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tojiswhore-nanamisslut · 3 months

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So I haven't seen anyone mention the weapon that Yorozu created for Sukuna yet.

This is a pretty long post so I'm inserting a read more here.

We end up seeing it later, but we actually got a sneak peek earlier in one of the colored pages! The weapon she created for him is what he's holding in his left hand.

We see it when he wields it in his fight with Kashimo. It's translated as "Kamutoke" or supreme martial solution and is shown to have electric properties which proved to be useless against Kashimo:

and it's also what he ends up losing in Higuruma's domain expansion:

After a bit of researching I learned that this cursed tool looked VERY similar to a common Buddhist weapon called the Vajra:

And we know how much Gege likes using Buddhist symbolism throughout JJK, so this definitely isn't a coincidence. According to Brittanica, the "Vajra, in Sanskrit, has both the meanings of “thunderbolt” and “diamond.” Like the thunderbolt, the vajra cleaves through ignorance... Like the diamond, the vajra destroys but is itself indestructible and is thus likened to śūnya (the all-inclusive void)."

Other websites further explain the prongs of the Vajras as representing the Five Buddhas or five wisdoms and kleshas (causes of suffering). Each Buddha carries various associations linked to the wisdoms/kleshas, particularly: ignorance/delusion, envy/jealousy, selfishness/lust, pride/greed, and aggression/aversion, all of which are "poisons" on the path to enlightenment. (I'll make a separate post about this later).

BUT the Vajra is typically accompanied by a bell (also called a Ghanta).

Many sources explain that the combination/interaction of the two is what creates and represents an enlightened individual. The Vajra specifically represents "method" and the bell represents "wisdom" as well as emptiness.

The fact that the Vajra is representative of a thunderbolt further confirms that the weapon Sukuna wields is a nod to this, as we know it summons a thunderbolt that ends up being useless against Kashimo.

However, I think there's a couple things that are interesting:

The fact that the Vajra is also representative of diamond, destroying things while remaining indestructible and the fact that Higuruma's domain confiscated it; and

The fact that it's the combination/interaction of the Vajra and the bell that represent enlightenment and how we don't ever see Sukuna with a bell or anything indicative of one.

Beginning with my first point:

The Vajra is indestructible and represents the "method" of enlightenment, cleaving through ignorance to attain it.

Due to its indestructibility, I think it makes sense that the only way to get rid of it was through confiscation. But what was the point? Would the lightning bolts have really been enough to off Yuuji or the other characters? I feel like they would have been able to figure out a counter. Which is why I think Sukuna losing it played a more symbolic role.

Up until this point, Sukuna has never doubted himself or given much thought to anything but his desires. He's not fueled by emotions or ideals, but by his pleasures and whims. That is, until Higuruma dies.

It's after Higuruma's death that we see Sukuna, for the first time, lost in thought, reflecting on himself and others.

I think Higuruma's CT confiscating the Vajra was symbolic of him putting the first crack into Sukuna's enlightenment and understanding of himself. It's also interesting that it's Higuruma who does this, because when we first meet his character he's somewhat similar to Sukuna. After his mental break in the courtroom, he's chosen to live by his whims. He's in a bathtub because why not? It's what he felt like doing. And his assertion in the second panel about killing people who piss him off is an almost perfect parallel to Sukuna's.

Ultimately though, Higuruma regrets the people he's killed and agrees to help everyone as a way to repent.

Higuruma taking the Vajra, especially as a sorcerer who intrigued Sukuna, was the only way they could have put that crack into Sukuna's enlightenment. I don't think it would have had the same effect if someone else got rid of it.

And that crack only grows wider as Sukuna continues to ponder.

Which ultimately leads him to the one he's consistently underestimated and ignored: Yuuji. This also leads us into the second point.

2. The Vajra is consistently depicted with a bell. So where is it?

As stated above, the Vajra only symbolizes method while the bell symbolizes wisdom and emptiness. Both are needed to represent/attain enlightenment. And one particular panel makes me think Yuuji might be symbolic of the "bell".

In chapter 244, we see Yuuji land a blow on Sukuna that makes it seem like he's almost vibrating, akin to the vibrations released from a bell being rung. We also know Yuuji has improved as a sorcerer given his use of RCT and that panel of him and Kusakabe training. He's also clearly done something to his arms, but we don't know what yet.

