Jujutsu Kaisen fanart of alternate Nobara return "would be so much better" per fans

Modified Mar 28, 2025 05:30 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen fanart shows a different take on Nobara's comeback (Image via MAPPA and Shueisha).

Jujutsu Kaisen ended its manga run with a lot of questionable decisions, with one of the most criticized being Nobara Kugisaki's return at the eleventh hour in the final battle. Most fans agree that this decision by author Gege Akutami was executed quite poorly, with a person on Reddit named @-Cool-_-beans- making a fan manga depicting the character as Angel instead of Hana Kurusu.

In this version of events, Nobara is turned into Angel after the Shibuya Incident arc and comes back to life earlier in the story, thus giving her a chance to get more involved in the manga. This means that she could fill in the role of Angel in the series, which some Jujutsu Kaisen fans feel "would be so much better" than what they got in the canon material.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and the people quoted.

Jujutsu Kaisen fanart depicts Nobara's return as the new Angel

Angel Nobara as seen in this fanart (Image via Reddit at @-Cool-_-beans-)

A user on Reddit named @-Cool-_-beans- made a short fan manga where Angel helps Nobara Kugisaki come back to life after the Shibuya Incident arc. It depicts the two of them sharing the latter's body much as the former does with Hana Kurusu in the canon material. Angel is seen appearing as a mouth on Nobara's hand, mirroring the dynamic between Sukuna and Yuji Itadori.

This fan manga had a positive reception on that platform, mainly because it managed to fix two issues: the lateness of Nobara's return and the lack of relevance that Angel had in the story. Both elements are among some of the most criticized in the franchise, with this fan material coming up with a solution that, on paper, would have provided a much more organic solution.

Nobara needed to come back sooner if that was always going to be author Gege Akutami's vision, so she could have time to interact more with the case and have more of a spotlight. This fixes that situation while giving her more relevance with the main plot that is destroying Sukuna since Angel has had that goal since the days of the Heian era.

More reactions online

Nobara as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA).

Both Nobara Kugisaki and Hana Kurusu were among the most mistreated characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, with the Angel subplot almost being discarded from a narrative perspective as well. Ultimately, both characters are used more as a tool to defeat Ryomen Sukuna rather than having their own journeys in the series, which is a running issue with the vast majority of the cast.

Perhaps the reason why this is so frustrating in the fandom with these two characters is the fact that they hold roles that should be a lot more important. Nobara was introduced and promoted as a member of the main trio with Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro, but doesn't get the same degree of attention, while Angel's crusade against Sukuna is so important that it is surprising that it was never developed.

"Unironically would be so much better than Hana," someone said.

"This is soooo cool. I would have loved this, she could have more interactions with everyone, and it could have put more weight behind Angels hunt on 'the fallen one'. As they needed to keep it a secret from kugasaki. Would have also been cool if Angel slowly figured it out who inhabits Yuji through kugasaki. If only jjk had more time and wasnt so rushed," another person said.

"It's insane that this feels less far-fetched than the actual Angel and Hana wtf was Gege thinking," someone else said.

It is also worth pointing out that, as mentioned earlier, Angel and Nobara were not the only characters to suffer such a fate in Jujutsu Kaisen. The rushed nature of the series led to a lot of characters being wasted and multiple concepts being underdeveloped, leaving a very unsatisfying conclusion.

"There were so many possibilities for Nobara even if she had to stay away from Yuji and Megumi if Gege feared she’d be too op. Maybe in a different universe," someone said.

"Damn, is that gege on disguise trying to redeem himself? This is magnificent!" another person said.

This fan art is also a testament of the dedication and passion of the Jujutsu Kaisen community, who still continue to discuss and enjoy the series after its conclusion and its shortcomings.

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Edited by Madhur Dave