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Jujutsu Kaisen is by far the most popular manga series right now and reactions online are a testament to that. Very few manga series can boast of generating so much uproar anytime a chapter shows up, and the recent death of Satoru Gojo, the most popular character of the series, only cemented that notion.
Now, Gojo being killed by Ryomen Sukuna has led to a lot of fans, YouTubers, and what have you coming up with theories of how he could come back… that would be a bad idea. Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t gain anything by bringing Satoru back into the fold and, as a matter of fact, it would only make things a lot worse.
Here’s why.
First Of All, It Would Be A Massive Copout By Gege Akutami
Gege Akutami is a very brave author in the sense he likes to take shonen conventions and give them a twist. In that regard, he is also not afraid of killing beloved characters, such as Nanami Kento and Nobara Kugisaki, or taking their lives to serve some twists for other characters’ development, such as Mai with Maki or Junpei with Yuji Itadori.
So, Akutami killing Satoru Gojo is something that could have been expected of him and it would do him a disservice as an author if he decides to bring him back. The main reason is that the manga and anime industry have often lacked mainstream authors who are willing to kill major characters because they are very profitable for their series’ popularity and it’s refreshing to see someone like Akutami going against the current, so to speak.
Bringing Gojo back would be an artistic betrayal on the author’s part and it would feel like a copout because of online reactions.
It Would Make His “Death” All The More Irritating
While not killing any major characters and excessively killing characters are both approaches worthy of criticism in an action-based story, faking a character’s death is even worse than that. That is because it shows that the author wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Faking a character’s death rarely ever works and only makes fans grow irritated with that author’s approach to storytelling. Yes, if someone like Gojo is brought back, many fans online would rejoice but most critically thinking people would understand that this hurts the story and would make his “final moments” feel like emotional manipulation to a get momentary reaction from the readers.
Series like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and My Hero Academia are often criticized for not fulfilling their end of the bargain with a character’s death and the authors bringing them back when they already completed their role in the story. Gege Akutami could fall victim to this too if he takes this approach.
It Would Be Anathema To Gojo’s Character and Story
Satoru Gojo’s popularity often plays against his value as a character and the story Akutami is trying to tell through him. To most fans, he is just a good-looking overpowered guy when he has a very interesting concept and theme that not a lot of people have noticed.
For all intents and purposes, Gojo is viewed as Jujutsu Kaisen’s Superman in the series’ world: he is the most powerful, the one everybody expects to save the day, and the one everybody relies on. The Shibuya Incident arc, widely regarded as the series’ peak, is centered around Gojo being sealed and not having an active role in the story.
However, here is the thing about Gojo: he is extremely powerful and always fails. He failed to save Riko Amanai, he failed to save Suguru Geto from his descent into darkness, he failed to stop Kenjaku and the Disaster Curses, and he failed to stop Sukuna. Gojo was forged to be the ultimate Jujutsu weapon and failed in the biggest moments in the series where he was needed the most.
That’s the point of his character: that him being all-powerful cannot solve the world’s problems and he knows it. This is why he focused on teaching and why his biggest accomplishments are saving Yuta and Yuji’s lives, which could potentially save the day, making Gojo’s death and legacy all the more valuable. Speaking of Yuta and Yuji…
It Would Keep Other Characters From Being Useful
Gojo is a safety net for most Jujutsu Kaisen characters. While he is around, characters like Yuji and Yuta are not going to have a central role and that’s a problem moving forward. Akutami has done a great job in setting up stakes and making the story feel unpredictable, so bringing back the guy who is too overpowered to solve everything would be dull and uninspired.
Yuji and Yuta are not only the next generation of the Jujutsu world but also two of the few characters with fully altruistic goals. Most sorcerers in Jujutsu Kaisen are entitled, selfish, and morally bankrupt, which is why Gojo wanted a change to begin with and these two characters should lead the charge to end the story and make Satoru’s beliefs a reality.
It Would Still Not Be Enough To Defeat Sukuna
Akutami has focused the most recent chapters of the manga on boosting Sukuna and making him even more powerful, so bringing Gojo back will not solve anything. If Sukuna with just Ten Shadows was enough to defeat Satoru, then this current version, using his original body, would in theory be stronger.
While there is an argument to be made that Akutami wrote himself into a corner, the truth of the matter is that it’s too late to go back. Gojo coming back, unless he gets an insane power-up, is not going to stop Sukuna and the story would suffer as the message would basically be “Leave everything to Gojo”. And that would hurt the series as a whole.
