The story of Jujutsu Kaisen revolves around two main characters, Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi. Giving this duo the oomph, Gege rolls in the enigmatic Gojo Satoru and Kugisaki Nobara. While each has suffered, and some considerably more than so, some have received their conclusion. With the exception of Nobara, she still remains in the gray area of whether she’s alive or dead. This makes us question, whether she will ever return to the story.
Who is Kugisaki Nobara?
Kugisaki Nobara is the final addition to the main trio of Jujutsu Kaisen. Coming from a village, she is the first of her family to enter the Jujutsu line of work. Her presence in the story is quite unshakable, making her a “this is a necessary character spot, if it was not her, it would really need another asap” character.
She has a record of defeating a Special-grade Cursed Spirit without using Domain Expansion and learning Black Flash so young. This makes her easily one of the strongest in the Jujutsu World. Pairing this up with her incredible curse technique and the Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer as her teacher, she is bound to follow in his steps to greatness. Yet, this is not what we received from Gege.
[The following sections contain spoilers from the manga.]
What happened in Shibuya?
Nobara played one of the key roles in the Shibuya arc. Out of the blue, Gege decided to make her a fodder material for Yuji’s character development. One of the nastiest things the author has committed himself to, this gave the viewers another hit of how cruel the Jujutsu world is, and that it is no happy-go-lucky adventure of three friends who fight against evil.
As Shibuya unfolded, Nobara kept on exorcising spirits whenever she saw one, and she soon stumbled upon the sorcerer that initiated her doom clock. Facing one of the most broken curse techniques, “Miracle“, she was bound to lose. And that is exactly what happened. However, what she lost was far greater than that. She did not only lose the fight but also the pride she had built for so long.
- After being saved by Nanami, she was advised to stay put and wait to get rescued.
- However, with the broken pride she had, this was not something she could do.
- Having her allies fight, while she runs off to safety is not who she is. So, despite Nanami’s warning, she went on to fight.
She soon encounters Mahito’s double, Mahito encounters someone who touched his soul for a change. She stayed constant with her strategy and managed to injure his soul. This made him retreat and she decided to chase him. This is where her clock started its countdown of ten. A fatal mistake.
She chased him and soon met up with Yuji. Meanwhile, Mahito managed to switch places with his double, and when her guard was down, he hit her with Idle Transfiguration. Hit right on the face, she falls as Yuji is struck with horror. Considering this to be her final moment, she remarks that it wasn’t so bad in the end.
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Will she return?
She had a gruesome “injury” to which many would have perished. But maybe Gege did have some hope left for us to take. Coming to his besto-firendo’s rescue, Todo makes his appearance with Kyoto’s First Year, Arata. Arata’s curse technique “First Aid” allows him to stop any injury from getting worse. He administers it to her as soon as he reaches the battlefield.
This is a ray of hope. Her condition might be the worst out there, however, as her injuries were not allowed to fester any further and Arata’s immediate retreat with her, gives her a chance of survival. There are two possibilities that we can indulge in:
- If he made it in time, Shoko could heal her with the Reverse Cursed Technique. She had set up a place to heal wounded sorcerers.
- Just like in Gojo’s case against Toji, she could heal herself back from the dead.
By now, we can pretty much confirm that Gege is evil for his characters. If that is so, he should probably keep her alive to make it worse for her. She has a strong personality and staying alive will be a hard hit for her ego. So far, there has been no official confirmation of her death and that’s what makes it very plausible for her to return even at the end of the manga.
Conclusion
— Zeak_Ninja (@ZeakNinja) October 7, 2023
Nobara is a well-built character who has shown her worth in the story. Acting as a constant motivator for Yuji and pushing him to greater heights as she grows is something other characters would not have been able to do as effortlessly as her. The use of her character as character development fodder is something the fans would erase from existence, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. All that’s left is hope that she makes her comeback as swiftly as she entered our hearts.