#jjk ch 168

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 168: Tokyo Colony No. 1, part 8: “What am I doing...” 

Happy JJK-Sunday. 

Our boy Megs won first place in the popularity polls. I totally did not expect it to be honest, but given what’s going down in the Culling Game, I say it’s well deserved (even if he’s indifferent about it or gets knocked down by Gojo once he comes back).

This chapter and what happens in this chapter showcases why Megumi is one of my favorite anime and manga characters of all time. In a nutshell, the way I see it, Megumi has crossed into new territory that will challenge his character to grow. 

More importantly, it goes without saying that Gege is not writing about violence for the sake of violence, but about how his characters are affected by their circumstances and how they grow from them.

All I can say right now, given Megumi’s growth in past arcs, is that whatever Gege has in store for Megumi’s character growth, it’s going to be beautiful. 

After all, as an author, I can’t imagine you would name a character “blessing” (恵) and put him through hell for nothing.

Anyways... be warned that I am going to go ahead and gush on and on about Megumi below the cut.

No, like... for real... this one is a long one and it’s aaaaaaaaaall about Megumi.

Megumi the softie 

Or the Knight that Remi hoped for

First, I love Megumi and Remi’s dynamic, not because I ship them (although if you do, who cares what others say about the ship), but because of what the dynamic says about both characters. 

As a woman, if Megumi talked to me the way he talks to Remi, I would have said “boy, bye!” a long time ago. But I did not always think like this...

And that’s just the thing about Remi--she doesn’t know better. Her standards for men’s behavior are so low that she tolerates not only Megumi’s rather cruel remarks and cold attitude, but also willingly puts herself in danger for Reggie’s sake.

From my perspective, Remi’s character is meant to represent women who are desperate for love because they do not love or value themselves. 

Women like Remi are self-destructive to a fault. As was brought up by many back when Remi was introduced into JJK, she is the kind of person who will back stab Megumi even if she goes down with him.

And that’s perhaps what I love most about their dynamic. Despite Megumi’s cruel attitude towards her, he seems to be deeply compassionate of her lack of self-respect and how that got her into the situation that she is in. 

Interestingly enough, Remi is also a mirror of Megumi’s own self-destructive tendencies. If you think about it, Megumi injured himself while protecting Remi from harm even after she betrayed him.

In other words, he is not only quite the softie, but is also acting like the Knight* that Remi asked him to be. 

However, Megumi is the kind of Knight whose chivalrous actions speak louder than his words. He does not need to make big declarations of love as long as he follows through with his actions.

*To be clear, a Knight does not have to be romantically involved with a woman in order for him to protect her. Rather, a Knight is an archetype of the masculine as protector of honorable causes. 

Despite that, Remi cannot recognize a true Knight even if her life depended on it (quite literally) because she is fixated on empty promises and delusional thinking.

I am assuming Reggie sweet-talked her, told her exactly everything she needed to hear, and took full advantage of how low her standards are for men’s behavior.

And this is how we ended up in this mess...

Megumi says he’s had enough, but given how even towards the end of the chapter he’s still worried about her, I have to wonder how far Remi will continue to push him before he takes drastic action.

For someone who saves people unequally, when will enough be enough?

In the end, even though Megumi is protecting Remi out of compassion, he is still incredibly cold-hearted and cruel towards her.

I am not sure how to put this into words just yet but I get the impression that Megumi looks down on what he perceives as weakness.

This is an interesting thing for Gege to show because this is not the first time we see this behavior from Megumi.

In other words, I see Megumi as someone who rejects his own “weakness” as a way to protect himself from getting hurt.

My best guess is that this is why Megumi is both deeply compassionate and incredibly cruel. He’s got a little bit of a Mr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde thing going on. He is both a softie and a sadist.

Megumi the sadist 

Or “oops I stabbed someone multiple times in the head and earned 5 points. I promise it was self-defense!”

Can I just say I am really enjoying how ruthless and cruel Megumi can be when he does not like someone?

I’ve been saying it for some time, but up until the Culling Game, we had not seen this cruel side of Megumi except for a few instances. 

Now that Megumi is in a life-or-death scenario where it is not just his life that is at stake, but that of Tsumiki’s as well as everyone who got involved in the Culling Game for his sake, Megumi’s true colors are showing--he can be brutal and ruthless when he needs to be.

And when I say brutal and ruthless, I mean... “stabbing someone repeatedly before delivering a final blow to the head” ruthless.

Like... you know... a certain someone...

Like father...

Like son...

The Zenin are truly violent beasts and it looks like Megumi is unconsciously walking down the same path as Toji.

Megumi killing Chizuru was an act of self-defense, yes, but it was also a pre-meditated decision to end a life. 

This very much reminded me of how Megumi summoned Mahoraga against Shigemo. Out of all the things he could have done, he went for the most cruel, sadistic route.

What’s more, Megumi seemed to enjoy the thought that Shigemo was going to die at Mahoraga’s hands.

But what about Megumi’s reaction in this chapter?

