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zhaenya's reviews
33 reviews
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
it's been... a while since i read this. i was going to read all the books, or at least some of them, before season 2 of the iwtv comes out, and i'm still determined to do that, but i think i'll just start over because i started reading this in august and just never finished it. i don't think i was ever in the right mood for it. but i find myself wanting to actually read it now, so maybe it's time. i could probably just read my previous notes and continue where i stopped, but i might as well just start over. it feels right.
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 21 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
well, it was a bit frustrating to get through this volume, but it is funny to look back on my notes just to see myself ranting about a lot of things. i will mention some of those here, but i don't think it's worth it to spend to much time on the things that i didn't vibe with, rather than the things i loved.
first of all, i'm glad that yuta didn't kill ishigori and uro, i feel like there's so much more we can explore with both of them, especially uro. i was afraid that gege just wasted those characters, but i guess i should've expected them to survive, since we haven't heard the announcement of the points being added to yuta's score. and now, here i can mention one thing that frustrated me, and it's the lack of uro and the exploration of her character, her past. this could've been such a cool little side story to get into, even in the last volume, while yuta and her were fighting. but yuta decided not to press the issue and it's really disappointing, because i feel like that's exactly where gege decided to drop it entirely. a lot of these culling game chapters are so weird to me. like, i'm having a lot of fun watching everyone fight and seeing new characters and learning their abilities (gege's creativity really shines there), but. look... gege is great at creating characters and giving them interesting power sets, but honestly... i'm getting kind of tired of them introducing new characters, teasing some interesting or actual plot relevant stuff, and then never go into detail about any of that, whilst fighting one of The Main Boys, losing the fight, and then disappearing from the narrative just as quickly as they were introduced. like, can we please just go back to actual plot progression? we're still nowhere near saving tsumiki, let alone learning more about her or what the actual objective of the game is, or even saving gojo and taking care of kenjaku. not to mention we still don't know how nobara, inumaki, todo, and a whole bunch of other people are doing. it's just... a lot. i know it's a battle manga, but can we please make it so the battles happen for a reason and not just because? i know everyone's trying to kill each other to gain points and that's kind of a reason, but then again, why? why anything? i love slow burn, but not when it's so tedious and almost pointless. it was exciting at first, and i genuinely enjoy most of the fights because gege is really good at drawing them and making them interesting, the fight choreography is always great and i have lots of fun reading through it, but then the manga guy got introduced and i'm just like bro come ON, we really don't need any more characters or more pointless fights right now. and to look back on uro here, she literally came back to life after many centuries only to find out that patriarchy is still working. and got dropped right that second. by a man. that was so fucking foul. and frustrating. i want THIS type of stuff explored, not the man with a canon on his dead or a dude that's struggling to publish his manga. though his technique was kind of cool and i liked getting into it, but that didn't make that part of the volume, with hakari and him, any more interesting.
panda losing every part of his family, from his father to both his brother and his sister, and turning into a mini panda, was really freaking sad. and underwhelming. panda's sister was being left a big mystery for so long while also being the strongest of his cores (i think?) only to be instantly defeated by kashimo. misogyny is so real. and look, it's not like i really care about panda as much as i care about some of my favorite characters, like yuji or megumi, for example, it just sucks to see all the og characters being taken out and replaced by all the 'cooler' new ones. what's the point of having an original cast when almost all of them get replaced with someone else by the end? not all the character arcs need to end in death. "the three different souls keep an eye on each other to help keep panda stable. now that he's lost two of them, what will become of him?" gege, you monster. so what if i cried? i'm only human. but you know, at least hakari was there to save the day! this is his and kashimo's volume through and through. (that volume cover is fucking incredible btw, it's one of my favorites, for sure.)
the fight between hakari and kashimo! that's exactly when gege won me over once again. that was so much fun, i couldn't get enough. hakari especially is a lot of fun to watch, he's such a unique fighter and his technique + domain expansion combo is fucking broken. it was a lot to take in at first, with all the info dump, but it actually turned out a lot less complicated than i first thought it was when i was reading that one damn page with every single thing that could happen in idle death gamble, there was a whole presentation for it. "as you read on, feel free to skip over the explanation of hakari's cursed technique. just imagine something like a hands-on game in his domain, and if he hits the jackpot, he gets super strong." i should've listened to gege right then and there instead of trying to sit there and comprehend what the hell i was reading. god, but how stressful would it be to get stuck in hakari's domain? because first, he's boosted his energy by confusing you with his rules, then you get a giant pair of doors coming at you with different colors and you start to think about what he said earlier about those colors and levels, and realize that you probably should've paid a much better attention to them. i would've been so fucked, because my memory is shit and there's no way i could remember all that and think about what to do on the spot, while actually playing/fighting. and that doesn't even mention the fact that there are manga characters acting out scenarios in front of you, which would also be distracting as hell, especially if you recognize said characters. like, i'm half convinced that about 60% of hakari's domain is just psychological warfare. i'm terrified of him. i don't care about any of the big bads, hakari would be the end of me, personally. but the again, i just can't get over how fucking cool he is. like, with an automatic reverse cursed technique on top of his broken ass domain and him being fucking immortal for like four minutes when he hits a jackpot, and his physical strength/combat skills to match, it's no wonder gojo said that he would be just fine on his own. yuta is amazing, but so is hakari. and why aren't the good guys winning when they have those two on their side?
i'm so curious about kashimo's cursed technique though. he's so strong already and he didn't even use it yet. but he said it can be used only one time, so it has to be insanely powerful. don't know if he can match sukuna, i don't really think he can, but i am really excited to see them fight, if it ever comes down to it. as long as he's not in yuji's body at the time, i don't think i can take the pain of seeing that.
i didn't expect to see maki this volume, but i am so damn happy, because it's been so long. and noritoshi is with her! a team-up i never knew i needed. i'm very excited to finally see a swordswoman/archer duo in an action sequence, because i rarely see that kind of dynamic, surprisingly, plus both of them are physically powerful with their hand to hand combat, so this is by far the most exciting duo in the culling game for me. and the ceremonial 'chopping off your hair after going through a traumatic event' queer representation gege has given us this chapter is very much appreciated as well. good for them for cutting ties with their toxic ass clans, they deserve so much better than that bullshit.
