#still not happy if kenjaku is just. dead and out of the story after this since I wanted more with them and yuuji or tengen

[lavenderjewels]

This fight was a gift to me personally for making a surprisingly sweet and ridiculous fight somehow work between a half-naked comedian side character and arguably one of the most reprehensible people in jjk

[cruyuu]

Somehow I don't think sukuna is dead, yeah I may be coping, but is yuji story going to end with no sukuna? It started with THEM. Also no, call me contrarian but I don't want Yuji reduced to discount Naruto trio memes (I liked Yuji and choso more or Todo) without knowing his origins, but this chapter teased at ANOTHER flashback with Gojo (sigh) explaining Yuji's origins (but with gojo on screen who cares about soul uncle or mom bonding with yuji)

I also believe so, anon, hence why I am hoping harder than ever (even if it seems bleak) and want to believe that Sukuna will come back precisely because Yuuji (the one who was supposed to hate him and yet doesn't) wants him to. There's also the fact that they're supposed to be different than everyone else (hence why they were put as the center of the story) and why they deserve better and also deserve to give proper closure to all those themes and tie up the story properly.

Out of all relationships in this goddamn manga, the only one which doesn't change (even if it should, even if the plot is about them) is theirs. Therefore it'll be fitting for the story to focus on them more so than give jjk a typical shonen ending where he gets to be happy about rescuing his friends and in turn make that talk of roles and him still loving and asking for Sukuna back despite everything a straight up lie. It feels like the start of the manga again, except Yuuji never swallowed that finger and I don't want that really, not when Yuuji chose to bring Sukuna back despite Megumi's warnings.

I don't want Yuuji's wishes (or for that matter, who he is as a character) to go unheard or for him to get character assassinated in favor of a happy ending so the casual shonen consumers could be happy, especially not when it's the first time he had done something which was so unlike what the fandom thinks of him and that is wanting his enemy to survive. While everyone was saying that Yuuji despises Sukuna, in the end, that was a lie. The truth was a total opposite. Yuuji couldn't connect with anyone as well as he had connected with him. Why do you think he goes to cradle Sukuna and still insist on his answer instead of going after Fushiguro to see if he was alright? That tells you everything you need to know about who he is.

And that's why I believe Sukuna should come back. Proper closure would be them living despite the odds, them overcoming destiny (that they're forced to kill each other) and that Kenjaku's words are, again, just lies (just like how he really wanted the Merger yet in the end found more happiness in fighting Takaba and dying).

[lxmelle]

Do you think there's a way/chance Gojo might still return.

I very very very much don't want that but some theories around here started getting to me.

For example the fact that we don't know Kenjaku's technique and how it works, also in the recent fanbook in Gojo's timeline the airport scene was referred as "a certain place" not afterlife.

Also his end was uncharacteristically 'happy' for jjk. Yes, his body is still used but his soul escaped the exploitation.

Soooo I'm curious as to what you think?

Hi, Anon 😊

Thanks for submitting a question - I don’t get many of these! What an honour that someone wants to hear my thoughts 😆 You’ve opened the floodgates of my mind, so proceed with caution 🙈

I’ll preface by saying that I generally feel that people can believe what they want to, so I don’t typically go out of my way to impose my opinion if I disagree with someone about their views. It’s just about being respectful I guess? I kinda wonder what theories there are out there about his revival, because I don’t engage with the content-makers much at all.

I will say I’m not ignorant to them, and do sometimes come across some posts on twitter & Reddit of that nature. Nobara and Gojo seem to be the most popular for revivalists. I get the impression that these posts dissect phrases / how things are described, or focus on the symbolism of specifics like that of lotuses’ regarding rebirth… but I think it doesn’t change what cannot be changed. Gege has hinted at his stance of them not returning for some time with how the story has been unfolding. Correct me if I’m wrong, and I know satosugu fans also do this for their “ship”, the only difference I perceive is that theorists exclude evidence that refutes their opinions (i.e. cherry picking things that become twisted into conclusions) and therefore it becomes a confirmation bias.

For example, the lotus symbolises many things, including purity due to how the blossoms grow in the murky depths of muddy water. Not necessarily rebirth in isolation. The lotus also carries some meaning in enlightenment. Resolve for growing despite its conditions. So... ince again, it’s not necessarily just rebirth.

