right, of course. “But our plan will bring him back to us.”

“As long as he follows it,” said Ren, nodding.

“I cannot imagine he’d want to remain in contract with Kenjaku any longer than he has to,” said Uraume.

“No, neither can I,” said Ren. She narrowed her eyes. “However, a thousand years have passed. You and I lived it together. Sukuna was alone.” She tsked. “And beyond that, we have you-know-who to deal with.”

“Do you believe his plan could work?” asked Uraume. “The ramifications…This is an experiment at best.”

“If it goes right, then everything desired will return, and there may be something akin to peace when the dust settles,” said Ren.

“And if it goes wrong?”

“You know what happened last time. Humanity and divinity broke apart,” said Ren. “I can’t imagine what will break this time.”

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unclassedguy · 7 days

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The Details of Genderbend Naoya Au:

*yap incoming*

Just a collection of my thought process and ramblings about this collection of drawings to scratch the itch in my brain.

General ramblings:

This is not a fleshed out au. There isn't much of a storyline and I don't exactly know if I will ever make one.

The au doesn't follow the jjk canon apart from some general things like Toji leaving Megumi and Tsumiki etc.

The ‘story’ follows Naoya Zenin after an accident that should have killed him instead leaves him unscathed. That is, until he wakes up the next day with a girl's body, a kogane companion, and the ability to see strange creatures (cursed spirits) and people who should have been long dead.

Bro is basically now part of a culling game-esque event involving people who were saved from death like him, those who died long ago and were resurrected, and creatures that should have never entered the living realm. Some people such as him with bad karma for their actions, are given certain handicaps and/or punishments when they're brought back from death. Hence girl-Naoya.

But, by destroying the souls of beings with even more bad karma than you, you can gain points that will give you access to abilities (cursed techniques) or lessen your own punishment or handicap.

The Kogane function the same here as they do in canon.

Basically, this is me drawing fem Naoya with a bunch of extra steps 💀

Drawing one:

A lot of the ‘story’ of this au just happened randomly as I was doodling, Kenjaku and Takaba running Naoya over being part of that.

I wanted to draw Naoya reacting to him becoming a girl for the shits and giggle, yk, the sillies

And before I knew it I had Naoya getting run over by a truck 💀

The reason Takaba is the driver is because of that one scene in Kenjaku vs Takaba, Kenjaku is in the passenger's seat just because.

There is no reason as to what they're singing besides me wanting them to have been distracted by something goofy

You might have noticed Naoya is holding something. Idk what it is though

Its like….a wand…a club…? It's based off his first form as a cursed spirit, the one where he looks like a worm

Yes, his shirt does indeed say “why women deserve less”. It's based on that one fanart of him reading a book with the same title.

Drawing two:

The first thing I thought of when I imagined Naoya going on a ‘quest’ to become a man again was that ant carrying a bindle.

(It gives pathetic energy, which i enjoy giving my Naoya drawings)

This is actually my first time drawing Hana, I actually like drawing her

I'm so sorry to people who like Nobara and Maki, I can't draw them that well 😭😭😭

I'm thinking Hana/Angel are trying to fix whatever is going on with the souls of the deceased/players, and are thus gathering allies (though they also want to defeat a certain king of curses even in this au as well 👀)

Naoya ends up joining her, Maki, and Nobara as allies (no one is happy about this)

They will put him in his place, especially Maki.

(I wonder what would happen if he met Yuki…)

Naoya and Hana is a combination I didn't think I'd ever draw interacting tbh 💀

But for some reason that's what ended up happening

Other thoughts:

It's so cute how the kogane have different designs sometimes based on who they belong to. It reminds me of the crows in kny.

I wonder if they're meant to represent something about each player???

For example, the one we see with Naoya when we're first introduced to his curse form has a skull like face, which we later see on Naoya's second curse form.

His looks so crusty and I love it

I rlly wanted it to be his companion in this au

Honestly, I was thinking Naoya upon turning into a girl would try everything he could to make himself look more traditionally masculine

But I still wanted to draw him in a skirt, you know, because

So…uh…yeah 👍

His ass doesn't even want to be a woman, but let's be fr, he be styling his hair in the mirror or some shit thinking things like ‘if only every woman paid half as much attention to how she holds herself as me!’ Thinking he's giving everyone a good example or something 💀

Stfu Naoya

I have a third addition to this collection of drawings in the works. It'll probably be up in a few days, depending on if I have time to work on it or not. This will probably be the last piece of this au for a while.

