[ Tribute Essay ] As we come to the climax and ending of Jujutsu Kaisen 呪術廻戦 (Sorcery Battle), the two characters Yuji Itadori and Ryomen Sukuna have a final showdown. I've come to genuinely enjoy the symbolic and narrative implication and meaning between their rivalry. Yuji Itadori's name, written as 虎杖 悠仁, is his very essence to the story. The kanji 悠 (Yū) symbolizes "permanence" or "distant calmness," reflecting his humanity, while 仁 (Ji) represents "benevolence" or "compassion," the core of his actions. The surname 虎杖 (Itadori), meaning "tiger cane" or "knotweed," suggests resilience, akin to a plant that preseveres and thrives despite adversity. Together, these symbols embody Yuji's role as both fighter and protector who endures suffering to teach even the King of Curses, Sukuna, the meaning of love through unyielding compassion. The everyday, present moments, the experience of the mundane but genuine love that people and the environment give in abundance. He is ultimately human, youthfully human too, and he embraces it by activating his unnamed domain expansion, which is akin to benevolence and kindness, as he makes the symbolic gesture of Jizo Bosatsu, the guardian deity of children and travelers. It reflects the compassion of Yuji, as Jizo Bosatsu's goal was, to put it simply, to achieve enlightenment through forgiveness and salvation for those who suffered in ALL Buddhist hells. So, it makes sense that even someone like Sukuna, in Jujutsu Kaisen, canonically massacred and committed all crimes like genocide, cannibalism, and more, was forgiven by Yuji in the end. Defeating him with his final blow as Sukuna faded away. 9:27 Sukuna's name "宿すく儺" means "to host" followed by "exorcism" He represents the mythological and folklore figure of Sukuna in Buddhist folklore and mythology being a legendary demon. In the story, Sukuna constantly displays hedonism from being the strongest, developing himself to be the cataclysmic figure and pinnacle of Jujutsu Sorcery (the power scale of the verse), not only being the strongest sorcerer in his Heian era but also traversing time, from past to present-day Japan, defeating the strongest of two different eras in which he wasn't present. His defining move, aka Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine, is symbolic to his character as he literally slashes outwards against the world, cutting everything, living or non-living, to bits and pieces with a cleave and dismantle (invisible cutting). Even after that, he uses his strongest non-domain expansion move, Fuga-Furnace, which ignites all the bits and pieces that were cut by Malevolent Shrine into combustible cursed energy, similar to the power of a nuclear explosion (minus the radiation). 4:19 We can observe that the ultimate message of Jujutsu Kaisen with the final battle is teaching The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, the meaning of love. To Sukuna, love was "meaningless" afterall. He knew and understood why others embraced love, but he couldn't find himself to value it. 7:52 All the other side characters who fought alongside Yuji only attempted or assisted to teach Sukuna the meaning of love. Satoru Gojo reflected ultimate power through his combination of talent and hard work. His name, "五条 悟" represents traditional meaning of "The Enlightened One" and "The Honored One" Being the strongest modern-day sorcerer, he attempted to give Sukuna a form of understanding to combat the loneliness felt by those on the pinnacle of the podium. Satoru thought that Sukuna felt lonely too, being atop sorcery. As reflected by his ultimate move, Domain Expansion: Infinite Void (Gojo). They both were the strongest of their era after all. This feeling of infinitely void-like loneliness was what Gojo felt all those decades after the death of Suguru Geto, one whom he surpassed in being the strongest. Yet he failed; he only gave Sukuna a taste. However, his students were what defeated Sukuna in the end; in a sense, Gojo Satoru's ideals won the long game and even ends with him showing love to the youth. Strength is to bear and be born with new strength. To uplift the less powerful. Gojo wasn't able to teach sukuna, but he was able to teach his students to embrace the youth that everyone deserves to experience. 