Nobara vs. Sakura: Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 brings back the Nobara vs. Sakura debate, and not in a good way

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 featured the long-awaited comeback of Nobara Kugisaki, whose return became the main topic of discussion among fans on social media following the release of the spoilers of the chapter.

Nobara's return also sparked heated arguments among fans worldwide, with some questioning whether it reflects poorly on the mangaka, Gege Akutami's writing capabilities, while others drew comparisons between Nobara and Naruto's Sakura Haruno once again.

A Nobara vs. Sakura debate is nothing uncommon in the anime community, especially considering the longstanding rivalry between the Jujutsu Kaisen and Naruto fandoms over which character is the better female lead. While such debates have been dormant for some time, Nobara's shocking return in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 reignited the rivalry between the two fandoms, leading to a fresh wave of heated exchanges between them on social media.

Explaining the Nobara vs. Sakura rivalry

Sakura as seen in the anime (image via Pierrot)

The Nobara vs. Sakura rivalry is a common topic of debate among the Jujutsu Kaisen and Naruto fandoms, who have often fought tooth and nail on social media in order to determine which female main character of their respective series is the better one. However, to understand why fans compare Nobara to Sakura, let us first consider each characters' first appearances, their personalities, combat abilities, and their respective character developments.

Sakura Haruno was first introduced in the classic Naruto series as a part of Team 7 alongside Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Her appearance in the first part of the series portrayed her as a bratty, emotionally vulnerable, and rude girl who was almost always focused on her romantic feelings for Sasuke.

Her harsh treatment and blatant disregard for Naruto is one of the main reasons for fans' hatred for her character. Furthermore, her role as the tritagonist of the series is often undermined by the fact that she is often sidelined during key story arcs, where the main focus often goes to Naruto or Sasuke.

Although her character does undergo some significant development in Naruto: Shippuden, she is often treated as an afterthought as compared to her male counterparts. Fans viewing Sakura in a negative light eventually led to them downplaying her combat abilities as well, despite the fact that she eventually became one of the strongest kunoichi by the end of the series.

Nobara's return in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 led fans to compare her to Sakura once again (image via MAPPA)

On the other hand, Nobara Kugisaki was portrayed as confident, strong-willed, and fiercely independent right from the get-go. Unlike Sakura, Nobara blatantly refused to view any of her male counterparts as a romantic interest, thereby marking a clear distinction between the two characters.

Although it's a clear fact that on a general power-scaling level, Sakura is much stronger than Nobara, many fans tend to overlook this fact simply because the latter is depicted as a crucial and equal member of her team, unlike the former.

While Nobara is relatively weaker in combat in comparison to her teammates, Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro, this doesn't stop her from shining in her own way, as seen during her battle against Eso and Kechizu, alongside Yuji.

It's important to note that in Nobara's case, her growth and development were less about proving herself to others and more about living up to the standards she set for herself. Seeing as how Nobara is so uniquely different from Sakura, fans could not resist getting into heated arguments and discussions about which character is the superior one.

How Nobara's return in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 led to more comparisons to Sakura

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Nobara's return in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 received surprisingly mixed reactions from the fans, who wasted no time in bashing Akutami's writing capabilities. According to fans, bringing Nobara back with about 4 more chapters left till the series wraps up was an incredibly bad decision on Akutami's part.

Furthermore, many even compared Nobara to Sakura, with some refuting all claims of the former being a better character than the latter. The main reasoning for their claim was that Sakura healed and helped a lot of people throughout the Fourth Great Ninja War, whereas Nobara returned only when Sukuna was on his last legs.

"Nobara is ok but Sakura is miles better and SPOILER!! Nobara was absent for like 143 chapters while Sakura was there helping the whole Shippuden series," said one fan.

"In what way was Nobara meant to be better than Sakura? Cuz as far as i know, Sakura is so much better than her in every way," one fan claimed.

"Don’t disrespect sakura like that she atleast was alive the entire series and actullay did something unlike nobara," another chimed in.

On the other hand, there were fans who stood their ground and claimed that Nobara's return in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 267 made her a better character than Sakura once again and that the former did more in her limited appearances than the latter did over the course of the entire series.

"Nobara is officially better than sakura again LMAO," one fan boldly claimed.

"Nobara did more against the cursed brothers than Sakura in 700 chapters. The way people overhype a punch that only distracted Kaguya is lame," said another fan.

"Nobara eye patch has unironically more symbolism and depth then that sorry excuse of an abuse victim at least nobara understands her best friend Sakura couldn’t even understand sasuke at all," one fan wrote.