Yuji Itadori is the main character of Jujutsu Kaisen.
However, there is almost no explanation about the true identity of Itadori.
In this article, a native Japanese author explained Yuji Itadori, including the Japanese backgrounds.
Notes
Let’s start with the notes of Itadori.
| Age | 15 |
| Birthday | March 20th |
| Height | 173 cm |
| Personality | Bright, Optimistic |
| Cursed Technique | None |
| Technique | Black Flash, Divergent Fist |
| Hobbies & Skills | Karaoke, Impersonation, Watching TV |
| Stress | Science subjects |
| Voice Actor | Adam McArthur |
Itadori’s age is 15 years old and birthday is March 20th, as described in the official fanbook.
And, you can also see the height of Itadori is 173 cm from the official fanbook.
Other characters close to Itadori’s height include Megumi Fushiguro (175 cm) and Maki Zen’in & Mai Zen’in (171 cm).
The personality of Itadori is bright and optimistic.
In fact, he is willing to die himself to kill Sukuna, and Panda also described Itadori as “He’s optimistic which is rare for a sorcerer”.
Actually, Higuruma, who killed 20 sorcerers, saw Itadori’s goodness and said “I remembered why I got into low in the first place”.
Even Fushiguro, who basically dislikes humans, recognizes Itadori as a good person.
Itadori’s hobbies and skills are “Karaoke, Impersonation, Watching TV”, as deacribed in official fanbook.
Actually, in the novel version, Itadori was going to go to karaoke with Fushiguro and Kugizaki, did impersonations as a punishment game, and watched TV at Ijichi’s house.
As a side note, Itadori recognizes Takada-chan when he was watching TV at Ijichi’s house, which would be the foreshadowing of what Itadori said to Todo in Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 5 – “Who’s that? I don’t care about pop idols”.
In addition, Itadori has an incredible physical ability.
For example, in Vol. 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen, Itadori set a record of just under 30 meters in shot put (the world record is 23.12 meters).
Also, Itadori was rumored to run 50 meters in 3 seconds (the world record is 5.56 seconds).
These records are due to Itadori’s pure physical ability since Itadori learned the manipulation of cursed energy after special training with Gojo.
The reason why Itadori has such physical ability would be that Kenjaku designed him as a vessel of Sukuna.
The birth of Itadori is described later.
And, the English voice actor of Yuji Itadori is Adam McArthur.
These are the note of Yuji Itadori.
What Does Yuji Itadori (虎杖悠仁) Mean?
The name of “Itadori (虎杖)” comes from the name of a medicinal herb, Reynoutria japonica.
The pronounce of Reynoutria japonica in Japanese is “Itadori”.
(But, even Japanese rarely know Reynoutria japonica.)
On the other hand, the name of “Yuji (悠仁)” comes from the name of Akutami’s classmate, as mentioned in the official fanbook.
These are the Japanese meanings of Yuji Itadori (虎杖悠仁).
No Cursed Technique
Itadori has no cursed technique.
Itadori was born with no cursed technique, so he cannot use Jujutsu.
Actually, as explained by Gojo in Vol. 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen, cursed techniques are intrinsic.
However, Gojo said to Itadori that “In due time, your body will learn Sukuna’s cursed technique!”.
According to the official fanbook, Incarnation is “When a human ingests a cursed objects, the curse will dominate the mind and body, and even transforme the shape. This phenomenon is called Incarnation.”
Therefore, the cursed technique would gradually be engraved into Itadori’s body by the Incarnation.
Divergent Fist
Instead of the cursed technique, Itadori is good at melee combat, using cursed energy to punch and kick.
Itadori’s physical ability is excellent, so even with a simple hitting and kicking with cursed energy, he can compete with powerful cursed spirits.
The technique that Itadori devised is “Divergent Fist”.
Divergent Fist gives two impacts, normal strike and cursed energy, by delaying the cursed energy against his too fast strikes.
The flow of the cursed energy in Divergent Fist is irregular, so it can confuse opponents.
However, Todo said that Divergent Fist can only be used for ordinary opponents and does not work for special grades.
Black Flash
So, Itadori learned “Black Flash” from Todo.
Black Flash is a technique that hits the blow and cursed energy within 0.000001 seconds, juts contrary to the Divergent Fist.
When the Black Flash hits, the space is distorted and something like a black lightning bolt runs.
