How Jujutsu Kaisen walks the delicate rope between hope and despair

Yuji and Sukuna literally represent Hope vs. Despair (Image via Sportskeeda)

Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most popular of the new wave of shonen anime. The show and manga have exploded in popularity since their debuts, and a bunch of theories have sprung up in the meantime regarding just how Jujutsu Kaisen handles the themes of hope and despair in equal measure.

Jujutsu Kaisen tends to dabble in both hope and despair for a lot of its characters, storytelling, and themes.

Disclaimer: This article contains plenty of spoilers regarding Jujutsu Kaisen's anime and manga. The opinions are reflective of only the author.

Hope and despair appear in tandem in Jujutsu Kaisen

Hope in Jujutsu Kaisen

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Hope is very fragile and frail, but hard to kill once it takes root. That's the core message of Jujutsu Kaisen, that even if the protagonists lose friends or family, there's always hope to triumph or survive.

Despite the invincible-seeming nature of threats like Mahito and Sukuna, the heroes still triumph over their minions and even their elite. Mahito himself was eventually reduced to fleeing after Yuji and Nanami jumped him.

There's a large generational divide and the question of who counts as a person in the series, with the more progressive generation like Gojo and Yuji representing the hope for a better and brighter tomorrow.

Even when Gojo was sealed, he was confident his students had what it took to carry on and never lost that faith even when Yuji swallowed Sukuna's fingers.

Similarly, there was hope even in despair, as Maki carried her sister's wish to destroy the corrupt and cruel Zenin clan. Megumi's character arc deals with Yuji and him being the hope for a brighter future for each other and following his possession by Sukuna, Yuji tries everything to wrench the King of Curses out of his friend's body.

Despair in Jujutsu Kaisen

On the other hand, there's plenty of despair in the series as well. Deaths of characters like Junpei, a ton of people during the Shibuya Incident, and the uncertain fate of Nobara after Mahito nearly blew her eye out are consistently handed out throughout the series.

Sukuna's very existence has caused despair for many around him, with his host Yuji very much included owing to his massive destruction of people and places when unleashed.

Despair, likewise, is shown to push people highly susceptible to it to extremes. Yuji shuts down after the Shibuya Incident, the reigning council at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School basically marks anyone associated with Gojo for termination/capture after the Shibuya Incident ,with Yuji included with siccing Yuta after him, among other incidents.

While it's true that characters shut down during despair, it never truly lingers throughout the series. Characters like Yuji or Megumi usually bounce back from what ails them, or at least have help in doing so.

While the corrupt, greedy, and more conservative usually hold power or sway over things, they never truly spread their influence too far into the series or over many of the central characters or society.

A fine, thin line

To put this into perspective, hope and despair exist in every single person on the planet. The line between them is incredibly thin and frail. Something major could happen that completely throws a person into the depths of despair and, depending on the circumstances or the situation that befalls them, into worse and worse places mentally.

The line where the series in question walks is excessively thin. Characters will experience despair and true horrors that no normal human could reasonably sustain, and then get help or find some meaning to continue their battles against the forces of evil and darkness even if it means it will cost them their life.

Yuji Itadori took a while to snap out of his despair loop after the Shibuya Incident, but he's starting to come around as the manga continues the Culling Game. The villains likewise have experienced their own despair, like when Mahito was absorbed by Kenjaku or when Sukuna killed Jogo.

The series has plenty of hopeful moments even in the depths of despair, where the will to continue fighting on has spurred many characters to keep going.

Basically, the two are in tandem in the anime and manga. This allows for really good character development, with Yuji Itadori's near downward spiral as a hero only to be lifted up by Megumi, for example.

It also allows for more emotional storytelling to take place. If any other fan has any other examples of where the hope and despair lines are drawn, feel free to tell us in the comments.

Edited by Prem Deshpande