The following contains spoilers from Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 65, “Hidden Inventory”, and onwards, created by Gege Akutami, John Werry and Snir Aharon, available now in English through Viz Media.
Most members of the Jujutsu Society are able to see and fight curses and can manipulate cursed energy with specific techniques often passed down through families. Toji Fushiguro was born into the Zenin Clan, a very influential family within Jujutsu Kaisen, as a non-curse user. Despite having no innate talent for Jujutsu, he was one of the most elite fighters in the Jujutsu world.
Toji was disgraced from the powerful Zenin family and became an assassin, using knowledge gained from his time in the clan to take down sorcerers, earning the alias “Sorcerer Killer”. While in this line of work, the killer fell in love and got married, adopting his wife’s last name and having a son, Megumi. But despite being a father, Toji’s legacy relates more to his favorite weapon.
What Is Playful Cloud?
First seen in the anime in the hands of Megumi Fushiguro and Maki Zenin, Playful Cloud is a special grade cursed tool Toji used frequently, likely stolen from the Zenin family when he left. It is a three-section staff, connected by three rings between the joints with each staff decorated with a flame-like pattern where the metal connects to the rings.
This is the only weapon in the anime not imbued with a cursed technique. Instead, Playful Cloud harnesses the power of its user. For this reason, the cursed tool is best used by those with remarkable physical abilities rather than sorcerers with powerful levels of cursed energy.
The Jujutsu Sorcerers Affected by Playful Cloud
While Playful Cloud originally belonged to Toji, it has been passed down through many sorcerers, leaving an imprint on each. After Toji, the cursed tool found itself in the hands of Geto Suguru, a sorcerer teetering on the edge of good and evil. After his battle with Toji, Geto began tumbling ito a steep mental decline. His extremist ideology was even built upon a quote he heard from Fushiguro while fighting the assassin. Geto then went on to use Playful Cloud in Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the weapon that belonged to the person who planted the seed of his imminent spiral — Toji Fushiguro.
After his defeat, the special-grade cursed weapon stayed on the grounds of Tokyo Jujutsu High, not again seen until the student’s face-off with the cursed spirit Hanami. In the same way that Toji kept the weapon inside a cursed spirit worn around his neck, Megumi pulled Playful Cloud from his shadows, passing it to Maki. In this fight, Megumi complained about the difficulty of using the weapon, while Maki commented on the ease, a remark that could link to parallels between Megumi and Gojo, and Maki and Toji.
How Playful Cloud Became Toji’s Legacy
Playful Cloud appeared again in Shibuya, when Toji took it from Maki and used it until it broke in a battle with Megumi, one which ended in the assassin’s suicide. Playful Cloud goes in a full circle until being returned to Toji, beginning by passing through Geto. Geto was massively affected by his defeat against the sorcerer killer, with it being the trigger point for his genocidal mental decline. Yet, he continued to carry and use a weapon once owned by the one responsible for his downfall.
Next, the weapon was passed to his son. Megumi struggled to use Playful Cloud, which highlighted the difference between him and his father. Megumi was abandoned by Toji in childhood, resulting in Gojo Satoru becoming his main caregiver. Being a Zenin, he possesses a very strong cursed technique, something Toji never had, and was raised by the strongest sorcerer in Jujutsu society. So it’s compelling that when his father’s weapon was in his possession, Megumi struggled to even use it. This shows the impact of Toji’s absence in Megumi’s life, as the young sorcerer can’t relate to his father in even the smallest way, outlining his future as a proper sorcerer.
Finally, Playful Cloud landed in the hands of Maki. A fellow Zenin also shamed out of the family due to her lack of cursed energy, Maki requires special glasses to see cursed spirits, but has a way with cursed tools. The young Zenin is on her way to becoming as powerful as Toji, potentially surpassing his strength and abilities in the future. Because of their similar upbringing, Toji and Maki shared a common goal, to wipe out the Zenin family — and Maki was the one to successfully do so.
The weapon, introduced into Jujutsu society by Fushiguro, mirrored his relationships with the sorcerers who held it. Playful Cloud depicted his damaged view on the Jujutsu world through Geto, highlighted his failures as a father via Megumi, and expressed the similarity between the disgraced Zenins. In the hands of another sorcerer, the cursed tool shows the impact Toji left on the Jujutsu society.