Highlights
- Barrier techniques in Jujutsu Kaisen are a diverse range of abilities that involve the creation and manipulation of enclosed spaces with specific purposes.
- Barriers can be used to confine, admit or prevent the entry of individuals or objects, and have played a major role in important arcs of the anime.
- The pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery is Domain Expansion, a technique that involves constructing a barrier within a specific space to enhance one's cursed technique and obtain a sure hit factor.
In the dark, surreal world of Jujutsu Kaisen, there are a plethora of cursed techniques utilized by sorcerers, curse users, and cursed spirits alike, lending themselves to a variety of distinct applications. From innate techniques and inherited techniques, to Shikigami jutsu, the range of abilities depicted in Jujutsu Kaisen can be difficult to keep track of.
Additionally, there is also another distinct class of techniques besides the aforementioned ones, dealing with the construction and manipulation of zones or territories with special purposes, which are known as barrier techniques. Defining the broad spectrum of abilities that govern the creation of barriers, curtains, and of course, the pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery that is Domain Expansion, these techniques can be quite useful in the hands of a capable Jujutsu Sorcerer.
What Is A Barrier?
In essence, a barrier is a region or territory that is enclosed and separated from its surroundings in some capacity. A cursed technique used to construct such a space is known as a barrier technique. While some barriers are more difficult to cast than others, there are certain varieties that virtually anyone with sufficient cursed energy can learn to cast. So far, barriers have been used to confine, selectively admit, and shield areas from individuals or groups for specific purposes, cordoning off a region in order to meet the caster's objectives.
Over the course of the anime, these applications were most prominently seen in the Kyoto Goodwill Event Arc, as well as the Shibuya Incident Arc, where barriers played a major role in dictating the flow of the conflicts in question. Some barriers possess a spherical outer shell — as in the case of Curtains — which protects their integrity, whereas others do not. Creating barriers that need to selectively admit or prevent the entry of certain individuals or objects can be quite difficult even for experienced Jujutsu Sorcerers, which indicates their level of complexity.
In such cases, barriers can be customized specifically for this purpose, although they may require the use of talismans or a Binding Vow to render properly. Barriers only recognize cursed energy and are not affected by inanimate objects or structures. As such, they can spread out over the interior of an entire building or spaces with non-living constructs, making them quite flexible in the context of their application. Lastly, most barriers cast by Jujutsu Sorcerers are augmented by those cast by Tengen, an immortal sorcerer and the greatest barrier user in history.
For the most part, barrier techniques are cast by the user developing a formula within themselves, pouring cursed energy into it, and then reciting empowered words to execute the technique. Quite a few simple curtain barriers seen in the series, to shield the activities of Jujutsu Sorcerers from the public, were cast by those without an innate technique such as the Jujutsu High School assistant managers. That being said, many powerful sorcerers with innate techniques cannot perform barrier techniques, which attests to how complicated they can be to cast.
The Spectrum Of Barrier Techniques
To begin with, Simple Barriers, can be cast to conceal, confine, or prevent a certain individual, entity, or party from entering the space they enclose. Such barriers represent one of the most fundamental uses of this type of technique. Next, Curtains are also fairly simple barriers in theory, as they are mainly used to conceal the activities of Jujutsu Sorcerers from the outside world, and force cursed spirits to reveal themselves while inside.
One step up from this is an Empty Barrier, consisting of a vacant space enclosed within hexagonally shaped panels which can be freely altered by the caster if they are skilled enough. Further up the hierarchy is the Pure Barrier, cast by Tengen at many locations across Japan to bolster the capacity of other barriers to suppress cursed spirits, and augment those cast by active Jujutsu Sorcerers and the assistant managers of Tokyo Jujutsu High School. These barriers are said to be superior to most other variants and there are four especially important barriers of this nature in the country which are vital to the jujutsu world. Lastly, Bon Barriers are said to be superior even to Pure Barriers.
The Pinnacle Of Jujutsu Sorcery
Perhaps the most important offensive application of a barrier comes in the form of Domain Expansion, a technique that has been described as the absolute peak of jujutsu sorcery. The user first expands their innate domain with the aid of cursed energy while constructing a barrier that constructs the domain within a specific space. Subsequently, the user can imbue the barrier with their innate cursed technique to finish it and obtain the sure hit factor of Domain Expansion.
When seen from an external viewpoint, an individual's Domain Expansion generally resembles a floating black orb in the case of a closed barrier. Although it is reinforced internally, the barrier of a Domain Expansion is vulnerable to attacks from the outside, and it can be moved slightly if required. There is also a great deal of discrepancy between the external volume of a domain and the space it appears to contain.
While casting their Domain Expansion, a sorcerer should have a clear image of what they want to create and must also be aware of the specific conditions required for this technique to be activated. If they need to overlay the barrier of their Domain Expansion with a physical space, they will lose out on the sure hit function of the technique, but will also be considerably more powerful when fighting within its bounds. Barriers are the foundation of every domain, regardless of their nature and level of completion. Even Anti-Domain techniques such as the New Shadow Style: Simple Domain, and the Esoteric Technique: Hollow Wicker Basket make use of barriers to some degree.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll & Funimation.