This is my favorite character in Jujutsu Kaisen right now.
I'm sorry.
Remember, how I teased an Inumaki analysis at the end of Nobara's video by making fun
of how he says nothing but rice ball ingredients.
Well turns out it's really hard to analyze a character based on that.
- That poor guy.
So instead, I'm gonna analyze a character that I think is so well written and has such
a fantastic character arc, that you know she is one of Akutami's favorites.
What makes Maki so fun is that she was treated like a dreadful case of bad breath by her
family, but rather than begging for acknowledgement or affection, Maki has decided to tear the
whole abusive Zenin family to the ground.
Of course this video will also be about Mai, because, as you will see, both of them are
basically one character split into two.
There is a ton of symbolism around the concept of twins here after all.
And the story behind Maki and Mai is as tragic as it is heartbreaking.
And so it's no big surprise, that is is her sister who is Maki's biggest flaw and weakness
as a character.
At the same time however, she has also emerged from her past as incredibly strong and fierce.
I have already focus heavily on female writing in Nobara's video, so I will not force it
here again, but it goes without saying that Maki is exceptionally well written for Shounen
standards and I think in contrary to the beliefs of at least some people in the industry, having
self-confident badasses like Kugisaki and Maki makes everyone enjoy this story even
more.
Because, as the manga readers will know, Maki is here to stay and her character only gets
better better.
This is the story of Zenin Maki.
It's Maki's self-confident and indifferent attitude, as well as her power in physical
combat that make it really easy to like her.
As a matter of fact, she represents a lot of the most common shounen tropes we like
to see in our heroes: A tragic past, Power in combat, a seemingly unattainable gaol they
want to reach, an iron determination to fight for that goal as well as the ability to stick
through the toughest moments.
We see her fiercely and fearlessly wielding a whole arsenal of cursed weapons, no matte
how strong the opponent she's facing.
Maki is so extremely likable, because she basically has all the characteristics, that
our usual Shounen Hero has, only as a badass girl.
She doesn't share any of the external struggles and vulnerabilities that make Itadori so special,
and thus makes it extremely easy to latch on to her, something we for example see Nobara
do.
This is a woman that stands up against the men who have suppressed her and fights for
becoming a powerful woman that can lead the clan herself.
Basically, her dream is showing everyone that looked down on her one big middle finger.
- So it's very easy to see what makes her so extremely cool to watch and follow.
Other than Megumi, who internalizes the pain caused by his family situation, Maki displays
her emotional damage openly to the world.
And yet, I believe that the reasons Maki stands out as a character, as with any great Character,
are the underlying flaws, unseeing symbols and steady character progressions, that happen
beneath her straight-forward-feeling surface.
And Gege Akutami sure went full out when crafting her character.
-
Maki and Mai were born as twin sisters to the powerful Zenin clan, the most powerful
family in the Jujutsu world, if it weren't for this guy right here, - who basically carries
the Gojo family on his own.
As a result, Maki's and Mai's story isn't only dramatic and sad in only way, but rather
Akutami has piled a whole mountain of dramatic layers of top of both of them, that weighs
down heavily on their lives, you know just as American breakfast does.
First of all, there is the fact that the Jujutsu world operates based on very traditional and
conservative Japanese rules.
Born into a powerful family, you are expected to always put the clan's interest first.
You have to be strong and flawless, serve your elders and bring no shame onto the family
name.
There is no room for personal feelings and ambitions.
On top of this, big surprise, in this conservative, combat-oriented and patriarchal family structure,
being born as a girl puts you on a harsh disadvantage right from the start.
You neither have the same social standing, nor the same base physical strength of the
male family members, and so every woman has to work at least twice as hard to be recognized
as a full-fledged sorcerer.
Then, there is the fact that Maki and Mai are twins, which for a long time were seen
as a sign of misfortune in Japan.
I even found this Japanese study that details different types of food pregnant women were
supposed to avoid to not bear twins, such as twin chestnuts, double section tangerines
or double eggplants.
Thus, being born a twin automatically made you less worthy of love and trust.
But as if all of this weren't enough already, Maki and Mai actually also have to deal with
real physical consequences of being twins as well.
Their cursed powers basically treated them as one person as well, so that Mai ended up
with a uniquely strong cursed ability, but no combat skills whatsoever, while Maki is
one of the physically most gifted characters in the story, but without so much as an ounce
of cursed energy, which in the largest family of jujutsu sorcerer, basically made her the
worst amongst the worst.
