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theheavenlyrose · 28 days

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Being Bothered by JJK's Character Writing pt. 1 (Geto Edition)

My man, your plan was nonexistant.

What exactly was Geto's plan to rid the world of cursed energy/non-sorcerers to protect sorcerers? He wasn't going for Yuki's goal to somehow turn everyone into Toji, that we know.

The Night of a 1000 Demons was a diversion to isolate Yuta, but like... why did he need Rika? What was she going to do for him? Having more cursed energy wouldn't let him defeat Gojo and I don't think he wanted to fight Gojo in the first place. Did he want her near unlimited cursed energy? What for? I'd think it was to power some kind of genocide machine, or use a Rika powered Uzumaki to somehow eliminate all non-sorcerers. But like... sorcerers make up a very small percentage of humans, so how does he expect society to function when most of its population goes poof?

From his backstory in Hidden Inventory I get that his actions were driven by hatred of non-sorcerers, who create never-ending garbage for him to swallow and result in the deaths of countless sorcerers, as well as treat sorcerers like trash in the rural parts of Japan. It never feels like his actions are driven by a love for sorcerers primarily, just the hatred of non-sorcerers. I can't believe that the man was ever very compassionate when he just murders his parents, who did nothing wrong, in cold blood with zero remorse. I don't know if the intention was to portray Geto as a good person corrupted into evil by a system he feels powerless to fix, but if that's the case the execution was... bad. Being depressed and going on a murder spree doesn't make you tragic. How the hell do you go from supposedly being in favor of protecting those who can't protect themselves to hating them all with extreme prejudice without once reflecting on your actions in over a decade? It makes more sense for someone like Naoya, raised in a powerful sorcerer family with little to no contact (presumably) with non-sorcerers to have these kinds of beliefs, not Geto who was raised as a regular human in a family of humans. Even with the Toji trauma, you'd think he'd view the situation with more nuance and gravity, since he grew up around non-sorcerers. (But this ties into a bgger problem of Gege refusing to show the human world in a good light even once.)

I don't know if its supposed to be that he was waiting for someone to stop him because he knew his nonexistent plans would never work and he just wanted to be a beacon of hope for non-sorcerers. Wanted to direct his compassion somewhere he could justify and where it would be cherished when it was just exploited while he was working as a sorcerer for the benefit of non-sorcerers. That would have been pretty tragic, and would have made his "I could never wear a genuine smile in this world." line from JJK 0 carry more weight. As it stands the narrative reads as if he was always twisted and just needed the right trigger to snap. The weak were either the helpless cattle he so graciously gave his everything to save, or the parasites eating the strong. Its believable that he could have fallen so hard as to justify genocide at some point, but we never see him view the situation with the maturity of an adult, its very black and white thinking. Suitable for our teenage cast, not so much for a near thirty year old. Again, I don't think I would be nearly as bothered about this if we saw him have an ounce of internal conflict at any point and really show his love for his sorcerer family. But in-text, Gojo showed more compassion to others that Geto ever did.

TL:DR: Geto is not a complicated villain who chose a dark path to save people he cared about. He's a sociopathic murderous manchild lashing out at the world for a decade. There's little indication that he was a caring and compassionate person even in HI, which reduces him in JJK 0 to just a one-note "haha I'm evil" villain with a sympathetic veneer to try and mask that fact. It's a shame. I think Gege had a really interesting character on his hands that he could have made incredible even if he didn't know where JJK was going to go after 0.

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theheavenlyrose · 1 month

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JJK Takes a Lot from Evangelion, but Not what Actually makes Eva (kinda) Work

(This post is basically just me rambling at 3 in the morning, don't mind me.)

You know, the more I read JJK the more it feels like Evangelion, but without the underlying elements that made Eva work.

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In Eva there are shady higher-ups (SEELE) that run the monster hunting corp (NERV) and conscript children to pilot giant mechs and fight horrifying monsters (Angels) without a lick of conscience about the effect it has on their mental and physical health. The mechas are also made of the same material as the monsters. NERV is run by adults who themselves are very much not ok behind the scenes, and none who try to change the system of child endangerment in any way. They simply accept it as the way things are. We get a sense that SEELE are more aware of the true nature of the Angels than our protagonists for most of the series. Near the end we find out that SEELE's ultimate goal was not to defeat all the monsters but to initiate the Third Impact where all of humanity fuses and no one has to be lonely ever again (at the cost of their individual identities).

In JJK there are shady higher-ups (Headquarters) that run the monster hunting corps (jujutsu schools) and conscript children to fight literal embodiments of negativity that can only be countered with stronger negativity (curses) without a lick of conscience about the effect it has on their mental and physical health. The schools is run by adults who themselves are often very much not ok behind the scenes, and none who try to change the system of child endangerment in any meaningful way (Gojo wanting to raise strong allies in the hopes that they can somehow change the system doesn't counter this.) We learn that an unrelated mad scientist antagonist has been planning to merge all non-sorcerers into a single mass in order to... uh... I don't know. For gits and shiggles I guess.

