Jujutsu Kaisen is a universal hit, and is often classified as being part of shōnen anime’s “Dark Trio”, along with Chainsaw Man and Hell’s Paradise. Sporting iconic characters such as Sukuna and Gojo, who have been mentioned in popular songs like Megan Thee Stallion’s “Otaku Hot Girl”, and quotable one-liners such as “Nah, I’d win”, there’s no question that Jujutsu Kaisen has pop-culture in a chokehold.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s exceptional storytelling, top-tier animation and well-written characters contributed to its roaring success. However, the series isn’t without its flaws. Gege Akutami has received a lot of backlash from fans, resulting from storyline inconsistencies, underdeveloped characters and character deaths. Akutami has made many questionable decisions in Jujutsu Kaisen, with the most obvious being the mistreatment of the characters.
Related
10 Best Ongoing Shonen Manga For Fans of Jujutsu Kaisen & Where to Read Them
JJK’s ending left an empty space where its epic battles and endearing characters were, but there are plenty of great ongoing manga to fill the void.
10
Sukuna Never Got a Heian Era Flashback
Fans Missed Out on a Huge Part of Sukuna’s History
Sukuna is one of the most popular and beloved characters in Jujutsu Kaisen. On top of being powerful, he is a charismatic antagonist. Sukuna has had many impressive feats on-screen, and it got fans invested in the idea of seeing Sukuna’s off-screen endeavors, specifically during the Heian era.
Related
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Culling Game Proves Modern Sorcerers Are Weaker Than in the Heian Era
Sukuna and Kenjaku reigned in the Golden Age of Jujutsu a thousand years ago – and both make a point of saying how weak modern sorcerers are.
The Heian Era is known as the golden age of jujutsu and there are many stories about Sukuna from that era, which made fans want to see a flashback elaborating on it. This would’ve been a good opportunity to further develop Sukuna’s abilities, history and character but it didn’t happen. Akutami dropped the ball on Sukuna’s past, but this is ranked at the bottom of the list because the characters were fumbled harder in the following entries.
9
Yuji’s Time-Skip Soul Swap Training Annoyed JJK Fans
JJK’s Conclusion to Yuji’s Story Felt Rushed
Yuji is one of the most physically gifted characters in JJK. By training with several characters, he refined his techniques and got strong enough to defeat many of the series’ most powerful characters. While most of Yuji’s growth was depicted on-screen, the most significant growth he underwent took place during an off-screen time-skip when he amassed enough power to defeat the strongest sorcerer in history, Sukuna.
Fans were excited about Yuji’s victory against Sukuna after all the suffering he endured, and they wanted to see his growth in the manga, but instead of a training sequence fans were given convoluted explanations about how Yuji got stronger. Including training sequences would have been a good opportunity for Akutami to showcase Yuji’s growth and further develop character relationships, but not including it ensured that the character relationships and development would remain an area Jujutsu Kaisen suffered in.
8
Kenjaku’s Familial Relationships Lacked Closure
Kenjaku’s Role as Yuji’s Mother Was an Underexplored Subplot
Fans expected to get more background stories on the characters, like Gege Akutami did with Gojo and Geto. One of JJK’s most important character relationships is the one between Kenjaku, or pseudo-Geto, and Yuji. Kenjaku being Yuji’s mother is an interesting subplot that should have been further explored.
While Yuji and Choso were given the opportunity to explore their relationship as brothers, there was little involvement from Kenjaku, excluding a couple of short interactions that suggested he cared for Yuji on some level. Exploring Kenjaku and Yuji’s past, as well as developing their present dynamic, would have added more depth to their characters and Jujutsu Kaisen‘s storyline, but the opportunity was missed.
7
Yuji’s Victory Against Mahito Was Stolen From Him
Yuji’s Triumph Was Overshadowed By Kenjaku
Yuji and Mahito had been rivals since early on in Jujutsu Kaisen. Through combat, they pushed each other to evolve and refine their cursed techniques. Over time, the bad blood between them surged, and their rivalry came to a head in the Shibuya Incident arc.
Mahito succeeded in breaking Yuji down in Shibuya by killing his friends and civilians, but Todo managed to build Yuji back up. Yuji became mentally and physically strong enough to defeat Mahito during their battle, but when the time for Yuji to deliver the finishing blow came, Kenjaku scooped Mahito up and absorbed him, robbing Yuji of his well-deserved victory and weaponizing it to initiate the Culling Game.
6
Megumi Didn’t Get to Fully Develop His Domain or Ten Shadows Technique
Megumi’s Character Development Came to an Abrupt Halt With Meguna
Megumi is one of the most fascinating and powerful characters in JJK. As a descendant of the Big Three families’ Zenin clan and the son of Toji Fushiguro –who is one of the most formidable sorcerers in the series– there was potential for Megumi to grow exponentially.
Megumi continuously left fans in awe with his Ten Shadows Technique and incomplete domain, but any hope of watching his abilities develop further was destroyed when Sukuna inhabited his body and created “Meguna”, which was a highly controversial plot-decision. Meguna effectively deprived fans of any further character development from Megumi, whose wasted potential was a major fumble.
