Jujutsu Kaisen: the author clears up a huge misunderstanding in the manga

The creator of Jujutsu Kaisen, Gege Akutami, took a point misunderstood by readers about a specific technique, to better re-explain it.

Jujutsu Kaisen is not content with offering a dark story and eliminating its characters one after the other: Gege Akutami’s work also enjoys losing its readers in a system of strange and complex powers, the number of which is as big as there are characters.

The story is now in its final stretch, while the exorcists have joined forces to face Sukuna, a big villain who is currently undefeated, even from the overpowering Gojo Satoru. And each character having their moment in no man’s land, the powers continue to be presented, explained, then dissected by the fans.

Obviously, given the complexity of all these unique abilities, the slightest error can change many interpretations of the main story. And it seems that this is what happened in chapter 246… to the point of involving the author himself to clear up a misunderstanding.

What happens in Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 246?

shadow school simple territory kusakabe jujutsu kaisen — gege akutami/shueisha

In chapter 246 of Jujutsu Kaisen, when Kashimo has just died, Hiromi and Yuji rush to the battlefield to take over and challenge the King of Scourges. We also see Choso and Ino confront Sukuna, while Kusakabe prioritizes the safety of Hiromi, still inexperienced in the field of exorcism.

This is where the confusion arose among readers: while Sukuna sees how much his opponents have improved in a short time and is happy about it, he becomes interested in the simple territory of Kusakabe.

He analyzes the technique and his inner monologue states: ” He mitigated my fate with the help of a simple territory… It’s not worth an extension, but it reduced the damage received. “

Simple Territory is an anti-territory technique, creating a small barrier around its user to protect them from the normally unstoppable effects of territory expansion. In this chapter, Kusakabe thus manages to counter – more or less – the cutting technique of the king of scourges.

But many readers then wondered about Kusakabe’s use of it, confusing it with an extension of territory: why doesn’t Sukuna instead say that his cutting spell has been neutralized?

Jujutsu Kaisen Author Briefly Returns to Simple Territory in Chapter 246

sukuna territoire simple jujutsu kaisen — gege akutami/shueisha

On the American site Viz, which publishes manga on the Internet in the same way as Manga Plus, authors can sometimes make comments – on their private lives, their manga or even simple thoughts. But Gege Akutami preferred to use this insert to clear up confusion about the technique, the use of which has received a very similar translation in French as in English.

“Single territory doesn’t neutralize the spell itself, so ‘dilute it’ would have been a poor choice of words.”

It is therefore not a translation error strictly speaking for the French and English versions, which remain faithful to the original version. However, fans may have felt confused: because in Jujutsu Kaisen, it is the extension of the territory that neutralizes the spells, not the simple territory. Which explains why there was confusion regarding the Kusakabe technique, described by Sukuna.

The Exorcist’s simple territory did mitigate the Blight King’s spell by resisting its damage, but it did not neutralize it. However, it is a very flexible technique. We can “personalize” it, thanks to different rules and inviolable oaths, and this is where we find the explanation in the resistance of the two exorcists against Sukuna.

Kusakabe therefore indeed managed to resist the technique of the king of scourges in chapter 246 of Jujutsu Kaisen, and thus protected Hiromi.