There's been a lot of support and requests for a full domain expansions analysis video in the comments, so if this video gets 5K likes, I'll make the full, in depth, Domain Expansions Explained video. Thank you all so much for the support!
@@ginnogianni1980 well it's called conceptual not a about color Bc Gojo couldn't evolve anymore without toji Like mahito to nanami and yuji He was completely grateful and felt love toward toji
People be hatin on the ending involving some rando case. But the point is the final panel about (before it transition) Yuji _guides this rando to enlightenment_ (more pedantically, "stays in this mortal realm full of suffering to guide others", which is also referenced in his domain expansion). That is the point of the last chapter mini arc--it's Yuji's character arc resolution. And that's beautiful.
@@LukewarmTakesYTeven if you aren't remotely familiar with Buddhism, it's plainly Yuji, Nobara and Megumi all shouldering Gojo's philosophy of mentoring the younger generation (and flexing unnecessarily, got damn Nobara)
Good Lord stop it please. Gege is a trash writer and it was apparent before the whole Gojo dying scenario. He had a solid story with a unique power system and he lost his own plot. Continuity flopped. Characters were introduced and not fleshed out. Then some random closure moment that made no sense in the story. He spent too much time glazing Sakuna that he backed himself in a corner. The saving grace for the series is the anime and games. That's why the studio went so hard on the anime. Folks are so intent on throwing shade at the Gojo fans they're overlooking the obvious. Gege was the worst writer for this series and it shows. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 The dude is trash and he ruined a decent story almost beyond salvage.
The dude created the story, created the characters and had every rights to tell whatever story he wanted to tell. As imperfect as it is, it's valuable. Things are flawed, just write your own fanfic to "fix" the ending if it angers you that much (and if you think it's that easy) and touch grass. Lord. + It's his first publicised series, it's always hard when you're not prepared/trained for success/pressure. I'm looking forward to his next, maybe planned better and more mature works, personnaly.@@tonytomahawk5160
Please do a dedicated video just about Domain Expansions and their respective Buhudist symbolisms (and also about Sukuna going back to the cycle at the end, while Mahito remains in a sort of Buhudist hell)
One of my favorite parts of fiction (specially foreign fiction) is to learn about religion and its symbolism. I alredy knew some of these but the majority still were new to me, great video.
This is the most non lukewarm take ive ever heard Bro lying, he says lukewarm but makes one of the most fire and neatly done videos and takes ive seen on jjk so far
THANK YOU I’ve been unable to leave Buddhism after so many years and this entire story is like The best exploration of what I truly genuinely LOVE about how Buddhism understands so SOoooo much about humanity, about people, about the cycles of life.
Thanks for this man this definitely helped me appreciate the ending more. Yuji gojo and sukuna represent different kinds of 'love' and looking back I do think their character arcs did come full circle with the last chapter
I hope more people take the ending for what it is and don't hate on Gege too much. He is writing the story that he wants and we don't have to like it, but if you look at it from a Buddhist lens, it just makes sense.
This video actually cooking good As some who been learning Buddhist in the past your point is quite accurate and the hypothesis you serve in the end is make sense
Thanks! My knowledge of Buddhism was very surface level, but this video was a great learning experience and really shed some light on this extremely complex series.
“Brother, you're a man amongst men. Don't limit yourself to such narrow-mindness. We are jujutsu sorcerers. You and I! Kugisaki! Mr. Nanami! All of our allies. Together, we are jujutsu sorcerers!! As long as we live, our friends who have passed away will not truly have been defeated! It's not about sin or punishment. The moment we become jujutsu sorcerers, our lives cannot be limited to such misfortunes. Looking for meaning or logic in death can at times defile the memories of those we've lost! Even so! What have you been entrusted with? You don't need to answer right now. However, until you find your answer, never stop moving. For those of us who live as jujutsu sorcerers, that is the punishment we must endure.” Todo told all you guys this.
@@Chessheromusic they are mad because he didn’t get a traditional on page funeral and it’s sad that people can change their mind on a series they used to love because the UNOFFICIAL LEAKED release of the manga me personally as a gojo fan I couldn’t care less if we see gojo ever again I’m happy he is happy.
@the_h0undstanevil52 Jujutsu sorcerer's don't do funerals lol Nanami and Todo tell yuji that death Is just a part of the job. They don't dwell on the fallen ones. They just got to keep moving forward. People just don't read.
It's interesting that you mention this idea of the second, world-transcending enlightenment, because applying these ideas to Sukuna's path provides some fascinating ideas. Sukuna is almost like another form of anti-bodhisattva a la Geto where he has detached himself from the endless suffering of the world, but in all the wrong ways. In a sense, he too delivers teachings to his opponents like how Gojo does to his students. He just does it by murdering them, and the lesson he delivers won't bring his opponents enlightenment but will instead further trap them in the cycle. And for all his strength and "enlightenment," upon his death, he does not achieve the second transformation that Gojo does, instead realizing the errors he made in this life and resolving to set out into reincarnation and doing it "right" this time. However much the story declares Sukuna to be a divine being and "the honored one," he, too, was unenlightened, only being lifted from his sins by the one he despised all along, and the bodhisattva of the new age, Yuji Itadori
I love your breakdown of the correlation between JJK and Buddhism. This dove into what I've been wondering for a while, but couldn't research it due to time constraints. Thank you!
Yuji really is a perfect representation of bodhisattva in jjk in my opinion. He will always guide every single person that needs guidance even in suffering and pain, yuji perfectly understands how everyone does not develop in the same way, so no matter what a person may have done, who they are, or where they come from he will still guide. He is not there to care about petty labels and roles like that, he only cares about guiding and aiding others on their path. The true essence of people is love, every single action that a person does is out of love, love is even found in hate, jealousy and other 'negative' actions and emotions not just the 'positive'. This makes love universal to everyone and Yuji perfectly understands that, which is why he attempts to guide Sukuna no matter what he has done. The thing that really also makes me really understand and relate to yuji is just how natural this is to him, to yuji helping others is literally nothing to him, it will never bother him to help or anything of the sort, he just does it, fluidly and efficiently, Yuji's compassion is boundless and infinite and extends to every single being. This is why yuji is a beautiful character, coming from someone that considers themself as bodhisattva :). I hope you enjoyed my perspective of yuji.
