Highlights
- Yuji Itadori is an infectious and lovable protagonist who is easy to get along with and always willing to help others.
- Despite his goofball personality, Yuji becomes extremely serious in battle and shows dedication in protecting his loved ones.
- Yuji is a flawed character who faces emotional struggles and setbacks, but his indomitable spirit and perseverance make him relatable and inspiring.
In all of modern anime, there are very few series that have had the same impact as Jujutsu Kaisen for regular anime watchers and casual fans alike. This anime has definitely broken the mold and has comfortably situated itself at the very top of the modern anime ladder, mainly due to its brilliant story and lovable characters, none more so than the protagonist himself, Yuji Itadori.
Yuji is a character that has been left behind by Gojo as the most recognizable and iconic character in Jujutsu Kaisen. Despite this, he embodies all the tropes of a great protagonist and is someone who is ubiquitously loved by fans of the series. The same can't be said for many other modern anime protagonists, so let's see why Yuji truly is the best of them.
Jujutsu Kaisen: Yuji vs. Mahito, Explained
Here's a closer look at one of the most important rivalries to have ever come out of the Jujutsu Kaisen universe.
Yuji Has An Infectious and Lovable Personality
Similar to many other protagonists, Yuji is seen as an aloof and lovable character who also serves to provide the fans of the series with many laughs. Due to this, he comes off as someone that's very easy to get along with while, at the same time, being helpful and considerate of what his loved ones are going through, which shows how Yuji is always willing to help them however he can.
He is a character who cares for others immensely. As seen through his interaction and friendship with Junpei Yoshino, Yuji helped him feel as if he wasn't alone in the world and provided him with great companionship. Unfortunately, Junpei's journey takes a dark turn after the death of his mother, causing him to become a Curse User and fight Yuji with the intent of killing him.
However, Yuji's compassionate nature still shone through as he refused to kill or even seriously harm Junpei and, at the end of their fight, was successful in making him see the error of his ways. Yuji got along with Junpei so well that he even envisioned him being a part of his group along with Nobara and Megumi and was incredibly relieved that Junpei turned good before he could seriously harm anyone else.
However, the entire meeting between Yuji and Junpei was orchestrated by Mahito, who took the opportunity to transfigure the new Curse User. In doing this, Yuji was forced to face his friend and the entire time, Yuji would plead with Sukuna to come over and take his body to heal Junpei, to which Sukuna would refuse and Junpei would die in Yuji's arms, showing how caring Yuji is as he was even willing to let his body be taken over just to heal someone he only recently befriended.
Jujutsu Kaisen: Every Death In The Series (So Far)
Jujutsu Kaisen fans have witnessed the deaths of many characters.
He Is Serious When He Needs to Be
Yuji's known to be a goofball around his friends and loved ones, doing childish things and seeking to get a laugh out of everyone around him. However, whenever the need for it arises, Yuji sheds all of that away and becomes extremely serious in a battle, always giving it his all to make sure that no one can mess with his friends. This seriousness is also never played for laughs as the balance between comedy and seriousness is mastered by Gege Akutami.
The closest comparison to be made for Yuji as a character is probably Goku from the Dragon Ball series. Just like the iconic Saiyan, Yuji comes across as sort of an idiot with a carefree and relaxed personality, always making jokes and being happy. However, the moment that his loved ones are in danger, a switch inside of him flips, and he turns into an absolute nightmare for whichever opponent he is going up against.
In pretty much all of his fights, he is fully immersed in the battle, using his Cursed Energy and Technique with incredible efficiency and not wasting a single movement in the path to tear his opponent down. His training is always rigorous, and he is shown to be incredibly dedicated to improving himself to best protect others, and his journey and training is great to see from the very start.
Though this is a trait enjoyed by most anime characters, Yuji strikes a perfect balance between how he is and how he needs to be. He is never overtly emotional, which often comes off as super annoying. An example of this is Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer, who has received many complaints from fans about crying all the time for no apparent reason. He is a character that is written to be compassionate, but despite that, he comes off as a saint that is hard to like and relate to.
Jujutsu Kaisen: 10 Characters Who Should've Had Domain Expansion (But Don't)
Surprisingly, these formidable sorcerers don't have domain expansions, a technique that represents the peak of Jujutsu mastery.
Yuji is Far From a Perfect Character
Unlike many other anime protagonists, Yuji is not perfect. Throughout the series, he is shown to hold a lot of emotional baggage on his shoulders and has broken down and been out of the picture multiple times in the story. Nanami and Nobara's deaths in the Shibuya Incident arc were so traumatic for him that he simply gave up on fighting, causing himself to nearly get killed by Mahito.
Many also seem to think that Yuji is someone who fails to see his goals through quite a bit. While these things may initially come off as negative, they are a testament to how compelling of a character Yuji truly is. Whenever a character is written as being completely infallible, they are always difficult to relate to. To use Tanjiro as an example yet again, he just seems to be good at everything that he does for no apparent reason and doesn't struggle much with very little training, something which inflates his growth for people and makes him unlikable to many.
Yuji is consistently shown to be struggling and very often comes up short in either defeating the villain or seeing his goal through to the end, and at one point he just gives up entirely. However, he never quits, showing the indomitable nature of the human spirit that, despite being flawed and prone to failure, always persists in doing what it has to.
By viewing this, fans can relate and become inspired by seeing it as everyone has been in a place similar to Yuji where they almost gave up. Due to this, fans see some of themselves within Yuji and so, can relate to someone who isn't perfect but despite that fact, tries to do his best to protect everyone he loves by giving everything that he has to fix the problem, which unfortunately sometimes comes up short.
Jujutsu Kaisen: 13 Characters That Can Rival Sukuna
These characters could be a real threat to the King of Curses, Sukuna.
All in all, despite there being many amazing modern anime protagonists across the industry such as Eren from Attack on Titan, Senku from Dr. Stone or Asta from Black Clover, Yuji is a character that embodies the human spirit more than any of them. His will to never give up and always try to do the right thing despite having everything going against him has cemented his place at the top of the list of best anime protagonists of all time, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Goku, Guts, Luffy and Naruto.
Jujutsu Kaisen can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
