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One of the most unique, and depending on who you ask, frustrating, aspects of author and illustrator Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen manga series is how bouncy it can be in its focus. Strings of arcs such as the various Culling Game arcs have emphasized this, with each arc having its own specific protagonist it focuses on.
While the Culling Game arcs are most emblematic of this constant shifting in protagonistic focus, examples can be found across the entirety of Jujutsu Kaisen’s story arcs. While Yuji Itadori may be considered the main protagonist of the series, he’s most definitely not the star of the show at any and all points in the story.
This reality has, in fact, led to some criticism on Akutami’s part by those Jujutsu Kaisen readers who judge the series and its choices more harshly. While criticism is subjective, there are some objective benefits to such a writing style, both as it relates to how Akutami wants to tell his story and in the development of the central cast overall.
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Jujutsu Kaisen manga arcs have been shifting protagonists from almost the very start of the series
At the time of this article’s writing, there are currently 11 story arcs in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series. While one of these arcs can be broken down into a subdivision of several arcs, these subdivisions combine into one overarching uniform focus. However, for the purposes of this article, these subdivisions will each be given their own protagonistic breakdown.
The series opens with the Cursed Child arc, in which central protagonist Yuji Itadori is introduced and clearly established as the series’ main character. This focus on Yuji continues through the Fearsome Womb, Vs. Mahito, and Kyoto Goodwill event arcs. In all of these, the central focus is clearly on Yuji.
However, this changes with Jujutsu Kaisen’s Death Painting arc, which very arguably shifts protagonistic focus to Megumi Fushiguro. While Yuji is still present and actively involved, the arc generally focuses on Megumi and his connection to the events within. As a result, it can be argued that Megumi is the protagonist of this arc, if not Yuji.
This trend continues into the Gojo’s Past arc, which takes readers to 11 years before the start of the series. As evidenced by the arc’s title, this story section focuses on Satoru Gojo, and the events that led to him becoming the strongest sorcerer of the modern world. Afterwards, focus returns to Yuji Itadori centrally in the Shibuya Incident arc, even though the arc does shift around a large battlefield throughout its events.
Yuji remains the Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist “of the week” in the Itadori’s Extermination arc, which focuses on the fallout of Shibuya. This changes with the Perfect Preparation arc, which focuses generally on what Yuji and co have to do in order to prepare for the coming Culling Games. While it’s difficult to say who is the central protagonist of this story section, Maki Zenin is likely the best answer due to her development and the narrative emphasis placed on it.
This brings fans to the Culling Game arc, which has several mini-arcs in its subdivision. The first of these is the Tokyo No. 1 Colony arc, which primarily focuses on Yuji Itadori in its first half and Megumi Fushiguro in its second. This is then followed by the Sendai Colony arc, focusing on Yuta Okkotsu. The Tokyo No. 2 colony arc then focuses on Kinji Hakari.
Next up is Jujutsu Kaisen’s Sakurajima Colony arc, the protagonist of which is Maki Zenin. This is also the final colony-centric section of the larger Culling Game arc group, then focusing on Kenjaku’s efforts to absorb Tengen. In this section, the protagonists can be considered Yuki Tsukumo and Choso, who are heroes fighting against Kenjaku at this time.
Focus then briefly shifts back to Yuji Itadori in the final stages of the arc, but it’s more accurate to say that Ryomen Sukuna becomes the protagonist at this point. The final stages of the Culling Game arc further support this, with their focus on Sukuna both closing out this arc and starting the Shinjuku Showdown arc. Likewise, the Shinjuku Showdown arc has continued to establish Sukuna as its central protagonist, as well as Satoru Gojo.
Finally, there’s also the events of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 film to approach, which are still considered a part of the mainline series. Without doubt, Yuta Okkotsu is the central protagonist, with the events of the film and associated source material revolving around and focusing on Yuta exclusively.
Why fans are upset and why they may have a point
Obviously, with so much bouncing around and such constant shifting of protagonistic focus, the series’ true protagonist Yuji can often get sidelined or lost in the shuffle. For those who expect a protagonist to be the constant central focus of a series (excluding short periods of time), it’s understandable why Akutami’s writing style is so frustrating.
There’s also a point to be made about unnecessarily confusing readers on who Jujutsu Kaisen’s true protagonist is. Yuji often getting sidelined or being absent for several dozen chapters at a time certainly supports such an argument. For many fans, such an approach has nothing but negatives to offer the series overall.
In defense of Akutami
That being said, Akutami’s writing style does offer some benefits in this chaotically organized approach. For one, it ensures that each and every character in the series’ central cast gets their fifteen minutes of fame. While it can be argued that some characters focused on as described above are less central than others, all are in some way impactful and essential to the series’ core plot.
There’s also the fact that such a method constantly keeps things fresh for Jujutsu Kaisen readers. Rather than focusing exclusively on Yuji 100% of the time and off screening other important events, fans have gotten a front row seat to every major occurrence throughout the series. In this way, Akutami’s writing style offers a unique experience which very few other shonen manga can provide with the same effectiveness.
Be sure to keep up with all Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
