Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 181 Analysis - Blessings, Calamities, & Manga

Comprehensive analysis for Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 181. Enjoy!

 P.S - There is a new thing I’m doing called “Analysis Extras” where I will quickly mention other things in the chapter that didn’t need an individual section but didn’t fit the others. 

Limits & Calamities w/ Blessings

First & foremost I loved Uro’s words to Yuta about reaching his limit. Gege takes this moment to not only give us a cool in chapter drawing confirming Sukuna’s original form, but also doubling down on the concept that the core to becoming the strongest as a sorcerer is the ego, the sense of self above all. I find it really interesting that Uro says she has seen it herself, and she specifically names “curses, cursed spirits and strong fighters”. To me she’s saying that she has experienced the golden age of cursed techniques or at east been around in a time comparable to it.

 (I also would like to mention that Uro has given the second most interesting information out of the culling game players we’ve met, the first I’d say being Reggie with Kenjaku’s “bomb”, and she isn’t dead..)

Aside from all that, the concept of Yuta reaching his limit is very possible in that regard, and it will take him to really understand that if he fights with true power he can become even more, but Yuta isn’t someone who sees meaning in fighting usually, so I believe he does have a natural limit to how inclined he feels to become more powerful. Gojo for example, wanted to be the strongest after already being so powerful. He was arrogant, and he kept that attitude even if he had different intentions at heart, and now it feels like that was his way of keeping his strength as a Sorcerer where it needed to be to continue being Gojo Satoru. It’s just nice seeing this stuff brought up again, especially for Yuta who was said to be only second to Gojo.

The last part of this section is of course pertaining to Yuta’s blessings. His comrades, the people that he is fighting with to beat Kenjaku’s plans are those blessings, hence why he calls himself blessed. It’s so oxymoronic to me, the idea of being “blessed” while being a jujutsu sorcerer. Seeing the darkest side of the world, fighting the very essence of negative energy in the world, where can there be blessing in that? I could dive into this in so many ways from etymology & christian origins of the word bless/blessing, but that would be way too much for this analysis. 

Really, this word here is simply being used in the sense of the positives that help lead a life of bliss, and those are Yuta’s friends. In a world where they are facing the very evils of the world, the things they must hold onto to be able to survive is each other, while giving each other the space to grow and hold their own. Its such a challenge perspective, giving rise to multiple emotions from sadness to guilt, to joy in sacrifice. I find it beautiful, and stunning how these things hold these characters together throughout their tribulations.

Who is Charles Bernard?

Ok so Charles is a very loaded character for me to talk about (lol). The thing about Charles is that I am still trying to discern how much of his character is Gege critiquing the manga industryvscritiquing fansvscritiquing othermangaka. I say this because I get a very sarcastic vibe from the Charles encounter with the editor at Shuiesha. Also there just was so much about the encounter that felt like both people involved where in the wrong. 

While Charles definitely has some points regarding art realism, Charles just doesn’t have a good personality to me, he just comes off like a big entitled douche, and thats ok. I love it and can’t wait to see more of it. I especially like that he’s searching for the meaning behind being a Mangaka, and also since Hakari is the one he encountered, I find the entire situation hilarious. 

But why/how the hell did they end up in the a Ferris wheel together? I get wanting to see the scenery but together? I feel like I’m missing something lol. 

I think Charles is going to be very interesting to follow. I won’t say much about him in this analysis, but as we get more on him I’ll be dissecting him more and more. His obsession with manga and how its created plus his own personal idealism of it will be cool to see play out in a fight against Hakari.

I will say I entirely agree with Hakari’s feelings about not reading a manga because of its gloomy vibe. Sometimes I don’t want to experience those things, and I find it very interesting that Gege is bringing that perspective even its its very slight. Charles wanted a reason to hate Hakari, and our guy gave it (lol). 

I can only wonder how all of this is going to unfold. But we’ll see..

Analysis Extras

1.Miwa?! What is going with her?! She could be here because she is looking for a way to get involved with getting back at Kenjaku?! I honestly am not sure what Gege is doing here but I am so excited to see her and honestly if she goes off I am going to lose my MIND. Hope she does well, I’m begging Gege has her and Yuta team up and he gives her a cursed Katana. That would be awesome.

2.WHERE IS PANDA??!?!?! I love panda very much and I hope to see him do well here in the Culling Games. I partially hope that he meets up with Maki somehow here, but if not I do hope he fights Kashimo. Even if he died, I know it would be an amazing fight and moment with Panda, and I’m a sucker for that stuff. We’ll see!

3.Gege giving Yuta 200 points because he likes him is very very hilarious. (He technically has 197 but gege said “eh round it” and admitted it lol)

4.Uro’s Lover?? I’ll be talking about this more when I do my Uro character analysis, but the theory that the man she got the last name from was the man she loved and was secretly involved with…