Did Gege Akutami sideline Yuji Itadori in Jujutsu Kaisen? Protagonist controversy explained

Author and illustrator Gege Akutami’s highly regarded Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most popular shonen anime and manga series to debut in recent years. Originally debuting with regular serialization in March 2018 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the series has only risen in popularity and quality.

While there are many reasons why Jujutsu Kaisen is so popular, arguably the most frequently cited factor stems from the depth of its overall cast and how likable each character is. The series excels at sparking emotional responses from audience members for even the most minimally impactful or present characters, such as Hiromi Higuruma.

However, one fallout of such depth, which has become apparent in recent years, is how focus and fan attention are often taken away from Yuji Itadori, Jujutsu Kaisen’s protagonist. In fact, with the series’ apparent final fight at hand and Yuji watching from the sidelines, some fans are questioning whether or not Akutami sidelined the character in the later sections of the series so far.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer

---

Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist outshone by fans’ love for, investment in Megumi and Gojo’s relationship

Did Akutami sideline Yuji? Explained

At the onset of Jujutsu Kaisen, a clear and concerted effort was made by Akutami to emphasize to readers that Yuji is indeed the series’ protagonist. This trend continues through the Shibuya Incident arc and even beyond that point.

However, the Perfect Preparation arc is where the waters began to muddy regarding whether or not Yuji had been sidelined to give other, more fan-favorite characters attention. While Yuji didn’t necessarily receive less attention than other characters during this arc, he certainly was not given as much focus as one would assume a protagonist would be given.

Jujutsu Kaisen’s various Culling Game arcs further exemplify this. While Yuji isn’t necessarily at a disadvantage in terms of overall screen time relative to other characters who appear in the arcs, he also wasn’t put in a clear focus despite being the alleged protagonist. It’s certainly a tricky situation, as the narrative structure of the Culling Game arcs does necessitate this approach in some way.

Contrarily, however, one area where Yuji was definitely at a disadvantage is the actual fights he got into during the Culling Game arcs. Essentially, his only significant bout was with Hiromi Higuruma, which was more a mental battle against his opponent’s courtroom-like Domain Expansion than a fight in the series’ more traditional and physical sense.

Unfortunately, the aftermath of the Culling Game arcs only furthered this perspective by having Sukuna move from Yuji Itadori’s body into Megumi Fushiguro’s.

Being able to control and be a vessel for Sukuna is one of the biggest reasons why Yuji has been the series protagonist up to this point. Losing even this aspect of his character almost demotes him to a secondary focus behind the now “Sukunafied” Megumi Fushiguro.

This trend has continued into the current events of Jujutsu Kaisen, which are now seeing Satoru Gojo take on Sukuna while Yuji sits on the sidelines. Although Gojo is obviously the right first choice to fight against Sukuna, Yuji is being sidelined in what is arguably the series’ biggest fight so far.

While the series is enjoyable nevertheless, it’s hard to argue against the claim that Akutami has indeed sidelined Yuji.

---

Be sure to keep up with all Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.