Thank you kind sir for such a great video. JJK is my favorite manga in the recent years, and I appreciate it despite its flaws. This video encompasses the inspiration behind the characters and even plot, and does great justice to gege.
As soon as I thought about "ending the cycle of curses" in the same way of ending the cycle of suffering inherent to life the final chapter truly made sense to me (as did Yuji's domain)
Well since I like JJK at a whole and a Buddhist myself, I get sad for ppl hating JJK a lot. Thanks for the video, now partially I know why I could just calm and enjoy the series.
Loved the video, so interesting, I really hope we can get a part two some day, for example with the reincarnation thing (north/south for Gojo, Sukuna walking away with Uraume and all that). More about other handsign and all, anyway, really good work
This gave me so much insight into my obsession with handsigns in naruto and jjk. I study as well and this was so great. It felt like listening to a brother . 🎉 i relate so much bro
Hey man love the video genuinely. Nice to see someone being a bit more thoughtful and trying to understand from Gege's perspective why he did things a certain way. I was wondering if you plan to cover the idea of the impermanence of things speech by Todo and what that means in JJK. Specifically how Todo redacts the ending part of the original verse to help motivate Yuji by claiming that despite everything being impermanent that is not the case for Yuji and Todo right now because they're going to win.
The only thing I would argue with is whether or not Gojo actually reached Nirvana or not. like, the fact that he ended up in the airport with the person and people he wanted to see most again points towards earthly desires and attachments. and I think Nanami mentioning the travelling North or South is the choice Gojo has re: continuing the cycle or not. we don't see his decision. nor should we.
Geto being this inversion of Buddhist principles reminds me of when I told a buddy of mine that removing all attachments without maintaining a sense of compassion doesn't yield enlightenment, it creates a sociopath.
I would love to see more in-depth videos on these topics. I've been playing around with my own OC character that enters a heavenly binding to gain access to the 12 spoked wheel of fire seen in certain Tantrik traditions, and primarily related to the 12 Kalikas which I personally find very fascinating. It seemed to fit because all of these related themes of pervasiveness, seeking enlightenment, connection to the divine, suffering of mortals, etc. all fit very well into the world. Just finished the manga so its all fresh, and it's super cool to have these things explored, you did a solid job of it.
Gojo's hand seal for domain is argued to not be the indra seal but the half of the marici seal. The indra seal is in the left hand and the index finger is hooked to the middle finger, gojo's hand seal is exact opposite. Gojo's hand seal is half of the marici seal, marici is a goddess of light, or the queen of heaven. She represents awakening, triumph over evil and victory over a difficulties. She has also vowed to awaken everyone. Gojo here has similarities to marici, he has awakened, he is seen as the god of light who will vanquish the cursed spirits, he has also won a battle against a person who nearly killed him and his fight against sukuna helped awakened yuji. His hand seal being the complete opposite of enmaten seal which is sukuna's hand seak.
Gege is a flawed yet incredibly talented author - And working under a weekly jump schedule is a special circle of Hell. I want to see where he goes next! It’s unlikely he’ll write another huge series, but I hope he gets the chance to continue practicing his craft.
@@LukewarmTakesYT your video definitely helped! I was really sad that no one remembered Gojo, but after this video, i felt like he got what he wanted in the end, so all in all, it felt better!
Akutami must believe in that branch of Buddhism that came up with the phrase "if you meet the Buddha, kill him." (joking aside, this analysis is awesome, would love to see a domain expansion video)
Nice video! I think Sukuna represents sth different, that's why he has that, full of references, conversation with Maki during their combat. Sukuna mentions that Maki embraced full "nothingness" and posits himself as the opposition to Maki. Then, Sukuna hasn't embraced emptyness which is part of the path towards enlightenment. Or at least that's how I remember it. Cheers! Thanks for the good video
UGH! Hahaha whenever a content creator says “such topic has gone on too long so I’ll speed it up or bounce to the next” always kills me as someone who enjoys longer form content 😩 but still great video, would love mire in depth videos if interested in being made
I dont know if you will see this but, There was a mistake when discussing Gojo's domain. His hand sign isn't Indra's. Indra's hand sign is the middle finger up with the pointer finger wrapped around it, but Gojo's hand sign is his pointer finger up with the middle finger wrapped around it. Additionally, Gojo uses the wrong hand; he uses his right hand, whereas Indra's hand sign is typically done with the left hand. There was a lengthy Reddit post about this, explaining that Gojo's hand sign is actually the hand sign of Marici, a bodhisattva of light and dawn, who is sometimes referred to as the goddess of heaven. This forms a direct contrast to Sukuna, who uses the hand sign for the King of Hell. Great video overall. I really enjoyed it. And yes, make a video about all the domains.
when he said he had no regrets when he died - i felt like that meant he reached nirvana, he wasn't gonna comeback like ppl wanted, cuz he believed in Yuji and crew would handle the cycle as it continued
My favorite buddhist concept in jjk as a whole are the mudras used as the hand sign for a domain expansion, and my personal favorite is Yujis hand sign. His hand sign is the Mudra of the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. A bodhisattva in general is one who's found enlightenment but for various reasons denies buddhahood and does not transcend into nirvana past the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Ksitigarbha in particular is a guardian of children, particularly those who die too young, and is mainly known for being the patron of the damned, and making a vow that he would not ascend until every hell has been cleared out. That inspiration makes so much sense for Yuji, especially since we also see more subtle references to it as well there's at least one panel we see statues representing that bodhisattva and both yuji and the statues have the same red hood. It's been a deep inspiration for his characterization within the setting since very early on, and it fits very well. Yujis drive to save others and almost compulsive need to give others a good death set the stage and his final philosophy embodies Ksitigarbha greatly, best Shown in his offer of mercy and humanity to Sukuna. If the hells themselves are being emptied, who'd be among the last to leave, to be saved? The king of hell, ofc. The mudra for that is Enmaten, one of the 2 main signs sukuna uses, primarily for his domain expansion. I could go on but I haven't watched past 2 mins yet bc I wanted to answer the question in the comments before knowing if you mentioned it, so this could be no new info but I still think it's dope
@@LukewarmTakesYT totally Gojo represents the first Buddha in Siddartha guamtama Yuji represents a botshiva who is a cog and sacrifices himself to suffering to guide others
When Mahoraga appeared and I saw the wheel, I straight up SCREAMED and realized that I wasn’t crazy and this is an INCREDIBLY Buddhist heavy masterpiece.
