the humanity of satoru gojō and the importance of suguru getō
a jujutsu kaisen thread
the premise of this thread is that geto represents gojo’s humanity (the humanity within ‘god’) and their love becomes a curse which ultimately brings him down. jjk is a ‘story of love and curses’ with geto and gojo embodying this principal fully. +
gojo is characterised as the ‘strongest’, strength is inseparable from his very identity but he’s at his best when he is alone. when kenjaku says this the word is caught in a bubble showing the fragility of this concept - gojo’s humanity (geto) means he cannot be truly alone. +
hence it’s just by seeing geto’s body that he is caught. ‘all possibilities were rejected by his six eyes’ which represent enlightenment and godhood but it is his HUMAN brain that succumbs to the memory of their bond together. geto is both love and a curse for gojo. +
it’s even better when you look at limitless as the extension of gojo’s godhood (literally untouchable). he’s brought down by remembering a time when that very technique was still fallible - the time of his one and only true bond. +
Gojo also represents an impossible ideal for geto. Geto could never be happy in this world and therefore warps himself into a ‘curse’ (through the very consumption of curses) in order to attain the type of power gojo had in birth. geto represents the effects of a warped society.+
his god-complex is pretty apparent. long ears in buddhism are a representation of enlightenment so geto wears earrings which lengthen then. these earrings are the very materialistic and ego driven statement the buddha rejects. geto liking being called ‘buddha’ also plays in. +
the theme of love and curses is strengthened when you view the yuta/rika dynamic as the other side of the same coin. rika is a literal curse that yuta created through love but geto is the ‘evil’ curse user who becomes a metaphorical curse for gojo through their love. +
gojo is strongest when he is alone but yuta gains his ‘godlike’ power through the curse rika. gojo is the ideal sukuna speaks of, strength within oneself whereas yuta represents the opposite and this is why kenjaku dismissed him as the one who could take over gojo. +
gege twists these buddhist ideas just like his commentary on traditional agency. the ‘strongest’ is a tool used to balance his world, unable to change anything himself. this is highlighted through geto becoming a curse through his own volition whereas yuta creates rika himself. +
geto is the product of his society, the embodiment of the cycle of suffering (samsara) hence his use of the uzumaki SPIRAL as his maximum technique. it’s also a parallel to toji, another product of trauma, who wraps himself in a cyclical curse despite being ‘free’ from CE. +
jujutsu kaisen is a story about love and curses, with gojo and geto showing how these two concepts can be intrinsically linked to each other. the tragedy of their bond is symbolic of the tragedy that resides within their world and it’s beautifully done.
thanks for reading 🤍
oh and you can read my other thread on love and curses highlighting yuji as the mc if you are interested here.
thread exploring mikasa, eren, and what ‘love’ can mean in attack on titan
firstly, the functional reasons why he doesn’t know. erens eyes are closed in the mouth of his titan, he opens them when mikasa enters and he only sees her (eye reflection) once his head was severed. just like when he didn’t know how he entered paths after gabi shot him
this lack of knowledge is important because it ties into how his memories work. when he talks to zeke in marley he states that he didn't just see memories, he ‘felt' them. essentially eren fully EXPERIENCES the memories he holds as if he himself lived them
actual ‘reaches’ (not foreshadowing btw wrong word):
-pg 13 only numbered page in aot (links to long dream, 9 pages long)
-ymir + zeke from page they got powers to page of death = 13 pages
-eren wakes up pg 45 in yr 845, dies ch138 pg 45
- 139 = end of a cycle
complete breakdown of eren’s psyche, mikasa’s role, and the battle between free will and determinism in attack on titan ep87: ‘the dawn of humanity’
this episode is the first real look into eren’s psyche since the timeskip and it’s centred on two main concepts: his determination and his self loathing. his venture into the outside world changes his perspective but it doesn’t stop him from following through. +
for this it’s important to note that his coldness in his conversations with floch and historia is BEFORE he crosses the ocean. he can still view them all as enemies who he is fighting but he’s forced to accept the reality that they’re ‘all the same’ once he sees them for himself+
thread looking at annie, floch, armin, mikasa and the rise of the yeagerists
attack on titan episode 82: ‘sunset’
the episode opens with the ruins of stohess. this is a call back to s1 where erwins plan led to the capture of annie with lots of civilian casualties at the same place. erwin was later revealed to be led by his ‘selfish’ dream, and this selfishness is what allowed him to +
sacrifice others. his burden and guilt gives rise to questions concerning eren’s own mind. he said he was doing the rumbling to protect paradis but his actions have led to the titanisation of paradisians along with civilian casualties. it’s aligned with another important +
the second noble truth in buddhism teaches us that because we believe we are a permanent and unchanging self we fall into clinging and craving, jealousy and hate, and all other poisons that cause unhappiness. this is kokushibo and his search for the ‘self’. +
yoriichi and kokushibo present two opposing halves, much like other siblings have throughout demon slayer. one was given the rights to the house, education, clothes etc while the other was ‘blessed’ with talent. kokushibo’s journey stems from egotism. +
it was mostly emphasis on the fact the desire to be strong is borne from insecurity (weakness) or past failures. it was the same for uzui, tanjiro and the other demons. demons are humans who gave into the desperation of their weaknesses and through that lost their humanity. +
the hatred akaza felt was just an extension of self loathing, the weakness he abhorred in himself. this is when muzan plays in. the process of becoming a demon is what removes the memories of the past, they become lost in their anguish and are reborn into suffering (samsara). +