5
The Controversial Relationship Between Mei Mei and Ui Ui Left JJK Fans With Unanswered Questions
The Malaysia Hotel Scene Has Some Sexual Undertones
Jujutsu Kaisen has one of the most impressive female casts in shōnen, including Mei Mei who is a highly formidable sorcerer with a fascinating technique. Mei Mei’s character was well-received among fans, and their only major complaint was that she didn’t get enough screen time. However, the fans’ perception of Mei Mei changed after Gege Akutami made a questionable decision with her character regarding her relationship with her younger brother, Ui Ui.
Related
Jujutsu Kaisen Creator Reveals Why He Still Hasn’t Killed Off Mei Mei
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Gege Akutami reveals why Mei Mei and other characters are still alive while fan favorites like Nanami and Gojo have been killed off.
During the Shibuya Incident arc, it became apparent that Mei Mei had been grooming Ui Ui to be her tool, and things were taken a step further in Malaysia with the scene of them in bed together, which contained incestuous dialogue and subtext that disturbed many fans. This incident tarnished Mei Mei’s character, and is the reason for this entry’s placement on the list’s midpoint.
4
Kenjaku Didn’t Live Up to His Hype, Disappointing The Jujutsu Kaisen Fanbase
The Overarching Antagonist Was Easily Defeated
Kenjaku has been a significant antagonist in Jujutsu Kaisen since the beginning of the series, and he has a connection to many of the other characters, including Yuji Itadori. Many fans expected Kenjaku to be the final villain as a result of his crucial role in the series.
Kenjaku was known as the mastermind because he orchestrated most of JJK’s major occurrences. However, he was easily killed by Yuta after being disarmed by Takaba. Fans thought Kenjaku’s death was a fakeout, because it didn’t seem like a reasonable plot-decision for him to be killed without expanding on any of the relationships or plans he had, but to everyone’s dismay, the status of his death was confirmed a few panels later.
3
Nobara’s Character Was Discarded and Not Fully Fleshed Out by JJK’s Ending
Nobara Was Presumed to be Dead Until the Last Minute
Nobara Kugisaki was one of the first characters introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen, and she brought tact and intensity to all of her battles, extending well into the Shibuya Incident arc when she went up against several opponents, including Mahito, who she was presumed to be killed by. There were subtle hints that Nobara might survive Mahito’s attack, but with more chapters passing and her status remaining unconfirmed, fans gradually moved on.
It wasn’t until the Shinjuku Show-down arc that Nobara reappeared. Yuji was in the middle of his climactic battle against Sukuna, when Nobara remotely assisted him by using her Hairpin technique on Sukuna’s last finger. Nobara was once integral to JJK, but the demand for her character was diminished as a result of her drawn-out “death”. Further, the manga was nearly finished when she made her reappearance, so it didn’t have much of an impact on fans.
2
Yuki Tsukumo Died Fighting Kenjaku Without Displaying Well-Rounded Character Traits
Fans Expected Yuki to Play a Bigger Role
Yuki Tsukumo is a Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer who was introduced during Jujutsu Kaisen’s Hidden Inventory arc, which is known as the Gojo’s Past arc. Yuki was well-known and highly regarded for her skill, but she was never shown fighting, not even during the Shibuya Incident arc when she confronted Kenjaku.
Gege Akutami held off on showing a battle between Yuki and Kenjaku until the Culling Game arc, which naturally made it one of the most anticipated fights in the manga. However, the fight between Yuki and Kenjaku turned out to be a disappointment, because after showing off her powerful abilities, Yuki was killed in battle.
1
Gojo’s Death Occurred Off-Screen, Which Was A Major Shock to The JJK Fandom
Fans Still Aren’t Over the Airport Scene
Gojo is one of the most influential, popular and beloved characters in Jujutsu Kaisen and pop culture. Boasting his overpowered Limitless and Six Eyes techniques, Gojo was renowned as the strongest sorcerer of the modern era. However, he was captured and sealed away by Kenjaku. After two weeks of imprisonment, Gojo was finally freed from the Prison Realm and challenged Sukuna to a fight shortly after.
Related
Is Gojo Stronger Than Sukuna Right Now In The JJK Anime?
Gojo and Sukuna are two of the strongest sorcerers in history, but which on is stronger?
Gojo fought well against Sukuna despite being outnumbered by him and Mahoraga, but after putting up one of the best fights in the series, he was unexpectedly given an off-screen death. To make matters worse, Gojo’s death was followed by an airport scene that failed to give his character proper closure, and highlighted his negative qualities rather than focusing on the important role he had in jujutsu society. Gojo’s death could have been executed better, and this is arguably the hardest Gege Akutami has ever fumbled one of JJK’s characters.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen follows the evolution of Yuji Itadori, a boy who swallowed a cursed talisman – the finger of a demon – and became cursed himself. He enters a special school for sorcerers to learn to control his new abilities and gather the rest of the demon’s parts, so he can consume them and then be eliminated.
- Created by
-
Gege Akutami
- First Film
-
Jujutsu Kaisen 0
- First TV Show
-
Jujutsu Kaisen
- First Episode Air Date
-
October 3, 2020
- Latest Episode
-
October 2023
- Where to watch
-
Crunchyroll
- Manga Release Date
-
March 5, 2018
- Genre
-
Shonen
