One Jujutsu Kaisen character's fight against Sukuna was thematically undermined (& it's not Kashimo)

Throughout Jujutsu Kaisen's final arc, the confrontation with Ryomen Sukuna presents numerous battles that challenge our understanding of jujutsu combat. Among these conflicts, Maki Zen'in's showdown with the King of Curses was positioned as a unique test—pitting Sukuna's masterful command of cursed energy against Maki's complete absence of it.

On paper, this matchup promised to resolve one of the series' fundamental questions: Could physical prowess alone challenge the established dominance of cursed techniques? However, Maki's reliance on the Split Soul Katana, a cursed tool imbued with cursed energy, undermines this thematic promise meant to inherently challenge jujutsu's complex heirachy.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.

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How Jujutsu Kaisen reinforces the necessity of Cursed Energy

After completely losing her connection to cursed energy through the Perfect Preparation arc, Maki emerged as the embodiment of physical strength divorced from jujutsu. This separation defined her identity, offering a counterpoint to the series' established power system. The fight against Sukuna should have been the ultimate validation of this alternative path to power.

Instead, Maki requires a cursed tool—the Split Soul Katana—to inflict meaningful damage on Sukuna. This weapon, intrinsically tied to cursed energy, becomes necessary for her to pose a genuine threat. The implication becomes unavoidable: even when embodying the pinnacle of physical capability, cursed energy remains essential to combat at the highest level.

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Maki’s paradox: How Jujutsu Kaisen undermines its own alternative to Cursed Energy

The series established Maki as someone who had transcended the limitations of jujutsu society by achieving power outside its established framework. Toji Fushiguro, her spiritual predecessor, demonstrated that a Heavenly Restriction could enable one to challenge special-grade sorcerers without cursed energy.

Their existence posed fundamental questions about the nature of strength in the jujutsu world. If Maki truly represented an alternative to cursed energy, why couldn't her physical abilities alone damage Sukuna? This contradiction extends beyond mere combat mechanics. It speaks to the series' broader themes about power structures and challenging established systems.

Maki's journey involved rejecting the Zen'in clan's hierarchy and proving alternative paths to strength exist. By making her ultimately reliant on cursed tools—products of the very system she stands apart from—the narrative undercuts its own message about transcending established frameworks.

The split soul mechanism itself further complicates matters. As a cursed tool empowered by Yuta Okkotsu's technique, it represents the pinnacle of jujutsu innovation rather than physical prowess. When Maki employs it, she doesn't demonstrate the superiority of physical strength but instead benefits from advanced cursed energy application.

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Jujutsu Kaisen’s final verdict: Even Maki cannot escape Cursed Energy’s hold

The final battle with Sukuna offered an opportunity to definitively explore whether the jujutsu system's emphasis on cursed energy was truly the only path to ultimate power. By having Maki rely on cursed tools to make an impact, the series implicitly answers this question in favor of traditional jujutsu. The physical path, represented by Maki, cannot fully challenge the established order without borrowing from it.

The series highlights its main themes by examining resistance against established systems. Characters continuously challenge and oppose the jujutsu establishment throughout the series, but the ultimate battles appear to validate the foundational doctrines of this system.

If even Maki, the character most removed from cursed energy, must rely on jujutsu-adjacent tools to fight effectively, what does this say about the possibility of true systemic change?

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Conclusion

Maki Zenin as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

As Jujutsu Kaisen concluded its epic narrative, the promise of Maki's unique position in the power structure remained partially unfulfilled. While her journey offered compelling character development and spectacular combat sequences, the thematic weight of her confrontation with Sukuna was compromised by this fundamental contradiction.

The series ultimately suggests that while alternatives to traditional jujutsu exist, they cannot fully escape its framework—physical strength alone, even at its zenith, must still be supplemented by cursed energy to challenge the very top tier of power in the series' complex hierarchy.

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