So how else could Yuuji symbolize wisdom and emptiness? One is the fact that he no longer houses Sukuna. It could be argued that Yuuji is empty now. Or it could also come from a more emotional aspect: Yuuji has faced tremendous loss and grief throughout the story. He not only lost his closest friends: Megumi and Nobara, but he also lost both of his mentors. He further had to witness the deaths of Junpei and hundreds of people in Shibuya. Based on what we've seen with Itadori's character development, I think describing him as having an emptiness or void inside of him would be apt.

The wisdom component comes in with his indomitable ideals. Similar to the Vajra, Yuuji possesses an unbreakable soul.

The story began with Yuuji wanting to give people a proper death and wanting to help people

And it holds true throughout the story. All Yuuji has ever done is try and save people. And despite his many failures, he persists.

It's the wisdom to keep your course and stay true to yourself, despite how many times you've been broken. And if there's anything I know about Yuuji's character, it's that that boy will get back up. So long as there's a person he could save, he'll continue to fight for them to have a proper death.

#sukuna #yuuji #megumi #higuruma #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk meta #jjk analysis #posts #mine #this took me SO long to articulate #and i tried including links for things too #i'll make a part 2 about the 5 buddhas later

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torgawl · 5 months

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i wonder what this means

we know judgeman's appearance is similar to lady justice, who has a blindfold over her eyes, to represent impartial or blind justice. it's interesting that during sukuna's trial, and subsequent death penalty veredict, the stitches break on one side and that eye opens. something that didn't happen during the first death penalty delivered to yuuji despite both eyes opening up. we know everything higuruma is aware about his own ct, and ce in general, he grasped through reverse engeneering. his surprise about judgeman confiscating sukuna's cursed tool and not the cursed technique highlights that higuruma is only aware of his own technique due to things he was able to experience and deduce from the short time that has passed since he became a sorcerer. it's safe to say he had never persecuted someone who used a cursed tool before and therefore was unaware of this aspect of his technique (similar situations have happened before to characters like geto and even the way mahoraga works). this makes me wonder if judgeman's abilities are something we and higuruma have limited information on and there's something else going on, hinting at a possible outcome for higuruma/higuruma's character.

judgeman's eye opening is especially interesting because that is exactly the stance higuruma decided to take once he lost faith in the justice system. jujutsu kaisen and the concept of cursed energy and cursed techniques are very based in buddhist philosophy, or rather the power system is, and more specifically the concept of suffering. buddha recognised there was suffering in life and started guiding people into following a practice to get rid of that suffering, through the four noble truths the noble eightfold path. which ultimately would result in liberation from the samsara, cycle of rebirth and suffering. a lot of that lifestyle is learning how to properly process suffering in a way that's beneficial to the individual with the goal of achieving enlightment. in jjk suffering directly creates cursed energy and when that suffering sort of accumulates it originates cursed spirits. jujutsu sorcerers are basically people able to process their own suffering and their own ce to fight and exorcise the suffering that's constantly emerging from humanity (tying deeply with the core theme of jjk and a big plot point - the merging). you could even draw parallels between ways individuals cope with their own pain and their cursed techniques, which is very obvious in characters like geto (ingesting curses through cursed spirit manipulation akin to bottling up his own feelings and letting that suffering eat him from the inside out), for example. where am i going with this? i'm not sure (sorry if you read all of this expecting a really cool theory) but what if this is sort of an awakening moment for higuruma? a moment where his technique will finally align with his beliefs? i just don't believe the differences in judgeman throughout the story are a coincidence. not when judgeman also has this form, with both its eyes completely shut.

#or maybe i'm coping trying to find a way for higuruma not to die 😂#but!!! i want to believe new age sorcerers are /different/ especially because they work together #i also have faith on ino's cursed technique? i mean we barely know anything about his auspicious beast summon - ryu #we also have yuuji there and his ability to swap souls the training he did with choso and kamo hinting at blood manipulation and we also #saw his arm in that one panel that we didn't get any information on yet and his punch against sukuna #that could or not be divergent fist able ti touch the soul?!#and yuuji IS sukuna's opponent so yuuji will cook eventually #i digress but i want to believe there's hope here so i will cope this way with the new chapter #watch higuruma slay like one or two chapters from now 💅😌#if he kicks the bucket pretend i never made this post please ahsjsh #or alternatively what if the stitches are like a haruta-esque situation with the markings?#food for thought #jjk leaks #higuruma hiromi #jujutsu kaisen #jjk 💭

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voxofthevoid · 3 months

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for the ship ask game, i saw you say you ship Nobara/Maki and Maki/Mai so i am curious now what you like about them (i love them too 😌). and Higuruma/Yuuji

(something i will never get tired of saying: love your goyuu fics! :D also i am tempted to finally watch Hannibal just so i could read your fics)

*chokes* THOSE FICS ARE TEN YEARS OLD, PLEASE, YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE THE WRITING. I sure don't. Anything I wrote pre-2018 makes me skitter away in fear.

