The Ending of Jujutsu Kaisen Explained

Chapter 271, “From Now On”, shows us the future that Satoru Gojo had dreamt of, a future realized because of Yuji Itadori and all the friends who overcame their own loneliness.

Was the ending “mid” because we focused on a side quest or were the detours the whole point?

The State of Jujutsu Society

Before discussing Chapter 271, let’s briefly look at the previous concluding chapters.

Chapter 268 showed us the end of the Sukuna Raid, where Yuji frees Megumi from the loneliness of guilt and helplessness, and in turn offers to accompany the dying Sukuna if he chooses another life where he can take someone’s hand instead of cutting it off like he always does.

Chapter 269 reveals how the Sorcerers survived their ordeal and the dark secrets of Simple Domain and how the New Shadow School head was planning to usurp the Great Sorcerer Families and Jujutsu Headquarters in the midst of the Zen’in massacre, though this latter point was not substantiated.

Chapter 270 shows the uncertain future of Japan as Tengen’s barriers are slowly degenerating ever since their death, with Utahime, Akari and Gakuganji looking for a solution.

Gakuganji is currently the only confirmed leader of Jujutsu Headquarters as the only Elder spared from Kenajku and Gojo’s massacres.

Of note, the series has never revealed who the Jujutsu Commander is, even when the rank was mentioned before in supplementary material.

Gojo’s act of killing the higher-ups was not so much an act of anger or a means to revolutionize the system but it did allow newer heads to take hold now that the Three Great Families are essentially powerless (especially with Gojo’s death), the New Shadow School free of ancient corruption, and Gakuganji would bear Yaga’s cursed final words.

Gakuganji’s statement in Chapter 270 seems to suggest a more lax leadership, one that learned from the burdens of the old and the young, so let everyone live out a future instead of being tied to past and present curses.

Culling Game Players

One plot thread that has the most focus is the fate of the Culling Game players.

Yuji and Hana were responsible for removing the cursed objects from the Vessels.

Sorcerers are also looking for any players kidnapped by the American military for experimentation, as in Chapter 200, the government intended to harness cursed energy to both improve military might and

Fumihiko Takaba has seemingly revived Kenjaku for his comedy routine. Oops.

Daido and Miyo, the sword and sumo pair that Maki met in Sakurajima colony, went out peacefully, with Daido hoping that Maki will be the one to put him down when the time comes.

It’s Just a Prank

There was one Culling Game player left, who caused trouble for the Fukuzawa couple after the woman ignored him, a customer, at her hostess job.

The trio were sent to figure things out and we see one more demonstration of Jujutsu smarts, where we engage in deduction alongside the cast.

Megumi was the only one using his cursed technique in the finale and it was summoning Divine Dog: Totality.

Rather than fight him, Yuji offers to let him change for the better, even saying “I am counting on you”, the same way Gojo imparts his own dream to Yuji, to be strong and to build up other Sorcerers.

Yuji Itadori – the New Meaning of “Strongest”

As established in Chapter 265, Yuji Itadori has realized that his role is not to be a sacrificial cog like every Jujutsu Sorcerer that came before him but to accompany the strong in their loneliness and help them realize another path, to go North.

Throughout the series, loneliness has been the struggle of the cast, with Suguru Geto becoming an extremist against normal humans due to the stress of the Sorcerer role and the way normal humans continue to perpetuate curses.

The series seems to have refused to answer the Cursed Energy problem: what route would be best to take, to optimize cursed energy or to erase the cause, non-sorcerers?

Instead, Gege Akutami, through Yuji, suggests that the cure to the problem of cursed users, at least, is to reform them over time so they can better harness jujutsu and for Sorcerers to always build their strength without relying on Gojo or the institution but each other as a collective.

“Haven’t We Had Enough Satoru Gojo?”

This question was raised by Satoru Gojo in his final conversation to Yuji, where he shares his dream of building the future to be strong without him.

As I pointed out in the chapter review, this feels more like a meta commentary towards the audience who have defined the story’s value based on Gojo’s survival or “respect”.