The power of the Black Flash is the 2.5th power of a normal blow, and the diatance for the core of their cursed energy is like heaven and earth between those who have experienced a Black Flash and those who haven’t.
Akutami said the reason why Black Flash is not 2.5 times but 2.5th power is because the multiplier seems to be stronger, in the official fanbook.
However, Akutami also said that even if the cursed energy of 1 is raised to the power of 2.5, it remains 1, so the minimum value of the cursed energy is 2 or more.
However, there is not a single Jujutsu sorcerer who can use Black Flash at will including Gojo.
However, Itadori in a concentrated state looks as if he used Black Flash at will, and he defeated Mahito with the Black Flash.
Mahito also said that Itadori is so amazing that he makes you think that’s what he’s doing.
In this way, even though Itadori does not have any cursed techniques, he can compete with special-grade cursed spirits.
Kenjaku Created Yuji Itadori
Itadori is the being created by Kenjaku, just like Choso.
Kenjaku is a sorcerer who has been living for over 1000 years and is the mastermind behind the story of Jujutsu Kaisen.
The cursed technique of Kenjaku is to take over someone else’s body by swapping the brains.
And, as a Binding Vows of this technique, a stitch remains on the forehead of the person Kenjaku takes over.
In fact, stitches remainds on the foreheads of Noritoshi Kamo and Suguru Geto.
In addition Kaori Itadori, the mother of Yuji Itadori, also has the stitche, which suggests Kenjaku created Yuji Itadori
In Yuji’s recollections, his grandpa said, “But her death was…”, so it seems that Yuji’s mother had already died and Kenjaku took over her.
Moreover, Kenjaku said, “Thank you for getting along with my son” to Sasaki-san, a frend of Itadori, and “Even I’m impressed. Sukuna’s vessel is tough.” to Itadori.
However, the reason why Kenjaku selected Itadori as a vessel of Sukuna is still unknown
In any case, there is no doubt that Kenjaku created Yuji Itadori.
Death
Itadori has died twice so far.
The First Death
The first death was in Vol. 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen, when Sukuna took Itadori’s heart.
After that, Sukuna made the Binding Vows with Itadori and revived him.
Sukuna
・Sukuna will revive Itadori with his reverse cursed technique.
Itadori
・Itadori lets Sukuna take over Itadori’s body for one minutes when Sukuna chants “Enchain”.
（Sukuna won’t kill or hurt anyone in this time）
・Itadori will forget about the Binding Vows.
The purpose for which Sukuna made these Binding Vows is not revealed, but it is probably to completely come back to life again by Fushiguro’s cursed technique.
Actually, Sukuna doesn’t care about anything but Fushiguro, and when Fushiguro grew and acquired Domain Expansion, he said, “Good. That’s good.”
Furthermore, the motif of Fushuguro’s Ten Shadows Technique would be 十種神宝(Tokusanokandaga).
Tokusanokandaga is the ten kinds of ancient Japanese treasures which can revive the dead.
So, it may be necessary to come out for 1 minute in order to completely revive using this cursed technique.
In addition, the purpose of the Binding Vows would contain to recover Itadori with the reverse cursed technique so that Sukuna himself would not die, which is corresponding to what Mahito said to Sukuna – “Surely you have some sort of understanding with Itadori. But I won’t let that happen. He’ll be dead before you can switch him.”
The Second Death
Next, Itadori’s second death was due to his heart being pierced by Okkotsu.
In exchange for becoming Itadori’s executioner, Okkotsu tied Vinding Bows with the upper echelons to kill Yuji Itadori.
So, just after truly killing Itadori by piercing his heart, Okkotsu activated reverse cursed technique to heale and revive Itadori.
Just like Sukuna did, reverse cursed technique can revive the dead if it hasn’t been that long since they died.
That’s about the fact that Itadori died twice.
Quotes
I can’t say what I’ll be thinking when I die, but I’m not wanna regret the way I live!
What does it mean to die naturally?
I’ll be sure to take on your share of suffering too, Namami.
I’m just a cog… and cogs have a function.
What’s your function?
Yeah… I did that. I’m not lying, and I won’t deny it
Postscript
This is the article about “Yuji Itadori Eeplained by a Native Japanese”.
Other articles explained the interesting and important issues in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Plese read them as well.
In addition, the Japanese version of this article is here.