Jujutsu Kaisen has risen to new heights in Season 2. The series is animated by MAPPA and adapted from Gege Akutami’s manga of the same name. The series currently spans two works: the one-shot Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (the series’ feature film) and the main series. Yuta Okkotsu is the former protagonist and one of Jujutsu Society’s most powerful sorcerers. Yuta’s story is somber, thoughtful, and vastly different than what we see in the main series. Despite his vulnerabilities and insecurities, Yuta morphs into someone powerful and inspirational. Here is everything you need to know about Jujutsu Kaisen’s best boy.
But before you scroll, here is a spoiler warning as this article details events from the Jujustu Kaisen manga and anime.
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Who is Yuta Okkotsu?
Appearing in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga, which was adapted into the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie, Yuta Okkotsu finally made his main story debut in Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 47, as Cour 2 of the anime’s second season inches closer to its end.
Yuta first came to Tokyo Jujutsu High School as a classmate of Toge Inumaki, Maki Zenin, and Panda. Satoru Gojo took Yuta into his care through circumstances similar to Yuji Itadori’s. When Yuta is sentenced to death for his inability to control Rika and the damage she has caused to humans (bullies that had it coming, but I digress), Gojo wages his own life instead. If Yuta is unable to control Rika, Gojo will kill the teen himself. This allows Yuta to train at the school and ultimately become one of the most powerful sorcerers in the series. He pays this debt forward after the Shibuya Incident, where Yuji lets Ryomen Sukuna unleash his Malevolent Shrine.
Yuta is drawn to his classmates, but his timid and grief-stricken personality makes it hard for him to connect to them. However, as he gains his determination to live, he also begins to let his walls down and get closer to Toge, Maki, and Panda. But while there are similarities between Yuta and Yuji, they are also worlds apart.
Yuji Wants To Save Others, Yuta Wants A Reason To Live
The most compelling thing about Yuta Okkotsu is his reason for fighting. While Yuji makes it clear that he wants to fight to keep others alive, Yuta is looking for a reason to live. In fact, when Gojo responds to the cursed spirit event caused by Rika, Yuta attempts to end his own life. The only reason he is alive is because Rika won’t allow him to die. That said, in his first outing with Maki, he delivers one of the most powerful admissions of the series:
“I tried to run away and disappear but he said I’d be lonely. I couldn’t disagree. I want to be with people. I want to be relied on by somebody! I want to believe that it’s okay to keep living!”
It’s one of the most salient moments in Gege Akutami’s writing. Yuta isn’t a Pollyanna protagonist who moves through the world because of a noble cause. He’s a traumatized boy racked with survivor’s guilt and debilitated by his grief. When he finds his resolve, he isn’t choosing not to die. He is choosing to believe that the world is better with him in it, and that is a weight that means so much more than just fighting back to save someone else.
Yuta is the series’ most compelling character, and he’s the most immediately relatable for those who have suffered through grief. At almost every turn before his climactic fight with Suguru Geto in Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Yuta is scared. He learns not to be by embracing Rika, his love for her, and finally making a choice not to die as penance for her death, but instead as a way to keep others safe. Yuta has to learn the value of his life. He is worthy of living, so much so that the only way he should accept death is if he is doing so to save others.
What does Yuta Fit Into the Jujutsu Kaisen Timeline?
Yuta was the first time that Satoru Gojo saved a teen from a curse. Gege Akutami wrote Jujutsu Kaisen 0 as a pilot for Shonen Jump to pick up the series. As such, Yuta’s identity as the protagonist in this one-shot connects to the larger world of JJK, sending ripples into Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2.
Chronologically, although Yuta’s story is the prelude to the series, it fits between the events of “Gojo’s Past Arc” (Cour 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 “Hidden Inventory/Premature Death Arc”) and “Cursed Child Arc” (the start of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series). However, as Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 47 showed, Yuta returns at the end of the “Shibuya Incident Arc” will play a larger role in subsequent arcs. In fact, his defeat of Geto leads directly to Kenjaku’s ability to steal Geto’s body. Kicking off the events we’re currently experiencing in the anime. Essentially, all roads lead back to our precious sad boy, Yuta.
Where has Yuta Okkotsu Been All This Time?
Studying! Yuta Okkotsu has been in Africa since the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, studying and training with Miguel, Gojo’s associate, and the person he fought during the climax of Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie. He has been training there up until the Shibuya Incident. That said, he is mentioned multiple times throughout the anime series and manga when Gojo references students from the past.
What are Yuta Okkotsu’s Powers?
Yuta is an even more powerful jujutsu sorcerer than Yuji. So much so that Jujtusu World has pushed around the idea that he may be the next Saturo Gojo. Currently a second-year student at Jujutsu High, his power comes from his connection to the Queen of Curses, Rika Orimoto. Rika was his late childhood friend who died in a tragic accident. He is one of the four special grade sorcerers that Jujutsu High recognizes.
It’s all thanks to his ability to manifest Rika that his body withstands cursed energy output. His power also shows because he was able to curse Rika unknowingly as a child, tethering to the world through his grief. But when his grief turns to love, Yuta Okkotsu can manifest Rika in her most powerful form. After his fight with Geto, Rika is transformed from a vengeful spirit to one that is at peace.
Although his special grade status was removed when he lost Rika, he still uses his sword, which once channeled her to channel other cursed energy. This helped him regain his status shortly after the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. In combat, Yuta remains formidable. Yuta’s immense strength comes from his lineage as a descendant of Michizane Sugawara, making him a distant relative of Gojo’s clan. Yuta surprised even Kenjaku by continually growing in strength.
Yuta understands that he carries vast levels of cursed energy and now knows how to apply it accordingly. This allows him to shape how the world views him. By controlling how much he puts out (only second to Ryu Ishigori, as we see in the Culling Game Arc), he changes from timid to someone who projects apathy and ruthlessness. Originally weak, Yuta Okkotsu has trained and reinforced his body with cursed energy. He is durable and nearly unbeatable as he uses energy to heal himself and others.
Outside of Rika, Yuta’s Innate Technique is “Copy.” More terrifying in power than it sounds, this allows Yuta to copy the innate techniques of others and use them. He’s been able to use Cursed Speech, Shikigami, and even Sky Manipulation.
What Does Yuta Mean For Season 2 And Beyond?
One of the larger fan theories for those reading Jujutsu Kaisen right now is that Yuji Itadori was never the true protagonist. And because of the Culling Game and Yuta protecting Gojo, I’m inclined to agree. In fact, I want the series’ true protagonist to be its strongest sorcerer: Yuta Okkotsu.
Yuta’s status as the strongest means that in Gojo’s absence, he is responsible for killing Yuji at the behest of the leaders of Jujutsu High—making good on Gojo’s promise. However, how he pivots from the expectation sets the series up to be more than a basic Shonen series. Additionally, while he closes out Season 2, Season 3 of the anime is where Yuta will begin to show more of his impact. And, of course, that brings him all the way through the Culling Game and avenging his teacher. But we’ll leave that for you to read in the manga.