first of all, i'm glad that yuta didn't kill ishigori and uro, i feel like there's so much more we can explore with both of them, especially uro. i was afraid that gege just wasted those characters, but i guess i should've expected them to survive, since we haven't heard the announcement of the points being added to yuta's score. and now, here i can mention one thing that frustrated me, and it's the lack of uro and the exploration of her character, her past. this could've been such a cool little side story to get into, even in the last volume, while yuta and her were fighting. but yuta decided not to press the issue and it's really disappointing, because i feel like that's exactly where gege decided to drop it entirely. a lot of these culling game chapters are so weird to me. like, i'm having a lot of fun watching everyone fight and seeing new characters and learning their abilities (gege's creativity really shines there), but. look... gege is great at creating characters and giving them interesting power sets, but honestly... i'm getting kind of tired of them introducing new characters, teasing some interesting or actual plot relevant stuff, and then never go into detail about any of that, whilst fighting one of The Main Boys, losing the fight, and then disappearing from the narrative just as quickly as they were introduced. like, can we please just go back to actual plot progression? we're still nowhere near saving tsumiki, let alone learning more about her or what the actual objective of the game is, or even saving gojo and taking care of kenjaku. not to mention we still don't know how nobara, inumaki, todo, and a whole bunch of other people are doing. it's just... a lot. i know it's a battle manga, but can we please make it so the battles happen for a reason and not just because? i know everyone's trying to kill each other to gain points and that's kind of a reason, but then again, why? why anything? i love slow burn, but not when it's so tedious and almost pointless. it was exciting at first, and i genuinely enjoy most of the fights because gege is really good at drawing them and making them interesting, the fight choreography is always great and i have lots of fun reading through it, but then the manga guy got introduced and i'm just like bro come ON, we really don't need any more characters or more pointless fights right now. and to look back on uro here, she literally came back to life after many centuries only to find out that patriarchy is still working. and got dropped right that second. by a man. that was so fucking foul. and frustrating. i want THIS type of stuff explored, not the man with a canon on his dead or a dude that's struggling to publish his manga. though his technique was kind of cool and i liked getting into it, but that didn't make that part of the volume, with hakari and him, any more interesting.
panda losing every part of his family, from his father to both his brother and his sister, and turning into a mini panda, was really freaking sad. and underwhelming. panda's sister was being left a big mystery for so long while also being the strongest of his cores (i think?) only to be instantly defeated by kashimo. misogyny is so real. and look, it's not like i really care about panda as much as i care about some of my favorite characters, like yuji or megumi, for example, it just sucks to see all the og characters being taken out and replaced by all the 'cooler' new ones. what's the point of having an original cast when almost all of them get replaced with someone else by the end? not all the character arcs need to end in death. "the three different souls keep an eye on each other to help keep panda stable. now that he's lost two of them, what will become of him?" gege, you monster. so what if i cried? i'm only human. but you know, at least hakari was there to save the day! this is his and kashimo's volume through and through. (that volume cover is fucking incredible btw, it's one of my favorites, for sure.)
the fight between hakari and kashimo! that's exactly when gege won me over once again. that was so much fun, i couldn't get enough. hakari especially is a lot of fun to watch, he's such a unique fighter and his technique + domain expansion combo is fucking broken. it was a lot to take in at first, with all the info dump, but it actually turned out a lot less complicated than i first thought it was when i was reading that one damn page with every single thing that could happen in idle death gamble, there was a whole presentation for it. "as you read on, feel free to skip over the explanation of hakari's cursed technique. just imagine something like a hands-on game in his domain, and if he hits the jackpot, he gets super strong." i should've listened to gege right then and there instead of trying to sit there and comprehend what the hell i was reading. god, but how stressful would it be to get stuck in hakari's domain? because first, he's boosted his energy by confusing you with his rules, then you get a giant pair of doors coming at you with different colors and you start to think about what he said earlier about those colors and levels, and realize that you probably should've paid a much better attention to them. i would've been so fucked, because my memory is shit and there's no way i could remember all that and think about what to do on the spot, while actually playing/fighting. and that doesn't even mention the fact that there are manga characters acting out scenarios in front of you, which would also be distracting as hell, especially if you recognize said characters. like, i'm half convinced that about 60% of hakari's domain is just psychological warfare. i'm terrified of him. i don't care about any of the big bads, hakari would be the end of me, personally. but the again, i just can't get over how fucking cool he is. like, with an automatic reverse cursed technique on top of his broken ass domain and him being fucking immortal for like four minutes when he hits a jackpot, and his physical strength/combat skills to match, it's no wonder gojo said that he would be just fine on his own. yuta is amazing, but so is hakari. and why aren't the good guys winning when they have those two on their side?
i'm so curious about kashimo's cursed technique though. he's so strong already and he didn't even use it yet. but he said it can be used only one time, so it has to be insanely powerful. don't know if he can match sukuna, i don't really think he can, but i am really excited to see them fight, if it ever comes down to it. as long as he's not in yuji's body at the time, i don't think i can take the pain of seeing that.
i didn't expect to see maki this volume, but i am so damn happy, because it's been so long. and noritoshi is with her! a team-up i never knew i needed. i'm very excited to finally see a swordswoman/archer duo in an action sequence, because i rarely see that kind of dynamic, surprisingly, plus both of them are physically powerful with their hand to hand combat, so this is by far the most exciting duo in the culling game for me. and the ceremonial 'chopping off your hair after going through a traumatic event' queer representation gege has given us this chapter is very much appreciated as well. good for them for cutting ties with their toxic ass clans, they deserve so much better than that bullshit.
Роман с самим собой. Как уравновесить внутренние ян и инь и не отвлекаться на всякую хрень by Татьяна Мужицкая
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
эта книга - подарок от моего лучшего друга, но я не думаю, что она для меня. я находила её довольно интересной, когда я только начала читать, но потом поняла, что я особо не задумываюсь о том, чему меня пытаются научить, так что это начало казаться бесполезным, к сожалению. может я вернусь к этой книге в другой период своей жизни, но на данный момент это просто кажется потерей времени.
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 20 by Gege Akutami
we got introduced to two new interesting characters too, ishigori and uro, just to kill them off within one volume. that's so very gege. but i guess they were fun while they lasted. ishigori's technique is kind of stupid, but he makes up for it with the personality. and it's the absolute opposite with uro. i don't really feel like mentioning anything special about them, because we'll never see them again and they don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but i did want to hear about uro's past and whether she mistook yuta for someone else or she was actually talking about his ancestors who somehow wronged her. this felt like something worth exploring, but oh well. i can just hope that they didn't actually die, since we didn't hear kogane say that yuta got points for killing them.
by the way, gege is absolutely insane for giving takaba a powerful ass technique that can give trouble to even gojo himself, and then making him absolutely clueless about it. but i get it, that's the comedy of it all.
i forgot to mention the very beginning of the volume here, because i read it a few days ago and it slipped my mind, so let me come back to it for a second. we got the resolution to megumi vs reggie battle! it was a fun one, though i still find reggie's character quiet annoying. "outsmarted by a modern-day sorcerer and a kid to boot." that's what you get for picking a fight with said kid in the first place, reggie. but i guess i can't be too harsh on him, since he did give megumi all his points before dying, thanks for that. his "i have a feeling it'll be more interesting this way. just a hunch, really. so, please. after all, you're my executioner. let fate toy with you... before you die like a fool." was kind of ominous. hated that. it reminded me of that one chainsaw man scene with aki and the future devil. THOUGH ANGEL SHOWED UP RIGHT ABOVE MEGUMI WHEN HE COLLAPSED, SO I'M TAKING IT AS A GOOD SIGN, NO DEATH FLAGS HERE (i'm coping so hard).
