Does Nobara come back to life in Jujutsu Kaisen manga? Status explained

Thursday, November 30, 2023, saw the release of the 19th episode of the second season of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series, bringing an enthralling addition to the Shibuya Incident arc. Within, fans saw two excellent fight scenes in Yuji Itadori versus Mahito and Nobara Kugisaki versus Mahito, as well as finally learning of Nobara’s backstory and origins.

However, these led to a completely shocking and unexpected final moment of the latest Jujutsu Kaisen anime episode, which saw Nobara gravely injured by Mahito. In fact, given the location and apparent severity of the injury, as well as the immediate moments afterward, it seems those may have been Nobara’s final moments of life.

Unsurprisingly, anime-only fans are now rushing to discover if the Jujutsu Kaisen manga elaborates on Nobara’s condition, not wanting to wait for the next episode for an update. While there is an answer as to whether the original manga series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami has elaborated on Nobara’s condition, it’s one that fans may not like.

Disclaimer: Spoilers for future Jujutsu Kaisen anime seasons and the series’ manga below.

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Nobara’s status still shrouded in mystery in contemporary Jujutsu Kaisen manga

Nobara’s status explained

There have been no signs or mentions of Nobara in the manga. Although fans keep their hopes because of this ambiguity, she is most likely dead. The series has entered its final arc and there were plenty of chances to bring her back in the story. However, she has been out of the story ever since her defeat at the hands of Mahito.

With the series’ television anime faithfully adapting the Jujutsu Kaisen manga source material, manga readers were also under the impression that Nobara had died following this scene. However, shortly after the end of the Shibuya Incident arc, fans get a small tease as to what Nobara’s ultimate fate was from none other than Megumi Fushiguro.

Upon reuniting with Megumi, Nobara’s status is one of the first things Yuji asks him about. Megumi does have an answer for Yuji, but fans are not privy to this information. However, fans can see that Yuji has a strangely worried expression on his face as Megumi speaks. Fans also see him clench his fists while saying he gets it, appearing to be motivated by whatever Megumi said as well.

Unfortunately, this is the last update the Jujutsu Kaisen manga has provided on Nobara in the well over 100 chapters since her apparent death occurred. It’s a frustrating fact, but also an encouraging one when taking into account the aforementioned scene and what Akutami has said of the series’ ending so far.

Akutami has said several times that he has a very specific pair of routes in mind for the ending of the series in terms of who lives and who dies. Of the three first-years (Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara) and Satoru Gojo, Akutami has said either one of them will die and the other three will live, or one of them will live and the other three will die.

Combining this knowledge with the above-described scene between Megumi and Yuji, it can be surmised that Nobara is indeed alive after all. While future events in the anime and manga beyond this point may change that assessment, it’s more likely than not that she is alive considering where the series seems to be heading narratively.

However, as mentioned above, this is still speculative, with the contemporary manga offering no concrete answers as to Nobara’s post-Shibuya status at the time of this article’s writing. Nevertheless, fans are optimistic due to all the currently available information pointing to the fact that she is indeed alive after all.

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Be sure to keep up with all Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.