In terms of the permanence of death… The have been too many reiterations of the narrator and reactions of characters that describe Gojo’s death for it to not be fact. I know this will disappoint those hoping for a comeback, and I think this question wouldn’t be posed if there wasn’t a sliver of hope that Gojo would “return”. I dunno, I guess I have mixed feelings about this because why just Gojo? Because he was the strongest, therefore he “deserved” to live again? His students need him? But… What about Choso? He didn’t get to be more of a human. And Nobara? Was that all her young life amounted to? What about Yaga? Didn’t panda need his dad? And Nanami? He didn’t get to go to Kuantan or retire with his riches he slaved for as a salaryman. Countless others, really. And let’s not forget Geto. He deserved to have a better life too. Did he not? (I, for one, would love for Gojo to come back on scene if Geto could as well... but... yeah. Alas. 😔)

So I guess I naturally have to ask: If it was so easy for the dead to rise again, why was it not possible for others who have died before Gojo? Also, unlike others, Gojo didn’t seem to reject the possibility of his death, so unlike Sukuna who had an interest in becoming cursed objects to extend his life or Kenjaku who body hopped, of Tengen who erased people... Gojo had no such wish, and felt he would “win either way” whether he lived or died in battle. This was his philosophy that was akin to a Military General. He was, to his core, very objective and accepting. It was both a strength and a weakness - just as Gege described in his character book.

Speaking of being a character… within Jujutsu Kaisen, Gojo Satoru was just one person. Gege spoke about his process behind Yuji as the main protagonist over Megumi and how Gojo’s role as the sensei was sealed after JJK0, whereas Yuta could be omitted. What remains true is that Gojo wasn’t the lead protagonist of the series. It would narratively be a disservice to Yuji, Megumi, and Yuta as members of the new generation.

What remains also true is that he was loved as a character. His legacy had been left. He made a significant dent in combatting the biggest threat to humanity. His role has been fulfilled... as fans we can continue to love him and recognise his impact. I think Gege depicting him in so many flashbacks is an ode to him in many ways. I don’t think it would be done like this if he were “returning”. It just does not make sense.

If we also think about what Gojo wanted as a character, or as an individual - I think he also found his own fulfilment. He didn’t want to return. I’ve come across some interesting perspectives of international fans who opened my eyes to a different perspective too: that Geto was happy to support him “as long as he was satisfied” and wasn’t going to urge him to go back - if going back was even possible in the first place. Because Geto prioritised Gojo as a person and not as the role of sensei or role as the strongest. So if Gojo was satisfied enough, Geto was satisfied that he was there to stay in the afterlife.

Let’s talk about directions too. North, according to Mei Mei, seemed to mean... rebirth. To become someone new. No where does it say that returning back to life was a possibility. Was she even right in the first place? Was the plane actually going to take off? So many questions. Whatever it was… Gojo also said he wished that the airport scene was not a figment of his imagination. The strongest sorcerer. Praying? I mean... why shouldn’t he get his wish? 😪 I think Gege said that the airport scene was like a reward for those who died. There is a better word for it but I can’t remember what it was. Will edit this post when I can remember.

I mean, these are my personal views and I guess people will believe what they wish to believe and hold onto different pieces of what’s shown to justify their beliefs. I suppose I wonder what has begun to sway you if his comeback isn’t something you particularly want? Is it a hope that he can continue something that you feel has been left unfinished? Is it out of love for him?

Hmm… I guess I feel like the baton had been passed, and he’d done all that he could possibly do, as the strongest

…even to the point of letting his body be used once he could no longer use it.

I know it is disturbing on many ways. However, within the series itself, it was a necessary strategy from the perspective of those not knowing how things would transpire.

Everyone there experienced a desperation to survive - to find any potential way to defeat Sukuna without the umbrella of safety that was Gojo Satoru. And Gojo cooperated - he never bothered with collaborating with to others since he always fought alone. This was character development too. This was for the next generation too. He couldn’t fight all battles for them. Some things, they needed to do themselves. Just as how he and Geto, as teens, were assigned to a mission that nearly got them all killed. This was the screwed up jujutsu world.