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i don't think i have a whole lot to say about this volume, there was just a lot of fighting (cool fighting though, some of the best), and even if i look at all my notes now (there is a lot, surprisingly), it's just me fangirling over yuta and rika. what can i say, i missed them! i still don't really get the logistics of human rika passing but curse rika remaining with yuta, even though there are some limitations to her power now. i wish gege would explain it a bit more, but i doubt they will say anything on the topic ever again, unfortunately. it's okay though, i'm just happy she's still here. and yuta. ah, my yuta. he looks so good now, i will never get over just how well he's grown into himself. the eye bags are a huge part of his charm too. and then there's this weird spirited away looking cockroach special grade, wanting to eat him ("devour", actually). i get it. it didn't get to devour him, but at least it got a kiss, teeth and all. that was the best part of the volume for me, i just love how much of a freak yuta is. he loves his special grades! it definitely runs in the family (talking about gojo and his continues flirting with jogo here). and the second best part of the volume was yuta saying "sensei... i won't let you kill your best friend a second time. i will kill kenjaku." i just love yuta so much, and i believe he will be able to do it. he beat that body before, he can do it again, even better now that he's grown and is more confident in his abilities. if anyone can do it, it's him. and, god, i'm so mad at gege for not letting us see his domain expansion in all its glory, i NEEDED to see it. i can wait though, so they better show it to us before this damn series ends.
we got introduced to two new interesting characters too, ishigori and uro, just to kill them off within one volume. that's so very gege. but i guess they were fun while they lasted. ishigori's technique is kind of stupid, but he makes up for it with the personality. and it's the absolute opposite with uro. i don't really feel like mentioning anything special about them, because we'll never see them again and they don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but i did want to hear about uro's past and whether she mistook yuta for someone else or she was actually talking about his ancestors who somehow wronged her. this felt like something worth exploring, but oh well. i can just hope that they didn't actually die, since we didn't hear kogane say that yuta got points for killing them.
by the way, gege is absolutely insane for giving takaba a powerful ass technique that can give trouble to even gojo himself, and then making him absolutely clueless about it. but i get it, that's the comedy of it all.
i forgot to mention the very beginning of the volume here, because i read it a few days ago and it slipped my mind, so let me come back to it for a second. we got the resolution to megumi vs reggie battle! it was a fun one, though i still find reggie's character quiet annoying. "outsmarted by a modern-day sorcerer and a kid to boot." that's what you get for picking a fight with said kid in the first place, reggie. but i guess i can't be too harsh on him, since he did give megumi all his points before dying, thanks for that. his "i have a feeling it'll be more interesting this way. just a hunch, really. so, please. after all, you're my executioner. let fate toy with you... before you die like a fool." was kind of ominous. hated that. it reminded me of that one chainsaw man scene with aki and the future devil. THOUGH ANGEL SHOWED UP RIGHT ABOVE MEGUMI WHEN HE COLLAPSED, SO I'M TAKING IT AS A GOOD SIGN, NO DEATH FLAGS HERE (i'm coping so hard).
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 19 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wow, this was such a good volume. and i don't know if it's because it was so yuji and megumi focused and i'm very biased when it comes to those two, but i just enjoyed it a lot. (i'm so mad at gege for separating them again. why do they insist on keeping them away from each other when it matters most? THEY'RE A SET. DO NOT SEPARATE THEM. STOP. BAD THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN THEY'RE NOT TOGETHER.) the fights were really fun and we got introduced to some interesting and some not so interesting and unimportant characters. and i guess i should start with the one on the cover. beautiful, beautiful cover. i really like higuruma, i think he has a potential to become one of my favorite characters. just from his introduction (we've seen him before, but this felt more official), with him chilling in a full bathtub while wearing a formal suit. "haven't you ever taken a bath in your clothes? it feels better than i expected." i knew i would like him from that very first moment. and then we had to go from one trial, "itadori yuji stands accused of entering the maji vegas pachinko parlor on july 16, 2017, in sendai city, miyagi prefecture, despite being under the age of 18 at the time" to the other, "itadori yuji stands accused of mass murder in shibuya on october 31, 2018", and that gave me a fucking whiplash. the way yuji didn't even hesitate before saying that, yes, he was the one who murdered all those people... my boy, it wasn't you, it's not you fault. WHERE SUKUNA AT, I JUST WANNA FUCKING TALK with fists. god, the way yuji went from stunned and borderline triggered at the mention of shibuya, to resigned and accepting, and then ended up with a look of sheer determination with a hint of exhaustion. and even higuruma's look of slight surprise when yuji accepts the guilt in a matter of seconds said it all. i think it was the look of higuruma recognizing the similar circumstances between yuji and his clients. there's a resignation in yuji's eyes, because he believe in his (misplaced) guilt, and higuruma is used to seeing that guilty sentence hang over the heads of those on trial. much like the people that he's worked with for his cases, yuji's guilt was assumed by the system he's in from the beginning, even though he's an innocent person trying to do the right thing for the sake of others. i'm glad higuruma didn't fight yuji for very long, and just decided to sit down and have a talk with him instead. yuji needs a therapist. but, yeah, chapter 165, i will remember you as one of my absolute favorites, it was so good. i just hope that we gained an ally in higuruma and we get to see him again fighting on our side soon.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😭 and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😭 and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 3 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
"take this. it's half of my... insides. i just ripped it out." me and who. ME AND WHO, I REPEAT, ME AND WHO.
this manga really just does something to your brain chemistry, all of volume one and chapter sixteen in particular. i feel like eating coal and dosing my body on fire. eldritch horror but he's so fucking gay and dumb and is just happy to be here and be human. but also the identity crisis of it all. what's not to love?
"what makes a person who they are? memories? cells? experiences? if you look from a different perspective, is he hikaru? hikaru is alive in these guys' minds. what does it take for a person to really die?" & "what does it mean to have 'life'? it's not like you disappear from this world when you die. the form of your soul just changes. it's not like you become separated. they go through birth and death, but souls won't be lost. they're always by your side." all the talk about life and death. 'hikaru' feeling sympathy for the woman in a movie, but not understanding what he's supposed to feel for the people in real like. expect for yoshiki, of course. he was so ready to kill asako, and he probably would if yoshiki didn't catch up to them in time. and we're still not exactly sure if he was the one to kill that one old lady, but he didn't deny it when yoshiki asked him about it. he has so much love for yoshiki, even if he doesn't get it, but he finds it so hard to extend it for anyone else. i am so looking forward to seeing how it all progresses, especially now that 'hikaru' is weaker and people are actually hunting him. even if they don't know it's him they want, they'll figure it out eventually, and it won't be pretty.
and, when yoshiki stabbed 'hikaru' in an attempt to kill him and then asked him to kill him, i felt like screaming. like what do you MEAN. to be fair, the whole chapter was just insane, it was literal perfection. how am i supposed to just move on with my life when i run out of chapters to read?
this manga really just does something to your brain chemistry, all of volume one and chapter sixteen in particular. i feel like eating coal and dosing my body on fire. eldritch horror but he's so fucking gay and dumb and is just happy to be here and be human. but also the identity crisis of it all. what's not to love?