Part 1 , Part 2

#naoya zenin #naoya #jjk naoya #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk au #genderbend

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halt-kun · 6 months

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Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 240 - Idiot Survivor ~Live On~

Is Kenjaku going to die ???

Or the other guy that makes jokes ?

We know Kenjaku probably won't die right away but he might be weakened and fail to notice some people are coming after him

potentially saving joke guy before he's killed

Very nice artwork

Yuji has a cursed tool ????

Okay micro flashback

I agree with Angel, don't let him roam freely like that

Okay I agree yet again

Winning against Sukuna would be hard too but we will

and I doubt they'd be in a good enough condition to fight Kenjaku after that

It was a reasonable choice too

Mei Mei, you're strong enough, don't undervalue yourself

You have the special grade for a reason too

REALITY WARPING

SAY IT

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wanted to be sure about it

well if he stops believing it's fun he dies

I'd die immediately too

his mental health is either way too good or in shambles to be able to use that technique

REALITY WARPERS ARE SCARY

Yes Kenjaku, find out how dumb techniques can fuck everything you know

Don't let your guard down, his sense of comedy must be so twisted

he finds the worst things funny

HAHAHA

COMEDY

isn't what it used to

THANKS KENJAKU FOR ONCE

You shouldn't have talked, he's going to destroy your self worth and then your technique will stop working

POOR GUY

Kenjaku is good at trash talking who would have known ?

Also h's into comedy, okay, does he know killing everyone in Japan will greatly affect the number of funny things happening ?

WTF

HAHAHAHHA

no I lost

It's only going downhill for you

I'm scared my guy

Geto is a thirst trap walking around, WE KNOW

please don't start wanting to bone him, you'd anger Gojo

OH NO

I was so convinced Hazenoki survived

well shit

Not fun my guy

you see Takaba, he isn't funny at all, don't think he's

He's not funny and you are

You're not fun

So he isn't dead yet but maybe we'll see a switch in how he uses his techniques

#jjk 240 #jjk manga #jjk liveblog #jjk spoiler

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cursedvibes · 4 months

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I found this by one of my (ex) moots who have unfollow me, cause now they're anti -JJK :

"JJK really went from a loved manga to a mid-to-bad story with insufferable fans 🙏 may more of us hate it in the future. It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated".

I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game. And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya, im glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore"

Do you think Culling game is hard to understand, cause several of my (ex) moots also start dislike JJK after that arc?

I can't speak for everyone who dislikes jjk, but I think for most people who dislike the Culling Games, it's a sort of recency bias (except in the opposite way it's usually used). Many criticisms levied against the Culling Game were also said during the Shibuya arc as it was coming out and are showing up again, now that it has been animated. Things like "too many fights", "I don't care about these new characters", "the pacing is shit", "killing too many main characters makes deaths meaningless", "Yuuji isn't even the main character anymore" are often said for the Culling Game arcs, but also something I now see a lot from anime-onlys for the Shibuya arc. It's just how Gege writes and either you like it or you don't. A lot has also to do with binge-reading something and reading it weekly (especially if you don't reread chapters). The flow of action and payoffs are much more apparent when you binge something than when you have to wait for little titbits of the story to come out and stew for weeks over setups for later plot points. Any minor grievances you have are also easier forgotten when you read the full story. Problems like "I don't know what's going on or who these characters are and therefore I don't care" show up a lot when you aren't used to or don't like reading something weekly. There are people who complain that they don't know who Higuruma or Kashimo are, when it is very easy to remember that if you just keep the story in mind, reread past chapters or only read full arcs. They certainly don't lack characterization. Gege's writing definitely has flaws, especially recently, but we got to know plenty about Higuruma, Kashimo, Takaba etc.. Someone might not like them or isn't interested in their stories because of personal taste, but that's not Gege's fault. I for example like the Culling Game much more than Shibuya or Hidden Inventory and I think Shibuya can drag a lot at certain parts, but the highlights still make it a good arc. Perfect Preparation and Culling Game just has more to offer to me because it focuses on different characters and I like the new ones generally much more than say the Kyoto school group. Each of the new characters have tons more depth than any of the curse users that worked for Kenjaku previously and thereby liven things up a lot. Not to mention more lore. Thing is, if your favourite characters appear less and you don't like the new ones much, that will inevitably turn you off the story. That's valid, but personal taste is subjective, it's not what makes the story bad.

