Jujutsu Kaisen is undoubtedly one of the best animanga series of all time, even if the ending is not the most liked by the fandom. However, the manga didn’t leave us without giving us some lifelong scars. JJK creator Gege Akutami traumatized the entire fandom by killing some major and beloved characters in cold blood. While a few deaths didn’t impact us too much, losing some characters did make us teary and curse out in anger. Keeping that in mind, we discuss some of the saddest deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Spoiler Warning: This articles includes major spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga and anime, so please proceed with caution.
15. Rika Orimoto
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 140/Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie
- Death Chapter/Episode: NA
- Reason for Death: Car Accident
Rika Orimato isn’t a fan-favorite character, so what makes her death impactful or the saddest? You might be wondering this, right? Well, that’s because she is an integral part of someone whom fans love dearly. To be precise, Okkotsu is the reason behind her entry on the list, which consists of the saddest deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Rika Orimoto was a timid girl and the only childhood friend of Yuta Okkotsu. They promised to get married to each other after growing up. However, it seems destiny had some other plans. Rika dies in a road accident at the age of 11, and Yuta couldn’t accept her death. So, unable to let her go, Yuta cursed her and made her stay by his side as a curse for six years.
14. Mai Zenin
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 16/Episode 8
- Death Chapter: 149
- Reason for Death: Sacrifices herself for Maki during the Zenin clan’s annihilation
Mai Zenin appears in the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen, and we instantly get to know about her rough personality. Born as Maki’s twin sister, her personality is way too different from that of her sibling.
Mai never wanted to become a Jujutsu sorcerer, but it was Maki who thrusted her in the world of sorcery and curses. So, she never misses any opportunity to take out her frustration on Maki. Also, Mai started hating Maki as she didn’t fulfill the promise to be at her side forever.
However, the one who always hated Maki showed her love for her sister when the duo was attacked and left on the verge of death by their father. Despite holding a grudge against her sister, Mai always acknowledged that her sister was way more worthy and stronger than her. So, she makes the tough decision to sacrifice her life so that her sister can live and achieve what she is worthy of.
Mai’s final words in the JJK manga that made every reader shed tears were, “Destroy everything. Everything…big sister.”
13. Mechamaru
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 32/Episode 14
- Death Chapter/Episode: 128/31
- Reason for Death: Gets killed at the hands of Mahito
Mechamaru was a cursed puppet created by Kokichi Muta with his Puppet Manipulation ability. Kokichi lived a restricted life because of his weak body, and Mechamaru was a way for him to lead a normal life at Jujutsu High. Seeking a normal body, Kokichi betrayed his peers and made a binding vow to the curses.
He becomes an informant of Mahito and Kenjaku, who would steal information from the sorcerers by using his puppet. However, when he decides to go back to his friends, Mahito kills him using Idle Transfiguration, eventually ending the story for Mechamaru as well.
12. Tsumiki Fushiguro
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 9/Episode 5
- Death Chapter/Episode: 212/47
- Reason for Death: Sukuna kills Tsumiki when Yorozu uses her as a vessel to fight him
Despite being a step-sister to Megumi, Tsumiki didn’t shy away from taking care of him when their father abandoned them in childhood after their mother’s death. She was a non-sorcerer who was chosen to be a player in the Culling Game by Kenjaku.
Later, the powerful curse helped an ancient sorcerer named Yorozu to take her as a vessel. Yorozu has been obsessed with Sukuna since their first encounter, so she is desperate to kill the King of Curses, who has taken Megumi as his vessel. So, even though the evil spirits take the brother-sister duo as their hosts, it is still upsetting to witness Sukuna in Megumi’s body, brutally killing Yorozu/ Tsumiki.
11. Masamichi Yaga
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 3/Episode 2
- Death Chapter: 147
- Reason for Death: Gets killed at the hands of Gakuganji
Masamichi Yaga was a humble man and a role model for Gojo and Geto. Before becoming the principal of Jujutsu High, he served as a mentor to the duo when they were students at the Tokyo Jujutsu High School. He also boasted a unique ability to create cursed corpses, which he used to create Panda for good.
