Megumi knows almost nothing about his father, his early memories are of being abandoned. His only family is Tsumiki as far as heâs concerned. Itâs clear he doesnât regard himself as a Zenin, or Tojiâs son. He doesnât even recognize Toji when they meet again briefly. However, though Megumiâs not even aware of it thereâs a lot of story parallels between father and son. Toji serves as a cautionary tale of what Megumi could become if he does not grow up and learn to handle his emotions properly. MORE UNDER THE CUT.Â
deconstructing geto suguruâs clothing and the symbolism behind it
Getoâs clothing closely resembles the ceremonial robes of buddhist monks during the Heian period. This Heian era is also known as the golden age of jujutsu sorcerers and when Ryomen Sukuna was recognized as the king of curses.
Coincidentally, the rise of esoteric buddhism in Japan also occured during the Heian period. Jujutsu Kaisen is deeply connected to buddhism, the most notable example is that quotation of Buddha by Gojo.
âIn the Heavens above and on the Earth below, I alone am the honored one.â
Now letâs deconstruct Getoâs clothing.
i. the first layer: undergarments:
The undergarment (usually white) helps to add an elegant look, as the collar can be seen beneath the outermost layer. It is constructed of the tabi (socks), the momohiki (long pants) and the hada-juban (undershirt)
ii. the foundation garment: a folded towel is added to the waist area (for women itâs added to the breast area), the foundation garment helps to add some shape to the clothing
iii. the second layer: nagagi or the kimono foundation
iv. the third layer: the hakama ( either full-cut trousers or seperated skirt ) and the haori (hip or thigh length jacket)
v. the outermost layer:
We have arrived to the most interesting part of Getoâs outfit, which is the outermost layer.
The vest-like garment Geto wears is called the äșæĄèąèŁ or the gojogesa. The term gesa in China and Japan refers to the outermost layer itself. In the the later periods of Japan where fine fabrics were available these robes were made using strips of said fabrics. The distinction between these robes was by the number of strips, hence gojogesa = 5 strips of fabric.
Now, Getoâs is goal to eradicate all non-sorcerers. This would also bring a so-called second golden age age of Jujutsu, so it makes sense that he would return to the clothing of the Heian period.
1 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner
According to eighteenth-century Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith, humans possess the capacity to consider another individual and âplace [themselves] in his situation⊠and become in some measure the same person with him, and thence form some idea of his sensations, and even feel something which, though weaker in degree, is not altogether unlike themâ (The Theory of Moral Sentiments).Â
this is such a small and seemingly inconsequential moment for yuji, but it really does so much for him as a character. I feel like most of the time when a male character has an ideal type it just shapes his interactions with women altogether for the rest of the series: either he views them as "his type" or "not his type" and interacts accordingly, or he learns to treat them all equally despite not being attracted to them. however here yuji completely dismisses his type: he sees ozawa not in relation to what he likes, but just as her own person, who does day to day things elegantly for her own enjoyment, and he appreciates it for what it is.
he knows her name and her mannerisms despite not being attracted to her and when he sees her again after some time he still recognizes her despite her drastic change in appearance, over which he doesn't comment, even though she'd now be his type, instead asking her how she's doing.
he views others, with no distinction between men and women, as their own individual and not an object for his enjoyment or gain. he will observe them and remember their peculiarities simply because he cares and loves doing so.
by using something as superficial as his type, akutami pulled the strings laid out until then for yuji's character, showing how observant and sensitive he actually is. how much people and their individuality, their heart, matter to him. why it hurts him so bad when a life is lost.
Who in youâre opinion are the 5 best written characters in jjk?
1. Suguru Geto
Geto is the type of character I refer to as an "empathy monster", his genuine feelings of empathy for other people just make him all the more monstrous. Empathy isn't a positive or negative trait, it's just one personality trait that makes a person. It's just the ability to inuit other people's emotions naturally. It's not some magical trait that makes you a good guy. Suguru starts out his story as someone who strives to be good, but in a "self righteous" way. He's trying to assure himself that he's a good person, that his beliefs are the right ones.
Geto and Gojo work so well as character foils, because they are essentially the same person. They're both "the strongest" and that makes them see themselves as apart from normal people. Geto at first believes it's his duty to help weak people, but that still comes from a place of looking down on them.
Then Geto is put through something no normal teenager should have gone through, he gets close to a girl, only to watch her die right in front of him when he promised to be the one to save her and fall away from his best friend shortly after, because when Satoru became the strongest it seemed like he didn't need him anymore.
