Mahoraga: Mouthful + Monster

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SOURCE: mappa studios, Jujutsu kaisen

Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. This name may be a mouthful, but Mahoraga definitely lives up to this grandiose title. The only thing it can’t adapt to is the massive SPOILER WARNING that is in effect. Mahoraga is the last and most powerful shikigami in the Ten Shadow’s Technique, currently used by Megumi in Jujutsu Kaisen. Manga readers were pleased to a beautiful visual showcase of the prowess that they were excited for. Shortly before this first appearance in the anime, Mahoraga was present each week in the manga, where he joined Sukuna in a battle against Gojo that lasted nearly a dozen chapters.

Mahoraga’s power has been on full display in the Anime community these last few months. It lives up to its near mythical status of having never been tamed in the entire history of the technique. In the anime episode, it is explained that thousands of years ago, the heads of the Gojo and Zenin clan battled to their mutual death over a dispute. It is specifically mentioned that the head of the Gojo clan had the same technique as current day Saturu Gojo, and the head of the Zenin clan sported the same cursed technique as Megumi. This tidbit, along with many other teasers in the story, set the stage for Megumi’s last stand technique to be a very strong one. One that is on par with the strongest sorcerer, Saturu Gojo. Manga readers were given their answer.

Manga panel of jujutsu kaisen where sukuna summons mahoraga in a fight against gojo saturu

Source: gege akutami, Jujutsu kaisen

Mahoraga, like the other shikigami in the Ten Shadows Technique, must be summoned by the user and defeated in a combat ritual before the technique user can summon it as an ally. As previously mentioned, never in history has Mahoraga been defeated. This was before Sukuna took over Megumi’s body and adopted his cursed technique.

Mahoraga is close to twelve feet in height, has four wings coming from its eye sockets, a long tail that comes from the back of its head, and an eight segmented wheel that floats above its head. It has a blade sitting on its wrist that can exorcise cursed spirits with one slash. It is not only physically strong, but has the ability to adapt to any and all phenomena using the wheel. During combat, the wheel will turn one peg at a time, signalling its adaptation defensively to survive attacks or offensively to pierce an enemy’s defenses.

gojo saturu getting his right arm cut off by mahoraga after mahoraga adapts to gojo's limitless technique in battle.

Source: gege akutami, jujutsu kaisen

During the first fight we witnessed against Sukuna, Mahoraga was toyed around with and tested. Despite this, it was able to withstand Sukuna’s Domain Expansion, and countless combos of Dismantle and Cleave. Fighting alongside Sukuna later on against Saturu Gojo, we were treated to a viewing party of Mahoraga’s full powers on display.

Saturu, who seemed untouchable the entire series, was battered by Sukuna and Mahoraga. Mahoraga adapted to Saturu’s Domain Expansion, his Hollow Purple technique, and finally, it adapted to Limitless. This allowed both Sukuna and Mahoraga to apply physical damage to Saturu even while he was outside of a Domain. This was a feat we had never seen performed up until this point in the story.

While I may never be able to remember it’s entire name, even after reading the manga several times, what can be remembered about mahoraga is that it instilled fear into the cast of Jujutsu Kaisen from the beginning. It is the single reason that Sukuna took interest in Megumi from the start of the story, and even the threat of Megumi’s death ritual suicidal last stand was enough to scare off special grade curses. Even scarier, under the control of Sukuna, Mahoraga becomes a horrifiying sidekick to the main villain.

 

Heya! I’m Owen. I’m the rugby playing, manga reading, drag race watching, poetry writing, cosplaying, fandom hopping hot mess that your parents warned you about. For as long as I can remember I have been comparing, contrasting, and speculating about all of my favourite geeky hobbies. Hiding in the library in middle school and devouring three volumes of Hunter X Hunter every day most definitely had its perks. I represent the Queer/Athlete/Geek/Writer/ subgenre to the best of my abilities and I’m able to geek out about many things, so you’ll be sure to get your fill while you check out my blog.

Power Scaling Characters in the Shibuya Arc

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With the Shibuya arc coming to its close. It is time to reflect on the characters that made it out alive, and also the ones that saw their ending during this monstrosity of an event. To keep things simple, it must be stated that an enormous SPOILER WARNING is in effect. This spoiler warning is also relevant for folks that have been watching this arc unfold each week via the anime. As the Shibuya arc is incomplete as of the time this blog is being written, information only available from the manga will be presented. This portion of Jujutsu Kaisen has the largest character cast and the most fights.

Source: Mappa Studios, Jujutsu Kaisen

For the sake of organization, characters will be divided into 6 categories. There are over thirty characters both new and long beloved that are present in Shibuya, so it is best to divide them by their level of strength. Using inspiration the traditional ranking used within the Jujutsu Kaisen universe, characters will be ranked in the following categories.

