A review by zhaenya
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 13 by Gege Akutami

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

there was so much water and fire in this volume, it's kind of crazy. not all of it was all that fun, but most of it had me hooked, that i can say. the very beginning with nanami, naobito and maki fighting dagon was probably the weakest and slowest part of the volume, but it definitely started to become a lot more interesting when megumi (using his domain expansion for the second time!!) and then toji pulled up. that was a whole zen'in family reunion, plus nanami. i honestly expected dagon to be much more interesting with how the volume started, with him caring about his name and people referring to him as such, and not just 'cursed spirit', but it all kind of got pushed aside and then buried when the fighting started. and then a few chapters later he was just gone, because there's no way he would be able to beat toji. but then the most stressful part of the volume starts, with toji sensing that megumi was the strongest of the bunch and throwing him out of the window so they could fight. and fight they did, though it was mostly toji charging at him and megumi overthinking and trying to defend himself. and then we get a flash of recognition on toji's face. and a little flashback of him deciding to sell his child to the zen'in clan for 'his own good' (bleh). and "hey. what's your name?" "...fushiguro." "not zen'in, huh? good for you." i bet megumi was so fucking confused in that moment. this man (who looks exactly like him, but who's really looking?) who thew him out of the window and proceeded to fight him just asked him name and then killed himself in front of him when he got the answer. if megumi knew he was actually looking at his father right then, that would've been fucking traumatizing. and look, i give toji a lot of shit because he deserves it, he was not a good parent, he left megumi to starve while he was out there killing teenagers, but it's nice to know that he still thought about his well being at some level, he thought it would be best for him to become a zen'in because they would value his technique and that means they would value him, but he still changed his mind by the end, so him keeping his distance from his kid and forcing him to grow up without parents was all for fucking nothing. i don't think that's what megumi's mother, his wife, meant when she asked him to take care of megumi. at least he remembered his name, and his last thoughts before his death, both times, were all about megumi. so that's nice. (and then gege drawing 'papaguro' with a halo... you know damn well this man is not seeing the gates of heaven)

i tend to forget just how strong of a cursed spirit jogo actually is because he always somehow ends up fighting opponents stronger than him (gojo, sukuna), but then he shows up and wastes everyone just like that. nanami, maki, naobito... i don't know how any of them would come out alive after being burned like that, like, naobito is definitely gone, right? i won't cry for him, but his technique was kind of cool, so there's that. i need someone to show up and take care of nanami and maki though, because that shit looked serious. and you know what else i need? for everyone to leave yuji alone. i understand why nanako and mimiko fed him fingers, though it wasn't the best plan, they didn't think it through, but jogo was no smarter (though we got a chapter 112 cover thanks to him, and it's one of my favorites, so thank for that, i guess). "the moonlight's illumination... makes it easier to see just how pathetic you are." i'm sorry to say this, jogo, but you brought this on yourself. what did you think was going to happen, that the kind of curses would thank you for feeding him ten of his fingers and join forces with you? so naive. AND SINCE WHEN CAN SUKUNA USE FIRE? HE GOT JOGO SWEATING UP A STORM ALREADY, AND NOW HE'S COMING FOR HIS TECHNIQUE. i know jogo's not winning, and the place they're fighting at will just remain as ruins, and that's all really sad and i don't want people to die, but i just keep thinking of megumi and that i need sukuna to leave him the fuck alone. i know his plans, i know what he wants to do, i know he wouldn't hurt him, "how about i kill every human in shibuya? all but one, that is.", but i need him to save his life if needed and then back off and never think of him ever again. that bastard. that is all.

i genuinely feel so fucking bad for nanako and mimiko, those poor girls went through so much for the past year and now they're just gone. they just wanted to have their father's body back, that was literally the only thing on their mind, nothing more. it was definitely not the best idea to go to sukuna for help, but i get the desperation, and a lot of people seem to make that mistake anyway. but the tragedy of suguru, nanako and mimiko will never leave me be, i will always feel so sad for the three of them and how unfair it was all on them. the little flashback we got of them together almost finished me off. geto talking about gojo while he's reading a book and his daughters are brushing his hair, "he was my best fried. but we fought, and it's been like this ever since.", he was smiling so gently but i know he's sad too, i don't think i will survive when i see this get animated, i was already at the verge of tears while reading it again, but if i get to see it and hear geto's voice... good lord. "we love you. we love you. we love you. gojo satoru, we'll never forgive you for killing geto-sama. but we were okay with letting things be. gojo satoru is geto-sama's one and only best friend, after all." nanako and mimiko never going after gojo because they know geto never wouldn't wanted them to... i'm okay, i swear. i will never get over how tragic this family turned out to be, how it all ended for them three (four). but at least they had a time where they were happy together, that's all you could ask for, really. the rest of geto's group seems to be doing better though, still following 'geto', hoping to achieve their goal someday. though they're way too quick to underestimate humanity, i get why they would side with 'geto' still. i'm not sure how geto would feel about his family siding with a parasite that violated his body, but i guess their goals are still the same as geto's, so it's not too bad. but i'm still on nanako and mimiko's side about taking suguru's body back (satoru would agree). i honestly want to know more about all of the curse users that were a part of geto's cult, because they all seem so interesting and we're just now starting to focus on them a little more. i think larue is my favorite though, he's that middle ground that everyone needs. and it makes me wonder if larue was one of those who joined geto's cult because they thought he was handsome (i know that's a thing, i remember gege saying it), because it sure sounded like it, "same as miguel, i just wanted to help suguru become king.", that's such an interesting thing to say. king of what, exactly? (geto is a king of my heart already <3) and he's the only one who called him 'suguru', not 'geto-sama', so i guess they were really close. i think only satoru ever called him by his name like that.

anyway, this was not my favorite volume, but i had fun reading it anyway. i even laughed a bit, thanks to kusakabe and his goal to slack off as much as possible and not die, because there's no way he would be going against a group that sealed away gojo satoru. very understandable. and i really needed just a little bit of comedy in the midst of all the fighting and chaos, and death.