Does Gege Fall Short in Writing Female Characters?

Ever since Jujutsu Kaisen popped onto the anime and manga scene, it has received a lot of praise for its amazing story, incredible fights, and unique power system. However, the characters that the series has introduced are the real highlight of the story, as the franchise houses some of the best and most iconic characters in all of modern anime and manga.

That being said, some fans of Jujutsu Kaisen have said that the series tends to fall short when it comes to its female characters. The argument here is that almost every single female character starts off brilliantly, with unique personalities and sympathetic personal journeys that all have great potential, but Gege Akutami ultimately fails at writing a compelling story and outcome for most of them. So, let’s take a look at whether or not the female characters of Jujutsu Kaisen were more of an afterthought.

So Many Female Characters With Wasted Potential

More than anything, the fans who speak about female characters not being given justice in the story often complain of their potential being squandered. There is truth to this, as some of the most interesting characters in all of Jujutsu Kaisen are women whom Gege has taken out of the story in one way or another, either killing them off or just pushing them to the side so they can’t do much.

The best example that comes to mind is the Special Grade sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo. Being one of the only 4 Special Grades as well as a former Star Plasma Vessel, Yuki was one of the most fascinating characters in the entire series, especially when her connection with Aoi Todo became clear. Her ability was also one of the coolest in the entire franchise, with her essentially being a walking Black Hole that was able to give an exponential increase in mass to herself and her shikigami, possibly crowning her as the hardest hitter in all of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Yuki was an extremely likable and charismatic character who stole almost every single panel that she was in. However, many were let down after seeing her lose the only fight she took part in. Despite doing a good amount of damage to Kenjaku when they locked horns, she eventually lost against the ancient sorcerer, failing in her duty to protect Master Tengen from him. Many also saw it to be weird how Choso ended up surviving but Yuki didn’t.

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Another example that quickly springs to mind is the character of Hana Kurusu, who was introduced in the Culling Game arc of the manga. Many fans thought she was poorly written and was just a way of moving the plot forward. Her ability is easily one of the strongest in the entire series, where she can negate any Cursed Technique, something that can potentially take out both Sukuna and Gojo.

However, the way that Hana was handled was very strange because many felt that her defeat at the hands of Sukuna was extremely contrived and was something that is very uncharacteristic of Gege Akutami. When she is shown to have seemingly gotten rid of Sukuna from the world, he actually tricks her through a ruse that she childishly falls for which allows him to almost kill her, taking her out of the series for some time.

Plenty of Female Characters Feel Like They Were Taken Out Too Soon

There also exist some female characters that many fans think were taken out of the story too soon. An example of this is Mai Zenin, who was never really shown a lot in the story in the first place, so many fans did not have much of a connection with her. Despite this, she was killed off in the Culling Game arc in a way that seemed to be very emotional, but it ultimately did not land due to how unceremonious her death was and how little many people cared for her.

Another example is Kasumi Miwa, who could also have been listed as someone who had their potential wasted. Miwa was a very weak character but one that was unique in the world, to the point where many were curious to see how she would work within the confines of the fights that were to take place later on in the series. However, she was also absent for much of the story and many thought she was written out very lazily as she made a Binding Vow to never fight again.

The biggest example of this is perhaps Nobara Kugisaki. Nobara rounded off the typical Shonen trio trope with Yuji and Megumi and was a character that shot up the popularity charts of Jujutsu Kaisen because of how amazing her personality was. However, she was seemingly killed off in the Shibuya Incident arc and hasn’t been seen since, leaving many fans with a bitter taste in their mouths because of how she was handled.

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Does Gege Have It Out For Female Characters?

Now this is the question that many fans of the series have been asking for quite a while now. The short and blunt answer to whether or not Gege Akutami fails at writing female characters is no, he does not. Gege knows how to write brilliant and complex characters regardless of gender, as many seem to gloss over how interesting these aforementioned characters have been in the first place. Had they not been compelling, there would not have been anything other than dissenting voices about how they have all been handled.

Gege is on record to have stated that when he feels that a character has served their role within the story, he writes them off of it one way or another, often by killing them. Plus, easily one of the best-written heroes in the entire series who also happens to be one of the strongest sorcerers is Maki Zenin, an extremely complex and layered character that is one of the most iconic in all of Jujutsu Kaisen. Maki has a tragic backstory but, at the same time, is a symbol of resilience and strength in a world that rejects her.

While Yuki’s death may have been contrived and rushed to some, it should be known that she was in a battle against an ancient sorcerer who is also one of the strongest of all time. Kenjaku is not only incredibly intelligent and powerful, he also has multiple Cursed Techniques, all of which he used in his battle against the Special Grade and Choso, only barely edging out the victory with his superior knowledge and application of Jujutsu.

However, these opinions shared by much of the community are not without merit. There are a few instances of Gege either failing to write captivating female characters or just using them very specifically within his story to further the plot. Hana Kurusu is a genuine example of this as she never really had much more to her character than being in love with Megumi and serving as a plot device to free Gojo from the Prison Realm.

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At the end of the day, Gege does not introduce female characters just to kill them off. He simply writes off characters whenever he feels that they have fulfilled their role in the story that he is trying to tell. After all, Gege has killed off just as many, if not more, male characters in Jujutsu Kaisen and, while a small part of the criticism that he gets is valid, it does not mean that he fails to write female characters.

Jujutsu Kaisen can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Netflix.

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