Highlights
- Mahito, the cursed spirit with a patchwork face, has become incredibly powerful and his growth throughout the Shibuya arc is a formidable aspect.
- Mahito’s lack of motivation and adherence to logic makes him a sadistic and manipulative villain, with a desire to eradicate humanity and replace it with cursed spirits.
- Mahito’s impact on Itadori cannot be overlooked, as their enmity developed due to Mahito’s inhumane actions and taunting, leading to a battle of opposing ideals that Itadori is determined to win.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga.
The Shibuya arc of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series has brought with it a lot of unexpected developments. From Gojo’s sealing to Sukuna’s temporary release, many events have left fans bewildered.
As the Shibuya arc ends, the legendary battle between Itadori Yuji and Mahito has taken center stage. Right from the beginning, Mahito had always been a curse with a vast amount of potential and a talent for spreading destruction. However, in the Shibuya arc of Jujutsu Kaisen, Mahito has gotten stronger and stronger as his understanding of himself and his cursed energy has improved. As Mahito battles Itadori and speaks of his ideals, many wonder: just what makes up this cursed spirit in its entirety?
The Cursed Spirit With A Patchwork Face
Before his name was known to Jujutsu sorcerers, Kento Nanami referred to Mahito as the cursed spirit with a patchwork face, and many others identified him through his unique appearance. Unlike most powerful cursed spirits, Mahito wasn’t born from the fear or negative emotions directed towards natural disasters; rather, he was born from the hatred between humans. As a special grade cursed spirit, Mahito is immensely powerful, and his rate of growth remains one of his most fearsome aspects.
Mahito’s cursed technique, Idle Transfiguration, allows him to reshape souls and then the bodies of humans as a consequence of having their souls reshaped. With this ability, Mahito can distort his victims, shapeshift his body parts into weapons, or fit various forms that meet his needs. Right until the end of the Shibuya arc, Mahito remained one of the primary antagonists of the series.
Mahito’s Lack of Motivation Makes
Throughout the series, Mahito’s philosophy of doing whatever he wants is shown in the way he acts, carries himself, and does things. As for his motivations, does the cursed spirit really have any? Mahito simply kills because he feels like it and has fun tormenting jujutsu sorcerers, particularly Itadori Yuji. While Mahito does seem to have little to no reason for doing anything, the cursed spirit ultimately wants the eradication of humanity, replacing the world with a population of cursed spirits. While Mahito did indeed team up with Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon for that purpose, the cursed spirit has his own unique way of doing things that do not adhere to logic.
Throughout the Jujutsu Kaisen series, Mahito has dropped various quotes, some of which enlighten fans and characters about what goes through the cursed spirit’s mind. From quotes such as “You Can’t Let Yourself Get Trapped In An Ideal Of Indifference” to quotes like “I Kill People Without A Second Thought,” fans understand how Mahito is all about engaging his flesh and desires, no matter what they may be. Moreover, as someone whose technique primarily deals with the soul, Mahito is seen to have an above-average understanding of the soul as opposed to various jujutsu sorcerers.
His Impact On Itadori Can’t Be Overlooked
Right from when Mahito and Itadori met, the duo developed an enmity like no other. Predominantly because of his inhumane, sadistic, and manipulative nature, Mahito quickly earned the ire of Itadori. Mahito saw Itadori as a naive sorcerer who was fun to play with, so he developed a habit of taunting Itadori and fanning the latter’s flames of hate.
Oftentimes, many of Mahito’s taunts worked against Itadori, as his use of transfigured humans destabilized the young Jujutsu sorcerer. Having to kill actual humans, although deformed and de-shaped, Itadori’s mental barrier took great hits, and Mahito enjoyed every second of it. As seen in the 20th episode of the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen, Itadori had grossly refused to accept the existence of Mahito and saw him as a wrong, evil being that should not exist. However, after getting hammered by Mahito and fighting him for a while, Itadori came to accept that their battle was a battle of their opposing ideals, and he was determined to end the cursed spirit over and over again. Overall, their enmity had been a long-standing one right from when Mahito was introduced, but a winner has finally been declared.
Mahito Has Grown To Be One of Jujutsu Kaisen’s Most Intimidating Villains
At the start of the Jujutsu Kaisen series, when Mahito was introduced, Kento Nanami described the curse as one that, if left alone, would become too much for Jujutsu sorcerers to handle. Knowing this, Nanami put in all he had to exorcise the spirit, but ultimately could not. Apart from his downright deceptive and inhumane nature, one of the most frightening things about Mahito is his rate of evolution. Like Itadori, Mahito has evolved throughout the series, and his evolution has been a rapid one.
From simply using his technique of Idle Transfiguration to mastering a domain expansion to using black flash to being able to activate a domain in 0.2 seconds, Mahito has truly grown as a character and a villain. Some would even argue that his evolution as a character and the evolution of his abilities have surpassed even that of Itadori. However, despite his immense potential and evolution, the cursed spirit known as Mahito was eventually put down, but unfortunately, not by the hands of his greatest enemy, Itadori.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Prime Video.
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