There are plenty criticisms to be made and you can clearly tell that Gege is rushing some parts of the story now, so I can understand if people stop reading because of that, but it's a matter of if the highs outweigh the lows. As whole arcs, I definitely don't think Culling Game is any worse than Shibuya. Or that Perfect Preparation is worse than Hidden Inventory (I think those are better to compare, since HI has a very different focus and is much shorter than Shibuya or CG). I'm a bit sceptical about the final fight against Sukuna in Shinjuku (excluding Kenjaku's part and Hakari vs Uraume from this for now, I liked those), but there's enough there to keep me invested and continue reading. I can understand though if that's not the case for others. Similar for the controversial timeskip and don't even get me started on Sukuna vs Gojo. Some criticism I don't agree with (sorry but Takaba vs Kenjaku was actually good), but there are other valid points to be made. For example, I recently saw a discussion on twt about how we are barely shown Gojo interacting with the students he supposedly cares about. I can totally understand that, especially when we are given more flashbacks to what happened during the timeskip and Gojo isn't in any of them and apparently not invested in what his students and friends are gonna do in case he dies. It does give the impression that he just doesn't give a shit about any of them anymore and it doesn't help his lack of characterization and character development post-unsealing.

Generally, I think it's best for these people who are "anti-jjk" to just drop the show if they can't enjoy anything about it at all. There are many more mangas, animes or other stories out there they could read/watch, instead of forcing themselves through something they don't like. I do that with plenty of stories as well. So if your ex moot decides to drop the manga and anime because they don't like it anymore, good. Find something else.

I think their criticism that jjk "snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows" makes no sense though. That isn't even the case within the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. If something is good, people will read it. Look at the boom for Kagurabachi, a series that just started and is already loved and continuously in the top 10 of the Jump App. People can read multiple stories at the same time, that's the whole reason these magazines don't just feature one manga. Sure, some really good stories out there are less popular, but that's not because of jjk. JJK being popular doesn't stop me from reading Houseki no Kuni or Monster, mangas that aren't as well known. One Piece or Pokemon aren't stealing anything from jjk, so why would that be the case for jjk and some lesser known manga. There are more complicated reasons for why something is getting less traction than just "series x has gained popularity". And I don't like powerscalers or your average blue checkmark anime fan on twt either, but then just ignore them. They are in every shonen fandom (and seinen and shoujo, although in case of shoujo it's a little different but not less obnoxious). Other fans having shit tastes isn't new or unique to jjk. That's just fandom.

Either way, glad this person moved on to another series, may they be happier there.

#asks #jujutsu kaisen

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duckiemimi · 5 months

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244. NOW WE’RE TALKING.

oh, wow…you have no idea how long i’ve waited to see “deadly sentencing” and judgeman in action again.

i have tried predicting the yuuji and higuruma vs. sukuna battle for chapter 239 (click for the full post), but we had the pov change to takaba (and yuuta), so i thought it was a bust. imagine my surprise when some of those predictions came true. the joint trial, for example, and sukuna becoming a co-defendant.

(and yuuji’s punch of friendship,

sans the friendship.)

i like how much we delved into the Japanese legal system and how it ties into higuruma’s CT! i find it so interesting that despite his disillusionment towards the justice system, higuruma’s CT is very much based on it (reminds me of me…). i’m actually pretty excited to see the outcome of the trial (and i wonder if any of my predictions will be right hehe judgeman i love you).

i also mentioned this before (click), but chapter 240’s cover could be a hint at whose povs we’ll get next:

so after a couple chapters with yuuji and higuruma, we might switch back to yuuta (and takaba, if he lives), or hakari, or even maki. i think these four specific characters have specific tasks they’re “in charge” of or have important roles in. the other characters will most likely be put into action, too, helping, having more minor roles.

and ah yes, gege and his classic flashbacks—i actually really like how their plan is gradually revealed to us, step by step. i thought it was pretty effective in this chapter! i think the overall plan will fully be revealed before they regroup and fight the “big bad,” whoever that will be, the peak of this arc.

they did touch on gojo a bit, on how yuuta (and takaba) would move towards kenjaku after gojo’s loss. i guess they weren’t expecting him to die…but then again, the people involved in this plan are people who aren’t afraid to die, so i guess they were ready for that possibility, no matter how minute :’) i wonder where gojo was during this meeting, actually. training? visiting? was this when he talked to gakuganji?

for now, i guess what’ll happen to kenjaku will only be revealed when the pov switches back to yuuta (and takaba). very “keep you on your toes,” gege.

#they also mentioned the death penalty here #i’m a little nervous bc idk how gege will go about that #it almost reminded me of pfam actually #jjk #jjk 244 #jjk leaks #jjk spoilers

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runabout-river · 5 months

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Thoughts on JJK chapter 243 (Spoilers)

Can you believe that some people seriously say that JJK is predictable???