Ultimately, Gojo did his best in the battle. He did his best before the battle. Killing the higher ups included.

We may not know what Kenjaku’s CT is, but only Yuta can body-hop now… Gojo’s body, without Yuta in it, will not have a functional brain. Remember: he was also brain damaged from the fight with Sukuna.

It isn’t possible to survive without a brain. We don’t know how they’re keeping Yuta’s body fresh and how fresh the body needs to be in order for Yuta to return to it. These are the strange questions we can only speculate since we also don’t know how Kenjaku managed to enter the body of Geto in the state he was in, and then regenerated his heart and arm. Gojo’s body was stitched up in preparation for Yuta, for example. Yes it is mysterious. But. As it stands, again, only Yuta can hop. Gojo... I’m sorry to say 😪😢 is lifeless.

I think some theorise that it’s about the soul. But honestly, I believe Geto’s body with Kenjaku in it did not have Geto’s soul in it. It’s not a “Megumi’s soul co-existing with Sukuna” situation. Nor was it “Yuji with Sukuna”. Geto’s body was imbued with his CT and his memories, just like a cursed tool would - e.g. Nanami’s weapon. So Kenjaku can pilot it and receive information from it as part of his CT. It’s like a humanoid mecha.

It reacted to Gojo’s voice like a “dragonfly without its head” - it was merely a physical reaction.

Just like how a human body will twitch and move even after the person has expired.

Like the tail of a lizard that twitches even if detached from its head. It is involuntary. A residual instinct.

Kenjaku’s perspective of how the body and soul is one directly contrasts with Mahito’s view. So I don’t think we should pick one interpretation as more correct than the other when they both agreed that it was dependent on Cursed Technique in the end.

So... I guess those are my views. I really like how you phrased it - as his soul escaped exploitation. I suppose I see this as being true, since we saw Gege describe Gojo in this kind of “afterlife” that he doesn’t try to explain. I mean, this is an afterlife specific to Gojo, so who knows where it is?

Gege is funny like that I think. Multiple characters have been shown to hold conflicting views, and even as the story creator, he doesn’t play God who knows all and sees all that is able to describe a definitive afterlife. It’s both poetic and frustrating at the same time imho.

Honestly, I also find it challenging to accept. A part of me wonders if he wanted it to be an actual delusion, but I’m reminded of how he talked about souls and reincarnation - so I know in the verse that souls exist and that what Nanami said about his death was something Gojo couldn’t have just imagined in his dying moments.

Sorry it took a while to respond! Hopefully it’s... thorough enough? If you have something else to follow up, please drop me a comment or another Ask!

[unclassedguy]

The Details of Genderbend Naoya Au:

*yap incoming*

Just a collection of my thought process and ramblings about this collection of drawings to scratch the itch in my brain.

General ramblings:

This is not a fleshed out au. There isn't much of a storyline and I don't exactly know if I will ever make one.

The au doesn't follow the jjk canon apart from some general things like Toji leaving Megumi and Tsumiki etc.

The ‘story’ follows Naoya Zenin after an accident that should have killed him instead leaves him unscathed. That is, until he wakes up the next day with a girl's body, a kogane companion, and the ability to see strange creatures (cursed spirits) and people who should have been long dead.

Bro is basically now part of a culling game-esque event involving people who were saved from death like him, those who died long ago and were resurrected, and creatures that should have never entered the living realm. Some people such as him with bad karma for their actions, are given certain handicaps and/or punishments when they're brought back from death. Hence girl-Naoya.

But, by destroying the souls of beings with even more bad karma than you, you can gain points that will give you access to abilities (cursed techniques) or lessen your own punishment or handicap.

The Kogane function the same here as they do in canon.

Basically, this is me drawing fem Naoya with a bunch of extra steps 💀

Drawing one:

A lot of the ‘story’ of this au just happened randomly as I was doodling, Kenjaku and Takaba running Naoya over being part of that.

I wanted to draw Naoya reacting to him becoming a girl for the shits and giggle, yk, the sillies

And before I knew it I had Naoya getting run over by a truck 💀

The reason Takaba is the driver is because of that one scene in Kenjaku vs Takaba, Kenjaku is in the passenger's seat just because.