Bro I took 1 look at jjk when I started watching it a couple weeks ago and immediately saw the Buddhism to be fair I just went to Japan and visited a ton of shrines and temples so the imagery was fresh in my mind but it’s fairly obvious to anyone with significant exposure I’d assume
Great video very informative to those, who I guess don’t have a general understanding of Buddhism. I’m no expert, but I dabble lol. Another thing that I’ve at least recognized or maybe even formed whenever I started noticing the similarities and the deeper meaning. Was that when Sukuna got mad at yuji inside his domain it wasn’t because he was “strong“ and he was getting looked down upon. It was because In his eyes. Sukuna saw himself as transcendent. So to be looked down upon by a “mere human” a.k.a. someone who was not transcendent, was very damning. It was the highest disrespect he could feel. This was felt for not just that reason but because it rallied And struck against The blissful ignorance that Sukuna was living in,in regards to how he achieved that level. Because by him, bounding himself to his fingers, he could never reach the heights of Gojo. In the foolish attempt to become a eternal Buddha, who both exists in death and life, he intern, actually shackled himself to a material existence, therefore never being able to truly overcome suffering. Seeing as existence is suffering by default. so no matter what he did. No matter what he let go. He could not truly reach nirvana . That is, unless he was defeated, but due to this decision, and also his unnatural/natural abilities and skill, he was the strongest. And by being that he was forced to lie and wait both being resolute in his knowledge of his strength, but also whether knowingly or unknowingly be suffering at the same time. That is why in the last chapter He was a very different Soukouna then we had seen the entire series. He was one that was truly in finally at peace ready to After all these years settle down, being able to rest, finally Attaining Nirvana That’s how I read it. There’s a good chance I’m Wrong and just over thinking, but who knows
I appreciate this diagnosis on JJK post ending. I think from a writing/story perspective, it doesn’t fix the ending but makes it a little worse. But from a person perspective it kinda helps put elements of it in place to be easier taken in. The Buddhist elements in the series were always there and sometimes easier to see than others but articulation of it all is the real issue. This does a good job setting a lot of it up.
Toji's idea is interesting, he tried to leave his attachments like family, Megumin, etc. And only lost when he desired to bring down the pinnacle of jujutsu... kind of says how you can't achieve enlightenment with attachments or human desires
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one". The kanji version is: "天上天下，唯我独尊“. This phrase is often associated with the Monkey King as it was one of his favourite phrases (in his earlier rebellious days). Some parallels between Gojo & the Monkey King: - Both have unique/supreme/natural born abilities & the confidence that come with it - Monkey king gained one of his most important abilities through a near death experience - almost burnt alive in a magical fiery cauldron, and the ability he gained was "fiery golden eyes" which could see through to the true nature of everything. Gojo got his first enlightenment through nearly dying in his fight with Toji. His "six eyes" allowed him to see through all jujutsu... - Monkey king disliked the old corrupt power structure of the heavens and fought & defeated the entire heavenly court & its army. Gojo disliked the corrupt jujutsu world higher-ups & killed them all & placed someone he deems more suitable/fair in power. - Monkey king was trapped under the mountain formed by Buddha's palm for 500 yrs. Gojo was trapped in the prison realm for 22 days (time passed differently in the prison realm so it felt like many years to him). - Monkey king eventually gained enlightenment & became a buddha after letting go of his ego, agreeing to go on the journey to the west, fighting many monsters & completing the quest. Gojo reached his final enlightenment after fighting many curses, doing all he could to pave the way for the younger generation to have a brighter future - including letting go of his ego/his "the strongest" title/his life, completing his goal/quest.
In an oddly shounen sense, I think this series celebrates forming attachments and defies usual buddhist convention while using solid buddhist imagery. Kinda like how Aang abandons the avatar state in ATLA. I firmly believe we see this through Gojo, specifically before the duel with Sukuna. I believe that Gojo lost the moment he let his infinity down to take the back pats from the crew. That was the one time he has let his technique down on purpose, since his ascension to the strongest. I think that conscious choice immediately debuffed him thematically, especially when using a power system tapping into the worst parts of yourself for power. Doing this symbolically reinforces the themes of a life worth living involving bonds and caring about humans being the superior way to live as a human, even though he loses his bout, the epithet of the strongest, and his life.
Weird thing to think about (probably headcanon). But rika is constantly being associated with water and aquatic animals(during the intro , aquarium scene, ect) then when dagan shows up he wearing a white headband (similar to rika's). I don't think it's meant to be cannon but I believe Dagan is rika reincarnated
Good vid But you need to learn a lot whole more The Gojo scene where he claims enlightenment is not widely accepted by pure buddhist As Siddartha would never be so arrogant and not humble The legend suggests godlike understanding with being the his first 7 steps which is completely symbolic The true Siddartha didn't depart to seek enlightenment till he was 28 dying at 29 Which gojo completely does You cover it correctly but it's a lil shaky whether you understand his first proclamation was still very egotistical From here he has godlike understanding and power which isolates him Gojo does die at 29 as and his birthday was 12 years earlier on the 25th of December He does become humble And moves north to become something more Which is why he won't come back
There is a lot Every piece of Gojo and Sukuna Suggests that they are showing love to the world in others Gojo through teaching Sukuna through fighting Sukuna makes yuji stronger more so then Gojo But Gojo is never misplaced
Wait, did Toji also became enlightened? (somewhat). He seemed pretty detached from most things save from Megumi. And when he talks to him (after being born again into the world) he decides to leave again.