"what makes a person who they are? memories? cells? experiences? if you look from a different perspective, is he hikaru? hikaru is alive in these guys' minds. what does it take for a person to really die?" & "what does it mean to have 'life'? it's not like you disappear from this world when you die. the form of your soul just changes. it's not like you become separated. they go through birth and death, but souls won't be lost. they're always by your side." all the talk about life and death. 'hikaru' feeling sympathy for the woman in a movie, but not understanding what he's supposed to feel for the people in real like. expect for yoshiki, of course. he was so ready to kill asako, and he probably would if yoshiki didn't catch up to them in time. and we're still not exactly sure if he was the one to kill that one old lady, but he didn't deny it when yoshiki asked him about it. he has so much love for yoshiki, even if he doesn't get it, but he finds it so hard to extend it for anyone else. i am so looking forward to seeing how it all progresses, especially now that 'hikaru' is weaker and people are actually hunting him. even if they don't know it's him they want, they'll figure it out eventually, and it won't be pretty.
and, when yoshiki stabbed 'hikaru' in an attempt to kill him and then asked him to kill him, i felt like screaming. like what do you MEAN. to be fair, the whole chapter was just insane, it was literal perfection. how am i supposed to just move on with my life when i run out of chapters to read?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Blood
Minor: Vomit
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 2 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
how am i supposed to write a review now after that ending? as if i don't want to start the next chapter right away, so i could know what the hell happened there? okay, calm down, me. here goes. this volume chapters felt a little more chills and less emotional than the previous ones, but the tense atmosphere was still there, so i enjoyed reading it quiet a bit. there were some confusing moments, but i'm sure it'll all get cleared up when we get to it. one thing remained the same though, and it's my need to love and protect 'hikaru' at all cost. i don't know how i would feel about the real hikaru, but this one is my child. and speaking of the real hikaru, we finally got to see what the hell happened to him. and that was so unexpected, i literally burst out laughing, i'm so sorry. like, what do you mean he got distracted by a curvy tree and fell down the mountain? but to fair, that tree he saw was mad curvy, so i can't even blame him. literally got pushed down by the heterosexuality. i'm just joking here by the way, because his last thoughts were literally of yoshiki and how much he didn't want to leave him alone, he literally offered his body to the lord brainsnatcher just so yoshiki would still have him by his side. crazy. i wonder if hikaru even knew what it meant to go up that mountain, what was the ritual exactly? i'm so unclear and curious about that and how his family is involved, because his father also died there. i'm sure we'll get into it in the next volume, because they started to set it up a bit more in this one, and it looked like they asked someone outside of town for help. some expert, i guess? i don't like it already, they better leave 'hikaru' alone, he literally just wants to be human and be by yoshiki's side. and just like yoshiki said, "deep inside, i know that [this is bad]. but is danger all there is to him? it could be that 'hikaru' doesn't know anything... if... that's how it is... i'll just have to teach him." and he has been more patient with him now, i think. he's not battling himself as much anymore. though they had some pretty crazy encounters, like the very beginning of the volume, where 'hikaru' almost swallowed him whole, but they got over that pretty quickly. they just needed to talk about boundaries a bit more, what's the right thing to say and do and what's not, considering that this 'hikaru' has the same memories as his late best friend, but is not exactly him even though he keeps bringing up those memories that aren't supposed to be his. i understand how frustrating it must've been for yoshiki, so no wonder he snapped at some point. but he did apologize, and they did talk about it a little more, so that was great. i think the biggest moment of acceptance was the one when yoshiki was talking about how he found hikaru's body and never told anyone about it, because the time he got better from his sickness, 'hikaru' was back, and then him crying because he misses his best friend, and when 'hikaru' was getting up to leave and give him some space, yoshiki pulled him back down to sit next to him. that was just beautiful. (oh, and hikaru actually died in the winter, and not in the summer, so that's interesting.) and then that fucking ending. the freaking hair spirit (gross, btw) better stop messing with yoshiki's head, because that was actually shocking for me to see the flashback of hikaru and yoshiki fighting to then yoshiki trying to drown 'hikaru' in his bathtub right when i turned the page. that reminded me of chainsaw man in the most traumatic way possible. if you know, you know.
and, um. so. what if we made fried chicken in class and the raw chicken reminded me of the time i touched your insides, so we make plans after school for me to put my whole arm inside of your chest again? sounds good?
and, um. so. what if we made fried chicken in class and the raw chicken reminded me of the time i touched your insides, so we make plans after school for me to put my whole arm inside of your chest again? sounds good?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Body horror
Minor: Homophobia
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"who i am as a person and my body are both borrowed... but my feelings for you are real."
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Grief
Moderate: Child death
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 18 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
from this volume, from the very first chapter, it was finally all a new territory to me. that's when i dropped the manga back when gege was taking a bit of a break, and then they came back but i didn't. but i'm here now! with just a little bit of knowledge of the characters and some major events that happen, but i didn't get to them myself just yet.
first, i obviously want to mention hakari and kirara, because i'm obsessed with both of them. they're so cool, and they're so much fun to watch. we've been hearing about hakari for such a long time, it's always yuta and hakari, yuta and hakari, and i just kept waiting for any of them to show up. and here they are! took a little while, and we didn't get to see them interact, but at least they're here. i already miss yuta though. everything would go so much smoother if he was there, talking to hakari, instead of these two first-years he never actually met before. and panda. but honestly, as soon as i heard that there was a fight club, hand-to-hand combat between sorcerers, i just knew yuji would participate, that's his whole thing! and he's damn good at it! it was so cool to see yuji and megumi sneaking around in disguise (i know their uniforms are iconic and probably easy and familiar to draw, but damn, i do wish gege would provide us with a little more variety when it comes to their clothing), doing their thing, it felt like a completely different manga, but not in a bad way, not at all. it was actually one of my favorite things about this volume, how different it felt after shibuya. i honestly can't get over how much more mature yuji looks now, and it hasn't even been a year. is it the scars? the trauma? everything all at once? megumi looks a bit more mature as well, but he still has his pretty boy face, just a little more sharp now. and he's got more skills now too. i remember him using his shadows to store the weapons, but i don't think we ever saw him using other people's shadows to sneak around, that's such a cool and useful technique to have, especially when you need to be stealthy. it just made me think how cool of a video game that whole segment would make, ah. but never mind that. all i wanted to say is, megumi is cool. yuji is very cool as well. they're both will forever be the coolest to me. i still have no clue what hakari's technique is, and kirara's one is complicated as shit, but i tried my best to understand it, lol. megumi's better than me, (than everyone, let's be honest) because i could never be a jujutsu sorcerer. like, he's always flexing his brains on us, at any given moment, and i just can't help but admire how cool he is. i love how often he tries to bait the enemy to get more info and make educated gambles, and it usually works for him. he is actually a really good liar, even if his facial expressions do betray him from time to time, but he's cool and composed when it matters. gojo would be proud of him in his fight against kirara. and i don't know what it is about megumi after he finally summoned mahoraga, but he became like 10x more reliable. before i was always just worried about him and his suicidal tendencies, but also very proud when he let's himself loose and fights like it's his last day on earth, but now with the way he outsmarts and fights in more creative ways, it's just something else entirely. i love him. a lot. and we got a little drawing from gege of tsumiki teaching megumi the stars, that was so precious! 🥹 that's where he got his knowledge about constellations from and was able to figure out kirara's technique more easily. i hope megumi will get to tsumiki soon, i really want to see that reunion.