Anyway, Gege subverted the BoBo theory by cutting right to the end and finishing the Takaba "fight" with 4 chapters. The end of the last chapter did feel like this one would be the finale (so Gege is consistent in his writing) but I believed in the BoBo theory too when I heard it 😤

Kenjaku and Takaba make their duo sketch and it was funny to read but I personally never watch this type of (Japanese) show so it was a little left field for me.

There were also these three judges(?) who I'm reasonably sure are real people. Like, look at that face! It has way too much detail and that guy has 5x more of a nose than Gojo.

I'm going to take these tidbits of information as true for Kenjaku's character. That guy lacks a backstory, so now he (or she) grew up without a father and (s)he doesn't eat anything that someone else has touched. Canon

Is this true foreshadowing or is Gege playing with our expectations again? As far as Gojo was concerned, they had to have him go solo but for the rest 🤔 And for Kenjaku too they went one after the other but at least here it seems to have worked

And on the sign the woman is holding: Take your stitches off is just the SFW version of take your clothes off but more morbid because it's Kenjaku 😂

In 4 chapters only, Gege created a brand-new relationship dynamic between Takaba and Kenjaku. It's really impressive actually and adds so much to Kenjaku's character. The last time we saw him this personable was with the Disaster Curses and that's been a long time

Now right here comes the fucking twist!

The good guys made the right play! Their plan succeeded! Kenjaku lost his head! (And somehow he still has air from somewhere to talk)

But this feels so early that I have doubts that it really happened like this. It feels like Kenjaku's story still needs to be told and that he should've had an actual fight before he died.

So some thoughts:

Kenjaku is only a brain. Can his brain be transferred to a new body like this?

What if Takaba doesn't want his new buddy to die? What if he puts Kenjaku's head in a glass cylinder and walks off with him and as long as he's funny Kenny lives on?

Who tf is going to inherit his will? Kenjaku has absolutely no one around him to do that for him. It's not Choso, he wanted to kill that son, so could it be Yuji?

I doubt that it's Yuji. He's too unpredictable except Kenjaku meant his will being passed on more as a bomb that will go off and not a person to finish his plans

Could Kaori, Yuji's mother, or maybe even his father come back into play here? Or maybe another offspring from him.

If Kenjaku is really dead right now, then the backstory that's missing of him will most likely come with a flashback or a Kenjaku centric chapter where we'll hear his thoughts about everything

Toji didn't kill Geto in HI because he didn't know what would happen with the curses he kept in his body. That circumstance is back again, so it could happen that an unbelievable amount of curses are going to get loose

I just wrote my theory on a potential short term revival of Nanami. At the end, on why that wouldn't happen at this time, I said that he wasn't needed because 90% of the good guys don't have anything to do right now. They only had 3 villains! Not even fodder was there to fight! But with the potential of hundreds of curses roaming free and a new villain, Nanami might get needed in the future

In the end, Gege does his own unbelievably unpredictable things and I'm all here for it.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #kenjaku #takaba fumihiko #meta #nanami kento

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jujutsubrainrot · 1 year

Text

Chapter 211: The Ripening

// SPOILER WARNING!!! DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE CHAPTER YET.

Opening words: “The "preparation" progresses! The archipelago crosses over to the other side!!”

O.O nice cameo, waiter-kun! The official release didn't include it but this dude is actually the waiter that resigned from the restaurant where Kenjaku and co. hung out at in chapter 12. We got to see his four sisters-in-law too!

Anyway, the dialogue for the right panel should have been:

》 Ex-waiter: "Was the filter properly cleaned?" 》 Sister: "Not unless onii-chan cleaned it."

》 Maki: "The preparation being completed is one thing. But according to the guy that self-proclaimed himself as Itadori's older brother... Kenjaku has captured Tengen-sama."

The term used for pre-prep is 慣らし (narashi). Actually, if yall been following the official translation, they previously used "breaking in", followed by "custom" and then "customary prelude". Now they chose "pre-prep." 😅 Really, let's not be anymore confused; it's just "preparation" or "pre-merger."

Also, forgive my nitpicking here but it's more of "capturing" Tengen, rather than "take" her in the sense of "take her away."

》 Maki: (...) "It's a blessing in disguise that the back of the Prison Realm is still safe."

The phrase in blue was 「不幸中の幸い」 (fukōchū no saiwai) in the raws. Though very rarely used as "blessing in disguise", I think it's kinda fitting in this context..? It's an expression which means a small mercy (from some misfortune) that things didn't end up for the worse.

