Gege Akutami Admitted Itadori Yuji’s Treatment is Jujutsu Kaisen’s Biggest Weakness but a Probable Sequel Won’t Have That
- Fans question when the main storyline consisting of Itadori Yuji will continue
- Gege Akutami admits its their fault for Jujutsu Kaisen's weaknesses
- Itadori Yuji is the main protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen for a reason
After the incredible debut of Jujutsu Kaisen that propelled it to one of the most popular animes of all time, it got green-lit for the second season to nobody’s surprise. Given the amazing fight scenes and animations in the first season, the expectations for the new season were quite high.
Even though the second season did not include the majority of the main protagonist, it was just as successful as the first season because the new season focused on Gojo Satoru, one of the most popular characters of the series, exploring his backstory in more depth. However, this has led the fans to question when the main storyline, consisting of the main protagonist, Yuji Itadori, will continue.
Gege Akutami Admits That Jujutsu Kaisen Not Being Like Other Shonen Animes Is The Series’ Weakness
An X user, @ytamanotwt, posted that in an exhibition, Gege Akutami acknowledged that not expanding more about Tsumiki and her character is a huge failure on their part. Moreover, they admitted that Jujutsu Kaisen not being MC-centric like other shonen series is Jujutsu Kaisen‘s weakness.
Akutami also mentioned that they will “reflect on it next time” so there is a high chance that they are going to make a new manga after Jujutsu Kaisen. The thread continues to claim that by “MC-centric” they said Jujutsu Kaisen is not a story about the MC becoming something (Pirate King, Hokage, or Hero). So even being sidelined, his absence didn’t affect the readers all that much (plus Gojo and Geto are already popular). This is Jujutsu Kaisen‘s weakness and Akutami said that they will be careful next time.
A Reddit post said that Itadori Yuji does not feature much in the series because Akutami is not fond of writing Itadori (likely due to him being pretty complex compared to some other shonen MCs), not that they don’t like him. They were asked to clarify in the fanbook as well and they said:
It’s not that I hate him, it’s just that I’m not good at handling him. I’ll work hard on that so I’m not bad at it anymore. I’m in the process of chipping away at it, rather than actively choosing to do so.
This explains why Itadori doesn’t feature as much in the series despite being the main character of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Why Is Itadori Yuji The Main Protagonist Despite Having Low Power?
Yuji Itadori is the main protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen. He is a teenager whose pure physical prowess cannot be matched by the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerers. After swallowing one of the King of Curses’ fingers, Yuji becomes the ideal vessel for Sukuna due to his unexplainably strong resistance to cursed energy. From then on, Satoru Gojo, who keeps a close eye on Yuji, is the only person standing between the boy and the upper authorities of jujutsu society.
During his stay at Jujutsu High, Yuji becomes extremely close to Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki, two other first-year students at the university. Although Yuji is a brave individual with a strong sense of justice, the fact that Sukuna, the most evil being in the world, is housed in his vessel causes him to feel even more conflicted. Yuji is prepared to accept his own death to protect others which makes him an extremely dangerous sorcerer.
Itadori Yuji might not be the perfect protagonist, but he is the protagonist that Jujutsu Kaisen needs. Yuji knows exactly what it is like to be completely helpless, and we are not just talking about a wave of despair here that passes away after a random power boost-up. Itadori truly understands the depths of helplessness, and he is probably the only shonen protagonist who was truly not strong enough to defend his ideals.
Yuji is a protagonist with untapped potential, and it seems certain that something extraordinary will come from him that will surpass the king of curses and position him as the greatest jujutsu practitioner. However, he has to be broken completely before he reaches his full potential.