Chef I’m tryna cook but idk the recipe: Another “enlightenment” is arguably Toji who has no cursed energy of his own, he is exempt from “suffering” in that he can only be affected by cursed energy from external sources (the curse in his stomach, Gogo’s UV radiation etc.). He’s a character riddled with desire for worldly stuff like gambling and money etc. heck I’ve even seen people saying that drugs and alcohol don’t affect the guy cos he was in such peak condition. All this worldly desire seems to be a denial of the fact that nothing matters to him, because he couldn’t realise it as enlightenment. However this is a weak-ass reading so come up with something better please
I want to see this same analysis with demon slayer. DS I argue has a lot of buddhist references that just go over the heads of the audience. PS: tbh this analysis is a stretch, I'd argue that Gege just does what he feels he does. The number of opened and unresolved plot points points to this.
@@vegetalordvegetanah The meaning of the character arcs have been consistent SINCE THE BEGINNING and has remained consistent through plots beginning and ending. That’s not bad writing- that’s Gege telling a story HE knows and refusing to change his story just because fans are big mad.
I think people were definitely waaaaaay too harsh on jujutsu kaisen ending. Could things have been better yes,we could have spent more time with the characters outside of fights, but i think people get too mad at what jjk didn’t do rather than the good stuff thats actually their. I have seen so many people pissed at gojo not getting a funeral on reddit it's madness,putting too much focus on the merger,or suggesting people quitting the series after Yuki died or once Shibuya ended. Ok their are certain things that probably needed better execution but i think the Fandom put so much focus on what They personally wanted they forget that's not how you judge a story. For my money, jujutsu kaisen was a good 7 out of 10 series. Not perfect but far from the trash call out to be. Also people cut Gege some slack he managed to keep a mostly consistent manga for years despite the stress of Jump he's only human after all. Jjk always tryed to be what it was a shounen story about our characters fighting curses and theirs nothing wrong with that.
It's funny. Curses are made from negative energy, and inherently bad. But even they can have a moment of peace from Samsara as seen with Jogo. If any curse was ever to truly ever become a human, they'd have to become far more than a curse.
There's been a lot of support and requests for a full domain expansions analysis video in the comments, so if this video gets 5K likes, I'll make the full, in depth, Domain Expansions Explained video. Thank you all so much for the support!
"Turning Toji into the letter C by teaching him about colors." 😂😂👏
He pulled a Sesame Street on him
@@AngDevigne shit had me gasping 😭
so condescending towards Toji lol
Araki have people dying by turning them into donuts. Gege turns them into the letter C LMAO.
@@Electronica27 hes a big fan of kitkat’s swell.
-hey bro hop on minecraft
-cant bro im learning buddhism because of gojo
peak
This is my goal
@@ginnogianni1980 well it's called conceptual not a about color
Bc Gojo couldn't evolve anymore without toji
Like mahito to nanami and yuji
He was completely grateful and felt love toward toji
When I used to meditate, there was a weird place in my head I'd usually end up. It hadn't occurred to me that it was my fucking domain expansion.
actually that's your innate domain
How does it work? Is it like a place you briefly imagine, or like a full on room you can walk in?
@@dr.boring7022 I could walk around, but I wouldn't. It felt like messing around with the place distracted from actually meditating.
This is genuinely a really good analysis on the Buddhist references in JJK
Thank you!
People be hatin on the ending involving some rando case. But the point is the final panel about (before it transition) Yuji _guides this rando to enlightenment_ (more pedantically, "stays in this mortal realm full of suffering to guide others", which is also referenced in his domain expansion). That is the point of the last chapter mini arc--it's Yuji's character arc resolution. And that's beautiful.
Like I mentioned, before looking into Buddhism, I was really frustrated with this ending, but now it feels really sweet and fitting for Yuji.
@@LukewarmTakesYTeven if you aren't remotely familiar with Buddhism, it's plainly Yuji, Nobara and Megumi all shouldering Gojo's philosophy of mentoring the younger generation (and flexing unnecessarily, got damn Nobara)
Good Lord stop it please.
Gege is a trash writer and it was apparent before the whole Gojo dying scenario.
He had a solid story with a unique power system and he lost his own plot.
Continuity flopped. Characters were introduced and not fleshed out. Then some random closure moment that made no sense in the story.
He spent too much time glazing Sakuna that he backed himself in a corner.
The saving grace for the series is the anime and games.
That's why the studio went so hard on the anime.
Folks are so intent on throwing shade at the Gojo fans they're overlooking the obvious.
Gege was the worst writer for this series and it shows.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
The dude is trash and he ruined a decent story almost beyond salvage.
@@tonytomahawk5160 🤡 take, you get your opinions from reels goober
The dude created the story, created the characters and had every rights to tell whatever story he wanted to tell. As imperfect as it is, it's valuable. Things are flawed, just write your own fanfic to "fix" the ending if it angers you that much (and if you think it's that easy) and touch grass. Lord.
+ It's his first publicised series, it's always hard when you're not prepared/trained for success/pressure. I'm looking forward to his next, maybe planned better and more mature works, personnaly.@@tonytomahawk5160
Please do a dedicated video just about Domain Expansions and their respective Buhudist symbolisms (and also about Sukuna going back to the cycle at the end, while Mahito remains in a sort of Buhudist hell)
🤝🤝
One of my favorite parts of fiction (specially foreign fiction) is to learn about religion and its symbolism. I alredy knew some of these but the majority still were new to me, great video.