》 Yuuji: "This isn't something we can figure out by ourselves. Anyways, let's focus on Tsumiki nee-chan first."

Throughout the mention of Tsumiki, Yuuji addresses her as "Tsumiki no nee-chan" the whole time and, honestly, it's adorable af HUWAAA LET ME HUG HIM–

》 Yuuji: "Why haven't our senpais added the rules yet?"

This one sounds better, imo.

》 Megumi: (...) "This 'removal' is done by tampering with the brain, so it basically means 'death.'"

Just FYI, the words removal and death were in quotation marks.

》 Maki: "Ok, why the hell is that possible?"

Thanks to TCB Scans for pointing out that Maki switched to Kansai dialect here. 「なんでやねん」 (nandeyanen) is a Kansai dialect word and one of the most popular phrases. It's equivalent to "why" in standard Japanese, and is used to express surprise or denial after hearing or witnessing something.

》 Hana: "It's [because of] the Angel's cursed technique."

》 Angel: "In order to extinguish the barrier technique with my cursed technique, the root of the barrier must be extinguished. If we don't know where that is, then only Hana and I can [freely] move through the colonies."

FYI, the kanji used for "barrier" and "colonies" are essentially the same (結界) but the furigana reads differently in both speech bubbles. Plus, previously the official translations used the term "extinguish" so I'm just reusing the same word here, instead of "destroying".

Nothing wrong here. Just wanted to share that Maki's last statement in the left panel contained the lyrics from Makoto Kawamoto's song titled "1/2", which is why Takaba mentioned her name in the next panel. The song lyrics that made Takaba mention her was "[kamisama wa] nanimo kinshi nanka shitenai". In the raws, Maki said "(...) nanimo kinshi nanka shitenai nda yo". [Honestly how can some readers not love Takaba?!]

》 Yuuji: "In other words, it's the same as the random transfer. It's not a general rule of the Culling Game, but a rule of the barriers. 》 Hana: Even if we add a rule to allow free entry and exit from the colonies, chances are we might still get repelled due to the barriers' rule."

The official translations totally changed whatever they said.

》 Maki: (...) "Let's proceed with "Allow players to withdraw from the Culling Game." Yuuta and the others have already transferred the points to you, right?"

Personal gripe but really, though, we never heard them say "Yuuta's team" ever. It's more like "Yuuta and the rest/the others."

Also more importantly, Gege has made a mistake [again] here. Megumi hasn't added any rules yet, so the rules part should have been reflected as 00 instead of 01.

》 Kogane: "This is a proposal with regards to the addition of a rule to the Culling Game."

》 Megumi: "Maki-san, please bring Tsumiki here [to this barrier] for me."

I feel like the official translation made Megumi sound authoritative here, as if he was bossing Maki around. If anything he was more polite than bossy. Also, in the furigana he said 「ここ」 (koko) which means here while the kanji was 「結界」 barrier.

》 Yuuji: "Tsumiki nee-chan is already a player but she's not inside a colony, right? Then wouldn't it be safer to remotely transfer the points to her and have her withdraw [from the Culling Game]?"

Official translation missed out on the "have her withdraw" part.

》 Megumi: "Players that hold points for too long also has the risk of being targeted by other players. The safest thing to do is to rendezvous with Tsumiki first." 》 Maki: "Right. But I can't enter the colony with her. (...), so Tsumiki and I will be separated during the transfer."

》 Tsumiki: "Ijichi-san, are you really going to enter the colony in my place..? I should do it myself.." 》 Ijichi: "No. It's not a good idea to reduce the number of sorcerers outside the colonies."

Okay, Tsumiki wouldn't be addressing Ijichi just by his name without honorifics (yes, even in English). In the raws, she certainly said Ijichi-san, so at least in the English version, "Mr. Ijichi" would have been decent. And as for Ijichi's reply, the official missed out a few stuff.

》 Maki: "This feels like.. a plea bargain with an inmate on death row..." 》 Ijichi: "Haha! I'd love to play along to that, but there isn't enough time."

》 Gojo: (...) "You're more useless than shit. Hurry and get your driver's license now. The manual one. If you refuse, I'll slap the shit out of you." (...) 》 Ijichi: "If Gojo-san hadn't said any of that, I would have ended up becoming a half-assed sorcerer and died right away."

》 Yuuji: "Huh, is that her!? A spot-on transfer?!"

The term Yuuji used was 「ドンピシャ転送」 (don pisha tensho) which literally means perfect transfer. "Don pisha" means "spot on", "right on", or "perfect match."

We all know how players will be randomly transferred once they pass through the barrier, however Tsumiki was teleported directly to where Gumi and friends are, which is ever so convenient and highly suspicious!