0:20 The same can be said for Hajime Kashimo, the strongest of the Edo period, who also traversed time to fight Sukuna. Literally and figurativel embodying lightning, 雷神, as Raijin or Thunder God. Kashimo was attracted always to the strongest charge. He too failed, as he couldn't grasp the meaning of what it is to be the strongest. Kashimo was stuck in the dilemma that the fight for being the strongest was never-ending and a cross to shoulder. To Kashimo, being the strongest was a burden of being alone, misunderstood, and constantly challenged. Constantly trying to seek the next strongest, he suffered solitude while Sukuna took delight and pleasure in his title as the strongest. 0:22 "Equanimity" - Challenging and seeking friendship through being alike or the same wasn't the answer to love. This is where Satoru and Kashimo failed. Hiromi Higuruma, the definition of law and justice in the series also failed, as even his Domain Expansion: Deadly Sentencing, the representation of law and order itself, failed to exorcise Sukuna with his Executioner's sword despite the truth stating that Sukuna is guilty of all his heinous crimes. 0:45 Law, justice, order, and enforcement weren't the answers to love either. Yuta Okkotsu, representative of True Love in all the ROMANTIC senses, is a character who fought alongside Yuji in the final showdown. He is a strong side character with a cursed shikigami in the form of Rika (originally a curse), who is his deceased childhood lover who now fights alongside him. His technique is to copy other techniques, and his ultimate domain expansion, True Authentic Love, wasn't strong enough either to bring down the King of Curses. In essence, romantic and authentic love between couples couldn't teach the King of Curses love either. The meaning could be interesting here, as he could represent both EROS and PRAGMA in philosophy as Yuta and Rika's love transcends death, manifesting as a curse to them both. 1:11 Eros and Pragma, Yuta and Rika's love was not the answer to the King of curses either. Now Todo Aoi and Choso Kamo, two of Yuji Itadori's brothers in both literal and figurative senses, represent the love in the form of Ludus, Philia, Storge, and Mania. Todo constantly represents almost psychotic levels of one-sided love for his idol, Takada-chan, which could represent Ludus and Mania, obsessive or lustful love. He also forces his ideal of being Yuji Itadori's brother despite having no blood relations-insanity but love nonetheless. 5:02 While Choso Kamo, being literally blood-related to Yuji Itadori and his cursed technique being literal "blood manipulation," represents familial love, philia, and storge. Belongingness. He loves his brothers the most and even knows intrinsically when they are in danger. During the final showdown, Choso sacrifices himself, becoming a human blood shield, manipulating his blood into a protective cocoon for Yuji to survive Sukuna's Furnace and Malevolent Shrine combo. 4:40 We could argue that, however, both Aoi Todo and Choso Kamo's love assisted in Yuji's fight, but ultimately, they weren't the ones to end Sukuna, both being defeated. Ludus, Philia, Storge, and Mania were not the answer either. And here we end once more with Yuji Itadori and Ryomen Sukuna. Undoubtedly, since Yuji represents the forgiving and all-encompassing love that would forgive all Buddhist hells, he is undoubtedly representing AGAPE. Unconditional love. Similar to Christianity, he reflects the love of Jesus that despite numerous sufferings and losses throughout the series, Yuji Itadori pushed through and firm through the curses, striking and fulfilling his role as a jujutsu sorcerer, ultimately defeating the King of all curses, the strongest with his benevolence, in the form of Agape. 7:32 and 9:36 Yuji succeeds in teaching Sukuna love which leaves the message, meaning, and inspiration as to why I made this manga music video-the story that Jujutsu Kaisen is often misunderstood, but when you take into account the Asian, religious, post-modern, and cultural implications and implied subtle meanings and symbolisms, the story has a well-written narrative of love and friendship, even to those we deem as unforgivable curses such as Ryomen Sukuna. Which makes "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga an all the more fitting choice for the generational rivalry between Yuji and Sukuna. "Even if no one will accept you, I'll live you.." 9:52
![Gojo and Sukuna - GODS [AMV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/v-U7UJ4iKZ8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Gojo and Sukuna - GODS [AMV]](/img/tr.png)
[ Tribute Essay ]
As we come to the climax and ending of Jujutsu Kaisen 呪術廻戦 (Sorcery Battle), the two characters Yuji Itadori and Ryomen Sukuna have a final showdown. I've come to genuinely enjoy the symbolic and narrative implication and meaning between their rivalry.
