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Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 (otherwise styled as Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 42) features the death of one of the most beloved characters in the series. This was Kento Nanami’s last appearance in the living world, and with it, the Shibuya Incident arc entered its third and final act.
The pace of adaptation in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 is perhaps the slowest of the entire season, having only adapter 2.5 chapters. It stretched out Nanami’s final moments and added more details to Mahito’s fight against Yuji and Nobara. The quality, however, did not suffer because of this.
In the previous episode, Megumi unleashed Mahoraga against Shigemo in a joint exorcism ritual. Sukuna arrived on time and defeated Mahoraga, saving Megumi, but killed Shigemo moments later. After delivering Megumi to Shoko, Sukuna relinquished control to a horrified Yuji. Kento Nanami was seen walking through Shibuya Station in a half-burnt state.
Disclaimer: The article contains analysis and mention of canon typical violence. Readers’ discretion is advised.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 shows Nanami’s final moments as Yuji and Nobara separately confront Mahito
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 is titled “Right and Wrong”. It begins with Yuji walking through Shibuya Station as the words of Megumi, Gojo, Yaga, Nobara, Nanami, and Sukuna come back to him. After walking for a while, he hears the sound of fighting and rushes towards it. As he rounds a bend, he sees Nanami and Mahito.
The episode then picks up from the previous episode’s post-credit scene, when Nanami was walking through Shibuya Station at 11.14 PM. Nanami meets a hoard of Transfigured Humans, but he seems to be completely operating on autopilot. He keeps thinking about his retirement plan, in which he had hoped to go to Malaysia.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18: The death of Kento Nanami
Nanami wanted to go to Kuantan, live in a beach cottage, read books all day, and enjoy the peace that the sea brings. As he begins imagining it, he reminds himself that he must go rescue Megumi. He also wonders where Maki and Naobito ended up.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 then shows a heart-wrenching montage of Nanami working his way through the accumulated Transfigured Humans interspersed with him enjoying the bright blue seas and golden sand of Malaysia in his hypothetical retirement plan.
As soon as Nanami finishes off the last Transfigured Human, he notices Mahito standing behind him and already touching his back. Upon being asked, the Cursed Spirit confirms that he’d been her the whole time and was waiting to catch Nanami off guard. Realizing that he lost, Nanami hopes what he has done is enough.
He then sees a vision of Haibara standing before him, pointing behind Nanami where Yuji has just stumbled upon this scene. Nanami is reluctant to leave Yuji with any parting words lest they become a Curse upon the boy, but Haibara encourages him. Just before Mahito kills him, Nanami looks at Yuji and leaves him with his infamous words:
“Atoha tanomimasu (I leave the rest to you/ You’ve got it from here).”
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18: Yuji Vs. Mahito, round 2
Shocked, horrified, and blinded by rage, Yuji charges at Mahito. They fight until Mahito manages to surprise Yuji and slash his face, giving him his infamous scar. Yuji once again asks how Mahito can toy with so many lives without a shred of remorse.
Mahito mockingly replies that maybe he will start counting the lives he takes from now on. To further torment Yuji, Mahito forms a replica of Junpei and stabs it through the head. He informs Yuji that they are the same, both killers on the opposite sides of right and wrong.
Until Yuji learns to accept this simple truth, he cannot hope to defeat Mahito. The two charge at each other and continue to battle. By 11.19 pm, Mahito runs inward until he reaches the Dogenzaka Gate of Shibyua Central. When Yuji follows him, he finds two bystanders.
As he tries to usher them to safety, Mahito emerges from within one of the bystanders and attacks Yuji. He holds a blade to the other civilian’s throat as he realizes that killing more innocent people is the best way to burden and eventually break Yuji’s soul.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18: Yuji Vs. Mahito, round 2
Mahito also talks about an ace up his sleeves. In a flashback, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 reveals that at 9.30 pm, after the Cursed Spirits agreed to hunt Yuji separately, Mahito debuted his new Technique of dividing his body into two. One of them went underground, and that is the version that eventually ended up fighting Yuji at present.
The other one had gone above ground. At 11.16 pm at Dogenzaka Alley, this second Mahito runs into Nobara Kugisaki, who had entered the Curtain after taking Akari Nitta to safety. Nobara recognizes Mahito from Yuji’s description and reminds herself to steer clear of his hands lest he employs Idle Transfiguration.
As they begin to fight, Nobara forces herself to remember when she defeated the Death Painting. She uses Hairpin on Mahito and injures him, which he admits should not happen. Mahito understands that Nobara is someone close to Yuji and plans to kill her to break the boy.
Final thoughts
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 made several changes to Nanami’s final moments, dragging it out and adding more creative details. It made the effect of his death on Yuji clearer. Nanami had been Yuji’s mentor, in some ways more than Gojo, and to lose him so soon after the horrifying events of the Shibuya Massacre imbalanced Yuji more than anything else.
In a way, Mahito is correct, and until Yuji can accept the inherent similarity between Jujustu Sorcerers and the Curses they hunt, he can never tap into the rationality that’s needed to kill someone. In this episode, he is seen hesitating to harm those he thinks are innocent, even if they are beyond saving. This is a habit which, while admirable, has been proven to be unbefitting of a Jujutsu sorcerer.
This habit has cost him dearly during the Detention center arc. However, yuji being who he is, will not snap out of this trait until it costs him someone he truly cares about. While Junpei still remains a burning lesson in this regard, manga readers will know that Yuji only sheds the last of his innocence after the end of the Culling Game arc.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 18 also begins Nobara’s fight against Mahito. An important thing to note is that both Nobara and Yuji are at Dogenzaka, indicating that they might meet soon. Another point is that by the time Yuji reaches the Dogenzaka gate, Nobara has been fighting the other Mahito for 3 minutes already.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s faring badly. In fact, Hairpin injuring Mahito is a feat, and even Mahito admits that it is not supposed to happen. Nobara, whose Straw Doll Technique affects her opponent’s soul, seems to be the perfect match for Mahito, who can touch and change the shape of one’s soul. It remains to be seen how episode 19 plays this battle out.
Related links:
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Complete Schedule
Major Deaths in the Shibuya arc
