Scene Analysis: Yuji vs Mahito
One of my favorite hero-villain dynamics
With the end of Jujutsu Kaisen’s final battle, as well as the imminent conclusion of its manga, I thought this would be a good time to talk about one of my favorite scenes from the series, as well as one of my favorite dynamics between a hero and a villain overall.
These two characters, Yuji and Mahito, are perfect narrative foils and every time they interact, you can feel the tension and conflict between their worldviews. This conflict reaches its climax with this fight scene, and I want to break it down in its entirety.
Note: This article contains spoilers for season 2 of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime or up to chapter 132 of the manga.
Background
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, the Disaster Curses are a group of evil spirits formed out of humanity’s fears. Arguably the most powerful of them is Mahito, the embodiment of humanity’s fear of itself. Like the rest of his group, he sees himself as a ‘true human’ and wishes to replace humanity with curses.
Mahito’s rivalry with the series’ protagonist, Yuji Itadori, began when the former manipulated and killed his friend Junpei. Yuji realizes that he is the only sorcerer with the ability to kill Mahito. For his part, the Disaster Curse is great at making him struggle with his morality, such as using his powers to transform regular humans into monsters and forcing Yuji to kill them.
The Fight
I could talk a lot about Gege Akutami’s excellent artwork in the manga, or Mappa’s animation, which elevated the fight beyond my expectations. I could talk about the creativity with which the powers and settings are used in this fight. But my focus in this article is the battle of ideologies between Yuji and Mahito.
Mahito drives Yuji to the brink of despair, seemingly killing his friends Nanami and Nobara in front of him. As Yuji sinks into despair, Mahito taunts him.
I bet you thought you were going to do some pest control or like defeating evil spirits in a legend! You came to Shibuya with that half-baked determination, didn’t you? You’re too naive, you stupid brat! This is war! Not a battle to fix what’s wrong, but a clash of truths! You and your fragile justice! You are me, Yuji Itadori! I kill without a second thought, just like you save people without a second thought! The instincts of a Curse against the so-called dignity of human reason! It’s a battle to determine who will be left standing in a hundred years! … Tell me, Yuji Itadori, have you ever stopped to count how many Curses you’ve killed? No, right? Me neither. I never counted how many people I killed.
Mahito’s evil acts are simply his nature. he is the manifestation of the darkest parts of the human soul - of the cruelty and pointless viciousness inherent in humans. Killing is as natural to him as flying is to a bird or swimming is to a fish. Just as Yuji is motivated by his nature to save people, Mahito is motivated by his nature to hurt them. He taunts Yuji by pointing out how causally he kills curses, and suggests that they are similar after all. And he’s not wrong. It was humans like Yuji who created Mahito in the first place. He is described as a mirror to the human soul.
‘We’re not so different, you and I’ is an overdone trope in my opinion, but I really enjoyed its execution in this case. Mahito sees himself and Yuji as just soldiers on different sides of a war, battling to ensure that their respective ideologies come out on top.
Yuji is saved by the entrance of Todo, who encourages him by pointing out that he has been entrusted with the legacy of his dead friends - and for their sake, he must fight on.
I’m You
With Todo’s help, Yuji finally defeats Mahito. Having regained his resolve, he proceeds to give the Curse one of the most instantly iconic speeches in anime, a speech that went viral and inspired countless edits and memes.
You were right, Mahito. I am you. I wanted to reject you. Convince myself that you were wrong. But that doesn’t matter now. I’m going to kill you. If you come back to life, I’ll kill you again. Change your name. Change your form. I’ll kill you again. I don’t need to find a meaning or a reason. Maybe a hundred years after my death, the meaning behind my actions will become apparent. In the grand scheme of things, I’m probably noting more than a cog. But I’ll keep killing Curses for as long as I can. That’s my role in this war.
Yuji acknowledges that Mahito was right - that they are similar. Mahito is a reflection of the darkest part of his soul - of every person’s soul. But that no longer matters to him. He stops seeing himself as a hero, and accepts that he is just a small part of the Jujutsu world. He resolves to carry out that part without mercy or hesitation. And so, he resolves to kill Mahito and continue killing curses for as long as he lives.
Cowardice is also one of the emotions that created the Disaster Curse. Terrified of the monster that he has created, the curse runs. The imagery is poignant - Mahito is a rabbit fleeing across a snowy landscape, and Yuji is a wolf unhurriedly following his prey. It is an incredibly cathartic scene, one that simultaneously concludes Yuji’s character development in the arc and shows the downfall of one of the show’s greatest villains.