Ahem. The ships. Good choices!

Nobara/Maki

Ship It

What made you ship it?

I was pretty 👀 after that one scene where Nobara leans on Maki's shoulder and says she respects her. Maki's reaction, while mild, was pretty cute, and it's also the most...sweet we see Nobara act with anyone. It was then followed by Nobara recruiting Yuuji to basically support Maki during the GW event, and I was sold at that point. That one manga cover where Maki and Nobara look like they're on a date certainly helped.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

They're both sharp-edged people who get a little soft for each other, and I like that. I also think their personalities would intersect and interact in fun ways—not a lot of outright complications, a bit of reserved communication that would probably get talked out, etc. And this may sound odd, but I like how the way they get along and are less prickly with each other doesn't come across as "they're pals because they're gals" but as people softening due to romantic interest. Won't lie, it's once again too tame to really light my brain up, but we've got Mai/Maki for that.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Hmm, nope, don't think so.

Maki/Mai

Ship It

What made you ship it?

I'm a simple man: throw me a sibling relationship with fucked-up vibes, and I'll happily ship it. But honesty, this writes itself. Their interactions during the GW event alone are pretty compelling, especially the clash between Mai's abandonment issues and Maki's more practical approach. Then we get the utter gem that's the Perfect Preparation arc, and holy shit.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I love me some tragedy. The part where Maki tells Naoya that no, she doesn't have a heart because "she took it with her" lives rent-free in my head. Post-Mai Maki, from the grief-fuelled massacre of her clan to the visions she has of Mai in relation to the sword she became, makes me fucking feral.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think they should make each other worse.

Higuruma/Yuuji

Ship It

What made you ship it?

To be honest, I think my initial draw to this was that it reminded me a little of nanaita. And I've always approached this ship as Higuruma reminding Yuuji of Nanami somewhat, so you can imagine how satisfying it was to see canon itself draw a parallel, albeit with their deaths. But even disregarding the nanaita influence, I'm pretty damn fond of this ship. I absolutely love every single one of their interactions, especially the last fight and the flashback where we see Yuuji talking alone to Higuruma.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

This is highly specific, but the way Higuruma can't look Yuuji in the eye to the point he threw/lost their fight because of it and then fucking dies while making serene eye contact with Yuuji is going to haunt me for as long as I'm in this fandom. Can you tell I love tragic shit?

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Just my usual "let Yuuji fuck that grown man" agenda.

And thank you! You're a gem, as always ❤

Ask can be found game here.

#yaoshifollower #ask game #i love my anons

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missingn000 · 1 year

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hi yes this is incredibly late b/c work is shit tm but better late than never amirite

anyway, something about this chapter that leapt out at me immediately was Maki’s “uh, we are kids.” because i’m pretty sure something similar was said a couple chapters back (i can’t remember the exact instance though) and it seems to be a recurring theme in tpg: people being put into roles they don’t quite fill, not through any fault of their own, but simply because they cannot. gojo’s deification by jujutsu society is one such example, but it wasn’t something he had a say in, while nobara by comparison appears to have voluntarily taken on the task of acting(!) like an adult. she does, thankfully, end up joining maki & gang on the playground, but her conversation with higuruma undoes some of that progress:

“You treat me like a kid!”

“You are a kid!”

“And that’s enough reason to shut me out?!”

oh, higuruma… your intentions are kind, but your lack of tact is almost cruel. i think nobara’s response, coupled with the next line (“…brought a cannon and she’s not afraid to swim”) are very telling of her true feelings: even though she hates the fact that higuruma’s a murderer excluding the fact that his boss is worse, she is aware that he’s her parental figure now, and seeks (as all children do, especially those who were denied of it) emotional validation from him. higuruma really tried to pull the “being a child is not a sin” card but nobara didn’t hear the ‘not’ part lol. i find it depressingly ironic that his attempt at shielding her from the ugly truth of humanity & the entire mess with the sheriff end up widening the rift between them—it’s not… a terrible idea, in theory, but their circumstances are unique: nobara’s trying to understand & rationalise why the person she’s stuck with as a father did what he did, but she can’t do that if she’s missing some of the puzzle pieces. more accurately, higuruma won’t give them to her because the picture they complete is bleak, but she doesn’t know that!!!!