and then... yuji.... adopting megumi's previous mentality. the fucking cog imagery. "i don't have any 'fever'. i'm just a cog. i'm a cog in the machine that sorcerers need to eradicate curses." you know what also fucks me up? yuji started out as a very positive person, his naivete is what let him get past desperate situation after situation, until it got to the point where even he couldn't ignore the unrelenting traumatic horror his life has become. that's his life now. this is it. he went from optimist to realist. his realization that he's a cog in the machine... i find it so devastating. yuji is constantly dealing with so much pain and the only way he can live with it now is that is he convinces himself there is a meaning for it. that is why it is important to him to know that people get to be saved thanks to his actions, so he would know that all this pain is worth the price. and the parallels between yuji and geto were too fucking strong for my liking there. yuji's speech about being a cog whose function is to only eradicate curses, geto's speech about exercising and consuming curses over and over again... is that just me? they both start out with the motivation of exercising curses in order to save others, but the complexity of both of their characters arises from how they act when they fail to be heroes. they are both strong people who want to use their strength to protect those weaker than them. geto really did want to protect weak people, yuji really does want to save people, however there is more to it than that. we see that other side of them when they both explicitly fail to save people, when they are not allowed to be the heroes they see themselves as, they begin to break down. and now, yuji wants to become a cog, because it's simpler than dealing with his motivations as a person, he's too overwhelmed, too filled with guilt, he doesn't want to sit down and think about his motivations, because being a thoughtless cog who kills curses is easier than facing all of that. he wants to convince himself he can keep fighting and that's being strong, because it's easier than facing his weaknesses. and that too, is a parallel to geto's downfall. they didn't even try to handle their emotions in healthy ways. yuji wants to help his friends, but he doesn't realize the true cause of the suffering all around them. hakari was kicked out of jujutsu high by the elders, just for having a more modern jujutsu technique. maki's sister is literally dead, and she's become a mass murderer in self defense (and revenge). yaga was executed unfairly to become a political scapegoat. this is the system that yuji wants to become a cog for, to die to maintain. this is also geto's failure, he didn't realize the true culprit behind the deaths of so many sorcerers. the ignorant masses did play a role by forcing a small minority of people into sacrificing their lives over and over to maintain peace, geto wasn't wrong in noticing the unfairness of that, however, he simply wanted a scapegoat to blame. geto wanted to blame the faceless masses, yuji wants to kill curses without thinking about it. both of them fail to realize that there are literal architects of an abusive system in sorcerer society, there are elders who hold power, continue to abuse children, and sacrifice them to maintain their power.
and now, should we talk about the higher ups and such here for a little bit more? i know, they're annoying, but i just find them so fucking weird. like, it's so funny how the conservatives complain about modern cursed techniques such as hakari's, while principal gakuganji, for example, who is a jujutsu conservative himself, has a cursed technique involving a fucking electric guitar, and naobito's is all about frame rates and shit. like, it seems like there's gakuganji conservative and then like zen'in conservative, and then the rest of the heads conservative. they're all horrible, but there's like levels to their horribleness and layers of how just horrible their beliefs make them. like, gakuganji is a bad person and i don't like him, but the zen'ins seem like they're next level horrible, especially with the shit that maki and mai had to deal with. modernized techniques mean change and advancement and it scares the higher-ups shitless that they could potentially lose the 'old way' so they want to stay stuck with their traditions and principles regardless of it being a build up to their own downfall. i guess they dislike hakari's use of his technique but not gakuganji's or naobito's because maybe it's just a matter of control over the new generation? also, a matter of control from the outsiders. jujutsu society is controlled by traditional families that want to keep their position, they wouldn't be open to newcomers, we've seen it time and time again, and i assume that hakari is from a non-jujutsu family, that would make sense. plus, someone who obviously is not respectful of traditions and hierarchy and has his own interest. the fact that the higher-ups are fucking traditionalists and haters, like pick a struggle. you know what? i bet hakari was expelled because he lets kirara top him. that's what it was actually all about.
"wait. maybe fushiguro and i shouldn't be together. cuz of sukuna." "aw, shut up!" "SHUT UP?!" "the three senpai can't change their roles. don't be so self-centered." "self-centered?! i'm just worried!" "are you going to say this every time? it's annoying and a waste of time!" "hunh?!" "hunh?!" "no fighting (panda)." what was this freaking battle of who cares about each other more? megumi really doesn't want to leave yuji alone again, and yuji doesn't want sukuna to be anywhere near megumi. AND I'M BOTH OF THEM. they are so funny, the way they keep bickering about the same thing, they really should talk it out at this point. i get that they have no time to chat, but come on! because on one hand, you have yuji worrying about megumi's well-being (rightfully so) because of the fucking king of curses having some kind of interest in him and it worries yuji (again, rightfully so), but megumi just straight up shoots his worries down every single time. and it's not like yuji thinks megumi can't take care of himself, it's just when something actually happens (and yes, it's when, because sukuna is not leaving megumi alone), yuji literally can't do shit about it. and they both know that. but megumi still takes the risk anyway. i just find megumi's violent devotion to yuji so astounding, he's so stubborn about it too, about wanting to stay beside yuji, no matter what comes. the way he was telling yuji not to be self-centered, but if we're being honest, it's so clear who is actually being a little selfish here, and it's not yuji. i don't think any of them realize how much entangled they are in each other, how much each one would do for the other. but i think that violent devotion's pretty neat. my boy really said "yuji, shut the fuck up, i don't care if i'm in harms way as long as we're in this together," and i respect that. that would be me with my doomed by the narrative partner. oh, and then they get separated as they enter the barrier anyway. yuji immediately gets attacked, unsurprising, it's just another tuesday for him, and megumi gets to be a knight in shining armor for the girl he just met. amazing.
oh, and we got to meet kashimo and higuruma too! i like them a lot already, can't wait to see more from them both!
lastly, i just wanted to mention one thing. it just just me or kenjaku's stitches look a little different now? i don't know how they would heal if he keep taking the top of geto's head off (still have no idea how that works with his hair being perfectly fine), but the stitches look more like the ones he had when he was taking over yuji's mother. well, i guess not really his mother, because kenjaku is technically his mother, but i don't remember her real name, sorry! anyway, it's just something i've noticed when i saw him in this volume. and, hey, diversity wins! the main antagonist of jujutsu kaisen is both a milf and a dilf! the antagonist gave birth to the protagonist! literally! isn't that crazy to think about?
