Kenjaku is the sorcerer who would be the mastermind behind the story of the Jujutsu Kaisen.
He is also known as Pseudo-Geto.
However, there are still many mysterious points about Kenjaku.
In this article, a native Japanese writer explained Kenjaku including the Japanese backgrounds.
Notes
The basic notes of Kenjaku is summarized below.
| Age | Over 1000 years old |
| Cursed Technique | ・Taking over a body ・Techniques the body has |
| Domain Expansion | Womb Profusion |
| Other Techniques | ・Reverse cursed technique ・Cursed technique reversal ・Barrier technique |
| Persons Kenjaku Took Over | ・Suguru Geto ・Kaori Itadori ・Noritoshi Kamo |
| Grade | Special-grade class |
| Personality | ・Smart ・Full of curiosity ・Mad |
| Voice Actor | Lex Lang |
I will explain in detail below.
Identity
Kenjaku’s true identity is a sorcerer from over a thousand years ago.
It is still unknown when and where Kenjaku was born.
However, Kenjaku said he have been making contracts with sorcerers and cursed spirits since a thousand years ago, which suggests Kenjaku existed in this world at least a thousand years ago.
By the way, since Kenjaku possessed a million cursed spirits, he would have made a contract with about 3 cursed spirits per day for 1000 years.
The fact that he has been striving for more than a thousand years maight be something we should learn…
Cursed Technique
Well, the reason why Kenjaku, the sorcerer of over a thousand years ago, is still alive is because his cursed technique is taking over someone else’s body by replacing the brain.
In other words, Kenjaku have survived to the present day by moving to new bodies using his cursed technique.
For example, Kenjaku have taken over Noritoshi Kamo, Kaori Itadori, Suguru Geto, and so on.
Also, Kenjaku would have taken over more than 10 other people because he has lived for over a thousand years.
However, it is not specified how Kenjaku inhabits the body.
At least, Kenjaku said that he have obtained the body of Geto easily because Gojo was lax about disposing of it, which implies that the corpse is necessary to take over the body.
By the way, a stitch remains on the forehead of the person Kenjaku hijacked.
Kenjaku can erase this stitch with the reverse cursed technique, but the official fan book states that Kenjaku does not erase it on purpose because of the Binding Vows.
And in this stitch there is a Kenjaku that looks like a melon bread.
In Japan, some people call Kenjaku “Meronpan (=melon bread)”
Japanese “キッショ” means “feel ill” or “numerous”.
On the Japanese internet, “キッショ” is one of the best quote of Kenjaku.
By the way, the appearance of Pseudo-Geto’s stitch have changed between the episodes of Shibuya Incident and Culling Game.
The reason why the appearence has changed is explained in other article.
Domain Expansion: Womb Profusion
Kenjaku is a user of barrier techniques second to Tengen.
Therefore, Kenjaku can use Domain Expansion (which gives the cursed technique to the barrier).
The name of Kenjaku’s Domain Expansion is “Womb Profusion”.
The Japanese meanings of Womb Profusion (胎蔵遍野; Taizohenya) is below.
胎蔵 (Taizo)
“胎蔵” is a Buddhist term.
“胎蔵” means “Buddha saves the masses with compassion”, which would be related with the Japanese meanings of “羂索 (Kenjaku)” as described later.
遍野 (Henya)
“遍野” is a Chinese term.
“遍野” represents “spraed all over” or “a lot of things”.
The scene in chapter 206, where Womb Profusion slammed Tsukumo into the ground, suggests the effect of Womb Profusion is to make sure the cursed technique of Gravity hits.
In addition, the barrier of Womb Profusion is not closed, just like Sukuna’s Malevolent Shrine.
So, Womb Profusion would has undergone some kind of improvement from the Binding Vows of not closing the barrier.
(In the case of Malevolent Shrine, the range of cursed technique to surely hit is expanded by 200 meters in radius).
What Does Kenjaku (羂索) Mean?
Next, I will explain the Japanese meanings of “羂索”.
“羂” means “慈悲 (Compassion)” and “索” means “救済 (Salvation)” in Japanese.
The words of Compassion and Salvation look odds with Kenjaku who released ten million cursed spirits and carried out Culling Game.
Tsukumo commented to the meaning of Kenjaku, “Gimme a break”.
In addition, the motif of Kenjaku would be “羂索 (Kensaku)”.
Kensaku is a Buddhist term and represents the rope held by Bodhisattvas to save lives.
In Buddhist, “羂” means “twisted”, and “索” means “rope”.
Relationship with Yuji Itadori
Kenjaku must be the mother of Yuji Itadori.
