Yuki's death in Jujutsu Kaisen was necessary, and the Shinjuku Arc is why

Modified Oct 31, 2024 07:30 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen might had a pragmatic reason to kill off Yuki (Image via MAPPA).

Jujutsu Kaisen has recently been criticized for not truly developing several characters and plot points. Everything surrounding Yuki Tsukumo is a prime example of this phenomenon. She was introduced as a Special Grade sorcerer and a former Star Plasma Vessel. Yuki was also someone who wanted to change Jujutsu society. While Kenjaku quickly killed her off, there could be a different reason for that decision.

That didn't stop Yuki from being an underdeveloped character, but there is a chance that Jujutsu Kaisen's writer, Gege Akutami realized that she was powerful. The writer might have realized that Yuki's Cursed Techniques would have made the final battle against Ryomen Sukuna a lot easier to deal with. That is likely not the sole reason but is easy to envision Yuki making the Shinjuku Showdown arc a lot less difficult.

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

Explaining why Yuki Tsukumo would have been key to defeating Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen a lot sooner

A Yuki and Todo duo would have defeated Sukuna a lot sooner (Image via MAPPA).

Yuki Tsukumo was confirmed to be a Special Grade sorcerer, which meant she was extremely powerful. Meanwhile, her battle with Kenjaku showed she knew key abilities such as Reverse Cursed Technique and Simple Domain. It was also revealed post-mortem that she knew Domain Expansion. Therefore, her Star Rage technique coupled with her abilities only boosted her strength because of her mass manipulation, which would have given Sukuna a run for his money.

There is an obvious idea of Satoru Gojo and her attacking Sukuna at the same time but is very unlikely that the former would have allowed that. However, any combination involving Yuki would have made the battle a lot easier and ended it sooner, such as her aiding Yuta Okkotsu and Yuji Itadori when they attacked the King of Curses at the same time.

On the other hand, she could have teamed up with Aoi Todo with the latter's Cursed Technique to switch places. Seeing them fighting together might have been a great moment for fans. While Sukuna would have probably died, Todo could have moved Yuki around to hit the enemy with powerful punches, without any significant drawback.

The mistreatment of Yuki's character

Yuki was killed off by Kenjaku (Image via MAPPA).

Now that Jujutsu Kaisen has ended its manga run, it is quite easy to look back and realize how much of a disappointment Yuki Tsukumo ended up being. While she started with a lot of promise due to her goal of ending Curses once and for all, the mentor-student relationship she had with a fan-favorite in Aoi Todo, and her connection with Tengen as a Star Plasma Vessel, none of these points were developed.

This leads to the question of why her character was created since her only major contribution was an excellent battle with Kenjaku. It is the only fight where both characters are allowed to go all out and is easily one of the finest battles in the Culling Games but she was defeated by a sudden revelation that the villain had the perfect Cursed Technique to counter hers.

Beyond that, her role as a Star Plasma Vessel never takes any meaningful importance, her relationship with Aoi Todo goes nowhere and was never revealed whether she gained useful information on how to end Curses. It is a very valid criticism from Jujutsu Kaisen fans that she is one of the most disappointing characters in the series.

Final thoughts

While is true this doesn't stop her character from being underdeveloped, it makes sense that Yuki Tsukumo was killed off before the final Jujutsu Kaisen arc. Her abilities and sheer strength would have made the battle against Sukuna a lot easier and would have reduced the tension of the plot.

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Edited by Madhur Dave