There is no reason as to what they're singing besides me wanting them to have been distracted by something goofy 

You might have noticed Naoya is holding something. Idk what it is though 

Its like….a wand…a club…? It's based off his first form as a cursed spirit, the one where he looks like a worm

Yes, his shirt does indeed say “why women deserve less”. It's based on that one fanart of him reading a book with the same title. 

Drawing two:

The first thing I thought of when I imagined Naoya going on a ‘quest’ to become a man again was that ant carrying a bindle.

(It gives pathetic energy, which i enjoy giving my Naoya drawings)

This is actually my first time drawing Hana, I actually like drawing her

I'm so sorry to people who like Nobara and Maki, I can't draw them that well 😭😭😭

I'm thinking Hana/Angel are trying to fix whatever is going on with the souls of the deceased/players, and are thus gathering allies (though they also want to defeat a certain king of curses even in this au as well 👀)

Naoya ends up joining her, Maki, and Nobara as allies (no one is happy about this)

They will put him in his place, especially Maki.

(I wonder what would happen if he met Yuki…)

Naoya and Hana is a combination I didn't think I'd ever draw interacting tbh 💀

But for some reason that's what ended up happening

Other thoughts:

It's so cute how the kogane have different designs sometimes based on who they belong to. It reminds me of the crows in kny.

I wonder if they're meant to represent something about each player???

For example, the one we see with Naoya when we're first introduced to his curse form has a skull like face, which we later see on Naoya's second curse form.

His looks so crusty and I love it

I rlly wanted it to be his companion in this au

Honestly, I was thinking Naoya upon turning into a girl would try everything he could to make himself look more traditionally masculine

But I still wanted to draw him in a skirt, you know, because

So…uh…yeah 👍

His ass doesn't even want to be a woman, but let's be fr, he be styling his hair in the mirror or some shit thinking things like ‘if only every woman paid half as much attention to how she holds herself as me!’ Thinking he's giving everyone a good example or something 💀

Stfu Naoya 

I have a third addition to this collection of drawings in the works. It'll probably be up in a few days, depending on if I have time to work on it or not. This will probably be the last piece of this au for a while.

Part 1 , Part 2 Edit: Part 3

[jeffersonhairpie]

Spoilers up to chap 336 of Jujutsu Kaisen

-

Sorry gotta get this out of my system

A slightly unhinged list of reasons that I'm Not A Fan of this Gojo death that I sincereley hope will make me look like an overreactive weirdo in a few weeks time:

He died offscreen. I know we see the body but we don't actually see the finishing blow. Bizzare for a character of his prowess and significance at this point in the story

Gojo in the 'afterlife' immediately talking about how much stronger Sukuna was than him hits really strange for a character defined by his casual arrogance. Gojo is fast as fuck so it's pretty clear that Sukuna could only get him with the Mahoraga-aided slashes if he caught Gojo off guard. Nothing we have seen in the Gojo vs Sukuna fight indicates that Sukuna is all that much stronger than Gojo and they're mostly pretty evenly matched. Nothing about this ending for Gojo looks to me like 'dying without regrets'.

Sticking Gojo in a box for 3 years real time (19 days in universe time) and freeing him just so the rest of the story can screech to a halt while all the other characters watch him die is fucking stupid. It's bad storytelling.

There are a few different things you could view as Gojo's character arc - whether it be the question he's asked of whether he's the strongest because he's himself or himself because he's the strongest, whether it's laying Geto to rest, whether it's learning that being the strongest is not all there is to being a complete person, whether its shedding his loneliness by learning that Geto is not the only person who he could be emotionally close to. Whatever you see it as, his arc has not reached its conclusion. Gojo is incomplete and him dying now makes his whole character feel like a waste. He didn't even really learn to value the people left alive bc how is he in the afterlife all smiling and happy knowing that Sukuna is about to rampage through the lot of them?

Gojo dying has always been so damn obvious. This is entirely personal preference, but I would have sooooo much rather seen him have his powers neutered so he was forced to understand tha value of an individual life than just wiped off the board. Also I think the universe could benefit from the notion that getting stronger and dying are not the only two things that can happen to a sorcerer.

