The Jujutsu Kaisen Moments Fans Think Defined The Series
For many anime viewers, "Jujutsu Kaisen" proved to be one of the best anime of recent years. A new unique spin on the shonen genre, the anime adaptation of Gege Akutami's manga (animated beautifully by studio MAPPA) took the world by storm. With an excellent mixture of thrilling fights, humor, and tragedy, the series is a treat for anyone who likes supernatural battle series.
With only one season currently released, there's still a lot that's yet to be seen in "Jujutsu Kaisen." Even so, fans can already point to a number of moments in the series which define it. Some of these moments take place in awesome fights, others after key dramatic story moments. Either way, they all do something to establish "Jujutsu Kaisen" as a cut above the rest. In particular, fans on the official "Jujutsu Kaisen" Reddit page took the time to identify some of these series-defining moments.
Yuji uses the Black Flash
The Black Flash is one of the very first advanced jujutsu techniques that Yuji learns after becoming a jujutsu sorcerer. Simply put, it is a buildup of cursed energy that distorts space. When used within a fraction of a second following a physical strike, it can multiply the destructive effect of the blow. Because of the precise timing, the technique requires a great deal of concentration, even for powerful sorcerers like Satoru Gojo. Yuji uses this ability successfully for the first time during his fight with Hanami in Episode 19.
"For me, it was when Yuji was so focused on trying to create the Black Flash that he forgot to swallow and literally had spittle dripping out of his mouth," wrote the original poster, u/splogkins. "For someone in the studio to pay attention to something we take for granted just to show that level of concentration Black Flash required astounded me."
Though this is far from the first mind-bending fight scene in "Jujutsu Kaisen," it is one of the first times we see Yuji pull off an incredibly advanced technique. The satisfaction of his success is only compounded by the fact that he manages to pull it off five times in a row, tying for the world record in consecutive Black Flashes. On top of that, the fight also displayed Yuji's combat compatibility with Aoi Todo, one of the most enjoyable character relationships in the entire series.
The fight between Yuji, Mahito, and Junpei
Episode 12 of "Jujutsu Kaisen" bears some heavy consequences for its protagonist. The thoroughly cynical and apathetic Junpei is one of the few people Yuji befriended at his regular high school. Like many people, however, Junpei would also get wrapped up in the world of Jujutsu Sorcery after encountering Mahito, the psychotic curse user and one of the series' principal antagonists. Mahito fools Junpei into trusting him and turns Junpei into a curse user as well. When this leads to Junpei attacking other students at his high school, Yuji intervenes and nearly manages to talk his friend down before Mahito shows up and kills Junpei, leaving Yuji devastated and enraged.
"The whole scene of Junpei, Mahito, and Yuji," wrote Reddit user u/zaigadeke. "That moment when Gege Akutami said 'lol, you think this is a normal Shonen? Nah. No happy endings.' That's when it firmly seated itself as one of my faves."
While "Jujutsu Kaisen" is far from being the first tragic anime, it is relatively unique as a shonen that isn't afraid to put its main characters through the grinder. Many shonen are light on character deaths, especially when it seems like the main character is about to reform one of his wayward companions. The magnitude of Yuji's loss is furthered by the fact that Sukuna, the evil entity trapped inside of him, denies helping Yuji and instead laughs along with Mahito at the death of his friend.
Aoi asks Yuji the important questions
We mentioned previously that Aoi Todo and Yuji have one of the most entertaining relationships in all of "Jujutsu Kaisen." As their fight with Hanami in Episode 19 displays, the two have incredible synergy as a combat team, with Aoi's "Boogie Woogie" technique pairing perfectly with Yuji's martial arts skills. The origin of their intense partnership in Episode 15, however, is one of the most hilarious and memorable moments in "Jujutsu Kaisen."
As a test to discover whether or not Yuji is boring, and therefore incompatible with him, Todo asks a very simple question. "What kind of woman is your type?" When Yuji answers "A tall woman with a big butt, like Jennifer Lawrence," Aoi immediately knows that he has found a kindred spirit.
"It was so random but great for character development," wrote u/splogkins in response to another fan discussing the scene.
Fans certainly attached themselves to the humor of the moment and continued to fall in love with the pairing once it became clear that they had some real best bro chemistry. The moment itself has even spawned memes. On the whole, however, Aoi's question draws to light just how well "Jujutsu Kaisen" is able to balance humor, action, and tragedy all at once.
Gojo's fight with Sukuna
There are tons of badass characters in "Jujutsu Kaisen" with unique abilities that make for thrilling spectacles. However, few characters exude a raw level of badassery as much as Satoru Gojo, the man many would consider to be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer on the planet. Fans would learn this firsthand in the series' second episode when Gojo prompts Yuji to let Sukuna take control of him for 10 seconds just to test his potential. In those 10 seconds, Gojo has complete control over the battle.
That may not seem like a big deal on paper, but once you learn a bit more about Sukuna it becomes quite an impressive feat. To make a long story short, Sukuna is the most powerful cursed entity of all time. He was so powerful that after his death, 20 fingers of his survived as indestructible objects. When Yuji swallows one of them, he becomes the vessel to a portion of Sukuna's spirit. The fact that Gojo could contend with 1/20th of Sukuna's power alone proves his prowess. Gojo completely dominating the cursed spirit in single combat is just further icing on the cake.
"That scene was so cool and I was also nerding out over the animation and music!" wrote u/KiwiTheKitty. "And honestly the fights all lived up to or surpassed that level of hype, but that's the first moment I knew."
Sukuna's initial awakening
The fight between Gojo and Sukuna isn't the only memorable moment with the cursed spirit. Fans also fondly remember the very end of Episode 1, when Yuji makes the monumentally boneheaded decision to eat the first of Ryoumen Sukuna's fingers. After being incarnated once again after 1,000 years, Sukuna can't help but revel in his newfound life. In possessing Yuji, he changes the teen's behavior greatly, tearing off his shirt and proclaiming that there he will cause a massacre.
"Sukuna cutting off Yuji's shirt. The voice actor did such an amazing job in depicting the craziness/epicness," commented u/akk47yes. "[And] Sukuna's design."
As the introduction of one of the series' primary antagonists (and occasional reluctant ally), "Jujutsu Kaisen" does an amazing job illustrating just how different and dangerous Sukuna is compared to Yuji. Having destroyed another powerful cursed spirit only moments before, fans are able to tell immediately that Yuji has opened Pandora's Box by swallowing the finger. The rest of the series gets even wilder as Yuji encounters more curses, swallows more fingers, and learns to manage the malevolent spirit inside him.