This is the most non lukewarm take ive ever heard
Bro lying, he says lukewarm but makes one of the most fire and neatly done videos and takes ive seen on jjk so far
Sometimes you have to just get into the Malevolent Kitchen.
THANK YOU
I’ve been unable to leave Buddhism after so many years and this entire story is like
The best exploration of what I truly genuinely LOVE about how Buddhism understands so SOoooo much about humanity, about people, about the cycles of life.
Meaning behind domains would be awesome
For now I think I’ll make shorts on each domain that go out periodically over the coming days
@@LukewarmTakesYT noice 👍
Thanks for this man this definitely helped me appreciate the ending more. Yuji gojo and sukuna represent different kinds of 'love' and looking back I do think their character arcs did come full circle with the last chapter
I hope more people take the ending for what it is and don't hate on Gege too much. He is writing the story that he wants and we don't have to like it, but if you look at it from a Buddhist lens, it just makes sense.
Awesome video man! Really gave us, Gojo fans, a relief, never thought on his death for that perspective.
Gojo’s character imo is the best written in JJK, which is ironic since Gege hates him so much
@@LukewarmTakesYTTHANK YOU!
This video actually cooking good
As some who been learning Buddhist in the past your point is quite accurate and the hypothesis you serve in the end is make sense
Thanks! My knowledge of Buddhism was very surface level, but this video was a great learning experience and really shed some light on this extremely complex series.
“Brother, you're a man amongst men. Don't limit yourself to such narrow-mindness. We are jujutsu sorcerers. You and I! Kugisaki! Mr. Nanami! All of our allies. Together, we are jujutsu sorcerers!! As long as we live, our friends who have passed away will not truly have been defeated! It's not about sin or punishment. The moment we become jujutsu sorcerers, our lives cannot be limited to such misfortunes. Looking for meaning or logic in death can at times defile the memories of those we've lost! Even so! What have you been entrusted with? You don't need to answer right now. However, until you find your answer, never stop moving. For those of us who live as jujutsu sorcerers, that is the punishment we must endure.” Todo told all you guys this.
You sir are the first person I’ve seen speak good on jjk since the ending. But this is amazing maybe the fake gojo fans will calm down after this one
JJK has a lot to appreciate and I like to look at the positives more often than not
@@the_h0undstanevil52 why would they be upset
Gojo represents the Buddha Siddartha guamtama
@@Chessheromusic they are mad because he didn’t get a traditional on page funeral and it’s sad that people can change their mind on a series they used to love because the UNOFFICIAL LEAKED release of the manga me personally as a gojo fan I couldn’t care less if we see gojo ever again I’m happy he is happy.
@the_h0undstanevil52 Jujutsu sorcerer's don't do funerals lol Nanami and Todo tell yuji that death Is just a part of the job. They don't dwell on the fallen ones. They just got to keep moving forward. People just don't read.
jjk fans respect the characters less than the characters do one another
It's interesting that you mention this idea of the second, world-transcending enlightenment, because applying these ideas to Sukuna's path provides some fascinating ideas. Sukuna is almost like another form of anti-bodhisattva a la Geto where he has detached himself from the endless suffering of the world, but in all the wrong ways.
In a sense, he too delivers teachings to his opponents like how Gojo does to his students. He just does it by murdering them, and the lesson he delivers won't bring his opponents enlightenment but will instead further trap them in the cycle.
And for all his strength and "enlightenment," upon his death, he does not achieve the second transformation that Gojo does, instead realizing the errors he made in this life and resolving to set out into reincarnation and doing it "right" this time. However much the story declares Sukuna to be a divine being and "the honored one," he, too, was unenlightened, only being lifted from his sins by the one he despised all along, and the bodhisattva of the new age, Yuji Itadori
I love your breakdown of the correlation between JJK and Buddhism. This dove into what I've been wondering for a while, but couldn't research it due to time constraints. Thank you!
This is my goal! To provide some much needed context for this very complicated story.
I’m not surprised, this moment was tremendously captivating. And pls do the domain video
PLEASE! Please, please! Do a full expanded video on JUST Domain Expansions and their Buddhists interpretations!
Yuji really is a perfect representation of bodhisattva in jjk in my opinion. He will always guide every single person that needs guidance even in suffering and pain, yuji perfectly understands how everyone does not develop in the same way, so no matter what a person may have done, who they are, or where they come from he will still guide. He is not there to care about petty labels and roles like that, he only cares about guiding and aiding others on their path. The true essence of people is love, every single action that a person does is out of love, love is even found in hate, jealousy and other 'negative' actions and emotions not just the 'positive'. This makes love universal to everyone and Yuji perfectly understands that, which is why he attempts to guide Sukuna no matter what he has done. The thing that really also makes me really understand and relate to yuji is just how natural this is to him, to yuji helping others is literally nothing to him, it will never bother him to help or anything of the sort, he just does it, fluidly and efficiently, Yuji's compassion is boundless and infinite and extends to every single being. This is why yuji is a beautiful character, coming from someone that considers themself as bodhisattva :). I hope you enjoyed my perspective of yuji.
YESSSSSSSSSSS
Thank you kind sir for such a great video.
JJK is my favorite manga in the recent years, and I appreciate it despite its flaws.
This video encompasses the inspiration behind the characters and even plot, and does great justice to gege.
you got me to the end on this one.
Glad you stuck around to the end!
As soon as I thought about "ending the cycle of curses" in the same way of ending the cycle of suffering inherent to life the final chapter truly made sense to me (as did Yuji's domain)
Well since I like JJK at a whole and a Buddhist myself, I get sad for ppl hating JJK a lot. Thanks for the video, now partially I know why I could just calm and enjoy the series.
Loved the video, so interesting, I really hope we can get a part two some day, for example with the reincarnation thing (north/south for Gojo, Sukuna walking away with Uraume and all that). More about other handsign and all, anyway, really good work
Sukuna was the MC all along. The ending is great if u look at it that way 😢
Sukuna Kaisen ftw
having said that, thank you for this. this was very beautiful.