As a result, both Maki and Mai grew up as outcasts of the Zenin family, which left them
with nothing but each other to hold onto.
-
Long story short Maki and Mai basically both share the same fate of growing up abused and
neglected by a family that only cares about power.
And yet, both of them deal with it in very different ways.
And while the story introduces us to Maki as the mature, tough and straight forward
twin, Mai is presented as hateful, evil and childish.
And yet this perception is purposefully misleading.
As I explained in my analysis of Nobara, as we learn throughout their flashback, in the
relationship of the twins, Maki is actually the more hurtful one.
Her big desire in life is paying back those who abused her and her sister, who she always
used to protect as a child.
and yet in the process of struggling to get stronger, she forgets about her sister completely,
focusing fully on her goal.
Mai on the other hand, never wanted to become a sorcerer in the first place, she never had
maki's mental strength.
All she wanted was having her big sister by her side, the only family she had.
And yet, through Maki's fight for power, she herself has no choice but also become a sorcerer,
or be left alone at the bottom of the clan.
In addition, probably in an effort to protect Mai from the consequences of going against
the Zenin clan, Maki severs her ties with her sister.
- however this hurts Mai even more.
And while she finally finds comrades at the Kyoto school, she never had Maki's conviction,
power or drive.
As a result we hear her echoing a lot of the opinions and behaviors around her, as she
doesn't have the confidence to form her own opinions and forge her own path.
She's just letting herself be pulled along by the stream of events around her.
And the only way she now sees to get her sisters attention is by taunting her or those close
to her, where she wants to be.
-
The point here is, that very much in the spirit
of being twins, Maki and Mai are one person split into two.
Both dealing with their abusive family in their own way and yet at the same time both
being a side of the same coin.
Mai is insecure, weak-willed, averse to fighting, emotional, but also has an extremely powerful
ability that allows her to create matter from nothing.
Even though she actually forms friendships really fast, her whole life is determined
by her relationship with her sister.
Her fault as a character then, fault from a writing perspective of course, is relying
on her and making her responsible for her own feelings and events in her life.
Mai's arc is about finding the determination to fight back herself against the abuse and
oppression by her family and the jujutsu world, side by side with her sister.
Maki on the other hand, is strong, a fighter and just like Gojo, thinks everything can
be solved by strength alone.
And while strength surely is important in the Jujutsu world, Maki has internalized a
ver unhealthy view of strength: not showing any weakness.
Maki blocks out her own emotions and insecurities completely focusing mostly on herself.
Similarly to Gojo, she knows the value of having strong companions and being able to
fight together, but in the end, her philosophy is this - Gojo to Megumi.
It’s not that Maki is a hateful person it’s that she’s conditioned not to accept any
kind of love because she was never shown the unconditional love of a family she was owed.
She is so busy trying to reject everything that the Zenin clan stands for, that she can’t
really accept other people’s feelings at all positive or negative.
She’s too busy thinking about herself, protecting about herself, trying not to hate herself.
She can't receive Mai's feelings.
Again it's easy to draw a parallel to Megumi here, who is not even blood-related to his
sister, but does everything he can for his only real family member, desperately wanting
to talk to her.
- Maki however, despite having the chance to talk to her twin sister and only real family
in the world whenever she wants, doesn't.
Her having to wear glasses because she otherwise is blind to curses is really symbolic here.
Because these glasses also represent her inability to see other people for who they are.
If you watched my Gojo video, you will recognize a pattern here.
As a result, Maki's character arc is all about understanding, that strength isn't always
the answer and that forming real relationships with others, especially her own sister is
an essential part of living a good life.
And this also includes acknowledging and accepting her sister's feelings and wishes into her
heart.
And while her justified hatred towards her family is a powerful drive for her growth
as a sorcerer, at some point after dealing with the Zenin clan, she will need a more
healthy goal in life, that is not defined by violence and hate, but that actually will
do good in the world, or sink into deeper darkness, as members of the Zenin family tend
to do.
One thing however is for certain, Maki already being as strong as she is, with Mai by her
side, once again becoming one whole, she will be a force to be reckoned with in the jujutsu
world, and no-one should underestimate her power and role in the story.