Jujutsu Kaisen fans ignored the biggest problem with Nobara's return

Modified Nov 04, 2024 02:30 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen has a major issue with Nobara's return (Image via MAPPA).

The Jujutsu Kaisen ending has been controversial from the moment the series concluded and part of that is because of several decisions. One of the biggest reasons was having Nobara Kugisaki return from death in a very convenient moment and this has led to a lot of plotholes, including how she managed to survive the battle with Mahito in Shibuya.

It was established in the Jujutsu Kaisen series very early on that Mahito's Idle Transfiguration technique is guaranteed to kill the target and also have running damage on that person's soul.

In other words, there is no logical way for Nobara to survive that attack and continue to have a normal life as shown after the defeat of Sukuna, which is one of the many issues with her return.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

Explaining why Nobara shouldn't have survived Mahito's Idle Transfiguration in Jujutsu Kaisen

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

It has been stated in the series that Mahito's Idle Transfiguration technique is capable of killing a person because he can reach out and destroy said target's soul. This is evidenced throughout his several victims in the story and he manages to touch Nobara Kugisaki during the Shibuya Incident arc, which should have been the end for the Jujutsu sorcerer.

However, it was revealed during the tail end of the Shinjuku Incident arc that Nobara managed to survive and was in a coma for months. The story never explains how she got better after suffering Idle Transfiguration and her only loss was her eye, which doesn't make a lot of sense when considering that this attack should have also reached out to her brain.

It has been theorized that Nobara protected her soul just like Nanami did during his battle with Mahito in the Junpei arc, but it doesn't seem that she had the time to react and protect herself.

There is also the fact that no Jujutsu sorcerer who could treat her, such as Yuta Okkotsu or Shoko Ieiri, had a technique to heal an attack of this nature.

The many issues of Nobara's return

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

Nobara's return to Jujutsu Kaisen was one of the many problems with the ending of the series and even that has several issues. One major problem is the plot convenience of Nobara being in a coma for months and waking up at the right moment to assist Yuji Itadori to deliver the finishing blow to Ryomen Sukuna in the final battle.

As mentioned earlier, Nobara was removed from the story for over one hundred chapters which damaged her character's role and potential development.

She returned too late into the plot and was mostly used as a plot device, reducing the severity of her final moments in Shibuya, which is something that seems to be a wasted opportunity.

Ultimately, Nobara probably could have contributed more to the story by staying dead than coming back in the final moments to simply assist the protagonist.

It makes a lot of sense why fans were not happy with this decision since it does a disservice to who was a popular character and the story as a whole.

Final thoughts

Mahito's abilities in Jujutsu Kaisen should have killed Nobara or at least leave her in a state where she couldn't have done anything to influence the plot. It is one of the biggest issues with this plot twist, damaging the plot more than elevating it.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande