Season 3 of Jujutsu Kaisen is currently racing through the Tokyo Colony arc. Episode 9 focuses on a tense confrontation between Yuji Itadori and Hiromi Higuruma. This episode, titled “Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 3,” picks up right after Higuruma unleashed his domain expansion (Deadly Sentencing), trapping Yuji inside his courtroom trial-based barrier technique. This latest entry is yet another example of MAPPA taking artistic license with Gege Akutami’s acclaimed manga. Gorgeous fight sequences aside, episode 9 hammers down on a recurring theme that has come to define Yuji’s character arc: guilt.
[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for season 3 episode 9 of Jujutsu Kaisen and its source material]
During the first round of the courtroom trial, Yuji stands accused of entering a casino while underage. After receiving a guilty verdict, he demands a retrial. That’s when Higuruma’s shikigami, Judgeman, accuses Yuji of a second crime: mass murder in Shibuya on Oct. 31, 2018. That was when the King of Curses took over Yuji’s body and wreaked havoc on all of Shibuya.
To Higuruma’s surprise, Yuji admits to the crime without hesitation, which immediately triggers the Death Penalty. Higuruma arms himself with the Sword of Execution, the blade capable of killing its target with a single cut. He despairs at the futility of searching for hope in an endless pit of darkness.
Yuji’s survivor’s guilt is more complex than any other character’s, as he is the only person capable of containing the King of Curses inside his body (at least at the moment). His grandfather’s dying wish was for Yuji use his great strength to save as many people as possible, which is why he has always had a tendency toward self-sacrifice. Having his body used to massacre countless innocent civilians makes Yuji feel great shame, even if he’s consciously aware that Sukuna (aka, the King of Curses) was the one who did it. He’s unable to separate Sukuna’s autonomy from his own. This season’s symbolic opening underscores this with a shot of Yuji staring at his bloodstained fingers and Sukuna mocking him through his own reflection.
In the immediate aftermath of the Shibuya incident, Yuji throws himself into the act of exorcising curses alongside his close ally, Choso Kamo. This is spurred by his need to save as many people as Sukuna massacred, as he desperately wants to achieve some kind of karmic balance. That said, Yuji’s instinct to constantly put himself at risk doesn’t stem from the need to run from his conscience. If anything, he is eager to hold himself accountable for the horrors enacted through his hands, even if it means confronting death.
This all-consuming guilt Yuji felt right after he regained control of his body was so intense that he almost surrendered himself to death at the hands of Mahito. His dear friend Aoi Todo was able to snap him out of this stupor, but Yuji has never stopped blaming himself. This ties in with his declaration that he’s a “cog” in a system in the fight with Kinji Hakari. Yuji knows that jujutsu society will keep him alive as long as he is useful to it. During his conversation with Hakari, Yuji describes himself as a prisoner of fate, a tool for the extermination of curses.
This sentiment shifts and evolves throughout Jujutsu Kaisen and even comes to define Yuji’s fate in Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, Akutami’s ongoing sequel manga. Decades later, Yuji in Modulo is far removed from the optimistic, bright-eyed kid we met at the beginning of the story. He’s distant and jaded because he has paid the price of losing loved ones while shouldering the heavy burden of being an eternal protector.
In the anime’s current timeline, Yuji’s heartbreaking conversation with Higuruma affirms that he will continue to sacrifice his hopes and dreams to save others. This also means internalizing the guilt associated with mass murder, even after Higuruma declares that Yuji is innocent. This is a revealing moment for Higuruma as well, as Yuji’s eagerness to take responsibility reminds him why justice matters in the first place.
When Yuji first met Higuruma, the ex-defense attorney was disillusioned and jaded, having seen the failures of the justice system — and that was before his technique manifested, and he killed 20 sorcerers in the Culling Game. He probably attacked Yuji right away because existence felt meaningless, and he wanted to judge Yuji’s soul with Deadly Sentencing. But Yuji’s altruism clashes with Higuruma’s assumption that every human being is self-serving, regardless of their guilt or innocence. Yuji inspires him to take responsibility for his own actions, which is why the episode ends with Yuji convincing him to use his points to add a new rule to the Culling Game that allows players to transfer points among themselves. Higuruma even declares that he might turn himself in for his crimes.
Yuji Itadori still has a long way to go in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime. The path ahead is marked with the anxiety that his mere existence can lead to unimaginable horrors. Yuji tries to remain optimistic, but can he work through his trauma to help save the world from Kenjaku — and from himself?
New episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 release every Thursday on Crunchyroll.
