Yuji finally avenged Junpei in Jujutsu Kaisen with Sukuna's death, and it's a key character moment for him

Modified Sep 03, 2024 05:31 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen gave Yuji a great moment to avenge Junpei (Image via MAPPA).

Jujutsu Kaisen has only three chapters left in the manga but has managed to conclude the battle with Ryomen Sukuna as the protagonist, Yuji Itadori, dealt the final blow to defeat the King of Curses. While that moment had been a long time coming in the series, it also has an added value because it allowed Yuji to come full circle when it to the death of Junpei Yoshino, a friend he made in his early days as a sorcerer.

Junpei was one of the first casualties in Jujutsu Kaisen and one of the first tragedies Yuji had to deal with in the story. They had become good friends but Junpei was manipulated and later killed by Mahito, with the latter and Sukuna laughing at the protagonist's pain and despair, although the manga has allowed the latter to defeat those who once mocked him.

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

Yuji Itadori got to avenge Junpei Yoshino after defeating Mahito and Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen

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Junpei was a young man who became friends with Yuji but was also manipulated by Mahito, to the point of turning him into a potential killer. However, as he was having a mental breakdown and was willing to accept the protagonist's help to redeem himself, the evil Curse took his life and then Sukuna refused to heal Junpei, with both villains laughing at Yuji's disgrace.

Yuji Itadori eventually got the upper hand as he managed to defeat Mahito during the events of the Shibuya Incident arc and the latter ended up running away in fear after several times he taunted the young man. Something similar happened to Sukuna, who killed a lot of different people who were dear to Yuji and ended up as a shapeless blob of Cursed Energy while being pitied by his nephew in the process.

All of this started with Junpei's death, which is something that truly started the protagonist's journey in the story. It was also a major moment for a lot of people who were reading the series at the time since it showed that it was going to have a lot of deaths and marked the themes moving forward, which is a major aspect that has made the story quite popular, at least based on comments made throughout the years in social media.

The beginning of Yuji's "cog mentality"

Yuji's "I'm you" moment in Shibuya against Mahito (Image via MAPPA).

There is no denying that Yuji's cog mentality is a major aspect of his character arc in Jujutsu Kaisen and logical to claim that this started with the death of Junpei Yoshino. It was during the Shibuya Incident arc, after he defeated Mahito, that he claimed that he was just a cog and was now going to destroy Curses time and time again no matter what.

That arguably started with Junpei Yoshino's death as the protagonist understood that these entities were pure evil and had to be killed, which became very prominent during the Culling Games and so on. Therefore, this event truly defined Yuji's cog mentality and defined who he was going to be from that moment onward.

Final thoughts

Yuji's cog mentality was defined by Junpei Yoshino's death and finally got his moment to avenge them in the most recent Jujutsu Kaisen chapters of the manga. It shows how the protagonist finally got his defining moment, which has proven to be quite satisfying for many JJK fans.

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Edited by Bharath S