》 Yuuji: "Tsumiki nee-chan has some great luck!" 》 Tsumiki: "Pleased to meet you! Thank you for taking care of Megumi." 》 Yuuji: "I'm Itadori. No, I'm the one being taken care of."

Yuuji said 「こちらこそ」 (kochira koso), which is a humble expression used as a response when the speaker wants to repeat what somebody says to them, but in the opposite direction, or the other way around. Like, "No, I'm the one that should really be saying that." This expression is normally emphatic so it can vary by context.

In this case, since Tsumiki thanked Yuuji for taking care of Megumi, Yuuji then humbly replied that he's being taken care of [by Megumi].

》 Hana: "Great! I didn't have to do a thing. (...) Nice, Itadori! Make me sound good." 》 Megumi: "Let's finish this quickly. Kogane."

》 Yuuji: "Notice how he acts cool in front of his family. Must be the rebellious phase!"

Closing words: “A sudden rule addition.. Her true identity is..!?”

#jjk 211 #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gege akutami #culling game #tsumiki fushiguro #jjk manga spoilers #m/translations

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getougender · 2 years

Note

Hello! I've been out of the loop with JJK mange since Yuta joined Culling game, I'm seeing some rumors about Kenjaku using Gojo's powers to commit some international crimes? Can you fill me in please? You can tag spoilers, I don't mind I won't read until Gojo's free anyways.

hello!!

that most recent bit of information about gojou and kenjaku was a part of some leaks that may or may not be fake; i usually read the leaks on fridays when they’re made available with the site i read jjk on, so i can’t really say for sure what all that’s about just yet :)

you haven’t missed much, as most of the culling game so far has just been a series of battles that last for a couple of chapters that result in either the protags upping their body count or gaining a new ally, and they’re getting points either way. so, to recap:

yuuta and rika won all their fights and are fine

miwa’s participating, but we only saw her for like two panels and she looks. bad. she’s not injured or anything, i’m just concerned. the others may or may not be aware that she’s even here.

panda lost to kashimo hajime, who has some personal beef with sukuna and history with kenjaku, but he’s doing fine in a smaller form (he’s toddler-sized now and may or may not have only one core left, having lost his brother and sister. maybe? it wasn’t super clear). kashimo and hakari fought, and when kashimo lost he decided to team up with them so he has a chance of getting at sukuna.

nishimiya’s been playing messenger, but she said she’s planning on working with ui ui to help with colony-to-colony communicaton.

it turns out maki is totally unaffected by the barriers and can travel through them whenever she wants. she’s teamed up with noritoshi and two other players. naoya was there for a little while as a curse, but she leveled up even further, became fully realized, and killed him again. good for her!

the angel (kurusu hana) picked megumi up after he passed out from his fight and ran into yuuji and takaba fumihiko (the comedian guy) along the way. the four of them are up in a hotel together and are planning on getting tsumiki out very soon and freeing gojou.

we still haven’t seen gojou since he was imprisoned, but he could be coming back into the plot soon (either as himself or because he’s being exploited through the cube) because angel has finally been formally introduced as of the most recent chapter.

kenjaku’s most recent appearance outside of a flashback was when the culling game began, i think? when they were entering an international meeting room of some kind? so nothing new. we know gojou and the prison realm are in their possession, so the rumors about them auctioning off his power might be true. i’m kind of hoping against it, though.

all of this could still be a way to start bringing things together, since we’re at a point that each of the teams can start preparing to close in on kenjaku. in the most recent chapter, though, it was revealed that the angel will only let gojou out if megumi and yuuji help them kill sukuna, which obviously puts yuuji in a bad position, even if the angel doesn’t know he’s the vessel yet. these brand-new plot threads seemed really cool and i’m glad the story is picking up again, but the kenjaku auctioneer thing feels like a really abrupt escalation, if not a complete deviation, from what was introduced quite literally just last week.

#riko.txt #asks #jjk spoilers #i'll probably reblog this post with an update of whatever comes out tomorrow :0 #on another note anon i really recommend reading maki's chapters (190-199) because that was SO good #kenjaku

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psychewritesbs · 5 months

Note

This has something to do with chap 243 leaks so pls avoid it if you don't want to get spoiled. Sorry just can't stop myself from shock...

I did not expect Kenjaku to be dealt with this soon? Granted he might be pulling something since he doesn't seem all that dead in the last panel and cause he's Kenjaku. But like, what are the chances that he made a vow with Sukuna to keep Gojo's head intact so he can swap bodies? I know Gege said before it's impossible, but that's because there are 0 chances Kenjaku can kill Gojo. But now that Sukuna did the work for him all he needs to do is swap into Gojo's corpse.