first, i obviously want to mention hakari and kirara, because i'm obsessed with both of them. they're so cool, and they're so much fun to watch. we've been hearing about hakari for such a long time, it's always yuta and hakari, yuta and hakari, and i just kept waiting for any of them to show up. and here they are! took a little while, and we didn't get to see them interact, but at least they're here. i already miss yuta though. everything would go so much smoother if he was there, talking to hakari, instead of these two first-years he never actually met before. and panda. but honestly, as soon as i heard that there was a fight club, hand-to-hand combat between sorcerers, i just knew yuji would participate, that's his whole thing! and he's damn good at it! it was so cool to see yuji and megumi sneaking around in disguise (i know their uniforms are iconic and probably easy and familiar to draw, but damn, i do wish gege would provide us with a little more variety when it comes to their clothing), doing their thing, it felt like a completely different manga, but not in a bad way, not at all. it was actually one of my favorite things about this volume, how different it felt after shibuya. i honestly can't get over how much more mature yuji looks now, and it hasn't even been a year. is it the scars? the trauma? everything all at once? megumi looks a bit more mature as well, but he still has his pretty boy face, just a little more sharp now. and he's got more skills now too. i remember him using his shadows to store the weapons, but i don't think we ever saw him using other people's shadows to sneak around, that's such a cool and useful technique to have, especially when you need to be stealthy. it just made me think how cool of a video game that whole segment would make, ah. but never mind that. all i wanted to say is, megumi is cool. yuji is very cool as well. they're both will forever be the coolest to me. i still have no clue what hakari's technique is, and kirara's one is complicated as shit, but i tried my best to understand it, lol. megumi's better than me, (than everyone, let's be honest) because i could never be a jujutsu sorcerer. like, he's always flexing his brains on us, at any given moment, and i just can't help but admire how cool he is. i love how often he tries to bait the enemy to get more info and make educated gambles, and it usually works for him. he is actually a really good liar, even if his facial expressions do betray him from time to time, but he's cool and composed when it matters. gojo would be proud of him in his fight against kirara. and i don't know what it is about megumi after he finally summoned mahoraga, but he became like 10x more reliable. before i was always just worried about him and his suicidal tendencies, but also very proud when he let's himself loose and fights like it's his last day on earth, but now with the way he outsmarts and fights in more creative ways, it's just something else entirely. i love him. a lot. and we got a little drawing from gege of tsumiki teaching megumi the stars, that was so precious! 🥹 that's where he got his knowledge about constellations from and was able to figure out kirara's technique more easily. i hope megumi will get to tsumiki soon, i really want to see that reunion.
and then... yuji.... adopting megumi's previous mentality. the fucking cog imagery. "i don't have any 'fever'. i'm just a cog. i'm a cog in the machine that sorcerers need to eradicate curses." you know what also fucks me up? yuji started out as a very positive person, his naivete is what let him get past desperate situation after situation, until it got to the point where even he couldn't ignore the unrelenting traumatic horror his life has become. that's his life now. this is it. he went from optimist to realist. his realization that he's a cog in the machine... i find it so devastating. yuji is constantly dealing with so much pain and the only way he can live with it now is that is he convinces himself there is a meaning for it. that is why it is important to him to know that people get to be saved thanks to his actions, so he would know that all this pain is worth the price. and the parallels between yuji and geto were too fucking strong for my liking there. yuji's speech about being a cog whose function is to only eradicate curses, geto's speech about exercising and consuming curses over and over again... is that just me? they both start out with the motivation of exercising curses in order to save others, but the complexity of both of their characters arises from how they act when they fail to be heroes. they are both strong people who want to use their strength to protect those weaker than them. geto really did want to protect weak people, yuji really does want to save people, however there is more to it than that. we see that other side of them when they both explicitly fail to save people, when they are not allowed to be the heroes they see themselves as, they begin to break down. and now, yuji wants to become a cog, because it's simpler than dealing with his motivations as a person, he's too overwhelmed, too filled with guilt, he doesn't want to sit down and think about his motivations, because being a thoughtless cog who kills curses is easier than facing all of that. he wants to convince himself he can keep fighting and that's being strong, because it's easier than facing his weaknesses. and that too, is a parallel to geto's downfall. they didn't even try to handle their emotions in healthy ways. yuji wants to help his friends, but he doesn't realize the true cause of the suffering all around them. hakari was kicked out of jujutsu high by the elders, just for having a more modern jujutsu technique. maki's sister is literally dead, and she's become a mass murderer in self defense (and revenge). yaga was executed unfairly to become a political scapegoat. this is the system that yuji wants to become a cog for, to die to maintain. this is also geto's failure, he didn't realize the true culprit behind the deaths of so many sorcerers. the ignorant masses did play a role by forcing a small minority of people into sacrificing their lives over and over to maintain peace, geto wasn't wrong in noticing the unfairness of that, however, he simply wanted a scapegoat to blame. geto wanted to blame the faceless masses, yuji wants to kill curses without thinking about it. both of them fail to realize that there are literal architects of an abusive system in sorcerer society, there are elders who hold power, continue to abuse children, and sacrifice them to maintain their power.
and now, should we talk about the higher ups and such here for a little bit more? i know, they're annoying, but i just find them so fucking weird. like, it's so funny how the conservatives complain about modern cursed techniques such as hakari's, while principal gakuganji, for example, who is a jujutsu conservative himself, has a cursed technique involving a fucking electric guitar, and naobito's is all about frame rates and shit. like, it seems like there's gakuganji conservative and then like zen'in conservative, and then the rest of the heads conservative. they're all horrible, but there's like levels to their horribleness and layers of how just horrible their beliefs make them. like, gakuganji is a bad person and i don't like him, but the zen'ins seem like they're next level horrible, especially with the shit that maki and mai had to deal with. modernized techniques mean change and advancement and it scares the higher-ups shitless that they could potentially lose the 'old way' so they want to stay stuck with their traditions and principles regardless of it being a build up to their own downfall. i guess they dislike hakari's use of his technique but not gakuganji's or naobito's because maybe it's just a matter of control over the new generation? also, a matter of control from the outsiders. jujutsu society is controlled by traditional families that want to keep their position, they wouldn't be open to newcomers, we've seen it time and time again, and i assume that hakari is from a non-jujutsu family, that would make sense. plus, someone who obviously is not respectful of traditions and hierarchy and has his own interest. the fact that the higher-ups are fucking traditionalists and haters, like pick a struggle. you know what? i bet hakari was expelled because he lets kirara top him. that's what it was actually all about.