The evidences are summarized below.
Evidences that Kenjaku is Yuji’s mother
1, The stitch remains on the forehead of Yuji’s mother.
2, Kenjaku uses cursed technique of Itadori Kaori, Antigravity System.
3, Kenjaku said to a Yuji’s friend, “Thank you for getting along with my son”
4, Yuji is the brother to Choso who is created by Kenjaku.
About the first point, the person who seems to be the mother of Yuji appears in chapter 143 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
She calls Yuji’s grandfather “father-in-law”, which suggests this person is Kaori Itadori, the mother of Yuji.
And then, the stitch is on his forehead and Yuji’s grandfather said, “I know you (= Yuji’s father) a child and that didn’t happen with Kaori. But her death was…”, which suggests Kenjaku would have taken over Kaori’s body and gave birth to Yuji.
I’ve never seen such a mad boss who takes over the main character’s mother’s body and gives birth to him…
And, Kenjaku uses the technique of gravity which is the cursed technique reversal of Kaori’s Antigravity System.
Because Kenjaku can use the cursed technique engraved on the body he have ever taken over, he must have inhabit Kaori’s body,
About the third point, Yuji’s friend Sasaki-san appeared in chapter 160 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Sasaki-san is a senior at Occult Research Club that Yuji used to belong to, and is the person who broke the seal on Sukuna’s finger in the first episode of Jujutsu Kaisen.
In Jujutsu Kaisen episode 160, the Sasaki’s house has entered the colony of Culling Game, so Kenjaku appeared to explain the rules of Culling Game.
At that time, Kenjaku said so Sasaki-san, “Thank you for getting along with my son”.
The “son” Kenjaku referred to must be Yuji Itadori, which suggests that Kenjaku and Yuji are in a parent-child relationship.
About the third point, it is revealed in Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 135 that Yuuji is the brother of Choso.
In chapter 134, Choso said he has three parents, mother, father of a cursed spirit, the man who mixed his blood (= Kenjaku).
So, Choso draws the blood of Kenjaku, which means Yuji and Choso are borother.
From these points, Kenjaku must be the mother of Yuji Itadori.
Relationship with Yuta Okkotsu
There is no direct connection between Kenjaku and Okkotsu, but Geto, whose body Kenjaku inhabits, lost his life because Okkotsu defeated Geto in Jujutsu Kainsen Vol. 0.
However, Kenjaku thinks Geto would have won if he had not dispersed his forces between Tokyo and Kyoto.
In addtion, Kenjaku said about Okkotsu, “I don’t really get what everyone sees in him”.
The reason why Kenjaku isn’t interested in Okkotsu is that the ability of copy and boundless cursed energy are results of Okkotsu having to drain his loved one’s soul.
The soul of Rika passed away in Volume 0 of Jujutsu Kaisen, Kenjaku thinks that Okkotsu doesn’t have the potential to surpass Satoru Gojo.
The fact that Kenjaku doesn’t regard Okkotsu, a special-grade sorcerer, as a threat, shows the strength of Kenjaku.
Relation with Sukuna
Sukuna would be one of the sorcerers who made a contract with Kenjaku a thousand years ago, because Itadori was automatically registered as a player of Culling Game and said, “Maybe Sukuna is one of the sorcers who entered the contract with Kenjaku and became a Cursed Object”.
A person who has taken in a Cursed Object, which is the result of a sorcerer who contracted with Kenjaku, will be automatically registered as a player of Culling Game.
So, Sukuna would be a sorcerer who contracted with Kenjaku.
In addition, Kenjaku said to Sukuna in chapter 136, “Are you listening, Sukuna? It is becoming once again. The world of Heian. The golden age of cursed technique!”, which suggests Kenjaku knew Sukuna from 1000 years ago.
Moreover, the fact that Sukuna’s subordinate Uraume is trying to revive Sukuna in cooperation with Kenjaku also indicates that Sukuna has some kind of contract with Kenjaku.
Also, one of the purposes of the Kenjaku is to create “the golden age of cursed technique”, so Kenjaku was trying to revive Sukuna to achieve this purpose.
However, Kenjaku also said Sukuna is insurance for when Gojo cannot be sealed, which suggests that Kenjaku and Sukuna had a business-like relationship.
Relationship with Satoru Gojo
Kenjaku has a deep connection with Gojo and his Six Eyes.
In order to achieve the golden age of cursed technique, it is first necessary to prevent Tengen from merging with Star Plasma Vessel.
