One of the biggest and oldest mysteries inJujutsu Kaisenmay have a far simpler explanation than fans think and the series' creator has long confirmed it. ThoughJujutsu Kaisen’s manga has come to an end, there are still many mysteries that were left unaddressed, a significant one beinghow Sukuna’s finger found its way to Yuji’s high school. However, Gege Akutami has already hinted at the answer to this particular mystery.
In an interview held at theJujutsu KaisenExhibition at Shibuya in July, Gege Akutami hinted that the best possible explanation for why Sukuna’s finger was at Yuji’s high school is that it wasKenjaku who planted the finger there as part of his grand scheme.In the interview, Akutami revealed his creative process when crafting Itadori, Nobara, and Megumi’s characters and explained that though he tried not to set too much in stone, when it came to Itadori, he had to flesh out his backstory just enough so that any such plot holes could be logically explained aspart of Kenjaku’s plan.
Gege Akutami Finally Explains Why Sukuna’s Finger Was At Yuji’s School
“It Was All Kenjaku’s Plan”
Even though Sukuna’s finger is what setsJujutsu Kaisen’s story into motion, the seriesnever quite explains how this first finger found its way to Yuji, who just so happened to be created to be Sukuna’s vessel. Despite being a highly dangerous cursed object, Sukuna’s finger was oddly sitting unguarded in a thermometer shed at a high school, potentially endangering the lives of countless students.
What Happened to Sukuna’s Final Finger in Jujutsu Kaisen?
The whereabouts and purpose of Sukuna’s final finger have been a major mystery in Jujutsu Kaisen, but chapter #267 answered that in a big way.
However, Gege Akutami provides a simple explanation for this mystery in the interview at theJujutsu KaisenExhibition and the reason this obvious yet all-encompassingexplanation works is because of the way Akutami wrote the series' characters. Akutami explains in the interview that when creating the main trio consisting of Nobara, Itadori, and Megumi, he tried to strike the balance between fleshing them out just enough to make sense and without locking in the details so much in stone that they couldn’t naturally progress.
Q: How deep did you go when creating the three main characters, fleshing out the backstories, designs and whatnot?
Akutami: I had a vague mental image of what I wanted them to be like, but I hadn’t honed in on the details. If asked, I could usually say “I think something like this” but I fear that if I set too much in stone, the character can’t progress, but if I don’t flesh them out enough, they won’t make sense, so I want to find the right balance. For Kugisaki, I’d already decided on her family setup and backstory with her mother and grandmother before coming to Jujutsu Tech.
In Nobara’s case, Akutami had most of her backstory planned long before she could make her way to Jujutsu Tech, but in Yuji’s case, he had to flesh him out just enough so that any inconsistencies such as Sukuna’s finger could at least be justified as part of Kenjaku’s plan instead of chalking it up to something like fate. Though it may not be a very committed answer from Akutami, this explanation definitely makes sense now that the final arc has revealed theconnection between Yuji’s father and Sukuna, proving that everything about Yuji’s birth was in fact meticulously planned out.
As for Itadori, there were some aspects that inevitably had to be addressed, like why a special grade cursed object was at his school, so I thought at its worst, I had to make it so the logical conclusion of “it was all Kenjaku’s plan” could hold water.
It isn’t all too hard to believe that Kenjaku could have gotten his hands on at leastone of Sukuna’s fingersand discreetly planted it at Yuji’s high school, biding his time until the two were inevitably drawn together. Kenjaku’s meeting with Yuji’s old friend from the Occult Club at the start of the Culling Game also hints that Kenjaku may have been keeping tabs on Yuji from the very start.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Simplistic Approach Is What Makes the Series Unique
Overall, though it may seem odd to some, Gege Akutami’s non-commital approach towards his characters is arguably what makes the series so great. As Akutami states, this approach is what allowsJujutsu Kaisen’s characters the ability to progress organically as the story calls for it. Granted,Jujutsu Kaisenhas had its issues with rushed or abandoned storylines, but one area where theseries has always excelled is its strong characterization,which especially shines during the finale of the series.
Jujutsu Kaisenis available from Manga Plus and Viz Media.
Source:soukatsu_/X
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisenis a Japanese anime and manga series created by Gege Akutami. The story is set in a world where Cursed Spirits, born from negative human emotions, prey on humanity. It follows high school student Yuji Itadori as he becomes entangled in the world of Jujutsu Sorcery after swallowing a cursed talisman—Ryomen Sukuna’s finger—and becomes the host for one of the most powerful curses. Yuji joins the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College to learn how to combat curses while searching for the remaining fingers of Sukuna to exorcise him permanently.
