#but aren't as openly going LOOK AT ALL THE BUDDHISM

[aeondeug]

Reading more Jujutsu Kaisen. In volume 3 right now. Finally have something to talk about beyond “Oh boy the yuri undertones!” or how sick I think it is when Yuji loses an arm. Namely, I find it very interesting how Mahito is speaking. His philosophy sounds very like a twisted form of Zen Buddhism. The whole thing about life simply flowing and life not having any inherent weight or value stands out in this front. But that gets fucked up into “Just do what you want, how you want” and a devaluing of human life.

What stands out the most is the statement “If you’re hungry, eat. If you hate, kill”. And this stands out because this exact phrase structure gets used in Zen Buddhism a lot. Though the examples tend to be “If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re tired, sleep”. It’s a sort of simple living thing. A not wasting time doing nothing or wasting time philosophizing or wasting time panicking. But Mahito has taken that exact structure and twisted it from simply addressing needs as they come up and flowing through life like a lotus above the muck into “Well shit doesn’t matter so if you feel like it fuck it kill the bitch”.

With this and the fact that the other villain is running around in Buddhist priest robes and has the extended earlobes is making me wonder where Akutami is going to go with this. The way Buddhism is addressed and used in Bleach and Shaman King are a very big part of why they’re two of my favorite manga ever, or my absolute favorite in Bleach’s case. So like I am seeing small hints and bits of things that make me go “Oh we could be doing something interesting with the Buddhism in battle shonen again. And blatantly so.”