Here’s a quick summary of the steps to achieve the purpose of Kenjaku:
Steps to achieve the purpose of Kenjaku
1, Prevent the Tengen’s mergeing
2, Evolution of Tengen
3, Tengen’s merging with Japanese people
4, Evolution of Japanese people
4, Scattering cursed energy
6, The golden age of cursed technique
As described above, the first step of achieving Kenjaku’s goal is to prevent Tengen from merging with Star Plasma Vessel.
However, this prevention is very difficult because a sorcerer with Six Eyes will always appear when Tengen merges with Star Plasma Vessel.
Tengen expressed it as Tengen, Six Eyes, and Star Plasma Vessel are all connected by fate.
In fact, Kenjaku has been defeated by the Six Eyes sorcerer twice in the past, and failed to prevent the merging.
However, at the third time, Kenjaku successfully prevented the merging of Tengen in the intervention of Toji Fushiguro.
As a result of Toji’s intervention, Tengen evolved into a higher-order being.
Then, Gojo, a sorcerer with Six Eyes, is the biggest obstacle to merge Tengen with humankinds as the next step,
So, Kenjaku decided to seal Gojo.
In addition, one of the reasons why Kenjaku decided to seal Satoru Gojo rather than kill him is because two people with Six Eyes can’t exist at the same time.
In fact, in the second attempt to prevent the merging of Tengen, even though the Star Plasma Vessel and the Six Eyes were killed within a month after thier birth, the Star Plasma Vessel and the Six Eyes appeared on the day of merging.
By the way, the most important reason for sealing Gojo is that he is too strong even for Kenjaku to kill.
After careful preparations, Kenjaku finally succeeded to seal Gojo into Prison Realm.
The above is the relationship between Kenjaku and Satoru Gojo.
Purpose
The porpose of Kenjaku is to optimize cursed energy and create a new form of cursed energy.
Kenjaku mentioned his purpose in chapter 136 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Tsukumo
Do you remember our talk about how to create a world where curses no more exists?
No matter what method you adopt… human beings will advance one stage higher.
The next stage of humanity…
lies in breaking away from cursed energy.
Kenjaku
No.
It lies in optimizing cursed energy.
First, it is clear that Kenjaku is trying to evolve human beings because he planned Culling Game, a ritual to evolve human beings by merging with Tengen.
Then, what will happen to human beings if they have evolved through the merging with Tengen?
Tengen said about this question:
Tengen
I am not at what you see before you at this moment.
My evolved soul exists all around us.
As I said, my self is now the world itself.
A human who merged with me transforms into something greater than a sorcerer as a new being that is both there and not there.
I possess barrier techniques so I am able to maintain this form and self-control even after evolving.
However, if humankind evolves, and even if only one person rages out of control, the world will end.
Tsukumo
Why?
Tengen
There would be no boundaries between individuals, so evil would spread instantaneously.
The inpurities of a hundred million people would flood the world.
What just happened to Tokyo would happen to the entire world.
What Tengen said suggests that the evolved human beings are both there and not there and have no boundaries between individuals.
And, 100 million people’s impurities (≒ cursed energy) flows out into the world instantaneously.
So, the optimization of cursed energy Kenjaku referred to would be to draw out all the cursed energy from the evolved human beings.
Inaddition, Kenjaku believes that human beings are posibility of cursed energy and there must be more to human potential.
From these poitns, the purpose of Kenjaku is to draw out cursed energy from human beings, and create a new form of cursed energy.
In fact, one of the purposes of Kenjaku is revealed in chapter 202 – to create a cursed spirit from the cursed energy of 100 million people through the merging of humankind and Tengen.
Actually, Kenjaku is interested in what the cursed spilits is, and said, “It just sounds fun. But I won’t know whether or not it is until it’s done.”, “What if that conglomeration of cursed energy ends up looking like a funny face? Wouldn’t that be hilarious, HAHA!”.
In conclusion, the purpose of Kenjaku is to create a something new with cursed energy in order to see something interesting.
Quotes
Yeesh! How’d you know?
Good night, Satoru Gojo. Let us meet again in the new world.
Regret, huh? I’ve forgotten what that feels like.
Non-sorcerers. Sorcerers. Cursed spilits. These are all posibilities of cursed energy in the form of human beings.
What I can create does not exceed the bounds of my own potential.
It just sounds fun. But I won’t know whether or not it is until it’s done.
What if that conglomeration of cursed energy ends up looking like a funny face? Wouldn’t that be hilarious, HAHA!
I have lived. A thouand years!! of conflicts!! and alliances!! a cursed world!!
Postscript
This is the article about “Kenjaku 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 about Kenjaku is here.