Glad you enjoyed it!
if i may, yakushi norai for megumi is wrong.
its actually Avalokiteśvara, Buddha of Compassion.
Yes please make a separate video on domain expansion
This gave me so much insight into my obsession with handsigns in naruto and jjk. I study as well and this was so great. It felt like listening to a brother . 🎉 i relate so much bro
Finally, someone in this community who can read and understand religious references instead of just taking everything at face value
Most enlightening analysis on jjk I've ever seen. ❤
Give us all the Domain expansions! As a Sri Lankan 🇱🇰 I found this video fascinating!
This video was literally perfect. Down to the last minute detail
Thank you, it means a lot to me!
1st time I learned about buddhist imagery in jjk 🙏
Hey man love the video genuinely. Nice to see someone being a bit more thoughtful and trying to understand from Gege's perspective why he did things a certain way. I was wondering if you plan to cover the idea of the impermanence of things speech by Todo and what that means in JJK. Specifically how Todo redacts the ending part of the original verse to help motivate Yuji by claiming that despite everything being impermanent that is not the case for Yuji and Todo right now because they're going to win.
The only thing I would argue with is whether or not Gojo actually reached Nirvana or not. like, the fact that he ended up in the airport with the person and people he wanted to see most again points towards earthly desires and attachments. and I think Nanami mentioning the travelling North or South is the choice Gojo has re: continuing the cycle or not. we don't see his decision. nor should we.
This one
I don’t WANT know 💗💗💗
Geto being this inversion of Buddhist principles reminds me of when I told a buddy of mine that removing all attachments without maintaining a sense of compassion doesn't yield enlightenment, it creates a sociopath.
!!!! Yes 💗
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but with this perspective, I'll read it again and see it in another light.
I would love to see more in-depth videos on these topics. I've been playing around with my own OC character that enters a heavenly binding to gain access to the 12 spoked wheel of fire seen in certain Tantrik traditions, and primarily related to the 12 Kalikas which I personally find very fascinating. It seemed to fit because all of these related themes of pervasiveness, seeking enlightenment, connection to the divine, suffering of mortals, etc. all fit very well into the world. Just finished the manga so its all fresh, and it's super cool to have these things explored, you did a solid job of it.
Gojo's hand seal for domain is argued to not be the indra seal but the half of the marici seal. The indra seal is in the left hand and the index finger is hooked to the middle finger, gojo's hand seal is exact opposite. Gojo's hand seal is half of the marici seal, marici is a goddess of light, or the queen of heaven. She represents awakening, triumph over evil and victory over a difficulties. She has also vowed to awaken everyone.
Gojo here has similarities to marici, he has awakened, he is seen as the god of light who will vanquish the cursed spirits, he has also won a battle against a person who nearly killed him and his fight against sukuna helped awakened yuji. His hand seal being the complete opposite of enmaten seal which is sukuna's hand seak.
Gege is a flawed yet incredibly talented author - And working under a weekly jump schedule is a special circle of Hell.
I want to see where he goes next! It’s unlikely he’ll write another huge series, but I hope he gets the chance to continue practicing his craft.
This was just amazing work. Thanks!
This makes me look at the story from a completely different point of view
I hope this helps some of the JJK community appreciate the story they were given more (that being said, there’s still a lot to criticize with JJK)
This video healed a little wound left from the ending😭i finally feel a bit more comfortable with how the final chapter ended now
Yeah, it's an extremely controversial ending, but hopefully the Buddhist insight recontextualizes some things for fans who disliked it.
@@LukewarmTakesYT your video definitely helped! I was really sad that no one remembered Gojo, but after this video, i felt like he got what he wanted in the end, so all in all, it felt better!
would love the domain expansion video
Can't wait for the domain expansion vid. Great job dude, glad I stumbled on ur channel.
this is an absolutely fantastic analysis, really good stuff!! :]
subscribed right away! amazing video
Akutami must believe in that branch of Buddhism that came up with the phrase "if you meet the Buddha, kill him." (joking aside, this analysis is awesome, would love to see a domain expansion video)
Nice video! I think Sukuna represents sth different, that's why he has that, full of references, conversation with Maki during their combat. Sukuna mentions that Maki embraced full "nothingness" and posits himself as the opposition to Maki. Then, Sukuna hasn't embraced emptyness which is part of the path towards enlightenment.
Or at least that's how I remember it.
Cheers! Thanks for the good video
UGH! Hahaha whenever a content creator says “such topic has gone on too long so I’ll speed it up or bounce to the next” always kills me as someone who enjoys longer form content 😩 but still great video, would love mire in depth videos if interested in being made
luke makes me warm with his takes
😳 got me blushing and shit
@@LukewarmTakesYT
Ayo
I dont know if you will see this but, There was a mistake when discussing Gojo's domain. His hand sign isn't Indra's. Indra's hand sign is the middle finger up with the pointer finger wrapped around it, but Gojo's hand sign is his pointer finger up with the middle finger wrapped around it. Additionally, Gojo uses the wrong hand; he uses his right hand, whereas Indra's hand sign is typically done with the left hand.
There was a lengthy Reddit post about this, explaining that Gojo's hand sign is actually the hand sign of Marici, a bodhisattva of light and dawn, who is sometimes referred to as the goddess of heaven. This forms a direct contrast to Sukuna, who uses the hand sign for the King of Hell. Great video overall. I really enjoyed it. And yes, make a video about all the domains.
Great video, just solidifies why I love the ending. Idc what anyone thinks.
when he said he had no regrets when he died - i felt like that meant he reached nirvana, he wasn't gonna comeback like ppl wanted, cuz he believed in Yuji and crew would handle the cycle as it continued
My favorite buddhist concept in jjk as a whole are the mudras used as the hand sign for a domain expansion, and my personal favorite is Yujis hand sign.
His hand sign is the Mudra of the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. A bodhisattva in general is one who's found enlightenment but for various reasons denies buddhahood and does not transcend into nirvana past the cycle of suffering and rebirth.