I know they're not even on the same scale of plot significance, but I can't help comparing how Nanami's death was painful but felt well foreshadowed and entirely justified in the story to this death which very much doesn't (my thoughts on Nobara's death are more complicated). Nanami's death hurt because it felt true to the character, but Gojo's death has just annoyed me.

I never expected the final fight to be Gojo vs Kenjaku and I knew that something was going to have to happen to him in order to justify him not being part of the final showdown. Yuji as the MC and as Kenjaku's kid in this story about how the sins of the past shape the present is 100% the right choice for the story. Much as I thought it was taking the easy route, I hadn't discounted the possibility that Gojo would die, I had just expected him to, ya know, learn something and complete his character arc before he did.

This death just feels really cheap to me, in a way that I don't think even makes for a good fakeout. Maybe the fact that characters have already come back from the dead means that there was no way to have a fakeout feel entirely shocking, but I don't think I should be left thinking 'was that REALLY it?' after the fakout death.

BUT maybe hope doesn't have to be lost

Things I am holding on to hoping that this will be some kind of fakeout (copium is real and I am huffing it):

Gojo wasn't hit in the head, and in his fight with Toji he is able to come back from basically being dead because his head was undamaged

There is still one of the ten shadows that we haven't seen and given that it can't possibly be a stronger combatant than Mahoraga I'm betting on it having a healing ability, which would presumably be incredibly strong given that it's the last to be unveiled. The same healing could save Gojo and Nobara

When Yuji was presumed dead by his classmates and training with Gojo, Gojo comments that Yuji's body will eventually be scarred by Sukuna's cursed technique and he'll be able to use it as his own. Sukuna has the ability to bring people back from the dead so if Yuji can access those powers he can save Gojo (and probably Nobara).

Maki and Mai have something of an 'afterlife' conversation that is real but it doesn't stop Maki from returning to the land of the living.

Depending on exactly how you want to count 'coming back from the dead' several characters have done it at this point lol

In the afterlife Nanami has that random ass line about how curses and sorcerers can bring people back from the dead that doesn't seem to fit in with everything else being said. This could be foreshadowing.

Speaking of foreshadowing, maybe Gojo's line about not wanting to have two death anniversaries was an indication that he intended this to happen and has some sort of pre-established plan for how to win.

Shoko reveresed technique bass boosted by Utahime can heal anything #IBelieve

[cosmicjoke]

Watching episode 33 of JJK makes me even more angry if Gojo really is dead and doesn't get to confront Kenjaku for what he did. Pff, it was such a well done episode, but it's been soured by chapter 236 and the possibility that we'll never get to see Gojo pay Kenjaku back for hijacking Geto's body and using it against him. They really got Gojo's momentary happiness across in this episode, when he believed for an instant that Geto was still alive, and that makes it all the more heartbreaking what happens next, with him being sealed and imprisoned. And so if we never get to see Gojo make Kenjaku pay for that, I'm going to be so damned pissed.

This is also what I don't get about this idea floated in chapter 236, that Gojo was only fighting because he got a "kick" out of it, rather than for other people. All of Gojo's characterization up to that point contradicts that notion. We see how affected Gojo is by his personal relationships and his connection with others. Kenjaku was only able to capture Gojo by exploiting that emotional connection and depth of feeling he had for Geto. He isn't some emotionless or self-centered egotist who doesn't care about anyone but himself. We see it also in how Gojo runs himself into the ground to save as many people as he can, when he unleashes his domain for 2/10ths of a second so he can take out all of the transfigured humans, even at the expense of going after the special grade curses. If he really didn't care about saving or protecting anyone, why wouldn't he have just blasted everyone and killed them all in that instant? Doesn't make any sense. So I don't understand the declaration from chapter 236 made by Nanamin that Gojo was always just selfish. It totally contradicts Gojo's actual characterization throughout the whole story. Maybe Gege forgot how to write Gojo after keeping him locked up for three years. Or maybe he has something else planned. It better be the latter, or I'm going to call this the worst butchering of a character I've seen in a long time, and a massive waste of potential.

Damn.