Yuki Tsukumo is one of the sorcerers who bears the strongest title of “Special Grade” in Jujutsu Kaisen.
In this article, a native Japanese writer explained Yuki Tsukumo including the Japanese backgrounds.
Notes
The basic information about Tsukumo Yuki is summarized below.
| Height | Around 173 cm |
| Age | Around 36 years old |
| Personality | Cheerful Clever |
| Stress | Mission |
| Cursed Technique | Bom Ba Ye |
| Skill | Domain Expansion Simple Domain Reverse Cursed Technique Black Hole |
| Hobby | Motorcycle |
| Favorite Food | Chicken burrito |
| Bad Food | Seaweed |
| Grade | Special Grade |
| Voice Actress | Noriko Hidaka |
The height of Tsukumo has not been revealed.
However, in the scene where Tsukumo and others went to see Tengen in the Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 17, she seemed to be about the same height as Itadori (173 cm).
So, the height of Tsukumo seems to be 173 cm.
In addition the age of Tsukumo has not been revealed.
However, Tsukumo appeared in front of Geto 11 years ago and she seemed to be about 25 years old.
So, the present age of Tsukumo may be around 36 years old.
By the way, the personality of Tsukumo is cheerful and clever.
Tsukumo appeared at the last of Shibuya Incident to save Itadori and others.
In spite of such a serious scene, Tsukumo appeared with a playful line, “What kind of girls are you into?”, blowing kisses, and a heart background.
In fact, even in the scene where she was seriously questioning with Kenjaku, she brightly said, “He’s pissing me off. Let’s go beat him down.”
However, behind these silly words, there is a clear purpose of gaining time for Lalu, so Tsukumo would be quite clever.
In fact, Tsukumo has spent many years exploring how cursed energy should be handled and the world should be in the future.
By the way, Tsukumo’s stress is missions, and she has not received a mission for many years.
This is because Tsukumo believes that exorcising cursed spilits is nothing more than symptomatic treatment, and the causal therapy is to create a world in which cursed spilits do not occur.
By the way, according to the official fanbook, Tsukumo’s salary has stopped because she has not received any missions.
But, Meimei possesses 50 billion yen (≒ $500 million) and Gojo casually transfers 10 million yen (≒ $100,000) to Meimei, Jujutsu sorcerers would be a pretty lucrative job.
So, special-grade Jujutsu sorcerer like Tsukumo would already have enough money to live and play for the rest of her life, and there must be no problem without salary.
Also, according to the official fanbook, the reason why Tsukumo is not fired even though she has not received any missions is because she is a special grade.
The above is the basic information about Yuki Tsukumo.
Cursed Technique: Bom Ba Ye
The Tsukumo’s cursed technique is Bom Ba Ye.
Bom Ba Ye gives the virtual mass into herself or Garuda.
The virtual mass given by Bom Ba Ye does not decrease the speed, so it is possible to increase only the power of the attack.
Actually, in episode 205 of the Jujutsu Kaisen, Tsukumo blew off the Kenjaku’s arm with a single blow, and ignored the effect of the special-grade cursed spilit having the cursed techniqe to remove obstacles.
Also, in vol. 16 of the Jujutsu Kaisen, Tsukumo would have given the virtual mass into Garuda and destroyed the ice block dropped by Uraume.
By the way, Garuda’s true identity is a shikigami that Tsukumo has repeatedly given the virtual mass and turned into a cursed tool.
In fact, the official fanbook states that if you repeatedly pour cursed energy into an object or give it a cursed technique for many times, it will become a cursed tool.
In addition, Kenjaku said that Tshukumo would have an expanded cursed technique which can overthrow a nation because she is a special grade Jujutsu sorcerer.
And, the expanded cursed technique must be Black Hole.
Black holes are created by concentrating mass.
The Tsukumo’s cursed technique can give mass without upper limit, so it can also create a Black Hole.
However, Tsukumo would have rarely used the expanded cursed technique, because the Black Hole is powerful enough to involve the whole world without the Tengen’s barrier.
Motif of Bom Ba Ye
The original source of Bom Ba Ye may be Antonio Inoki’s theme song, Flame Fighter.
The phrase “Inoki, Bom Ba Ye!” repeats in the Flame Fighter.
The reason for using Inoki may be in memory of the recently deceased Inoki.
By the way, “Bom Ba Ye” means “Kill it” in the Lingala language used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
So, “Bom Ba Ye” would reflect the overwhelming destructive power of the Tsukumo’s cursed technique.
Japanese Meanings
The Japanese letters of Bom Ba Ye is “星の怒り”.
The Japanese “星の怒り” means “the rage of stars”.
“星 (Star)” may correspond to the fact that Tsukumo is Star Plasma Vessel.
“怒り (Rage)” may represent the destructive power of the Tsukumo’s cursed technique.
Strength
Tsukumo is very strong as she is a one of the only four of special grade Jujutsu sorcerers.
So, the strength of Tsukumo would be at least on par with Okkotsu & Geto.
