This Jujutsu Kaisen arc would be perfect if Gege gave Maki's mentality more focus

Jujutsu Kaisen has become rather infamous since its conclusion for not giving its characters more emotional moments and scenes where the reader could read their thoughts and feelings depending on certain circumstances. A very good example of where this would have been quite useful was during Maki Zen'in's massacre of her clan and the ramifications of those actions.

While it is true that the Jujutsu Kaisen manga established that the Zen'in clan mistreated her and her sister Mai, the story never gives her character a moment to internalize what she has done and also what other people thought of this. After all, a major clan was slaughtered during a time of crisis because of Kenjaku's actions but the story never gives this event the severity it deserves.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author.

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Explaining why Jujutsu Kaisen needed to show more of Maki's inner thoughts during her massacre of the Zen'in clan

Maki and her sister Mai as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

As seen during the events of the Culling Games arc, Maki and Mai's father, Ogi Zen'in, hurt them greatly and held them captive, beginning the downfall of the clan. This happened because Mai died and unleashed most of Maki's potential, which led to her killing her clan, but the true mistake made by author Gege Akutami is never showing her inner thoughts while doing it or in the aftermath.

There is also a contradiction later on when she talks with Noritoshi Kamo and tells him to prioritize his family and talk to his mother at least once, so he doesn't make the mistakes she made. This is somewhat baffling when considering that Maki only showed disdain for her family barring Mai and never had inner thoughts that could hint at regret for killing them.

Furthermore, the entire event of the Zen'in clan massacre should have been a pivotal moment in the series and should have had a lot more ramifications because of said clan's status. However, the cast, for the most part, ignores the situation and never gives it any meaningful thought, which is a running problem of author Gege Akutami's writing style.

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The ups and downs of Maki's character

Maki's two looks in the series (Image via MAPPA and Shueisha)

Maki quickly became a fan-favorite in Jujutsu Kaisen because of her fighting prowess and the ramifications of her Heavenly Restriction, which made her rejected by the Zen'in clan. And while the Zen'in clan massacre was initially extremely well-received in the anime and manga community, there is an argument to be made that her character has become a lot more divisive in recent times.

That is because Maki doesn't contribute much to the story and her personal arc with her clan is extremely fast-paced and doesn't get any meaningful character moments for her beyond action sequences. Furthermore, her rivalry of sorts with Naoya Zen'in was handled in the best of manners, with her receiving a power-up from characters who weren't seen before, which can only be viewed as plot convenience.

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Final thoughts

All in all, Maki not getting inner thoughts after slaughtering her entire clan is, sadly enough, a major trend in Jujutsu Kaisen since characters don't get a lot of meaningful interactions outside of combat. However, this example is even worse when considering the severity of the situation and how this is the character's sole shining moment in the series.

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