Jujutsu Kaisen creator Gege Akutami fixes a major manga flaw in the anime

While Jujutsu Kaisen manga has reached the pinnacle of success with its complex narrative and compelling characters, it's not entirely without flaws. There are several instances when the manga didn't portray a certain character or a situation according to their merit. However, that's where the anime adaptation comes into play.

Under the supervision of Gege Akutami, MAPPA Studios has added plenty of anime-original sequences to either fix or elevate such situations in Jujutsu Kaisen. For instance, the latest episode of the anime featured an original scene, showing why Nobara Kugisaki was the right candidate to be nominated for a promotion to grade one.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from Jujutsu Kaisen manga.

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Jujutsu Kaisen anime treats Nobara better than the manga during her battle against Haruta Shigemo

Nobara Kugisaki was introduced as one of the first-year students of Tokyo Jujutsu High in Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen. Brimming with talent, she had the capability to become a decent sorcerer, if not the best. In fact, she displayed her strength and abilities, including the tough-to-master Black Flash against Kezichu in the Death Painting Arc.

As a result, she was recommended by Aoi Todo and Mei Mei for promotion to being a grade one sorcerer, along with Maki, Panda, Megumi, and Yuji. Undoubtedly, several fans expected Nobara to play a crucial role in the Shibuya Incident arc following her feats in the Death Painting Arc.

Nobara Kugisaki, as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

However, in addition to not getting the chance to showcase her abilities, Mahito brutally annihilated her in Shibuya. In other words, she couldn't live up to the fans' expectations. Nobara failed to make an impact despite being nominated for the promotion to grade one.

Many fans felt that Gege Akutami didn't portray Nobara's character well enough in the manga. However, as mentioned previously, the anime adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen's Shibuya Incident arc has somewhat redeemed Nobara. The latest episode of the anime, titled Dull Knife, saw the Jujutsu Sorcerer going full-throttle against Haruta Shigemo.

Nobara, as seen in the episode (Image via MAPPA)

While Haruta's strength exceeded Nobara's, the Jujutsu Sorcerer managed to stay her ground to parry his attacks. Interestingly, Nobara's battle against Haruta was a completely one-sided affair in favor of the latter in the manga.

Although the anime adaptation of Gege Akutami's manga didn't change the eventual outcome of the battle, it provided Nobara with some sort of consolation prize. In the anime, she used her cursed technique to drop a ceiling on Haruta, who willingly didn't dodge the attack.

Haruta Shigemo in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Even though this attack didn't kill the curse user, it did nab away one of his miracle procs, as was revealed in a close-up. Haruta's cursed technique, Miracle, protects him from certain death. As such, if it weren't for his cursed technique, Haruta would have died from the ceiling falling on his head.

Fans would like to know that this particular scene didn't feature in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. In the manga, Nobara didn't have a single chance to counter and deal a blow to Shigemo. She was utterly defeated, only to be rescued by Nanami later.

However, MAPPA and Gege Akutami's decision to include the anime original sequence featuring Nobara and Haruta has done wonders for the former's character development. While she wasn't at the level of a proper grade-one sorcerer, the scene teased Nobara's overall potential.

Later, the Jujutsu Sorcerer was awestruck by Kento Nanami's prowess as he obliterated Haruta with ease. She understood the gap between her and a true first-grade sorcerer and vowed to become stronger.

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Keep up with more anime news and manga updates as 2023 progresses.