"wait. maybe fushiguro and i shouldn't be together. cuz of sukuna." "aw, shut up!" "SHUT UP?!" "the three senpai can't change their roles. don't be so self-centered." "self-centered?! i'm just worried!" "are you going to say this every time? it's annoying and a waste of time!" "hunh?!" "hunh?!" "no fighting (panda)." what was this freaking battle of who cares about each other more? megumi really doesn't want to leave yuji alone again, and yuji doesn't want sukuna to be anywhere near megumi. AND I'M BOTH OF THEM. they are so funny, the way they keep bickering about the same thing, they really should talk it out at this point. i get that they have no time to chat, but come on! because on one hand, you have yuji worrying about megumi's well-being (rightfully so) because of the fucking king of curses having some kind of interest in him and it worries yuji (again, rightfully so), but megumi just straight up shoots his worries down every single time. and it's not like yuji thinks megumi can't take care of himself, it's just when something actually happens (and yes, it's when, because sukuna is not leaving megumi alone), yuji literally can't do shit about it. and they both know that. but megumi still takes the risk anyway. i just find megumi's violent devotion to yuji so astounding, he's so stubborn about it too, about wanting to stay beside yuji, no matter what comes. the way he was telling yuji not to be self-centered, but if we're being honest, it's so clear who is actually being a little selfish here, and it's not yuji. i don't think any of them realize how much entangled they are in each other, how much each one would do for the other. but i think that violent devotion's pretty neat. my boy really said "yuji, shut the fuck up, i don't care if i'm in harms way as long as we're in this together," and i respect that. that would be me with my doomed by the narrative partner. oh, and then they get separated as they enter the barrier anyway. yuji immediately gets attacked, unsurprising, it's just another tuesday for him, and megumi gets to be a knight in shining armor for the girl he just met. amazing.
oh, and we got to meet kashimo and higuruma too! i like them a lot already, can't wait to see more from them both!
lastly, i just wanted to mention one thing. it just just me or kenjaku's stitches look a little different now? i don't know how they would heal if he keep taking the top of geto's head off (still have no idea how that works with his hair being perfectly fine), but the stitches look more like the ones he had when he was taking over yuji's mother. well, i guess not really his mother, because kenjaku is technically his mother, but i don't remember her real name, sorry! anyway, it's just something i've noticed when i saw him in this volume. and, hey, diversity wins! the main antagonist of jujutsu kaisen is both a milf and a dilf! the antagonist gave birth to the protagonist! literally! isn't that crazy to think about?
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 17 by Gege Akutami
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i think this is the first volume i have a bit of a harder time giving a ranking to. because there's so much i loved about it, but also, we got enough new information for me to get a headache. thank god it's not my first time reading this, otherwise it would take a much longer time to get through this. i think my favorite thing about this volume is the way we started it with naoya bleeding out on the ground, and that's exactly the way we ended it as well. i couldn't be happier to see him like this. i'll even overlook him being on a cover, but it does look kind of cool, if i pretend not to know who i'm looking at!
now, let's start from the beginning. first of all, i completely forgot about the fact that yuta can use reverse cursed technique, of course he wouldn't have a hard time bringing yuji back to life. and now, i can finally call kenjaku by his real name because they finally revealed it here. i've known it for years now, and at first it didn't even register with me when tengen actually said it for the first time, but i'm so glad he did, because it was so hard trying not to call him kenjaku this entire time. and we got a reveal of him being yuji's mother instead of a father, like choso originally thought! yuji looks nothing like his mother, by the way. he definitely got his looks from his father's side of the family, and i guess abilities from mother's. i wish i could see that whole family tree, that would be so much fun. i think the best part of the reveal was definitely yuji finally accepting choso as his big brother, and warming up to him even more. i'm very sad that they split up, but i appreciate every little moment i can get with them. and does anyone else find it funny how both people who were responsible for yuji ended up getting him killed and then, with his coming back to life, asked him to hide the fact that he's in fact alive? my poor boy just keeps being put in these situations, but i guess it's better than being hunted. and yuji and yuta are besties now, so i'm not complaining there. god, if only they didn't have to split up, the one team i would always want to see together is yuji, choso, yuta and megumi. those are my boys. and now that i mentioned megumi... i have to talk about the whole "start by saving me, itadori" thing, because it's been making me go crazy since the day this chapter came to light. megumi's whole speech before it too. i still can't fucking believe they're not on the first name basis, and they never get to that point, i don't think. like, are you kidding me with this? it's insane just how much they care about each other, and they don't even refer to each other by their first names. but whatever, that's not the point. the point is, this is one of my favorite itafushi moments. i love all of them, but this one is just simply perfect. megumi knows that yuji won't listen to him if he says that it's not his fault what happened when sukuna took over, like he didn't listen to yuta and was ready to protest when he told him that he's not to blame. so megumi was willing to carry the burden with yuji, probably because he actually believes that he's also at fault there, because he unleashed mahoraga on the city. but it's just so beautiful, how they know just what to say to each other, they know how to overcome emotional barriers and speak frankly. yuji wouldn't listen to any "it's not your fault, it's sukuna's" speeches, so instead, megumi gives him a purpose once again, a reason to continue living. your resolve is wavering because you think you kill more people than you save? start by saving me, itadori. remind yourself what you're fighting for, remember about your resolve, your desire to save people. it's still there. megumi was literally begging yuji to continue fighting. for his sake, for the sake of his sister that's now been awoken and made to participate in the culling game. and yuji would never say no to that, because he cares about megumi too much. he cares so much, that he asks yuta to actually kill him if he ever switches to sukuna again, because now he knows that sukuna has some kind of interest in megumi. i'm okay. so okay. and yuta and yuji were so damn cute with their little faces when they were trying to strategize, "they're thinking about how it would be safer for fushiguro if okkotsu were near itadori, but it would be more efficient strategically for okkotsu to operate alone." something tells me they're going to regret it if they separate, but i'm kind of too scared to get too ahead of myself... but megumi's response to that was just top notch, very megumi-like. "don't even think it! it'll be fine. if that happens and i die, just have him kill you." "the point is... to not let that happen, right?" yuji looked like a kicked puppy just thinking about megumi getting hurt, and megumi never gave a fuck about his own life anyway 😭 but his answer was so damn funny to me. like, yeah, if i die, just ask yuta to kill you too, so we could die together. amazing. what a friendly thing to say. but i also love that he doesn't say for yuji to kill himself, megumi would never.
and here it was, we finally got the mention of the culling game. that's exciting! but scary. thankfully, the game rules weren't actually that difficult, but then with tengen just continuously talking about all the details and conditions, that's what made my head hurt the most. and then the whole plan of kenjaku merging the humankind with tengen, that whole thing was something else entirely. and the more he would talk about it, the more he would talk about kenjaku, you begin to realize just how much of a problem it is that he has geto's body, of all people. geto's relationships, geto's cursed spirit manipulation. it's just too fucking perfect. "then came along... a boy with cursed manipulation." SHUT UPPP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHU TPHSUTIP SHUT UPS HSUT USHUSHTUSHTUSHSHUT UP FOREVER SHUT. SOMEONE GET THAT BRAIN OUT OF GETO'S BODY, LET HIM REST IN PEACE. god, suguru really was such an anomaly, no one was expecting him at all. the six eyes, the star plasma vessel and tengen were always connected, but suguru was never there, he was never a part of their history, but he was still part of satoru's. and important enough for him to get sealed after just seeing his face for the first time since he was forced to kill him. his best friend. his one and only. an anomaly in everyone's lives. he wasn't supposed to be there, and yet. (also, can we talk about them never cleaning riko's blood from twelve fucking years ago? that was the place she got killed at, right? the bloodstain is still fucking there)
"i will return to the zen'in clan and collect cursed tools." and that's when the fuckery begins, one of the craziest and one of the most intense parts of jujutsu kaisen. i think it was as shocking to me as the hidden inventory. we got from depression with mai sacrificing herself for maki and me bawling my eyes out, to the absolute massacre accompanied by the most incredible character growth. god, just seeing how much everyone underestimated maki made me want to giggle. i don't think there's anyone more foolish than the zen'in clan. the fact that the entire clan got killed as a result of them just refusing to believe how strong maki actually was and because they thought they could stop her without lifting as much as a finger, they were all so fucking stupid. i loved seeing maki go full kill bill on them. "how cruel. don't you have a human heart?" "no... she took it with her." the most satisfying part was probably the way maki broke naoya's whole face with just one punch, while he kept comparing her to toji the entire fight and saying she was nothing like him, that she was the imposter. yeah, because she's fucking better than him, dude. and look at him, wanting to stand beside toji and gojo, but losing to a girl he used to bully for being weak, and getting finished off by her mother, who's not even a sorcerer. "any woman who can't walk three steps behind a man, should get stabbed in the back and die," right?