For more insight on Gojo’s dream, we have an article for that:

Jujutsu Kaisen: The End of Gojo’s Dream

Some have complained that there seems to be a lack of reverence towards Satoru Gojo , almost as if the narrative is hostile towards him.

While it is unusual that majority of the cast do not seem to acknowledge Gojo’s death, at least Yuta and Yuji feel the impact of his loss and the fanbase share in that sentiment.

Sorcerers barely get funeral arrangements, as proven by Nanami’s death or even Geto, which was alluded to by Shoko in Chapter 270.

However, the narrative’s hostility towards Gojo, from sealing him in the Prison Realm and eventually killing him in his fight with Sukuna, is the point, as, in a meta-sense, Gojo was getting in the way of the narrative from growing, as this thread below shows.

Gojo Satoru feels like a character who grew outside the boundaries of his intended role in the story. he became hugely popular, a phenomenon that no one, not even gege, anticipated. there are multiple reasons for his widespread appeal, but ultimately, i think the most important +

— ［𓆩𓆪］ (@ashinosedai) October 2, 2024

One could also argue his ending was quite respectful to Gojo and it allows him to alter the status quo, beginning with his role as “the Strongest”.

Yuji’s conversation with Gojo, the man who spared his life at the very beginning of the story, would transform the role of Jujutsu Sorcerer from a cog to a companion.

Upon being freed, Gojo felt immense guilt at the loss of his mentor Yaga to corrupt Jujutsu governance and the dangerous future of his students if the higher-ups remained in charge, which made him more depressed as he headed for the battle with Sukuna.

Most of all, he holds himself responsible for every curse in the series, seeing that the positive choice to save a youth like Yuji, who deserved a good life, indirectly allowed a demon like Sukuna to slaughter more good lives.

Because Gojo was the Strongest, everyone believed only he could solve the world’s problems, yes even removing the corrupt Jujutsu elders but Shibuya proved that his strength was not only a liability but it also made everyone else too weak to fight for themselves.

Gojo, like Attack on Titan’s Erwin Smith, was a devil who fought others’ battles for them, becoming a weapon, a monster, and but upon seeing his students grow, he had faith they could hold the future in their hands.

The pat on the back from Yuji, the walk with the whole squad, and the final color spread in Chapter 271 were all tributes to Gojo, the loving man whose love was not a curse but a blessing.

Curse Realm Confirmed?

At the end of Chapter 271, we meet Mahito and Sukuna, the two primary villains of Yuji’s life, in a dark spirit realm.

This seems to be the crossroads for souls to pass into the afterlife.

Mahito explains that since his cursed energy was able to meddle with Sukuna’s soul, he was able to bring himself and Sukuna to this place.

However, it could also be a reference to a vague line from Kenjaku in Chapter 160: “Colony”.

From @lightningclaire‘s translation of the chapter, Kenjaku said the space between dreams and reality is an enchantment (まじない) — a protection against evil.

Through this chapter, we get a different idea: a vague realm of souls accessed consciously through Idle Transfiguration.

It does still align with Kenjaku’s story since Kenjaku used Idle Transfiguration to make non-sorcerers into Vessels and Non-Sorcerers for the Culling Game.

Either way, within this place, the two antagonists make a choice to go North, to change into someone else and reincarnate in a new form, or to go South, to stay exactly the same.

Sukuna makes the first move, going North with Uraume, who had chosen their own death after Sukuna died in Chapter 268.

Meanwhile, Mahito would be left behind as he was unable to change from the bratty being that he was while still alive.

Sukuna’s Dark Past Revealed

We covered Sukuna’s past here to explain why he might have chosen to reincarnate: both in the modern world and when he went North at the end of the series.

Jujutsu Kaisen Ending Gives SHOCKING REASON Why Sukuna Chose to Reincarnate

The final arc of Jujutsu Kaisen seems to focus heavily around Sukuna’s past being slowly unraveled, from his historical deeds to his birth as a cursed twin and how Uraume ties back to Sukuna’s innermost humanity.

