Satoru Gojo's death in Jujutsu Kaisen is fine in concept, but where Gege Akutami fails is its execution

Modified Sep 09, 2024 22:45 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen and why Satoru Gojo's death wasn't executed well (Image via MAPPA).

Jujutsu Kaisen broke the internet when Ryomen Sukuna killed Satoru Gojo in chapter 236 of the manga, to the point that it became the most prominent event in the industry in 2023. There have been discussions about this event to this very day but one of the most prominent topics was how Gojo's death, while logical from different angles, wasn't executed all that well.

Indeed, when considering how important and popular Gojo is in the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom and how long people were expecting his battle with Sukuna, the final moments in the sorcerer's life didn't have the best of executions. That is mainly because author Gege Akutami wrote a very specific outcome for Gojo's fight that was explained too well on the page and has been debated to this very day in the fandom.

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

Explaining why Satoru Gojo's death in Jujutsu Kaisen wasn't executed well

Sukuna was the one who killed Gojo (Image via MAPPA).

Satoru Gojo's death makes a lot of sense from a writing perspective because he was extremely powerful and was often treated as a way to fix any major ordeals for the sorcerers. That is why author Gege Akutami had him sealed since the Shibuya Incident arc and then had Sukuna kill him, thus leading the remaining main characters, particularly Yuji Itadori, to get a moment to shine on their own.

It is also worth pointing out that, from a battle angle, Sukuna arrived prepared and with the plan of using Mahoraga to adapt to Gojo's Infinity, thus allowing him to find an opening to win. This marked a major difference between him and Gojo, with the latter making stuff up on the fly, leading to the King of Curses having the upper hand during the most critical of moments.

The big issue is that chapter 236 of the manga shows Gojo dying offscreen and with Sukuna explaining what he did. It felt like a major cop-out by Akutami after the previous chapter had ended with Satoru displayed as the winner, so there were some missing pages and panels to display Sukuna executing his tactics, thus making this resolution feel hollow and unearned.

More ramifications of Gojo's death

Satoru Gojo's death in the manga (Image via Shueisha).

Furthermore, another major issue that the Jujutsu Kaisen author Gege Akutami made with Gojo's death was not displaying Sukuna's superiority properly. While he was the undisputed winner of this battle, there were a lot of moments where it seemed that Gojo had the upper hand and was dominating, thus making the resolution feel forced and unnatural.

This is something that a lot of people have brought up in regard to the end of Satoru Gojo's character. Though it makes a lot of sense that he had to die for the story to progress, the execution left a lot to be desired. It is a valid criticism since the shock of chapter 236 wasn't just about the fact that he died but also the way it was executed, to the point it feels like Akutami forced an outcome rather than developing it organically.

Final thoughts

Satoru Gojo's death is always going to be one of the most memorable and pivotal moments in the entirety of Jujutsu Kaisen because of the context and the degree of popularity his death has. However, Akutami didn't execute this moment very well, which is why is a point of contention for a lot of fans, even if they agree with the idea that Gojo had to die.

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Edited by Sreerupa Das