The following contains huge spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen that only those who have finished the manga will know. Proceed with caution.
Summary
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Jujutsu Kaisenis undoubtedly one of the biggest phenomena anime has seen sinceShōnen Jump’s The Big Three, and definitely one of the biggest anime exports of the 2020s. One of the things that led to the series' popularity was its display of strong feminine characters who, unlike in many other shōnen anime and manga, were depicted without the rampant sexualization and sidelining for which shōnen manga has been criticized, for many years. This isn’t to say that shōnen ani-manga never have any strong female characters or leads, but, for the most part, their roles are always somewhat secondary to that of the protagonist and the deuteragonist, who is usually depicted as his foil.
Nobara Kugisaki’s sideliningin the most important arcs ofJujutsu Kaisen, even if she was resurrected, is one of the biggest tragedies of the series; maybe even one of the biggest tragedies in shōnen, and this is why.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s “Team 7”, Without The Noise
There Was a Deliberate Attempt to Refine the Formula Left to Us By The Big Three
Jujutsu Kaisenis very famously inspired by Tite Kubo’sBLEACH, but fans also noticed an unmistakable other permutation of the battle shōnen formula, elements in Gege Akutami’s series that were reminiscent of the primary elements of Masashi Kishimoto’sNaruto, particularly the character of Ryōmen Sukuna in the initial stages; an inner demon trope seen in several battle shōnen over the years, a symbol of the internal struggle faced by usually virtuous protagonists in otherwise insurmountable circumstance; a loss of control that has seemingly become a necessary step in the establishment of the shōnen protagonist. With the realization that Megumi Fushiguro and series protagonist Yuji Itadori, would be joined by a third, in a schooling environment where their teacher is of the"Mekakushi-dan"character trope best illustrated bySatoru Gojo’s obvious partial inspiration, Kakashi Hatake and even more subtly, but more specifically, the mysteriousness of a Kisuke Urahara, signalled to viewers that this was another shōnen main trio situation that was most famously explored in Naruto. Basically,Jujutsu Kaisenwas another permutation of the era’s “BLEACH-inspiredNaruto” approach clone in the mind of the average viewer, at least at first, and because of this, it was also a series with the potential to “do whatNarutodid”, but with a darker exploration and potential to make use of the aspects not only Kishimoto’s magunm opus, butcountless other genre-defining titlesover several decades.
Female main characters have had the short end of the stick, often losing relevance as more powerful opponents appear over time, or simply never having a “main character” moment beyond the thing that made them interesting in the beginning. InNaruto, Sakura considering herself as being on equal footing with the series' main pair is seen as a moment of true delusion for the character by fans. Sakura is definitely a combination of unfortunate factors; one being her unpopularity with fans partly as a result of some of her more unlikable moments in the earlier and middle series, but the other being her utter lack of truly pivotal moments that turned the tides of battle. An “MVP” moment, if you will. Nobara Kugisaki stood as the antithesis of all the issues with Sakura’s characterization and utilization in the story, or if you want to take it even further, the egregious decision to never field Android 18, andher apparent declawing over time in theDragon Ballfranchise, or whichever missed opportunity with a female character in mainstream battle shōnen that you hold dear to your heart. There are probably several.
Final Nail in the Coffin
The Tragedy of Kugisaki Nobara
In the aftermath of her introduction, Nobara quickly became one of the series' most liked characters. The combination of rough’n’tough with gentle, as well as the clear sense that she stood on the same footing as the other two or was at least every bit as important to the team as the others, gave many viewers a taste of a female battle shōnen character who was going to be crucial to the very end. The famous “Black Flash” moment she shared with Yuji only further strengthened the idea thatJujutsu Kaisenwas on its way to giving the medium something that would permanently raise the bar when it came to the overall utilization and writing of female main characters. It’s important to reiterate “main” here, because there areany number of strong womenin all kinds of anime, and even in many of the battle shōnen we critique the most, especiallyJujutsu Kaisen. So, if Nobara’s great, and we love what she represents, where’s the tragedy?
Easy: the “women in refrigerators” trope. Coined by Gail Simeone, legendary writer behind several DC Comics comics [haha],including Wonder Woman, the trope, often referred to simply as “fridging”, is described as the killing off of female characters specifically to prompt a character growth journey for the usually male protagonist. The entire impact of a fridged character lies solely in death, as they become a spectre that the protagonist holds onto as their entire journey changes because of the loss.Nobara’s death inJujutsu Kaisenwas a fridging of sorts because, as much as it was an understandable death given the menace that was Mahito, and because it made perfect sense for the villains to go after her, as her Resonance Cursed Technique meant that she could damage the soul, making her a major immediate threat. Be that as it may; however, from a writing perspective, there could have been far more creative ways to utilize her. For one, exploring how Nobara could possibly have defeated Mahito herself would’ve been another major moment to hold on to, but ultimately, it was hers and Nanami’s deaths that sparked the evolution of Yuji Itadori.
Nobara’s Return
Too Little, Too Late
During the final showdown against Sukuna, the various Sorcerers trying their hand at chipping away at the King of Curses have their hands full, but it is through the last-minute revival of Nobara Kugisaki, who now dons an eyepatch, that Sukuna is able to be defeated. Using her Resonance technique on a final hidden finger of Sukuna, Nobara was able to disrupt Sukuna’s very soul. Coupled together with Yuji’s rapid evolution and development ofa form of Sukuna’s Cleave, the right kind of opening was made, leading to Sukuna’s death. It was alluded to long before the series' end that Nobara’s abilities make her the kind of Sorcerer with the potential to be crucial in the eventual showdown against Sukuna, or any major Curse, really. Her return was necessary to defeat Sukuna, and yet, despite the fact that we knew that Nobara would be important to the endgame ofJujutsu Kaisen,her return almost felt cheap, coming in the last five or so chapters of the manga.
When she sustained that horrific injury against Mahito, it was specifically mentioned that she would be held fast in a state of suspended animation while Arata Nitta, a first-year student atthe Kyoto branch of Jujutsu Technical High, Arata was only saying that Nobara didn’t have ZERO chance of surviving specifically to make Yuji feel better, but it was clear that not even he, her saviour, was sure she’d make it. This “foot-in-the-door” they gave Nobara ended up being less of an explanation for her return, and more of a cop-out: why kill her at all? In the aftermath, Nobara, a character we all knew would be crucial in the series' endgame, was killed off just to return specifically to take down the final boss, just as a nod to the fact that we’d always known: that she’d be pivotal in the defeat of the most powerful sorcerer in history. The series missed out on a lot of Nobara’s impact for an ending that, when it eventually rolled around, was far from the kind of ending people thought the series deserved. That, there, isthe tragedy ofJujutsu Kaisen’sKugisaki Nobara.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to read on VIZ Media’swebsite, while the anime is available onCrunchyroll.