Like, do we even know what happened to Gojo's body? It just disappeared so I thought maybe Sukuna hid it in the shadows. But then again, isn't it impossible to use 2 different cts at the same time? So maybe that's not the case. But where is it though?

Then we have that Mandela poster and the silhouette in the middle. Personally, I thought that might have been Megumi but it's obviously a copy of the panel showing Gojo's reflection in the prison realm's eye back in Shibuya. So maybe it's a hint of a Gojo revival after all. Only thing is, he's gonna come back as Kenjaku. Still, what use is Gojo's body to Kenjaku if it doesn't possess the 6 eyes anymore. Doesn't it immediately transfer to another user upon the death of the previous one? Unless Kenjaku has a way to control Tengen and use their connection to the 6 eyes to retain it. Ugh Gege's really going ham with all these cliffhangers.

Or maybe Kenjaku's mainly banking on the merger monster to continue his legacy or maybe even the cursed wombs or Yuji. What are the odds that he planted a part of himself in them though? Like maybe a piece of his brain or something.

ME EITHER ANON! I am still skeptical tbh. I just feel like Kenny can grow some tiny little legs and jump ship. Gege is going to be unpredictable right up until the end so it could even be Takaba he takes over. Can you imagine?

To your other questions about six eyes... it sounds to me like the technique gets immediately passed down if the user dies, but I'm not sure tbh. And I don't think he'd be able to keep Granny Tengen under control either. So like WHAT IS HAPPENING?!!!!!!!

Also, I take so long to answer asks since I only do it once per week or less so I'm not sure if I posted this before or after your ask came through. Perhaps I posted after? I think after?

Anyways. Since it's a mandala, I personally feel like it's not Gojo at the center because it would make the design redundant. But maybe the cursed wombs do have something to do with it. I mean it's already kind of shady that Kenny took ownership for Yuji eating Sukuna's finger in episode 1. Now sure if mistranslation or just sus.

And speaking of Gege going ham with the cliffhangers, we're totally at one again lol. Chapter 245 is a week away and the discourse in this fandom is in full on chaos mode.

Thanks for stopping by anon!

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl

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cursedvibes · 4 months

Note

As antagonist who do you think is better between Sukuna, Kenjaku, or Toji? Why? How will you rank them?

Hm, that's a bit difficult. Toji's character arc is already over, while Sukuna and Kenjaku are currently at the height of theirs, meaning a lot could change for them. Toji is also only a minor antagonist. His presence has a broader effect on jujutsu world, but more because of his heavenly restriction and lineage not as an antagonist. I think Mahito would've been a better pick in terms of comparable roles in the story. But anyway, if I had to rank them, I'd do it something like this...

(Toji >) Kenjaku > Sukuna

Toji

Toji is the antagonist of Hidden Inventory and I think he did a good job with that. Geto and Gojo are supposed to protect the Star Plasma Vessel and he challenges them in that and also fundamentally alters their life through their encounter, forcing them to re-examine their values and change as a person. His existence affected Gojo until the day he died, even after his own defeat. By killing the Star Plasma Vessel permanently he also has an effect on the broader world and nicely helps Kenjaku with their plan. So yeah, he did what he needed to do very well. Don't really have anything to complain here that's why I put him first, but I don't think you can compare him that well to Kenjaku and Sukuna.

Kenjaku

Kenjaku is the main antagonist of the story. They push the narrative forward, without them jjk wouldn't have much of a plot, and they also propose structural challenges to the entire system. Their actions change the world so fundamentally that there is no way to return to status quo. They force the protagonists to act and question the system they were used to, while also evolving on a personal level through the many challenges they live through. Kenjaku also poses a threat that goes beyond them as a person. Killing them won't fix the damage they have done. It won't stop the Culling Game (might make it even harder to do that with the current rules) and it likely will accelerate the merger too. Contrary to Sukuna, the protagonists are forced to consider the structure of their world to stop their plan, it will take more than just pure strength to really defeat Kenjaku. Fitting because Kenjaku is not very strong compared to all the power houses on the protagonist side and was never interested in fighting either. Instead the main characters have for example the challenge that destroying the Purification Barriers around Japan could stop the Culling Game and the merger, but it would also increase the ferocity of curses and would essentially forever destroy the foundation of jujutsu society.