Yuji Itadori's name, written as 虎杖 悠仁, is his very essence to the story. The kanji 悠 (Yū) symbolizes "permanence" or "distant calmness," reflecting his humanity, while 仁 (Ji) represents "benevolence" or "compassion," the core of his actions. The surname 虎杖 (Itadori), meaning "tiger cane" or "knotweed," suggests resilience, akin to a plant that preseveres and thrives despite adversity. Together, these symbols embody Yuji's role as both fighter and protector who endures suffering to teach even the King of Curses, Sukuna, the meaning of love through unyielding compassion. The everyday, present moments, the experience of the mundane but genuine love that people and the environment give in abundance. He is ultimately human, youthfully human too, and he embraces it by activating his unnamed domain expansion, which is akin to benevolence and kindness, as he makes the symbolic gesture of Jizo Bosatsu, the guardian deity of children and travelers. It reflects the compassion of Yuji, as Jizo Bosatsu's goal was, to put it simply, to achieve enlightenment through forgiveness and salvation for those who suffered in ALL Buddhist hells. So, it makes sense that even someone like Sukuna, in Jujutsu Kaisen, canonically massacred and committed all crimes like genocide, cannibalism, and more, was forgiven by Yuji in the end. Defeating him with his final blow as Sukuna faded away. 9:27
Sukuna's name "宿すく儺" means "to host" followed by "exorcism" He represents the mythological and folklore figure of Sukuna in Buddhist folklore and mythology being a legendary demon.
In the story, Sukuna constantly displays hedonism from being the strongest, developing himself to be the cataclysmic figure and pinnacle of Jujutsu Sorcery (the power scale of the verse), not only being the strongest sorcerer in his Heian era but also traversing time, from past to present-day Japan, defeating the strongest of two different eras in which he wasn't present. His defining move, aka Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine, is symbolic to his character as he literally slashes outwards against the world, cutting everything, living or non-living, to bits and pieces with a cleave and dismantle (invisible cutting). Even after that, he uses his strongest non-domain expansion move, Fuga-Furnace, which ignites all the bits and pieces that were cut by Malevolent Shrine into combustible cursed energy, similar to the power of a nuclear explosion (minus the radiation). 4:19
We can observe that the ultimate message of Jujutsu Kaisen with the final battle is teaching The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, the meaning of love. To Sukuna, love was "meaningless" afterall. He knew and understood why others embraced love, but he couldn't find himself to value it. 7:52
All the other side characters who fought alongside Yuji only attempted or assisted to teach Sukuna the meaning of love.
Satoru Gojo reflected ultimate power through his combination of talent and hard work. His name, "五条 悟" represents traditional meaning of "The Enlightened One" and "The Honored One" Being the strongest modern-day sorcerer, he attempted to give Sukuna a form of understanding to combat the loneliness felt by those on the pinnacle of the podium. Satoru thought that Sukuna felt lonely too, being atop sorcery. As reflected by his ultimate move, Domain Expansion: Infinite Void (Gojo). They both were the strongest of their era after all. This feeling of infinitely void-like loneliness was what Gojo felt all those decades after the death of Suguru Geto, one whom he surpassed in being the strongest. Yet he failed; he only gave Sukuna a taste. However, his students were what defeated Sukuna in the end; in a sense, Gojo Satoru's ideals won the long game and even ends with him showing love to the youth. Strength is to bear and be born with new strength. To uplift the less powerful. Gojo wasn't able to teach sukuna, but he was able to teach his students to embrace the youth that everyone deserves to experience. 0:20
The same can be said for Hajime Kashimo, the strongest of the Edo period, who also traversed time to fight Sukuna. Literally and figurativel embodying lightning, 雷神, as Raijin or Thunder God. Kashimo was attracted always to the strongest charge. He too failed, as he couldn't grasp the meaning of what it is to be the strongest. Kashimo was stuck in the dilemma that the fight for being the strongest was never-ending and a cross to shoulder. To Kashimo, being the strongest was a burden of being alone, misunderstood, and constantly challenged. Constantly trying to seek the next strongest, he suffered solitude while Sukuna took delight and pleasure in his title as the strongest. 0:22
"Equanimity" - Challenging and seeking friendship through being alike or the same wasn't the answer to love. This is where Satoru and Kashimo failed.