Ksitigarbha in particular is a guardian of children, particularly those who die too young, and is mainly known for being the patron of the damned, and making a vow that he would not ascend until every hell has been cleared out.
That inspiration makes so much sense for Yuji, especially since we also see more subtle references to it as well there's at least one panel we see statues representing that bodhisattva and both yuji and the statues have the same red hood. It's been a deep inspiration for his characterization within the setting since very early on, and it fits very well.
Yujis drive to save others and almost compulsive need to give others a good death set the stage and his final philosophy embodies Ksitigarbha greatly, best Shown in his offer of mercy and humanity to Sukuna.
If the hells themselves are being emptied, who'd be among the last to leave, to be saved? The king of hell, ofc. The mudra for that is Enmaten, one of the 2 main signs sukuna uses, primarily for his domain expansion.
I could go on but I haven't watched past 2 mins yet bc I wanted to answer the question in the comments before knowing if you mentioned it, so this could be no new info but I still think it's dope
You’re going to be pleasantly surprised as you finish this video
finish the fucking vid😂😂😂
@@icbtv8207 lmao I did, I just decided to answer a question beforehand. Finishing the vid first wouldn't change my answer so the order qdoesn't matter
@@IanHarrison-n9m chill bro u good u don’t gotta answer to me
@@icbtv8207 I know I just decided I would, free will is a helluva drug fr
I whold love it if you were to make a movie length video about this
What's your favorite Buddhist reference in JJK?
Yuji's middle fingers domain expansion
@@LukewarmTakesYT tbh, The fact That the raga wheel turned a 9th time for sukuna. the indication That he will continue down this road until stopped.
@@LukewarmTakesYT totally Gojo represents the first Buddha in Siddartha guamtama
Yuji represents a botshiva who is a cog and sacrifices himself to suffering to guide others
When Mahoraga appeared and I saw the wheel, I straight up SCREAMED and realized that I wasn’t crazy and this is an INCREDIBLY Buddhist heavy masterpiece.
This is actually good
Wait im the 1st?
Thanks! I’m glad you like it!
@LukewarmTakesYT nah, this is one of the best videos I watched this month. Keep working on this great video goodluck
Bro I took 1 look at jjk when I started watching it a couple weeks ago and immediately saw the Buddhism to be fair I just went to Japan and visited a ton of shrines and temples so the imagery was fresh in my mind but it’s fairly obvious to anyone with significant exposure I’d assume
thanks for this :)
What’s your perspective on Sukuna’s enlightenment? Also what role do you think Kenjaku plays from a Buddhist perspective
Great video very informative to those, who I guess don’t have a general understanding of Buddhism. I’m no expert, but I dabble lol. Another thing that I’ve at least recognized or maybe even formed whenever I started noticing the similarities and the deeper meaning. Was that when Sukuna got mad at yuji inside his domain it wasn’t because he was “strong“ and he was getting looked down upon. It was because In his eyes. Sukuna saw himself as transcendent. So to be looked down upon by a “mere human” a.k.a. someone who was not transcendent, was very damning. It was the highest disrespect he could feel. This was felt for not just that reason but because it rallied And struck against The blissful ignorance that Sukuna was living in,in regards to how he achieved that level. Because by him, bounding himself to his fingers, he could never reach the heights of Gojo. In the foolish attempt to become a eternal Buddha, who both exists in death and life, he intern, actually shackled himself to a material existence, therefore never being able to truly overcome suffering. Seeing as existence is suffering by default. so no matter what he did. No matter what he let go. He could not truly reach nirvana . That is, unless he was defeated, but due to this decision, and also his unnatural/natural abilities and skill, he was the strongest. And by being that he was forced to lie and wait both being resolute in his knowledge of his strength, but also whether knowingly or unknowingly be suffering at the same time. That is why in the last chapter He was a very different Soukouna then we had seen the entire series. He was one that was truly in finally at peace ready to After all these years settle down, being able to rest, finally Attaining Nirvana
That’s how I read it. There’s a good chance I’m Wrong and just over thinking, but who knows
Also, I’m sorry if that reads messed up lol. I’m at work and on a quick break and wanted to comment bad before heading back. So I did voice to text.
I appreciate this diagnosis on JJK post ending. I think from a writing/story perspective, it doesn’t fix the ending but makes it a little worse. But from a person perspective it kinda helps put elements of it in place to be easier taken in. The Buddhist elements in the series were always there and sometimes easier to see than others but articulation of it all is the real issue. This does a good job setting a lot of it up.
And here I was thinking it was Yuji who broke the cycle, when it was Gojo all along, literally.
I WANT THE DEDICATED VIDEO TO DOMAIN EXPANSIONS PLSSS 😭😭😭
HELLO THIS IS SO GOOD PLS MAKE A DETAILED HAND MUDRA/BUDDHIST INTERPRETATION OF DOMAIN EXPANSIONS...!! THANK YOU!!
Toji's idea is interesting, he tried to leave his attachments like family, Megumin, etc. And only lost when he desired to bring down the pinnacle of jujutsu... kind of says how you can't achieve enlightenment with attachments or human desires
Good video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one". The kanji version is: "天上天下，唯我独尊“. This phrase is often associated with the Monkey King as it was one of his favourite phrases (in his earlier rebellious days).
Some parallels between Gojo & the Monkey King:
- Both have unique/supreme/natural born abilities & the confidence that come with it
- Monkey king gained one of his most important abilities through a near death experience - almost burnt alive in a magical fiery cauldron, and the ability he gained was "fiery golden eyes" which could see through to the true nature of everything. Gojo got his first enlightenment through nearly dying in his fight with Toji. His "six eyes" allowed him to see through all jujutsu...
- Monkey king disliked the old corrupt power structure of the heavens and fought & defeated the entire heavenly court & its army. Gojo disliked the corrupt jujutsu world higher-ups & killed them all & placed someone he deems more suitable/fair in power.