However, the higher-ups started targeting him at some point so that he could reveal the secrets of his technique. Yaga was even captured by the desperate higher-ups in Gojo’s absence. Even though Kusakabe freed him, he died a brutal death at the hands of Gakuganji, but not without spilling the formula of the independent Cursed Corpse technique.
10. Junpei Yoshino
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 18/Episode 8
- Death Chapter/Episode: 27/12
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Mahito
Again, here’s a character who was related to one of the most beloved characters, i.e. Yuji Itadori, in the story. Junpei was never accepted by his classmates; in fact, he was consistently tormented and bullied, so when he noticed Mahito killing some of his bullies, he started admiring the patch-faced curse.
The turning point in his personality came when his mother died, and Mahito played with his head and fueled his hatred. Yuji tried to turn Junpei back into a good person, however, Mahito killed the boy in front of his eyes. The boy asked Sukuna to heal Junpei, but the King of Curses refused and laughed at his helplessness.
9. Choso
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 60/Episode 24
- Death Chapter: 259
- Reason for Death: Sacrificed himself for Yuji Itadori
Choso was a powerful curse who had a profound love for his dead painting brothers, Kichuzu and Eso. When Nobara and Yuji killed his brothers in the ending of JJK Season 1, he vowed revenge against the sorcerer duo.
During the Shibuya Incident Arc in Season 2, he gets a chance to kill Yuji, but he can’t as the curse gets a vision in which he sees Yuji and his deceased brothers, Eso and Kichuzu. After knowing that Yuji is his brother, Choso doesn’t take much time to change sides. In fact, he decides to help Yuji to defeat Sukuna and end the Culling Games.
He helps Yuji in the fight against Sukuna, but while protecting Yuji from Sukuna’s divine flames, he falls prey to the King of Curse’s attacks. In his final moments, Choso thanks Yuji for being his little brother, and the latter, with a heavy heart, thanks him for being his elder brother before bidding him goodbye.
8. Yuki Tsukumo
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 50/Episode 20
- Death Chapter: 208
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Kenjaku in the Culling Game Arc
Despite emerging as the strongest sorcerer in Star Plasma Vessel Arc, Yuki didn’t get a significant screentime to shine if compared with the other characters. However, that didn’t affect her stardom. Yuki’s never-give-up attitude and high energy level made her a potent sorcerer, but I don’t know why Gege Akutami failed to utilize her to the fullest; she deserved a better character arc.
Yuki and Choso engage in a fight against Kenjaku to protect Tengen. Despite harboring some of the most potent techniques, she couldn’t survive the opponent’s attacks. Choso was willing to sacrifice himself for her, but Yuki didn’t let him do that.
Instead, she reminded Choso that he must live for Yuji’s sake. She also encourages him to live as a human this time.
7. Megumi’s White Divine Dog
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 1/Episode 1
- Death Chapter/Episode: 6/19
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by a finger bearer at Eishu Juvenile Detention Center
The divine dogs have been powerful weapons for Megumi Fushiguro from the start. The two dogs always worked as a team whenever Megumi summoned them. The deuteragonist fought many supernatural enemies with the help of these two divine dogs.
Even though he had ten shinigami, he was fond of the divine dogs more than the other ones. So, losing a diving dog during a mission shattered Megumi and the entire community.
6. Toji Fushiguro’s Second Death
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 66/Episode 25
- Death Chapter/Episode: 113/40
- Reason for Death: Stabs himself to death
Despite belonging to the Zenin clan, Toji Fushiguro lacked cursed energy, but that doesn’t restrict him from being one of the strongest characters of the JJK universe. That’s why the Time Vessel Association chose him to assassinate Riko Amanai, the Star Plasma Vessel.
After killing the girl, the assassin decided to murder the gifted sorcerer Gojo, but when he tried doing that, Gojo killed him with his Hollow Purple technique.
Toji was resurrected using Ogami’s Seance Technique. This time, he was much more powerful and cruel than he had been in his first life. In his pride, he locked horns with anyone who would come his way. He even killed Takuma Ino, the Grade 2 sorcerer.
However, when he locked horns with Megumi, his fatherly instinct stopped him from acting out, and he killed himself in front of his son. However, before dying, he felt proud of Megumi because the boy chose to stick with the surname Fushiguro instead of Zenin.