Hiromi Higuruma, the definition of law and justice in the series also failed, as even his Domain Expansion: Deadly Sentencing, the representation of law and order itself, failed to exorcise Sukuna with his Executioner's sword despite the truth stating that Sukuna is guilty of all his heinous crimes. 0:45
Law, justice, order, and enforcement weren't the answers to love either.
Yuta Okkotsu, representative of True Love in all the ROMANTIC senses, is a character who fought alongside Yuji in the final showdown. He is a strong side character with a cursed shikigami in the form of Rika (originally a curse), who is his deceased childhood lover who now fights alongside him. His technique is to copy other techniques, and his ultimate domain expansion, True Authentic Love, wasn't strong enough either to bring down the King of Curses. In essence, romantic and authentic love between couples couldn't teach the King of Curses love either. The meaning could be interesting here, as he could represent both EROS and PRAGMA in philosophy as Yuta and Rika's love transcends death, manifesting as a curse to them both. 1:11
Eros and Pragma, Yuta and Rika's love was not the answer to the King of curses either.
Now Todo Aoi and Choso Kamo, two of Yuji Itadori's brothers in both literal and figurative senses, represent the love in the form of Ludus, Philia, Storge, and Mania.
Todo constantly represents almost psychotic levels of one-sided love for his idol, Takada-chan, which could represent Ludus and Mania, obsessive or lustful love. He also forces his ideal of being Yuji Itadori's brother despite having no blood relations-insanity but love nonetheless. 5:02
While Choso Kamo, being literally blood-related to Yuji Itadori and his cursed technique being literal "blood manipulation," represents familial love, philia, and storge. Belongingness. He loves his brothers the most and even knows intrinsically when they are in danger. During the final showdown, Choso sacrifices himself, becoming a human blood shield, manipulating his blood into a protective cocoon for Yuji to survive Sukuna's Furnace and Malevolent Shrine combo. 4:40
We could argue that, however, both Aoi Todo and Choso Kamo's love assisted in Yuji's fight, but ultimately, they weren't the ones to end Sukuna, both being defeated.
Ludus, Philia, Storge, and Mania were not the answer either.
And here we end once more with Yuji Itadori and Ryomen Sukuna. Undoubtedly, since Yuji represents the forgiving and all-encompassing love that would forgive all Buddhist hells, he is undoubtedly representing AGAPE. Unconditional love. Similar to Christianity, he reflects the love of Jesus that despite numerous sufferings and losses throughout the series, Yuji Itadori pushed through and firm through the curses, striking and fulfilling his role as a jujutsu sorcerer, ultimately defeating the King of all curses, the strongest with his benevolence, in the form of Agape. 7:32 and 9:36
Yuji succeeds in teaching Sukuna love which leaves the message, meaning, and inspiration as to why I made this manga music video-the story that Jujutsu Kaisen is often misunderstood, but when you take into account the Asian, religious, post-modern, and cultural implications and implied subtle meanings and symbolisms, the story has a well-written narrative of love and friendship, even to those we deem as unforgivable curses such as Ryomen Sukuna. Which makes "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga an all the more fitting choice for the generational rivalry between Yuji and Sukuna.
"Even if no one will accept you, I'll live you.." 9:52
The music is good ngl
HOLY PEAK
Favorite moments:
Sukuna peak cinema 2:59
Yuji's dodge beatdrop 5:24
5:23 damn bro
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣yuji