Nobara Kugisaki is nowhere near Grade-1 level ( and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 just confirmed it)

Nobara Kugisaki quickly became one of the most popular characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, and fans couldn't get enough of her because of her personality, fighting style, and charisma. However, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 has also shown that Nobara still has a long way to go when it comes to reaching Grade 1 as a sorcerer, which was displayed during her fight with Shigemo.

The Shibuya Incident arc has raised the power scale in the series and has shown what some of these sorcerers are up against, which is why it makes sense that Nobara Kugisaki is a bit behind some heavy hitters. However, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 also showed Nanami Kento's fighting skills, who is currently a Grade 1 sorcerer and much superior to Nobara.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen season 2.

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Nobara Kugisaki still has a long way to go in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Nobara Kugisaki made a strong first impression in Jujutsu Kaisen season 1, although her performance in the Shibuya Incident arc reveals a lot of her shortcomings as a sorcerer as of yet. Nanami Kento, a Grade 1 sorcerer, was very candid about her falling short of the required standard to face the Curses, and she decided not to pay attention to his words.

Nanami was straightforward and said he was a Grade 1 sorcerer, and that was the bare minimum of the enemy's level they were going to face. That's why he ordered Nobara not to engage in this conflict. The battle against Shigemo proved his point, as Nanami was the one who could take him down, showing his experience and mastery of Jujutsu sorcery until that point.

Grade 1 sorcerers are viewed as the highest level one can reach without having special and overpowered abilities that they are born with, such as in the cases of Satoru Gojo, Yuta Okkotsu, and Suguru Geto. These are the Special Grade sorcerers, and if Nobara Kugisaki is not close to Nanami's level, he is nowhere near those of Gojo or Geto.

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Nobara's role in the story

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 is preparing a world of pain for anime-only viewers who are fans of Nobara Kugisaki. While the first season did a phenomenal job of getting people to know and love her character, this one, covering the infamous Shibuya Incident arc, is going to cause a lot of hurt to a large portion of the fandom.

As manga readers know, Nobara eventually ignores Nanami's words and gets involved in the battle, which leads to her running into Mahito, who was fighting Yuji Itadori at the time. She decides to aid Yuji in this battle and holds her own for a while, only for the Curse to eventually touch her eye, seemingly killing her in the process.

Nobara's "death" is a delicate topic among Jujutsu Kaisen fans because it was handled in a way that made people believe she could be brought back.

However, the series has progressed a lot and seems to be heading to a conclusion, so a potential comeback seems nearly impossible. If that is the case, many fans have voiced their displeasure at the way her character was written out of the story, with claims that she should have had a much bigger role to play as part of the main cast.

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Final thoughts

Nobara Kugisaki is a fan favorite, and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 is seemingly seizing that, but that doesn't mean she is one of the strongest characters in the series. However, that shouldn't be taken as an offense: there are a lot of great characters who are not that strong and are a joy to watch, with her being a very good example.