Thread by @SpeedyOnSpeed

HIROMI HIGURUMA: The Eyes of Justice

Character Analysis Thread

Higuruma is immediately introduced as someone who fights against the reality of the world he lives in. Similarly to Yuji, he seeks to put into action what he feels is right, despite the rules and conditions of the world making that an impossibility.

Higuruma is not naive to these rules however, he knows that his attempts to deliver justice are fruitless but he states that it’s simply impossible for him to see something he feels is wrong and not at least try and correct it.

He tries to keep his emotions away from his work, but he breaks when he once again sees something in the eyes of a client wrongfully convicted. The eyes signify their innocence, which Higuruma has to carry the burden of.

‘Justice is blind’ - Higuruma explains that this impartiality in the courtroom does not exist and instead people now choose to be blind to what is right. He reverses the metaphor, he wants to keep his eyes open to the truth, to see the justice that has been betrayed be enacted.

His Domain Expansion, Deadly Sentencing, finally allows him to do so, Judgeman being symbolic of Lady Justice, enforcing impartiality. Furthermore, Higuruma’s switch from lawyer to prosecutor symbolises his switch from someone who believes in humanity to someone who condemns it.

It’s no coincidence he was put up against Yuji, as he represents the humanity that Higuruma abandoned. Empathy, altruism, these are all qualities Higuruma lost when he accepted unfair reality, a reality that Yuji relentlessly fights against, no matter how useless his efforts.

When Yuji confesses to a crime he didn’t commit, Higuruma realises he’s enacting the same injustice he worked so tirelessly to prevent. He can’t stand to stare into the eyes of innocence again, knowing he is now the one dealing the wrongful punishment.

He returns to his old self, and is shown to share the same guilt of murder as Yuji. He can’t stand to be around Yuji knowing what he did, he feels hopeless and goes away to think about how he should be punished.

In Shinjuku, Higuruma gives himself the death penalty when tasked with defeating Sukuna, he maintains his impartiality even with himself and he wants to pay for his crimes. His ‘role’ signifies much more than helping to defeat Sukuna.

Higuruma’s ‘role’ through the retrial allows him to finally give the guilty verdict to the real wrongdoer and prove someone innocent. Combined with him successfully giving himself the death penalty for his crimes, he dies feeling justice has finally been enacted.

He is able to look Yuji in the eye for this reason, and he literally and metaphorically passes his ‘role’ to Yuji, someone who he sees as a mirror of himself. Just like Nanami, another selfless sorcerer, he places a curse on Yuji, ensuring that his role never truly ends.

🧵 END OF THREAD

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