Why Jujutsu Kaisen’s Itadori Yuji Should Have Gone to This Anime School Instead

Jujutsu Kaisen is a hugely popular manga series by author Gege Akutami, with a TV anime and the new Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie to match. By now, Jujutsu Kaisen may have joined My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer as the unofficial "big three" of modern shonen, and these series could easily trade protagonists. In some cases, perhaps they should.

Itadori Yuji is a kind and tough kid who stumbled into the world of curses when he swallowed one of the 20 fingers of the deadly Ryomen Sukuna, and he was whisked off to the Tokyo sorcery school to begin training. But while that school is ideal for most sorcerers, it's a poor fit for Yuji. He would be better off as a special student at MHA's UA school for trainee heroes.

Why Yuji Doesn't Fit In At The Tokyo Sorcery School

curse school jujutsu kaisen

In his own shonen world, Yuji had little choice but to enroll at the Tokyo sorcery school once he gained curse powers after consuming a few of Sukuna's fingers. Unfortunately for Yuji, he was not warmly welcomed as a cherished transfer student -- in fact, the higher-ups want him dead so that they can take Sukuna down too. Yuji's "inner monster" makes him a target for curses and his fellow humans alike, and the Tokyo school is doing little to help.

As Yuji's new mentor Gojo Satoru explained it, only Satoru's negotiating allowed Yuji to postpone his execution, and the Tokyo school is little more than a roof over his head. Satoru is doing what he can to support Yuji, but the top brass doesn't like it, and the tradition-bound Kyoto school actually conspired to see Yuji dead during the joint school training sequence.

Neither sorcery school is a solid option for Yuji, and most of his accomplishments came courtesy of Satoru himself, not the school overall, suggesting that Yuji needs very little from the Tokyo school to find success. What's more, Yuji doesn't even follow the "rules" for sorcery, where students are encouraged to channel their negative emotions to fuel their combat prowess, as the hotheaded Kugisaki Nobara and the grim Fushiguro Megumi demonstrate. Yuji is a kind and selfless boy whose positive mindset runs counter to that, and all this strongly suggests that he should find a different school. The Tokyo sorcery school is no place for him.

Yuji As A Crossover Student At My Hero Academia's UA

If a Jujutsu Kaisen/My Hero Academia crossover were possible, Itadori Yuji could and should escape his own world and apply for the UA school instead, which would be far more welcoming. It's true that My Hero Academia's world also features social hierarchies and Quirk-based discrimination, but at least Yuji's status as Sukuna's vessel wouldn't have the same stigma there that it does in the Jujutsu Kaisen world.

Plenty of people in MHA feel invisible or left out due to their Quirks, but at least UA and even the conservative Shiketsu school don't try to kill their students based on their Quirks, which gives UA an advantage over the Tokyo and Kyoto schools. Those schools' leaders view Yuji as a problem to solve, while UA's staff would view him as a troubled youth who needs guidance. That's the pro hero way.

Yuji's curse-based power would be viewed as a Quirk rather than a burden, and if Yuji qualified to get into UA, heroic department or not, he could get the support and guidance he needs to make more constructive use of his powers and be the hero he always intended. Sorcerers are more akin to grim monster hunters who focus on slaying curses, while Yuji is more people-oriented and focuses on saving lives, such as that of Yoshino Junpei. Teachers such as All Might and even Eraserhead would finish what Satoru started, helping Yuji practice to become a true pro hero after they figure out how exactly Sukuna's power works.

Such a positive, nurturing environment would suit Yuji's personality and needs perfectly, and best of all, these teachers are already used to dangerous superpowers such as Fumikage's Dark Shadow and Izuku's One for All. Taming Ryomen Sukuna and molding him into a weapon for good isn't easy, but UA would be by far the best place to attempt it.

Tanjuro Kamado, father of Tanjiro and Nezuko in Demon Slayer
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