Jujutsu Kaisen (Episode 5) - Curse Womb Must Die -II- The Otaku Author

Itadori struggles to regain control of his body and it’s given Sukuna a chance to up the stakes. Will Itadori be able to get his body back or has Sukuna delivered the killer blow? Fushiguro tries to help him, but Sukuna is too strong.

What happened?

With Nobara on the way to the hospital, Fushiguro turns back to the juvenile detention centre in hopes that Itadori will appear. The space distortion has vanished which means that the special grade curse has been defeated. Did he win? Kind of. Sukuna steps out from Fushiguro and tells him that Itadori is struggling to take back his body and he’s about to make it that much harder.

Sukuna thrusts his hand inside his chest and pulls out his heart. With Sukuna in control, he doesn’t need a heart to beat Fushiguro. So, what will Itadori do? If he can regain control, he will die, but he will save Fushiguro. Decisions, decisions.

Fushiguro is terrified, but he can’t give up just yet. Maybe he can force Sukuna to regenerate the heart by pushing him into battle. He releases a shadow beast and attacks. Sukuna easily dodges and blocks his attacks, but seems to be enjoying himself. He catches Fushiguro’s foot and throws him into the air. Before Fushiguro can even think, Sukuna is that to hit him again.

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 5 Sukuna pulled Itadori's heart out

The battle goes on and on with Sukuna doing more and more damage. Eventually, Fushiguro prepares for his final stand. He’s going to unleash all of his curse energy in an attempt to win, however, he talks about why he wanted to save Itadori. His decisions are chaotic, but they’re his. Sukuna’s markings begin to fade.

Itadori regains control and thanks Fushiguro before collapsing to the ground, dead!

Fushiguro and Nobara find themselves sitting on the steps at the school contemplating what happened and how they need to get stronger. Nobara claims no to be impacted by someone she only just met dying, but Fushiguro sees her holding back a tear and changes the subject.

They are approached by another Jujutsu sorcerer, Miku Zenin. She is a second-year and has no idea why they are looking so glum. After royally putting her foot in her mouth, he colleagues inform her of what happened. She’s horrified that they let her say those things, but then tells Fushiguro and Nobara that they are needed for an inter-school Jujutsu contest.

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 5 Sukuna fighting Fushiguro

What did you think?

So, this episode started off pretty dark and with an amazing fight scene. I am loving Sukuna. He’s just a complete mental case. Sometimes, I just want a villain to be pure evil and so far Sukuna fits the bill. It’s possible that he will get some development further along, but he definitely seems to be evil right now.

So, there were some pretty good moments in this episode, but the lasting thing that sits with me is how pointless it is to have the main character die. The number of times the main character of a story actually dies and stays dead is incredibly low. It takes all of the drama away. Also, we had Itadori die and then in the next breath, we’re entering an inter-school tournament arc… It’s a little jarring!

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 5 Fushiguro and Nobara

What have you learnt?

The main character dying and coming back to life has literally been done to death… and yes, puns are intentional. At no point during this episode was I worried that Itadori would remain dead permanently. Then, we had that guy meeting with a group of curses in a coffee shop who basically told us that Itadori wasn’t dead. At least leave us hanging for a little bit longer.

I enjoyed the action and Sukuna’s character but otherwise, the episode was a little disappointing. I was hoping for something new and exciting. So far, it’s definitely following all the usual tropes and with a tournament arc coming that’s just going to continue. I only hope that it either does it really well like My Hero Academia or it shakes things up a bit.