now, let's start from the beginning. first of all, i completely forgot about the fact that yuta can use reverse cursed technique, of course he wouldn't have a hard time bringing yuji back to life. and now, i can finally call kenjaku by his real name because they finally revealed it here. i've known it for years now, and at first it didn't even register with me when tengen actually said it for the first time, but i'm so glad he did, because it was so hard trying not to call him kenjaku this entire time. and we got a reveal of him being yuji's mother instead of a father, like choso originally thought! yuji looks nothing like his mother, by the way. he definitely got his looks from his father's side of the family, and i guess abilities from mother's. i wish i could see that whole family tree, that would be so much fun. i think the best part of the reveal was definitely yuji finally accepting choso as his big brother, and warming up to him even more. i'm very sad that they split up, but i appreciate every little moment i can get with them. and does anyone else find it funny how both people who were responsible for yuji ended up getting him killed and then, with his coming back to life, asked him to hide the fact that he's in fact alive? my poor boy just keeps being put in these situations, but i guess it's better than being hunted. and yuji and yuta are besties now, so i'm not complaining there. god, if only they didn't have to split up, the one team i would always want to see together is yuji, choso, yuta and megumi. those are my boys. and now that i mentioned megumi... i have to talk about the whole "start by saving me, itadori" thing, because it's been making me go crazy since the day this chapter came to light. megumi's whole speech before it too. i still can't fucking believe they're not on the first name basis, and they never get to that point, i don't think. like, are you kidding me with this? it's insane just how much they care about each other, and they don't even refer to each other by their first names. but whatever, that's not the point. the point is, this is one of my favorite itafushi moments. i love all of them, but this one is just simply perfect. megumi knows that yuji won't listen to him if he says that it's not his fault what happened when sukuna took over, like he didn't listen to yuta and was ready to protest when he told him that he's not to blame. so megumi was willing to carry the burden with yuji, probably because he actually believes that he's also at fault there, because he unleashed mahoraga on the city. but it's just so beautiful, how they know just what to say to each other, they know how to overcome emotional barriers and speak frankly. yuji wouldn't listen to any "it's not your fault, it's sukuna's" speeches, so instead, megumi gives him a purpose once again, a reason to continue living. your resolve is wavering because you think you kill more people than you save? start by saving me, itadori. remind yourself what you're fighting for, remember about your resolve, your desire to save people. it's still there. megumi was literally begging yuji to continue fighting. for his sake, for the sake of his sister that's now been awoken and made to participate in the culling game. and yuji would never say no to that, because he cares about megumi too much. he cares so much, that he asks yuta to actually kill him if he ever switches to sukuna again, because now he knows that sukuna has some kind of interest in megumi. i'm okay. so okay. and yuta and yuji were so damn cute with their little faces when they were trying to strategize, "they're thinking about how it would be safer for fushiguro if okkotsu were near itadori, but it would be more efficient strategically for okkotsu to operate alone." something tells me they're going to regret it if they separate, but i'm kind of too scared to get too ahead of myself... but megumi's response to that was just top notch, very megumi-like. "don't even think it! it'll be fine. if that happens and i die, just have him kill you." "the point is... to not let that happen, right?" yuji looked like a kicked puppy just thinking about megumi getting hurt, and megumi never gave a fuck about his own life anyway 😭 but his answer was so damn funny to me. like, yeah, if i die, just ask yuta to kill you too, so we could die together. amazing. what a friendly thing to say. but i also love that he doesn't say for yuji to kill himself, megumi would never.
and here it was, we finally got the mention of the culling game. that's exciting! but scary. thankfully, the game rules weren't actually that difficult, but then with tengen just continuously talking about all the details and conditions, that's what made my head hurt the most. and then the whole plan of kenjaku merging the humankind with tengen, that whole thing was something else entirely. and the more he would talk about it, the more he would talk about kenjaku, you begin to realize just how much of a problem it is that he has geto's body, of all people. geto's relationships, geto's cursed spirit manipulation. it's just too fucking perfect. "then came along... a boy with cursed manipulation." SHUT UPPP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHU TPHSUTIP SHUT UPS HSUT USHUSHTUSHTUSHSHUT UP FOREVER SHUT. SOMEONE GET THAT BRAIN OUT OF GETO'S BODY, LET HIM REST IN PEACE. god, suguru really was such an anomaly, no one was expecting him at all. the six eyes, the star plasma vessel and tengen were always connected, but suguru was never there, he was never a part of their history, but he was still part of satoru's. and important enough for him to get sealed after just seeing his face for the first time since he was forced to kill him. his best friend. his one and only. an anomaly in everyone's lives. he wasn't supposed to be there, and yet. (also, can we talk about them never cleaning riko's blood from twelve fucking years ago? that was the place she got killed at, right? the bloodstain is still fucking there)
"i will return to the zen'in clan and collect cursed tools." and that's when the fuckery begins, one of the craziest and one of the most intense parts of jujutsu kaisen. i think it was as shocking to me as the hidden inventory. we got from depression with mai sacrificing herself for maki and me bawling my eyes out, to the absolute massacre accompanied by the most incredible character growth. god, just seeing how much everyone underestimated maki made me want to giggle. i don't think there's anyone more foolish than the zen'in clan. the fact that the entire clan got killed as a result of them just refusing to believe how strong maki actually was and because they thought they could stop her without lifting as much as a finger, they were all so fucking stupid. i loved seeing maki go full kill bill on them. "how cruel. don't you have a human heart?" "no... she took it with her." the most satisfying part was probably the way maki broke naoya's whole face with just one punch, while he kept comparing her to toji the entire fight and saying she was nothing like him, that she was the imposter. yeah, because she's fucking better than him, dude. and look at him, wanting to stand beside toji and gojo, but losing to a girl he used to bully for being weak, and getting finished off by her mother, who's not even a sorcerer. "any woman who can't walk three steps behind a man, should get stabbed in the back and die," right?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism