Itadori Yuji is a fantastic character, not because he is the vessel for Sukuna, the King of Curses,
but because of how human he is. Despite his superhuman strength,
enhanced reflexes and innate ability to contain one of the biggest threats to humanity,
he has one defining characteristic that is often overlooked: His selfish selflessness.
While in many ways Itadori Yuji appears to be your typical Shounen protagonist,
there is a reason why the story surrounding him has gotten as popular and enjoyable as it has.
Itadori is one of the most relatable characters I have ever come across.
He’s charming, friendly, and easygoing. But he is also one of the loneliest.
On the surface, Itadori is your typical shounen protagonist High School student. As many
'straightforward' protagonists, he gets portrayed as kind, adventurous and somewhat “simple”
academically speaking. However in his case, this is a little bit less extreme as with some of the
more idealistic characters such as Luffy, Naruto or Asta. While these characters represent certain
ideals expressed on a grander scale that the audience can look up to, I think Itadori embodies
a much more down-to-earth and genuine version of these traits, with his one and only goal being to
live by the last words of his grandfather: お前は強いから人を助けろ. (insert subtitles in video).
And that makes him less of an unattainable ideal and more of a relatable equal.
A big portion of Itadori's charm comes from
him being overall just a regular guy who seems pretty fun to spend an afternoon with.
This also makes him a much more flexible and malleable character,
with the ability to look past animosity and make friends of enemies. We can see
this in his relationship with Junpei, and again with his instant besto friendo, Todo.
However, Akutami doesn't shove it into our face that Yuji is a nice person by having
him deliver major speeches, or having other characters talk about what a great guy he is.
Instead, he leaves it for us to decide what we think of him. He's pretty likable and extroverted,
but not overly so, and at times there is a certain awkwardness in his interactions with his peers.
His strong points are of course his superhuman strength and aptitude for JuJutsu. But I think
his actual strength comes from his extreme altruism and ability to act on behalf of others.
And yet, as any good protagonist and despite Itadori being an awesome guy all around,
he still of course also has his weaknesses. One thing that isn't quite obvious from the start
is that Itadori actually has a strong sense of emptiness and loneliness.
Since we know little about his past, it's actually quite hard to tell
why this is the case despite his very charismatic and extroverted nature.
There is an answer to this question however. I believe the fundamental flaw in Itadori's
personality is the same as his strength. His altruism. Itadori Yuji, just like Luffy & co,
is an absolute genius when it comes to people. He's extremely good at understanding them,
what they are about, what drives them and how to handle them. But while he's
excellent at reading others, he is terrible at understanding himself.
When we first meet Itadori, he has no path, no drive and no meaningful relationships in his life,
except for his grumpy grandpa. At school, even though he's notorious for his physique, he
doesn't have any friends. He calls the two members of the occultist club his friends, but they
literally know nothing about him - also Itadori only entered the club, so he could leave school
early and visit his grandpa in the first place. And so, when he loses his grandpa, the only
person he was ever close to, he falls into grief and a very deep sense of loneliness.
With no friends and no purpose and presented with the world of JuJutsu,
Itadori latches onto his Grandfather's dying wish, help others and die surrounded by friends.
He is fully aware that this is probably not the right thing to do, as he calls it his own curse.
But with nothing else to hold onto, it thus becomes his drive.
As a result, we see Itadori risking his life on a regular bases,
sometimes quite unnecessarily. More than once he rushes into situations with no regard for
his own health or life. And even though he admits that he is scared of death, he seems
way too eager to sacrifice himself for others and thus give his life meaning and purpose.
This toxic mindset can be summarized like this: 'I have to save and help others,
but I can't receive help from anyone else. I must do it myself.'
This mindset by the way is also shared by Itadori's counterpart Geto. And so,
while Itadori's altruism is very much real, it is so extreme, that ironically enough
it starts to become selfish. He wants to do anything and
everything for others, so that in return he gets validation and the permission to live.
The problem is, when you build relationships based on this premise,
they inevitably fall apart sooner or later. Relationships are built on mutual respect,
trust, and sacrifice. The buzzword here being mutual.
In fulfilling his grandfather’s wish and his ultimate goal, Itadori Yuji acts on his own.
I think that in searching for his purpose and wanting to be needed, Yuji enters the lives of
other people, probably unconsciously assuming he can save them. He does so for Fushiguro and
Junpei, but very much disliked it himself when Todo does the very same thing to him at first.
In short: Itadori looks for purpose and validation by making everything in his life about others.
Therefore, his character arc is all about learning to form REAL relationships, built on mutual
feeling, mutual hardship, mutual forgiveness and mutual sacrifice. I think Itadori’s character
needs to find a real purpose - not to die for others, but one that’s worth staying alive for:
forming bonds that give meaning to his life and make him appreciate how precious it really is.
The central theme and moral argument of JuJutsu Kaisen is the question,
what constitutes a good life that is worth living. And Itadori, as the main protagonist
is starting his arc with a very dangerous and self-destructive answer to this question.
And yet, the skill with which Akutami is able to expertly portray this weakness as an underlying
part of Itadori's personality and only revealing it in tiny bits shows his skills as a writer,
and makes Itadori immediately relatable as a character.
Itadori Yuji is an extremely human and realistic take on the common Shounen tropes,
that come very close to Togashi's way of writing. However, I personally think that
Itadori's arc will most likely come closer to that of Killua from Darkness into light
rather than Gon's fall into darkness. And I would even go so far as to say that Akutami's characters
are even a tad more complex and realistic in their design – Satoru Gojo, Itadori’s mentor, comes to
mind here as well, who is eccentric, intimidating, funny and so much more at the same time.
The deep personalities, complex motivations and relationships all combined with the gory
and fantasy element set in the real world have created a fantastic story world for us to explore.
And speaking of Gojo, you can watch his analysis right here. Thanks so much for watching. Peace.