What also makes Kenjaku a good antagonists that goes beyond merely the chess master archetype is their improvisation, love for chaos and novelty, and personal attachments. The accomplishment of their long-standing goal is tied to giving up a close friendship, the person who probably understood them best, and we see Kenjaku struggle with that decision after they have done it. Takaba's appearance makes them question their approach and goals and shows us readers that Kenjaku is actually after very simple things that can be summarized by their requirements for friendship: have an equal friend by their side and be entertained. This makes them a lot more human and their drive more understandable beyond simply fun in seeing destruction, chaos and suffering from a detached mastermind position.

Yuuji fits in there as well. He shows that despite the trauma Kenjaku puts him through, they care on some level and he isn't merely one of many test subjects. The motherhood angle gives Kenjaku another layer of investment in the actions of the protagonists and again breaks their actions, despite their wide-reaching world-altering consequences, down to something personal. It also emphasizes how wrong and cruel Kenjaku's experiments are, since they are capable of hurting someone they care about and consider a son.

My only complaint with Kenjaku is exactly their connection to Yuuji, however. That relation has been used very well to give Kenjaku more depth, but we have been getting absolutely nothing for Yuuji. As it stands, Kenjaku didn't need to be Yuuji's mother, he could just be a test subject they really like, and not much would change, certainly not from Yuuji's perspective. He's been thrown around by Kenjaku's schemes like a ping-pong ball and yet doesn't seem to care nor hold particular disdain for Kenjaku. That needs to change. There needs to be some sort of interaction between him and Kenjaku or for Yuuji to at least reflect on the connection they share. Kenjaku is a great main antagonist, but how good of an antagonist they are for Yuuji is still up in the air. All depends on how well what has been set up about their relation will be executed.

Sukuna

Sukuna is a good antagonist for Yuuji. Not as good as Mahito in my opinion, but still very effective. His mere presence alters Yuuji's life and both when becoming his vessel and when having that role ripped away from him, Yuuji is forced to reconsider his stance on his own life and death and what he wants out of both of them. How he wants to live and how he wants to die. Especially taking Sukuna out of Yuuji was a very good idea. First Yuuji grappled with what it means to essentially become a sacrificial lamb and have his whole being objectified as being merely a convenient way to kill a dangerous foe. However, he started to settle into those circumstances and adopted the cog mentality. By robbing himself of personhood he protected himself against others doing it and it was also a way for him to see his life and death as valuable. By making his life worthless he can improve those of others. But then that role was taken from him as well, just when he had resolved to his death. Now he is searching for a new purpose and seems to have found it in killing Sukuna with the help of others and saving Megumi from being Sukuna's new vessel, even or especially by giving up his own life. We have also seen that this has forced Yuuji to take on a more active role and not just let himself be lead by what Gojo or Megumi want of him. He is taking the lead role in planning on how to take down Sukuna and so far his plan has been very effective.

Back to Sukuna, I think he is best in short explosive moments like his massacre in Shibuya or when jumping from Yuuji to Megumi. These are brutal, shocking and shake Yuuji deeply. He heightens Yuuji's guilt with both actions and makes him question everything, all his convictions. However, I think the longer Sukuna is around, the more he loses that effect and often turns all too quickly from threatening to school yard bully. I don't mean that as him having a particular hate for the power Yuuji holds over him (something which is especially humiliating with the importance he puts on strength and weakness) and acting petty because of that, but I mean in general. Especially during the current showdown in Shinjuku I think he very easily becomes a quite generic Big Bad Evil Villain. Doesn't help that we don't know a whole lot about his goals and ideology yet beyond "meet people who can challenge him" and "might makes right".

I think what we need with him is similar to what we got with Kenjaku, meaning make it more personal. Less "stop Godzilla from destroying Tokyo" and go more into depth on the connection between him and Yuuji. Make him face the power Yuuji can have over whim and have him be the one to question his beliefs for once, since he so firmly classifies Yuuji as weak, even if he acknowledges small improvements in skill. Something like Higuruma's domain would have been the perfect set-up for that because they are on an equal playing field there. But as we saw, Sukuna ran from that opportunity. Seems like we now have to wait for the numbers to dwindle for Yuuji and Sukuna to have a meaningful confrontation where we get a real clash of their principles. Think the finale of Yuuji and Mahito's fight. Mahito was such an effective antagonist for Yuuji not just because he was cruel, but he was also a very personal challenge for Yuuji and both of their beliefs were altered through their fights. That's what we need for Sukuna as well. Throwing ally after ally at him in the ever-same dusty landscape is getting a bit boring. Narrowing the scope would help a lot I think.

#asks #jjk spoilers #kenjaku #ryomen sukuna

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