“I don’t know, Nobara. You deserve better than this.”

“You’re right, I do! But you won’t even try!”

… yeah sure kugisaki “you’re not my dad” nobara. and then, as if on cue, her phone rings with a call from her actual dad. the way she has to fight the urge to answer the call is nothing short of heartbreaking. she has to quash her own hopes, before her dad does it for her.

AAANDD THEN THEY HUGGED. THANK YOU FOR THIS. the part where higuruma wonders whether he’s about to be socked in the face reminded me of toji and maki’s hug in ch4 (yes i remembered), cus toji thought the exact same question. is this intentional please say yes. nevermind your answer is irrelevant i’m gonna start drawing parallels anyway /lh. toji & higuruma both start out extremely rough around the edges and knowing fuck all about parenting; maki & nobara both grew up with parents that didn’t love them. at least maki & toji had something to bond over (beating the shit out of other people. uh, curses. i mean curses.) nobara and higuruma on the other hand…….. lol

Also I didn’t miss the way Nobara was saved from a curse!!!! again!!!!! but the group shrugs it off, you know, as kids who literally just exorcised a curse by themselves do, and nobara’s too preoccupied with her crush on maki to feel all that offended. okay all jokes aside i think it really helps that they’re her age + she’s already interacted with them prior to this; she’s in a much better mental state than when higuruma first found her. i think it’s really cool that nobara has even more people fighting for her, which is exactly what she wants; she just hasn’t realised it, and i hope she does someday. (on an unrelated note: gotta love how maki takes centre stage and cleaves the curse in half though… her using yuuji’s sword as a platform to power herself thru the air is just 👌)

Does Nobara have anyone like that?

Yes. Yes, she does. Chi you’re drawing so many parallels here and I’m gonna throttle you. please don’t pit higuruma against a special grade…unless it’s toji, that’d be funny. who lets their kid bring a sword to school anyway?? tbf, it’s Phantom Guardian; i adore the idea that yuki’s cursed energy is with her, at all times…

btw yuuji is my fave if the pfp wasn’t obvious enough, and i cherish every crumb of his characterisation i get. i love the way he’s able to de-escalate any social situation because of how emotionally perceptive he is. kinda want to put him in a room with yuuta and maki and see what happens lmfao 💀💀

okay that concludes my horrendously long ramble. thank you for making it this far if u did. cheers

HIII KAY OH MY GOD??? THIS ANALYSIS IS SOOOO i put it into a word counter out of curiosity and the website said the reading level was college graduate so. 100000/10 analytical skills the curtains were indeed not just blue

response below cut this got long as hell

you're totally right that "uh, we are kids" was said in an earlier chapter! maki says it to megumi when toji gives the kiddos the stuffed animals he got for them at the zoo, and maki suggests they play with them:

Megumi turns up his nose. “Playing with stuffed animals is for kids.”

Come on. Maki slants an eyebrow. “Uh, we are kids.”

megumi is another child who had to grow up way too fast before gojo took him in, and now has to make up for lost time that he doesn't know quite yet how to reclaim. it's so cool you noticed this parallel between them, because it's gonna be super important in the upcoming chapter!!

it's so true that all of the tpg kids (and initial teenagers that are now in their low twenties) had some aspect of childhood taken away from them. isolated from the villagers, nobara tried to shed her own childlike qualities because she thought she had no choice but to take care of herself, especially because of the yet-to-be-revealed circumstances of her parents' disappearance.

and god....yeah, higuruma really has no idea how to handle that. i've said it before and i'll say it again: it's so, so important to me that he's genuinely terrible at this. he's the pinnacle of right idea, wrong execution: he wants to fix the ills of society but does it in the worst possible way, and he wants to shield nobara from how dark and terrible the world is by telling her she's just incapable of understanding it altogether. he doesn't want her to know all the pointless cruelty in the world. he doesn't want her to know he killed the sheriff to free her from the countryside. higuruma shutting her out is his way of protecting her, but the way he carries out his protection almost does more harm than good. almost.