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Based on what I can remember (and its been a hot minute since I watched it tbh) Eva is more cohesive with its theming and worldbuilding when compared to JJK, even if some details are left ambiguous or outright unexplained. The theme of loneliness and the struggle for genuine human connection is present in every aspect of the show. Its the struggle of every character, and they all deal with it in different, usually maladaptive ways. The world has gone to shit 15 years ago after the Second Impact and humanity has to fight off freaky monsters on a planet that lost a ton of its land and is stuck in perpetual summer. The only people who can pilot the Evas are teenagers with special connections to the Evas. And as far as the protagonists know, if no one pilots, the world is doomed. So in this way the child conscription and blasé attitude from the adults about the kids fighting monsters has an in-universe justification (messed up as it is) and the final goal of the shady higher-ups is the same one as the rest of the cast: the desperate need for human connection and a very, very maladaptive way of achieving it.

(Quick Note: Apparently the higher ups and their fate is also based off of Central 46 in Bleach, but I did not read/watch Bleach so I can't comment. Though I'm willingly to believe their fate is still more satisfying that what happens in JJK.)

Gege admitted that Evangelion had a profound impact on him and his work, and it doesn't take much to notice the Eva references sprinkled throughout JJK. But I feel like Gege took a surface level aspect of Eva, mainly how it becomes more and more clear that the world, lore, and history do not matter and it's only the characters and their personal journeys that matter, without actually making it work in his manga.

Reason being that the characters don't actually matter in JJK.

I can't tell you the lore and history of Eva after a single viewing, but I can tell you all of the characters inner struggles and why they feel impactful, and how they interact with one another and connect to the central theme of loneliness in meaningful ways. (Rei's quest for personhood, Asuka's need to prove herself, Shinji's struggle to connect with and understand others etc.)

Kenjaku, Sukuna, and Mahito don't have any deeper reason for doing what they do other than "lol why not" (which could work but... does it have to be all of them?), we don't know the history or inner lives of basically any character (besides Geto to an extent), there is no coherent throughline between the character motivations (or lack thereof) and the theme(s) of the story.

Speaking of which, what are the themes of JJK? At times it feels like it wants to be a war story where young people are robbed of their youth and innocence by the cruelties of being a soldier fighting battles you didn't really sign up for and don't really understand the point of (Nanami and Gojo's attitudes towards protecting their student's youth from the horrors of being a sorcerer come to mind) to highlight the meaninglessness of war. But... if that's the case I don't think the execution is very good.

(With the exception of Yuuji's character arc, but even then there's more to be desired there.)

In Eva the higher ups are shady as hell but supposedly working to protect people in the only way they can, in Utena the fact that the Big Bad can't explain why the duels or Rose Bride exist is kind of the point and works well in that story because of its theme of power and how its achieved and maintained. We know the JJK higher ups are corrupt, but like... what do they do? What is the point of sacrificing young people and their mental well-being when sorcerers are pretty rare to begin with? I get that the illogical nature is supposed to show how corrupt they are, but the issue is that I don't even know what got corrupted. What was jujutsu society like pre-Gojo? 40 years ago? 70 years ago? Back in the Heian era? Were things better once? Or were they always shit and just got shittier? What's the power politics between clans? Why was Gojo reluctant to kill all the higher ups when he's the strongest and could just kill whoever replaced them over and over?? Like, the message on its own is very good! Changing who is in charge won't fix a system, other deep-rooted changes need to be made for long lasting effects.

The bizarre thing is that Gege is trying to say (in the post 212 chapters anyhow) that the theme of the story is... loneliness? And how lacking love will make you empty??

Gege, my guy, you can't just take the theme of Eva without reflecting it in the characters. Gojo is lonely because he has been basically bred and raised to think of himself as "the strongest". That's who he is, what he is, all he is. So he thinks of and judges everyone based on their strength and views connection with others as only possible if they can match or surpass him in strength. He relies on others for direction and morality. He can be seen as a true "cog in the machine", a product of what the jujutsu world does to those within it. Its believable why he does what he does and why he doesn't simply stop being a sorcerer; its intrinsic to who he knows himself to be.

This also works for Sukuna, who is above the jujutsu world but is also a loveless being. The most enlightened, strongest sorcerer may also be the least at peace. Its a good start to exploring this theme.

But Kenjaku? The hell does Kenny's character have to do with loneliness??? (Implied right before the Takaba fight.)

Everyone is lonely, miserable, and obsessed with strength as a parameter for worthiness, but it feels hollow. What is this all supposed to mean when like... ya'll can just chill for a second, hug it out, get some ice cream and work together to support one another or stop being sorcerers if its bothering ya'll that much???

Where did this system get its start Gege??? Please help me understand why most sorcerers choose this line of work over having a regular and safe life. Why does everyone have the same motivation to alleviate their loneliness by fighting? How did they come to those conclusions??

It feels like its all supposed to connect, but it doesn't, at least for me.

I get the profession attracts crazy people but there is always a method to madness. I don't think that Gege does a good job at portraying the non-sorcerer world. Whenever we see it its always awful. But the world of sorcery is also awful. Misery the whole way down. Its a bleak and strange message for any story, let alone a shonen manga. What are any of the characters fighting for when curses will always exist and make people's lives miserable? Why does anyone listen to the higher ups when they were all so weak that someone one-shotted them? Where's the rest of the Gojo clan???

I'm tired. Gonna stop here.

I get the vibe that Gege really wanted to make a story full of action, cool fights and all his favorite shonen tropes and put in the bare minimum to make those fights happen. (I swear at some point in the fanbook he even said that the things the characters say and do don't really matter???) Its a shame he doesn't really seem to care about characterization, because the things he does come up with and use tend to be stellar and full of really interesting potential. At least to me.

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