Geto sees himself above normal people, but it's actually him genuinely connecting to someone he and Gojo would have dismissed as a normal person before in Riko Amanai, and seeing her desire to live in this world the same as everyone else, only for it to be taken away that breaks Geto. Geto feels this empathy deeper and stronger than everything else, and because he cares the loss absolutely devestates him and the only way for him to go forward is to just cut off that empathy. He starts seeing everyone, except for the sorcers closest to him as being human. He disqualifies them.
Geto works so well as a character, because it's his good qualities that drive him to tragedy not his faults. He shows how uncaring the world of sorcerers is, if trying to be a genuinely caring person can be a fault that drives you off the edge.
2. Satoru Gojo.
Gojo's writing is well done because it's balanced, the entire character is built around the idea of being "the strongest" but instead of it being a power fantasy, Gojou's character revolves more around how much it sucks to be him.
Gojo can win any fight alone, but it doesn't get him what he wants. He can't use his strength to solve every problem. There are several things he can't do, he can't teach that well, understand or relate to other people, play politics with others.
What Gojo wants is a better world, and comrades that can stay by his side without getting left behind, but he can't have those things. Gojo actually has an insecurity around being the strongest, because he thinks it's all that defines him. He sees his strength as insufficient ultimately because there is so much he failed to do. He has strength, but he couldn't save Geto. Gojo is the strongest man in the whole world and still he fails, he makes mistakes like any other human. Just like his character profile says, Gojo can do almost anything, but there's nothing he particularly wants to do and when he does find something it slips out of his fingers.
3. Okkotsu Yuta.
Jujutsu Kaisen writes main characters well, and it does this by not allowing them to be "the main characters' of their stories. In most stories the world revolves around the viewpoint of the protagonists. However, in the case of both Yuji and Yuta every time they try to view themselves as the heroes, or act self-centered in their viewpoints, they get slapped in the face and reminded that they're not the only ones fighting here.
Yuta is a well thought out version of the "nakama" trope, in that Yuta's entire problem is how codependent he is. He can't function without people around him. He was so afraid of losing Rika when he was young, that he cursed her and bound her to him for years after her death which inevitably made her suffer.
Yuta's passivity is also a serious flaw. Maki calls him out for "playing the victim" as an excuse to avoid responsibility. If he lets others push him around, then he doesn't ever have to make decisions for his actions because he's "not at fault." Yuta's arc in Zero is forcing him to grow up and take responsibility, otherwise he'll keep hurting the people around him like he did Rika, and I hope we can see the conintuation of that arc.
4. Kokichi Muta.
Kokichi is a perfectly executed tragic character. His circumstances aren't his own fault, but he still makes bad choices in those circumstances.
Kokichi's desire is to be together with everyone else. However, Kokichi is so afraid of his friends hating him, because of how worthless he believes his own body to be that he can't let them close. Kokichi has internalized the idea that he's weak, so he takes all the burdens on his own shoulders in an attempt to prove he's strong.
That, is what leads him to try to challenge Mahito all on his own. He wants to be closer to the others, but he can't bring himself to rely on them. It leads to one of the saddest scenes in the manga, and expresses the tragedy that's repeated again and again in the jujutsu world, that these are all just kids that want to be friends, and have the normal lives everyone else have. I want to be together with everyone. That's what Riko said. That's what Kokichi said. That's what Yuji tried to promise to Junpei. We want the characters we like to be happy, but to the ones with unhappy endings their story still matters.
Kokichi couldn't leave his room in the end, but even so there was still someone who loved him in Miwa, there's still someone who will remember him - and there's a power in someone who tried their hardest to live and love even if they failed in the end.
5. Mahito.
Anyway, now I'm going to praise the asshole that killed my other favorite.
Mahito is a frankenstein's monster like Dabi, he's just a little uglier. Mahito serves as an embodiment, a walking, breathing, id of human selfishness and desire. What's so interesting about his character are all his nasty traits are perfectly human ones. Human pettiness. Human jealousy. Human fickleness. The things that Mahito does are all things other humans do with each other. A confrontation with him is like an acknowledgement of just how terrible people can be to each other.
However, there's more to him than that Mahito is basically an infant, he is frankenstein's monster, a creation of humanity but distinctly not human and unaware of what he truly is. What I'm invested in is the potential of a character like Mahito. His starting point si the absolute worst of humanity, but humans are ore than just their bad traits. Just looking at the bad parts of people you're not looking at the whole truth. I'm interested in what kind of character that Mahito can grow into as he gains a wider view of the world around him, because he is a curious learning thing.
I actually hope we see him come back in canon after being eaten by Getwo, because there's a lot more that could be done with a character with so much potential as him.
what do you think about Nobara and her role in Jujutsu Kaisen?