- Monkey king was trapped under the mountain formed by Buddha's palm for 500 yrs. Gojo was trapped in the prison realm for 22 days (time passed differently in the prison realm so it felt like many years to him).
- Monkey king eventually gained enlightenment & became a buddha after letting go of his ego, agreeing to go on the journey to the west, fighting many monsters & completing the quest. Gojo reached his final enlightenment after fighting many curses, doing all he could to pave the way for the younger generation to have a brighter future - including letting go of his ego/his "the strongest" title/his life, completing his goal/quest.
He cooked. HE COOKED HARD 🔥
Please more jjk buddhist videos
In an oddly shounen sense, I think this series celebrates forming attachments and defies usual buddhist convention while using solid buddhist imagery. Kinda like how Aang abandons the avatar state in ATLA.
I firmly believe we see this through Gojo, specifically before the duel with Sukuna. I believe that Gojo lost the moment he let his infinity down to take the back pats from the crew.
That was the one time he has let his technique down on purpose, since his ascension to the strongest. I think that conscious choice immediately debuffed him thematically, especially when using a power system tapping into the worst parts of yourself for power.
Doing this symbolically reinforces the themes of a life worth living involving bonds and caring about humans being the superior way to live as a human, even though he loses his bout, the epithet of the strongest, and his life.
Buddhism is easily the coolest religion.
Weird thing to think about (probably headcanon). But rika is constantly being associated with water and aquatic animals(during the intro , aquarium scene, ect) then when dagan shows up he wearing a white headband (similar to rika's). I don't think it's meant to be cannon but I believe Dagan is rika reincarnated
You gotta do that domain expansion video. I didn't know shit was that deep.
Also
Who else noticed immediately Geto’s long ear lobes?
Also Buddha has the same VA in japanese, on Record of Ragnarok, as Gojo
Okay now I understand why Gojo couldn't come back in JJK.
You don’t come back once you achieved true enlightenment
Dude PLEASE go through every domain hand sign symbolism
Pari-nirvana, enlightenment during life before true nirvana upon death
kenjaku domain expansion i think had smth to do with buddhism
R.I.P Gojo 😊
Good vid
But you need to learn a lot whole more
The Gojo scene where he claims enlightenment is not widely accepted by pure buddhist
As Siddartha would never be so arrogant and not humble
The legend suggests godlike understanding with being the his first 7 steps which is completely symbolic
The true Siddartha didn't depart to seek enlightenment till he was 28 dying at 29
Which gojo completely does
You cover it correctly but it's a lil shaky whether you understand his first proclamation was still very egotistical
From here he has godlike understanding and power which isolates him
Gojo does die at 29 as and his birthday was 12 years earlier on the 25th of December
He does become humble
And moves north to become something more
Which is why he won't come back
There is a lot
Every piece of Gojo and Sukuna
Suggests that they are showing love to the world in others
Gojo through teaching
Sukuna through fighting
Sukuna makes yuji stronger more so then Gojo
But Gojo is never misplaced
Hence 'reference' not 'retelling'
@@letsreadtextbook1687 tru dat
16:30 yes
Please make the domain expansion video
Wait, did Toji also became enlightened? (somewhat). He seemed pretty detached from most things save from Megumi. And when he talks to him (after being born again into the world) he decides to leave again.
Chef I’m tryna cook but idk the recipe:
Another “enlightenment” is arguably Toji who has no cursed energy of his own, he is exempt from “suffering” in that he can only be affected by cursed energy from external sources (the curse in his stomach, Gogo’s UV radiation etc.). He’s a character riddled with desire for worldly stuff like gambling and money etc. heck I’ve even seen people saying that drugs and alcohol don’t affect the guy cos he was in such peak condition. All this worldly desire seems to be a denial of the fact that nothing matters to him, because he couldn’t realise it as enlightenment.
However this is a weak-ass reading so come up with something better please
Hey that's a cool take
Please, do a video about the domain expansion, i want to develop mine 😂😂
I want to see this same analysis with demon slayer. DS I argue has a lot of buddhist references that just go over the heads of the audience.
PS: tbh this analysis is a stretch, I'd argue that Gege just does what he feels he does. The number of opened and unresolved plot points points to this.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
What about heavenly restriction? Why isn't being free of cursed energy akin to some form of enlightenment?
A lot of fans just want mindless anime since they are conditioned to all this meaningless western movies
I think there are a lot of western movies rich with depth, they just don’t get funding.
Assuming a deeper meaning of anything is so bold after over a year of terrible writing we all thought was jus gee a phase.
@@vegetalordvegetanah
The meaning of the character arcs have been consistent SINCE THE BEGINNING and has remained consistent through plots beginning and ending. That’s not bad writing- that’s Gege telling a story HE knows and refusing to change his story just because fans are big mad.
I think people were definitely waaaaaay too harsh on jujutsu kaisen ending.
Could things have been better yes,we could have spent more time with the characters outside of fights, but i think people get too mad at what jjk didn’t do rather than the good stuff thats actually their.
I have seen so many people pissed at gojo not getting a funeral on reddit it's madness,putting too much focus on the merger,or suggesting people quitting the series after Yuki died or once Shibuya ended.
Ok their are certain things that probably needed better execution but i think the Fandom put so much focus on what They personally wanted they forget that's not how you judge a story.
For my money, jujutsu kaisen was a good 7 out of 10 series. Not perfect but far from the trash call out to be.
Also people cut Gege some slack he managed to keep a mostly consistent manga for years despite the stress of Jump he's only human after all.
Jjk always tryed to be what it was a shounen story about our characters fighting curses and theirs nothing wrong with that.
We need NChammer and mangaanimist to watch this asap
Do Domain Expansion
It's funny.
Curses are made from negative energy, and inherently bad. But even they can have a moment of peace from Samsara as seen with Jogo. If any curse was ever to truly ever become a human, they'd have to become far more than a curse.
Right speech embodied by inumaki