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Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 178 turned out to be a rollercoaster ride as it saw the beginning of a high-stakes battle between Okkotsu Yuta, Takako Uro and Ishigori Ryu.
However, what fans were most excited about was Rika's return to action. Manga readers have been eager to see Yuta using his cursed technique since it was obvious that he was more than just adept at the Reverse Cursed Technique.
Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen manga ahead.
Everything we know about Okkotsu Yuta’s cursed technique from Jujutsu Kaisen
What we knew from Jujutsu Kaisen volume 0 and the Shibuya arc
The prologue manga, which starred Yuta as the protagonist, first introduced Orimoto Rika’s vengeful spirit. His control over Rika and her immense cursed energy seemed to be directly linked to his own emotions.
This became evident when his fury at Geto caused an explosive increase in his own cursed energy and abilities. This same emotional outburst removed the limiters on Rika’s cursed energy.
The reason for this connection became clear when Yuta admitted to Gojo that he was the one who had unintentionally cursed Rika and turned her into a vengeful spirit.
This is related to the revelation that he is a descendant of Sugawara Michizane and a distant relative of the Gojo clan. His heritage is what caused him to inadvertently bind Rika's soul to him.
Yuta, who was seen once again towards the end of the Shibuya Incident arc, turned out to be an exceptionally powerful opponent, even putting Zenin Naoya and Choso on edge.
Yuta used Rika to pursue and capture Yuuji before using Reverse Cursed Technique to revive him after his “execution.” However, he did not use his cursed technique.
What Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 178 reveals
Followers of the series were confused about how Yuta could still summon Rika even after setting her soul free at the end of the prologue manga.
Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 178 explained that this “Rika” is not the vengeful spirit Rika Orimoto. Instead, it is Yuta’s cursed technique Rika, which he can activate using the engagement ring Rika gave him.
This also explains why this new Rika looked different from the original special-grade vengeful spirit we saw in Jujutsu Kaisen 0.
This new manifestation of Rika was also able to store a large number of weapons for Yuta and act as a reservoir of cursed energy.
The chapter also finally introduced Yuta’s cursed technique, “Mimicry” or “Copy,” which allowed him to mimic other sorcerers’ cursed techniques. Yuta was able to use the Inumaki clan’s Cursed Speech using a cursed tool without suffering any backlash.
In Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 178, he took it a step further and used the technique directly by copying Toge. This caused the seals for Cursed Speech to appear on his mouth and tongue. This direct use also came without any backlash, probably due to his immense levels of curse energy.
Yuta was also able to imbue Rika into a metal arm and create Shikigami that looked like mini-Rikas.
Yuta's fights with Takako and Ishigori also established that he is able to use multiple copied cursed techniques simultaneously. He used Cursed Speech and then Dhruv Lakdawala’s cursed technique against Takako while maintaining a fully manifested Rika, who was fighting Ishigori.
The chapter also revealed that Yuta could currently maintain the link for Rika’s full manifestation for just five minutes. It is still unknown if such a time limit applies to every technique Yuta copies, but it is possible that the duration will depend on how powerful the copied technique is.
It is already evident that Yuta is able to store already copied cursed techniques and activate them at will at a later time.
His attempts to analyze Takako’s cursed technique also gave fans a clue as to how his ability might work. He mused that her ability to manipulate space must involve some secret trick, so understanding the fundamentals of the cursed technique might be necessary for him to copy it.
What remains to be seen is the result of Yuta's use of Domain Expansion. Domains usually reflect the essence of a sorcerer’s innate cursed technique.
Yuta’s tendency to copy other techniques opens up many possibilities. His domain may copy the cursed technique of anyone trapped in the space and then model itself after the copied ability. Another possibility is that his domain will be based on Rika.
However, nothing can be confirmed for sure until Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 179 is released.