5. Suguru Geto
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 65/Jujutsu Kaisen 0
- Death Chapter/Episode: Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Chapter 4/ movie
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by his own best friend, Gojo Satoru
Suguru Geto was an excellent sorcerer and Gojo’s closest companion, but when the duo was unable to save Riko Amanai from being killed by Toji Fushiro, he started getting depressed. That’s because he couldn’t find any meaning in leading a normal life.
He lost faith in humanity after witnessing how insensitive they were when Riko lost her life. He couldn’t help losing it when he witnessed how cruelly some non-sorcerers treated the two timid girl sorcerers, Mimiko and Nanako.
So, Geto chooses a dark path, and after getting heavily injured in a fight with Yuta Okkotsu in the JJK 0 movie, he gets killed by his best friend, Gojo. Curious about what Gojo says to Geto during this time? Find out in the linked post.
4. Ryomen Sukuna
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 1/Episode 1
- Death Chapter: 268
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Yuji Itadori during their final showdown
Sukuna was the main villain of the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He killed Gojo Satoru, the franchise’s most beloved character (oops, spoilers before you reach the end of this list). Following the sensei’s death, many sorcerers tried to take out the King of Curses, but none of them could win. However, no one thought that Yuji would eventually kill Sukuna.
In Chapter 268, the young protagonist attacked the curse with Black Flash and ripped him off from Megumi’s body before killing him once and for all.
Sukuna was the bad guy who killed many sorcerers brutally, but still, his death is one of the most tragic events that occurred in the series. That’s because despite being the strongest in the universe, he eventually gets killed by the human he tortured the most.
3. Nobara Kugisaki
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 3/Episode 2
- Death Chapter/Episode: 124/43
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Mahito in Shibuya Incident Arc
Nobara Kugisaki was introduced as the epitome of confidence and bravery. She is considered one of the strongest anime female characters. Shibuya Incident Arc gave us plenty of reasons to shed tears, and Nobara’s brutal death was one of them.
While chasing Mahito’s clone, Nobara couldn’t realize when the original patch-faced curse arrived in front of her. So, before she could figure it out, Mahito touched her face. The way Nobara looked at Yuji and asked her to inform everyone about her demise made every fan feel the pain.
Even though the series didn’t reveal the aftermath of the tragic incident, fans were convinced that Nobara was dead. However, Gege Akutami surprised the fandom by bringing her back during the Shinjuku Showdown Arc.
2. Kento Nanami
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 18/Episode 8
- Death Chapter/Episode: 120/42
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Mahito in Shibuya Incident Arc
One of the most charismatic JJK characters, Kento Nanami, is also the one to get the saddest death in the series. Nanami began his journey as a jujutsu sorcerer, but he went on to work as a salaryman after getting frustrated by the daily confrontation with the curses.
Besides that, Haibara’s death at the hands of a Grade 2 curse left a strong impression on his heart. However, he came back to sorcery when he felt underappreciated at his regular job. Nanami played a significant role in fighting the evil spirits for the sake of humanity and his loved ones.
Nanami also served as a co-mentor to Yuji and taught the young hero everything needed to be a potential sorcerer. So, when he died a brutal death in the Shibuya Arc, not only Yuji but the whole community was shaken.
1. Satoru Gojo
- Manga/Anime Debut: Chapter 2/Episode 1
- Death Chapter: 236
- Reason for Death: Gets killed by Mahito in Shibuya Incident Arc
There’s no denying that Gojo is the most loved character of the series, as he was one such mentor who would do anything for his students. While Sukuna was the strongest villain in anime history, Gojo was the strongest hero. So, it’s evident Gojo vs Sukuna was the most anticipated fight of the series. Fans were hopeful that Gojo would defeat Sukuna as he had all the capabilities, and Gege also played that narrative well initially.
The author made fans believe in Chapter 235 that our beloved sorcerer will win the deathmatch. However, the tables start turning in chapter 236 when we see Gojo moving toward his eventual defeat. With the help of Mahoraga, Sukuna cut the hero into two halves, with no chance of him coming back.