Sukuna was more than a curse but a human cursed by his circumstances, need to survive, and anger against a world that could only see him as a curse.

While some consider these to be a retcon due to Sukuna being seen as a pure evil villain, rather than a tragic misanthrope, Gege Akutami continually insists on this approach for the cursed character who has dominated the last two years of Jujutsu Kaisen discourse.

Epilogue Chapters

The final volume of Jujutsu Kaisen would feature four epilogue chapters for Yuko Ozawa, Panda, Nobara Kugisaki, and Uraume.

However, through these characters, we get resolutions for other, more relevant or unexplored characters.

Through Ozawa, we see Yuji’s ending, Panda shows us Yuta’s life as a grandfather, Nobara reveals her mother for the first time, and Uraume humanizes Sukuna all the more.

Yuji and Ozawa Dating?

Yuji loves snow.

This is how the entire epilogue chapter begins and is a callback to Chapter 265: “That Day”, where Yuji shows Sukuna around Sendai City and his love for snow.

This could also be a funny jab at Anakin Skywalker’s hatred for sand in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Yuji would meet Yuko Ozawa, his old classmate from junior high school,

The timing is quite fitting for two reasons: first, because December 24 or Christmas Eve, the day Jujutsu Kaisen’s final battle finished, is a romantic holiday in Japan, and second, because this month also saw Deku and Uraraka finally confessing their feelings for each other in My Hero Academia’s epilogue chapter.

Yuta and Maki Ended Up Together?

In Panda’s epilogue, we learn that Panda gradually lost automated function after his creator Principal Yaga’s death.

However, he awakens when a girl, Yuta’s grandchild, throws Panda’s cursed corpse body.

We learn that Yuta had lived long enough to have a family and is made the Gojo Clan head’s representative, likely because of Yuta’s Cursed Technique (he can still use Gojo’s Limitless via Copy, which would be a traditional qualification) and that Gojo’s blood relatives may not be powerful sorcerers.

We also notice that Yuta’s granddaughter is wearing Rika’s ring, which might imply that Yuta may not be alive at this time.

She also resembles Yuta quite a lot while her brother (or cousin, who is to say) resembles Megumi.

Since Megumi is a Zenin and Maki’s cousin, some fans have rejoiced on the idea that perhaps Yuta and Maki did end up marrying and eventually having children and grandkids.

Nobara’s Mother

Nobara’s epilogue would return to that plot point from Chapter 268: “Settling Matters” and indeed matters were settled in this segment.

Nobara would track down her mother from the information Gojo’s letter brought her and we meet, as expected, a garbage parent who does not care about her own daughter.

We do learn quite a bit about the woman: she was raised the same way as Nobara by the latter’s grandmother but she had no talent for Jujutsu and ran away from home.

Given that her nature involved seducing the rich and, it is implied that Nobara’s mother was a single parent who left Nobara to her own mother.

Some fans have compared her to Toji, even though Toji had thought about Megumi in the last moments of his life, letting Gojo take care of him where the irresponsible man could not.

The End of Curses?

We end the story of Jujutsu Kaisen with circular storytelling, where we began with the Sukuna finger from the outdoor thermometer box that resembled a Shrine, and now we see the final finger kept in the same place, this time without a single trace of Cursed Energy.

Written on Sukuna’s box [推魔怨敵] (Saimaonteki) is an old divine protection that was later adapted to Shingon Buddhism (founded in Heian era)

An extremely powerful ritual said to annihilate demons & enemies existing in this world

A befitting end to Sukuna’s malevolent story pic.twitter.com/ncFY04wZu5

— Lightning (@lightningclare) September 30, 2024

What this signifies to the audience is that the absoluteness of curses has ended, not necessarily that they are completely gone.

As long as humans and negative emotions exist together, there will always be Curses.

The solution to the optimization of cursed energy is not through a Merger of humanity’s wills or the elimination of all non-sorcerers but

Now that Tengen’s barrier is unstable, a more proactive response should be in order and it seems that through Yuji, Jujutsu sorcerers can be more active publicly rather than keep to their secrets.

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