PLEASE THEIR HUG....you're not delusional to draw that parallel between nobara & higuruma and maki & toji!! nobara and maki are the two tpg kids that have the most on-screen clashes with their parents, yet despite their initial doubts towards their parental figures, they still crave that emotional validation. after a lifetime of being shunned, finally, someone cares about them -- only nobara is half-convinced higuruma doesn't. i think some part of her does know he cares, but it's a part she refuses to acknowledge because she doesn't want to be let down by her father. not again.

nobara's confrontation with the curse was so!!!!! i really wanted to follow up with yuuta telling maki that nobara cares more about actions than words, so maki demonstrates her sorcery abilities rather than just saying it. maki's words post-fight, however, do end up having an impact on nobara: she's able to correct any misconceptions before nobara even has the chance to draw them. this will also be important as nobara's character develops!!

maki carrying the phantom guardian with her stems a lot from toji's desire for her to be able to protect herself, even in his absence. especially after the kids meet mahito in shibuya back in ch12, both nanami and toji don't want their kiddos to be unarmed, hence why yuuji also has playful cloud stuffed into his backpack.

YUUJI MY CHILD. MY SON. his emotional intelligence + crumbs that he blames himself for his family's doom even though it hasn't even happened yet. the first yuuji angst moment of many, many, MANY more

as for higuruma vs some special grade where he'd have to hurt himself in order to protect nobara...huh. yeah. sure would be interesting if that happened someday

alright, i'll conclude my horrendously long reply here. also sorry for the sukuna rant in DMs last night i think i was on something else

#kay tag #tpg

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cursedvibes · 2 years

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My Culling Game 1st Phase Ranking

(This is based on my personal taste and very subjective. I have enjoyed all the colonies, so just because one is last place, doesn't mean I hate it. I split up Yuuji and Megumi's parts because they are tonally so different.)

Tokyo 1 (Yuuji edition): A big part of why it's in first place is because Yuuji is my 2nd favourite character but that's not all. The dynamic with Higuruma is just perfect. They are such a good match in theme & personality, we don't really find that in the other colonies (Hakari & Kashimo to an extend but it doesn't run as deep). Yuuji confronting his guilt and getting to open up about it at least a little bit, was very touching to read and Higuruma's development over the fight and how he is changed by Yuuji is so well portrayed as well. Plus, we got a glimpse at Yuuji's childhood which is always interesting.

Sakurajima: Reading it in one bunch makes it flow much better. I don't think that the appearance of Daido & Miyo breaks the flow of the story. The colony's greatest feat is making me deeply care about Noritoshi when before he was barely on my radar outside Kamo lore. Maki and him parallel each other nicely and the little talk about their mothers at the end was the icing on the cake. Maki's ascention and mastering of her new body was beautiful to see. My only problem is Naoya. I understand why he's capable of coming back and how he's supposed to symbolize the full destruction of the Zenin Clan, but his impact was just lacking. Maki didn't seem particularly bothered by him outside of general annoyance. An amalgamation of Zenin Clan spirits could've served the same purpose and potentially been more interesting.

Tokyo 2: I didn't care much for Charles but Hakari makes up for it. Kashimo is bringing some sweet gore, which is always appreciated. It still bugs me that Panda's sister died so easily. I guess Akutami changed whatever they had initially planned for Panda. That death scene in Panda's internal world was still touching. The fight between Hakari & Kashimo is super entertaining and feels much less dragged than when reading it weekly. Actually, I was basically flying through the pages. Love the dynamic of the two and a great introduction to both of them. The Edo flashback got me excited for what they have in store for the Heian era.

Sendai: This one made me love Takako but it also made my opinion on Yuuta go from indifferent to annoyed. He needs a mini-Megumi on his shoulder to remind him of what's important. The colony introduced a lot of interesting new themes and gave us some Heian lore to look forward to, that's why I still liked a lot. However, as much as I love Takako and the cockroaches, Hakari vs Kashimo was more entertaining and versatile than Yuuta & Ryuu's energy blasts.

Tokyo 1 (Megumi edition): Even if it ended up in last place, I still enjoyed this part a lot. I love Reggie, and Takaba & Hazenoki (especially his technique) are fun. Megumi got to improve his domain and kill for the first time. The information Reggie provided was essential and I hope it means the others won't be as trusting of Tengen in the future either. All the lore we got was probably my favourite part of this. Still, there wasn't that much character development on Megumi's part or introspection as in the other colonies, so that's why it ended up here. I just liked the others more.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #Sendai ended up further down than I initially expected #there just wasn't enough Takako to make up for Yuuta sleep-walking through the colony #and the other colonies were more fun/interesting

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