Jujutsu Kaisen's decline starts with Gojo's death, and it's obvious why

For many, Jujutsu Kaisen ended with Satoru Gojo's death. While this may seem like an outlandish take at first, it does hold true for many dedicated Gojo fans, and for good reason.

Satoru Gojo's demise was undoubtedly the most shocking development in Jujutsu Kaisen because, quite frankly, nobody expected him to lose. This could be attributed to the fact that throughout the series, Gojo has been portrayed as an overpowered god-like being who had the power necessary to protect the Jujutsu society from harm singlehandedly.

However, his death stripped the jujutsu society and his fellow sorcerers of their safety net, and chaos erupted when Gojo fell on the battlefield. That being said, upon closer inspection, one would realize that Gojo's death not only marked the demise of the strongest but also the point of Jujutsu Kaisen's decline.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the author. Reader's discretion is advised.

Explaining how Gojo's death led to the gradual decline of Jujutsu Kaisen

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There's no denying that Satoru Gojo's death was a major turning point in the story. Apart from the fact that it happened entirely off-screen, Gojo's death was also extremely shocking. While many had anticipated his demise in some way or another, nobody expected someone like Gojo to bite the dust in such a brutal manner.

If it wasn't clear before, Gojo's death convinced readers that no character was safe. What's more, the leaks of chapter 236 caused the entire Internet to come to a momentary standstill - people could not believe what they were seeing, especially since the previous chapter had declared Gojo as the winner of the "Battle of the Strongest".

Realizing that what they were seeing was an actual part of the chapter, almost the entire Jujutsu Kaisen fandom caused a massive uproar on social media. Some outright refused to believe that Gojo was dead, while others resorted to sending death threats to Gege Akutami. Some held out hope of Gojo's return until the final chapter of the manga, which speaks volumes of his impact on fans.

However, the problem with Gojo's heartbreaking fate isn't simply about the fact that he died at the hands of Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses. As the majority of the fandom collectively agreed, Gojo's death is fine in concept, but its biggest flaw lies in its execution.

Gojo as seen in the anime (image via MAPPA)

Throughout the battle, Gojo dominated Sukuna and even fought off both Mahoraga and Agito at the same time. His final Hollow Purple attack, which erased Mahoraga from existence and brought Sukuna down to his last legs, was enough to convince readers of his victory.

Moreover, Gojo was able to use the Reverse Cursed Technique once again and was in much better shape than Sukuna, who could barely stand. Even the editor's note declared Gojo as the winner of the bout. As such, seeing Gojo lying on the ground with his body slashed in half in the very next chapter, was a sight few could comprehend or even believe.

From that moment onward, chaos erupted on the battlefield, with sorcerers rushing in to put an end to an already-exhausted Sukuna.

To this day, many fans believe that Jujutsu Kaisen declined the moment Gojo's body hit the ground, and for good reason. There's certainly no arguing that his death was necessary for the story to move forward, and to give other characters room to shine and showcase their abilities following the death of their strongest hope of defeating the King of Curses.

However, the downright terrible execution of Gojo's death ruined whatever expectations fans had for the story moving forward. Additionally, the majority of fans can agree that Akutami had made Gojo so overpowered, that it became a problem in itself.

At some point, Gojo's presence in the story became so overwhelming that it was quite literally impossible for any other character to match up to his importance.

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This was not only in terms of power but in terms of reader attention as well. In fact, most of the people on social media claimed that they stuck around till the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga simply to see how any other character could achieve what Gojo couldn't, i.e. defeat the King of Curses in battle.

As such, when Gojo died, it left an unfillable void in the narrative, both in terms of power and interest in the story. There was simply no other character who could match Gojo's level of importance in the narrative. Even Yuji Itadori, who is the main character of the series, was mostly considered to be secondary as compared to Gojo.

After Gojo was sidelined in the Shibuya Incident arc, one thing became clear - the story couldn't move forward with Gojo around, since he was simply too powerful for his own good.

Even though it was ultimately necessary to remove him from the story at some point, Jujutsu Kaisen's quality perhaps wouldn't have declined if only Akutami had focused on making the series' main trio of characters, i.e. Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara, more prominent in the narrative.

It's painfully clear at this point that Jujutsu Kaisen wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for Gojo. In its early phases, Jujutsu Kaisen was at risk of being axed and was saved only due to Akutami releasing a breathtaking illustration of Gojo. What's more, many people claimed that they continued reading the manga after the Shibuya Incident arc just to see Gojo return.

As such, making the series revolve around one character for far too long ended up being Jujutsu Kaisen's downfall in the end. Killing off a character as important and impactful as Gojo in a haphazard manner left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Final thoughts

As shocking as Satoru Gojo's death was, it served as a haunting reminder that even the strongest can fall. It also saw the entire roster of Jujutsu Kaisen characters coming together to defeat the King of Curses, which will undeniably go down as one of the most memorable showdowns in the manga industry.

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Edited by Tiasha