The next point is that when Tsukumo missed Kenjaku in the Shibuya Incident, she said, “Sorry for not acting sooner. I wasn’t sure what to do.”, which would implies she was able to stop 10 million cursed spirits.
In addition, Tsukumo cornered the Kenjaku with Choso and Tengen, oen of the strongest sorcerers who have survived for 1000 years.
In addition, Tsukumo can use Domain Expansion, Simple Domain, Reverse Cursed Technique, Expansion Cursed Technique, etc.
And since Tsukumo can use reverse cursed technique, she would also be able to use cursed technique reversal (zero mass?).
In summary, Tsukumo excels in a variety of Jujutsu skills, so there is no doubt that she is a top-class strength in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Origin of Tsukumo (九十九)
Japanese meanings of 九十九 is ninety-nine.
And, the surname 九十九 is rare in Japan.
The origin of the name Tsukumo (九十九) is not officially revealed.
But, perhaps the origin of the name of “九十九由基 (Yuki Tsukumo)” is “九十九恢勝 (Hiromasa Tsukumo)”, the name of the main charactor of “No. 9” which the author of Jujutsu Kaisen Mr. Akutami drew.
That is because some settings of Jujutsu Kaisen are based on that of No. 9.
For example, 9 boxes appear by chanting “□x9 (box nine)” and you can take out the weapons from those boxes by chanting “open” in the No. 9.
This would correspond to the Sukuna‘s “■” and “open” when he puts out flames.
Therefore, the origin of the name of “九十九由基 (Yuki Tsukumo)” would be “九十九恢勝 (Hiromasa Tsukumo)”
Purpose
The purpose of Tsukumo is to treat the cause of the occurrence of cursed spirits.
In other words, the purpose of Tsukumo is to create a world where cursed spirits are never born.
To achieve this goal, Tsukumo mentioned the following two ways
How to create the new world
1, Eliminate all the cursed energy from human beings (Breaking away from cursed energy)
2, Allow all human beings to control cursed energy (Optimization of cursed energy)
“1, Eliminate all the cursed energy from human beings” is easy to understand, because if the cursed energy disappears from the world, the cursed spirits, the sediment of cursed energy, will not occur.
The one of the model case is Toji Fushiguro who has no cursed energy.
In order to remove all the cursed energy from the world, it would be nice to somehow make all human beings have no cursed energy like Toji Fushiguro.
However, Tsukumo said 11 years ago that it would be difficult to remove all the cursed energy from all human beings because there are few samples who have no cursed energy like Toji.
However, in Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 16, Tsukumo said that she has currently returned to her original intention to eliminate all the cursed power from all humankind” is his favorite plan.
Next, “2, Allow all human beings to control cursed energy” is just the same to “creating a world only sorcerers lives in”, which Geto wished.
Jujutsu sorcerers can control cursed energy, so if all mankind becomes a sorcerer, the curse dspirits will never occur.
To create this world, Geto tried to kill all of non-sorcerers.
Tsukumo noticed that what geto did was the easiest way to achieve the goal, but she said, “I ain’t that crazy”.
By the way, not only Geto but also Kenjaku have come up with a similar idea.
In fact, Culling Game Kensaku conducted is a ritual that optimizes cursed energy to turn all Japanese into a cursed spilit.
Regarding the optimization plan of Kensaku, Tsukumo said that if Japan monopolizes the energy of curse, it is easy to imagine what kind of tragedy will occur.
Summarizing the above situation, the purpose of Tsukumo is to create a world where no cursed spirits exist, but it may be also to reduce the misfortune of mankind.
If Tsukumo had carried out the optimization plan, the result would have been worse than Geto’s Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
Star Plasma Vessel
It is revealed in episode 202 of the Jujutsu Kaisen that Tsukumo is the predecessor of Star Plasma Vessel.
Tsukumo intended to merge with Tengen, but she was no longer needed when a better Star Plasma Vessel, Amanai, appeared.
This is why Tsukumo and Tengen are bad.
In addition, Tsukumo can hear the voice of the Star Plasma Vessel that has merged with Tengen.
In fact, Tsukumo said, “And that’s why your voice doesn’t proliherate”, and Tengen said to Tsukumo, “You can hear their voices in me, right?”
However, it is still unknown why Tsukumo can hear the voice of the Star Plasma Vessel that has merged with Tengen.
It would be possible that the Star Plasma Vessel can communicate with each other, just as the Choso sensed the death of the blood-related Itadori.
Quotes
What kind of girls are you into?
Looking down on non-sorcerers. Resisting that feeling. Those are just possibilities you’ve thought of.
He’s pissing me off. Let’s go beat him down.
I’m just a humble beauty who want to eradicate cursed spilits from the world.
I won’t make it that easy for you. as a former Star Plasma Vessel. That’s my responsibility.
My type is a hard-working, muddy guy.
I may be an only child, but good work, big brother.!!
Postscript
This is the article about “Yuki Tsukumo Explained 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.