I am not sure I could give a full analysis for Nobara and her role because to me the role of her character in the grand scheme of things has not solidified yet. Sheâs not someone with a grand goal that we can follow like Maki, or someone driven by intense emotions like Itadori or Megumi. A lot of ideas present right now in Jujutsu Kaisen are setup for later things down the line though, so letâs elaborate on a few ideas that are present in her character.
During the story arc where the international assassins come after Denji, I think the series introduces interesting elements. This comes up during the discussion between Kishibe and Quanxi. Kishibe is trying to make a deal with Quanxi, and get her help to stand against Makima. However Quanxi refuses and tells a story, which illustrates in her opinion to be the key, to happy life. She mentions an new`s anchor which she saw on television. Quanxi took a liking to this anchor, and started following the new`s regularly because of her. However an incident about the anchor was discovered, and after this Quanxi stopped watching the news. The secret to a happy life according to Quanxi, is the bliss of ignorance. Quanxi then advice`s that Kishibe should keep his collar on.Â
Ignorance is a bliss has different applications in the series. During combat it can be an useful tool. When Denji is fighting against the dolls made by Santa Claus, he is unable to fight them since they act like normal humans. However Quanxi advice`s Denji, that they are only imitating human emotions. When Denji asks how does Quanxi know this, she replies that she does not. However if Denji accepts this he will be able to kill them, and so according to Quanxi Denji must become a âfoolâ.Â
In essence Denji must become ignorant of his opponents humanity, in order to engage them. He needs to stop âthinkingâ.Â
why do you think gojoâs last words to geto were censored, ik gege said they were something gojo said before in volume 0 but I canât think of reasons why he chose to not show what was said
The purposeful omission in that scene gnaws at everyoneâs brain as persistently as an ex-lover â ïž
But not giving the audience visibility to that moment created a sense of intimacy, donât you think? It was incredibly personal, and the decision to censor out GojĆâs words was conscientious of that. The moment was between GojĆ and GetĆ aloneânot to be shared with anyone else.
I understand everyoneâs curiosity but think about it: Does it really matter? It was poignant and bittersweet not because of the specific language he used but because GetĆ could die with the comfort of knowing his best friend never spited him. Sometimes what is important isnât the words themselves but the feeling they evoke.
Hope you are doing good and had and will have good days and if not its ok, we all have bad days sometimes. With the upcoming episode(maybe you will answer this after the episode aired) i wanted to ask you what your thoughts are on the conversation between yuji and nobara after their fight with eso and kechizu :?
You are very kind, anon, and Iâm sorry about such a late response.
I think Nobara and YĆ«jiâs conversation really testifies to the psychology necessary to survive and thrive as a jujutsu sorcerer. Navigating a profession that requires you to commit and witness disturbing, heinous acts while maintaining a healthy sense of compassion and empathy and not losing your sanity? Well... that sounds difficult, if not almost impossible.
GetĆ exemplifies this: His tenure as a jujutsu sorcerer was poisonous to his psychology because he was forced to endure things heavily incompatible with his morality and ideology. This is also why, despite his proficiency as a jujutsu sorcerer, YĆ«ji struggles to stomach the horrors he has encountered as a jujutsu sorcerer.
But characters like GojĆ and Nobara emerge from these situations unscathed, because theyâre not inhibited or injured by empathy. @linkspooky wrote an excellent analysis on Nobaraâs lack of empathy, so you can read that for a better understanding of what I mean.
Anyways, I think it accentuates how this quality (or its absence, I guess) is a huge piece of equipment for Nobaraâs strength and success.
Sure, they technically won the battle against EsĆ and Kechizu, but YĆ«ji emerges defeated by guilt. Nobara, by contrast, has zero qualms about the measures taken to come out victorious, nor is she interested in finding something to grieve or feel guilty about. YĆ«ji and Nobara were both victors of battle, but Nobara was the only winner here.
Nobara doesnât care about anyone she doesnât have a close personal relationship with, and she has zero interest in trying to understand them.
For example, Nobaraâs face-off against Momo during the Goodwill Event: Nobara dismisses the very real plights female jujutsu sorcerers suffer because it doesnât align with her current worldview.
She believes success as a jujutsu sorcerer is strictly measured in terms of strength, and she stubbornly refuses to even entertain an alternative perspective.
Nobaraâs motivation has always been authenticity. She became a jujutsu sorcerer to flee a countryside whose group psychology threatened hers, and she has never aspired to be anything or anyone other than what and who she already is: Kugisaki Nobara.
She cares deeply about a select group of individuals, but ultimately she fights for herself and doesnât let others impose their ideologies and moral standards on her. This disinterest in the approval of others and in anyone who doesnât âhave a seat in her lifeâ gives Nobara the strength to not capitulate to the horrors and unpleasantries that inevitably come with being a jujutsu sorcerer.
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