The controversial Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 236 took the internet by storm after it confirmed Satoru Gojo’s unexpected death. The death came as an even bigger shock to the community since Chapter 235 declared Gojo as the winner of the battle of the strongest. Ever since Gojo’s return from the Prison Realm in Chapter 221, Jujutsu Kaisen reached new heights of popularity as more and more people invested in the battle of the strongest. The fight continued for months and had the entire community in a chokehold, as each week offered a thrilling set of surprises where Ryomen Sukuna and Satoru Gojo delivered the fight fans had been waiting for years.
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Gojo had been used to living at the top, and no enemy he ever faced was even close to his level, but he finally met his match when Sukuna challenged him. The chapter was officially released on September 24th, 2023, on the Manga Plus app, but leaks had already been circulating on social media a few days before the official release. The unanswered questions and unsatisfactory conclusion left a bitter taste in many fans’ mouths. However, now that two years have passed since the day of Gojo’s brutal death, was it worth it despite the fans’ dissatisfaction?
Why Was Gojo’s Death in Jujutsu Kaisen So Controversial?
It’s not that no one considered the possibility of Gojo’s death, since he was fighting the strongest sorcerer in history, but declaring his victory in one chapter and starting the next with his death isn’t the kind of “plot twist” many would appreciate. Not to mention that the fake hype and the brief moment of celebration felt like forced attempts to spice things up, which didn’t pay off well. Chapter 236 directly begins with teenage Gojo meeting his deceased friends in some kind of limbo, where the choice of going North or South is completely philosophical and left for readers to interpret.
Even Gojo being sliced in half happens off-screen, which robs us of the moment when Sukuna finally managed to bypass Infinity and somehow avoided being detected by Six Eyes. Additionally, many believed that the lack of reaction from others, especially considering Gojo’s importance in their lives, was underwhelming. Even until the end of the manga, there were no final words from the character, no funeral, or any real closure to bid him farewell, except for one scene where Yuji honored his memories.
Because the death was shrouded in mystery, it also led to countless Gojo revival theories that were discussed for months. However, there’s no bringing someone back from the dead. Even if Jujutsu Kaisen is set in a supernatural world, the concept of life and death remains the same. Not to mention that Gojo was content with his defeat and accepted it with a smile on his face.
Gojo’s Death Is More Widely Accepted Now, But It Still Doesn’t Feel Satisfactory
After the controversy of his death died down, many fans slowly began to accept that it wasn’t too bad after all. The focus soon shifted from the battle of the strongest to the battle against the strongest, where many sorcerers joined forces to take down Sukuna. Gojo’s wish to defeat Kenjaku was also fulfilled by his student, Yuta Okkotsu, so at least he had one less regret.
It all boils down to the fact that Gojo was so unbelievably powerful that the series’ creator, Gege Akutami, had to remove him from the picture to commence the main fight. There’s this unspoken rule in Shonen series that the main villain must be defeated by the protagonist, which means the most Gojo could do was weaken Sukuna. Even if it wasn’t just Yuji’s victory and he had to rely on everyone around him, as long as he landed the final attack, he would serve his purpose as the main character.
And that’s what happened in the final Jujutsu Kaisen fight, where everyone’s contributions, not just Gojo’s, only served to clear a path for Yuji, who, despite being considerably weaker than Sukuna, ultimately put the villain down. While the dissatisfaction around the way Gojo’s death was handled can’t be erased, it did serve its purpose.
Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo Confirms Gojo’s Dream Wasn’t Fully Realized
While his death itself was tragic, the most disheartening fact is that Gojo’s dream to reform the Jujutsu world by cultivating a new generation of sorcerers didn’t come true in the way he wanted. He wanted to avoid a scenario where he would have to kill all the conservative higher-ups and build a new Jujutsu world through bloodshed. Yet Gojo had to become the monster in hopes of giving his students a chance at a better future. In the latest Jujutsu Kaisen sequel, titled Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, society is a lot better, but it’s still far from ideal.
The fact that Yuta’s granddaughter, Yuka, was forced to give up her keepsake for her brother Tsurugi, and that both children’s wishes were shunned by the Gojo Clan, proves that it isn’t the world Gojo envisioned at all. There are still preconceived notions of “strong” and “weak,” not to mention that the overall standard of Jujutsu society has degraded significantly after the battle against Sukuna. This is worrisome if powerful threats were to appear out of nowhere and no one were prepared to tackle them.
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