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The first season of Jujutsu Kaisen received a lot of praise due to the variety of characterization of its female cast and how many of them had great fighting skills and interesting personalities. Nobara Kugisaki, who was part of the main quartet of the series alongside Yuji Itadori, Satoru Gojo, and Megumi Fushiguro, was one of the characters who received the most praise because of her independent and charismatic personality.
However, as the Jujutsu Kaisen manga progressed, there was a steady decline in the way that the female characters were portrayed and many of them, despite their initial promise, failed to live up to their hype.
Among the cast, Nobara was probably the biggest example of wasted potential. Some people argued that Sakura Haruno from Naruto, a character Nobara was heavily compared to in the anime community, had a much more prevalent role in her own series despite being widely regarded as a poorly-written female character.
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Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Nobara Kugisaki had a much lesser role than Naruto’s Sakura Haruno and was wasted potential: Explained
Nobara was initially hailed as a breath of fresh air in the shonen genre when she was first introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen. This was because of her abrasive personality and determination, becoming a female character who wasn’t sexualized and wasn’t relying on a man to save her. Moreover, a lot of people claimed that she was like Naruto’s Sakura Haruno but “written well.”
This comparison was a result of people comparing Gege Akutami’s series and its main quarter to Team 7, with Yuji and Naruto, Megumi and Sasuke, and Gojo and Kakashi completing the parallels.
However, Nobara was killed by Mahito during the Shibuya Incident Arc, and while some fans have held onto the hope of her coming back, everything seems to suggest that she won't return.
A lot of people have voiced their disappointment with the way she was handled, considering that she had a lot of potential to grow and wasn’t used to the best of her abilities. Even Sakura was able to defeat an Akatsuki member, Sasori, with the help of Grandma Chiyo in Naruto Shippuden.
Furthermore, Nobara didn’t have any significant plot threads or connections to other relevant characters beyond the aforementioned Yuji, Gojo, and Megumi. Gojo had his connection with Suguru Geto and his role as “the strongest,” and Yuji has his role as Sukuna’s vessel and further connections with Choso and Kenjaku.
Likewise, Megumi wanted to save his sister, was part of the Zen’in clan, and his father was Toji Fushiguro. However, Nobara didn’t have a significant plot or arc to go through, which is why she was removed from the story and was seemingly forgotten.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s character problems go beyond gender
While it is true that the vast majority of the female cast in Jujutsu Kaisen has gotten fairly disappointing treatment throughout the series, it is also worth pointing out that this is a writing problem that goes beyond just them. It is a running issue that author Gege Akutami has been dealing with throughout most of the series.
The series has a running problem of not developing characters enough, which often leads to them being killed and removed from the story without a satisfying journey. Nobara, as mentioned earlier, is a very good example of this issue, although characters like Yuki Tsukumo and Hajime Kashimo are also recent examples of this trope.
Naturally, it is not just about killing the characters since there are examples such as Aoi Todo or Inumaki who were written out of the story. Once Todo loses his hand and Cursed Technique in the fight against Mahito in the Shibuya Incident Arc, he is never seen again in the story, which adds to the criticism.
Final thoughts
Nobara Kugisaki's potential was wasted in Jujutsu Kaisen because of her initial role as a main character and how she was unceremoniously removed from the story. Furthermore, there is a strong argument to be made that author Gege Akutami never gave her a strong plot point to develop her character while she was alive.