  1. (SPECIAL) Special Grade

  2. Special Grade

  3. Grade 1

  4. Semi Grade 1

  5. Grade 2

  6. Grade 3 + Unknown

(SPECIAL) Special Grade:

  1. Gojo

  2. Sukuna

  3. Toji

  4. Kenjaku

  5. Yuki

  6. Yuta

  7. Mahoraga

Source: gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen

Special Grade:

  1. Mahito

  2. Jogo

  3. Dagon

  4. Mechamaru (Temporary Special Grade)

  5. Hanami

Source: Mappa Studios, Jujutsu Kaisen

Grade 1:

  1. Uraume

  2. Naobito

  3. Naoya

  4. Todo

  5. Mei Mei

  6. Nanami

  7. Choso

  8. Smallpox Deity

  9. Kusakabe

Source: gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen

Semi Grade 1:

  1. Kamo

  2. Maki

  3. Megami

  4. Yuji

  5. Grasshopper Curse

  6. Inumaki

  7. Nishimiya

Source: Mappa Studios, Jujutsu Kaisen

Grade 2:

  1. Haruta

  2. Ino

  3. Ui Ui

  4. Panda

  5. Nobara

Source: gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen

Grade 3 + Unknown

  1. Ebina

  2. Mai

  3. *Mimiko

  4. *Nanako

  5. *Ogami/Grandson

Source: gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen

*These characters don’t have enough feats in order to be assessed accurately (besides getting bodied by Toji…).

While there isn’t a large importance on the congruity of agreeance within the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom on which character would win in a fight against another, fans can take an educated guess based on feats, claims, and fights on where a certain character falls on the power scale. While this power scaling is quite accurate, it’s generally all for good fun, and should be taken lightly. HOWEVER—feel free to quote this blog in an argument with your friends on which characters are the stronger than another.

 

Heya! I’m Owen. I’m the rugby playing, manga reading, drag race watching, poetry writing, cosplaying, fandom hopping hot mess that your parents warned you about. For as long as I can remember I have been comparing, contrasting, and speculating about all of my favourite geeky hobbies. Hiding in the library in middle school and devouring three volumes of Hunter X Hunter every day most definitely had its perks. Eight years later and I’m still going strong. I’m able to geek out about many things, so you’ll be sure to get your fill while you check out my blog.

Tatsuki Fujimoto: Chainsaws, Cameras, and Climate Disaster

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I’ll never forget where I was when I read the 79th chapter of Chainsaw Man.

On the nineteeth floor of my first-year residence building, my jaw laid open on the floor and my eyes were rubbed raw with tears. I’d finished the last page of this volume. It wasn’t even a full day before I devoured the rest of the series (at the time) and subsequently begun my status as a self proclaimed “super fan” of author: Tatsuki Fujimoto.

I have been enamoured with manga since I was 11 years old, but something about this series was so unbelievable to me that it was all I could talk about for months. I raved about Chainsaw Man until my friends couldn’t stand it, and when the anime was announced I nearly died from excitement. There was just something about it, I couldn’t exactly nail down what it was that made this series so fantastic for me. Obviously it excels in all of the typical portions of the Battle Shonen genre of manga. It demonstrates a masterclass in action, characters, storytelling, power system, and villains. But there was something much more dark and real about Chainsaw Man. I’m a big fan of the musician Mitski, but I didn’t know I was betting on losing dogs; Fujimoto never had the intention to give the audience anything close to a happy ending. However, I didn’t feel let down or discouraged, I needed more.

Source: Tatsuki fujimoto, chainsaw man

Chainsaw Man was the best piece of media I had ever consumed. It moved me in ways I had never felt before. Nothing could ever top this Masterpiece... (pause for dramatic effect) Or so I thought! After finishing the paragon that is Fire Punch, I took a look back at everything that my favourite mangaka had written. Moments that seemed too similar to be concidental kept popping into my head. Why has there been an impactful scene with a movie theatre as a setting in all of his recent work?

Source: Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw man

Source: Tatsuki Fujimoto, Fire Punch

Source: Tatsuki Fujimoto, goodbye, eri

I steamrolled through Goodbye, Eri, and Don’t look back. Coming off of the tail of two much darker stories filled with killing and heart-wrenching let-downs, these two more melancholic one-shots were refreshing. In their own ways they both seemed to be a love letter to film and manga respectively. The glimpses of these meaningful movie theatre moments peaked through on full display all of a sudden, and it clicked for me. Tatsuki Fujimoto doesn’t write “Battle Shonen” manga. Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch are character studies. They’re an expression of guilt, loss, and drive. Nothing good happens to the main characters in these manga. Yet, they aren’t typical in the way that characters overcome their problems and have a happy ending. That’s because there aren’t always happy endings in life.

If you’re looking for something that is a little dark, too melancholic for its own good, filled with tragedy and death, or you really enjoy chainsaws, cameras, and/or climate disasters, give the Tatsuki Fujimoto collection a try. It won’t let you down. It might break your heart, but it will probably be something you remember for a long time.

 

Heya! I’m Owen. I’m the rugby playing, manga reading, drag race watching, poetry writing, cosplaying, fandom hopping hot mess that your parents warned you about. For as long as I can remember I have been comparing, contrasting, and speculating about all of my favourite geeky hobbies. Hiding in the library in middle school and devouring three volumes of Hunter X Hunter every day most definitely had its perks. I represent the Queer/Athlete/Geek/Writer/ subgenre to the best of my abilities and I’m able to geek out about many things, so you’ll be sure to get your fill while you check out my blog.