“What am I doing...”

The first thing I thought when I saw the leaks with the original Japanese text for the panel above was “he’s dissociated himself from his actions.”

In other words, Megumi seems to be questioning his own actions as if someone else had taken over his body and killed on instinct. This is in itself a defense mechanism. 

In Jungian Psychology the shadow is technically a personality or set of personality traits that have been repressed. The problem with repression is that the shadow, seeking to find expression, oftentimes takes over and acts out that which is repressed, often leaving the offender unable to control their own actions.

Think of it like a pressure cooker.

I believe that what we are seeing is Megumi’s repressed violent, sadistic self seeking expression. This shadow self is, in turn, a self that is at odds with the Megumi who is deeply compassionate and caring.

From my perspective, Megumi killing someone marks the beginning of him walking the fine line delineating the boundaries of his gray morality. A morality driven by selfish, emotional desires, in which the end justifies the means.

A morality that might dictate that he adjust his logic and strategy in service of his emotional desire to save Tsumiki.

More importantly, I have to wonder about Megumi’s kindness. I’ve already mentioned he rejects weakness and kindness in others because he rejects his own vulnerability. 

But, if he plans on continuing to kill others for points, Megumi might have to suppress this kindness and vulnerability that is forcing him to ask himself “what am I doing?” and become a cold-hearted shell of who he used to be.

The perfect Zenin killing machine is cold-hearted and unfeeling. 

But what makes Megumi’s character arc impressive in the grander scheme of JJK-things is that even if Megumi were to become a puppet of carnage and go down a dark hole, I believe Megumi is the kind of character who would take responsibility for his actions in much the same way Higuruma wants to turn himself in to the authorities.

Like I said before, whatever path Gege takes Megumi down, however many people he kills, however cruel and sadistic he might act, Megumi’s character growth as a result will be beautiful to experience.

“Don’t panic, believe in everyone else.”

There is just so much to unpack in this chapter, so if you are still reading, thank you as always for reading!

I did want to mention a couple more things, including the fantastic and most bromantic moment in this chapter.

This is a beautiful nod to Megumi’s growth as someone who has come to trust that he can rely on others. 

A beautiful smile of deep gratitude in knowing that it is ok to believe that he won’t always be let down by others the way he was let down by his father.

Above all, this particular sentence, “don’t panic, believe in everyone” is a cry for hope. Megumi wants to hope it will all work out even with the odds stacked against them.

“Don’t panic, believe in everyone” is an attempt to leave behind his pessimistic view of the world as inherently unfair.

And honestly, writing this, I am worried Gege is going to be like “haha, just kidding. Your turn to suffer. Let’s turn you into that lean, mean, Zenin killing machine.”

I’ve said it before, Dark Megumi is both the most exciting and tragically heartbreaking character arc.

Crack theory: Megumi’s domain expansion is not incomplete

Ok, so, take with a grain of salt. I am probably alone on this one and I could be 300% wrong. But for quite some time now I’ve been wondering whether Megumi’s domain is not incomplete, but rather, it does not have a barrier like Sukuna’s Malevolent Shrine... Megumi just doesn’t know it.

I don’t want to elaborate here and I have little evidence... but maybe I’ll eventually write about my thoughts on why I think this.

Again. Probably wrong. Who cares...

Takaba’s butt

Of course, can’t end my nerd out without mentioning Megumi’s reaction to Takaba showing up. If you think about it, because Megumi is standing behind him, he is straight up looking at one of his butt cheeks--even if it’s a costume.

All I can say about this is that this pairing is going to be absolutely hilarious. Megumi whose personality is dry and quiet, and Takaba the failed comedian.

I am definitively looking forward to it. After a number of angsty and heavy chapters, it is nice to see Gege bringing in some comedic relief.

Merry Saturnalia!

Hey guys, to those of you who read my nerdery, thank you again. 

I am moving from one end of the country to the other (from Minnesota back to Texas) and then traveling East (Mississippi) for Christmas. So I’ll be spending the next two to three weeks on the road and will not have an internet connection until January.

That being said, Merry Saturnalia (or whatever holiday you celebrate)! 

Until we meet again, have a bunch of wonderful JJK-Sundays!

[jujutsupain]

JUJUTSU KAISEN CH 168 - DISCUSSION

!!!!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!

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Fushiguro beating that dude’s head in and acknowledging at the same time that he had no reason to continue to do so was… fascinating and terrifying. Fushiguro has said before unlike Itadori he has no qualms about killing people but he doesn’t try to kill people if he doesn’t have to… he didn’t have to kill that guy and all I can think is that Sukuna would love to see it. I think Sukuna has some inkling that Fushiguro has this hidden malice inside of him that can be used for whatever shit he’s planning. I think examples of Fushiguro acting off the rails is definitely going to start coming up more and more 😩

[togesbunny]

Please tell me why megumi gets his ass dragged around 😭😭

[sonnyjohnson]

JJK Cover Art: Ch. 150 & 168