Who Dies During Jujutsu Kaisen's Shibuya Incident?
Anime fans were hearing a lot of hype for the Shibuya Incident arc when "Jujutsu Kaisen" returned for Season 2, and it's pretty safe to assume at this point that manga readers were not exaggerating. A thrilling cavalcade of wall-to-wall battles with high stakes and plenty of collateral damage, the Shibuya Incident has been delivering exciting intensity week after week.
However, the latest arc in "Jujutsu Kaisen" has also been delivering plenty of shocking character deaths. From the expected demises of plenty of the latest arc's new villains to the removal from the board of several key jujutsu sorcerers, the Shibuya Incident has cut a world-changing swath out of the show's fictional universe, and it's one that will be leaving its mark on the fandom for a long time to come.
While fans are likely still reeling from the back-to-back deaths of Nobara Kugisaki (Asami Seto/Anne Yatco) and Kento Nanami (Kenjiro Tsuda/David Vincent), there have been plenty of other characters killed off in Season 2 of "Jujutsu Kaisen." With that in mind, here's a quick refresher on all the significant deaths that have happened so far in the Shibuya Incident.
Both Kokichi Muta and Mechamaru are dead
One of the first shocking revelations of the latest "Jujutsu Kaisen" arc is that Kokichi Muta/Mechamaru (Yoshitsugi Matsuoka/Keith Silverstein) is working with the curses in hopes of restoring his crippled body. Fans will likely recall that the character acts through his proxy, Mechamaru, due to his health problems, but after Mahito (Nobunaga Shimizaki/Lucien Dodge) helps to fix Kokichi's body, he turns on the curses and fights back with everything he has.
Unfortunately, it isn't enough. Not even a lifetime of power reserves and a massive Evangelion-style mecha suit can best the most psychotic and unpredictable member of the curses. Though Kokichi puts up a fight so impressive that even Suguro Geto (Takahiro Sakurai/Lex Lang) is shocked, he is ultimately outplayed by Mahito and becomes the first of many key deaths during the Shibuya Incident.
Still, he is able to make up for his seeming treachery by sending a small, remote Mechamaru to help Yuji Itadori (Junya Enoki/Adam McArthur) and the others get the upper hand on the curses and has been aiding them from beyond the grave ever since. However, now that even his final Mechamaru has run out of power, Kokichi is truly dead in "Jujutsu Kaisen," and the central characters will not be hearing his voice or heeding his tactical advice again.
Satoru Gojo isn't dead, but he also can't help the sorcerers
Throughout the central conflict of "Jujutsu Kaisen," one character has stood as the most important and pivotal sorcerer on the side of the protagonists. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Early on in the Shibuya Incident, Suguro Geto makes good on his plans and traps Satoru Gojo (Yuichi Nakamura/Kaiji Tang) in an imprisoning curse, effectively removing him from the conflict for the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, it speaks to just how powerful Gojo truly is that the villains didn't even plan on killing him at all. The fact that the best they can do is this temporary solution certainly speaks to just how formidable and limitless Gojo's abilities are in "Jujutsu Kaisen," but from a narrative standpoint, it's easy to see why he was taken off the board.
Essentially, as long as Gojo was around, fans could always expect him to charge in and save the day any time things got too bad. Now that Geto has trapped him, however, and seemingly fled the battle altogether, the dwindling group of surviving heroes will have to do their best to see through this intense conflict without their most valuable ally.
Kento Nanami fights with everything he has before his demise
Kento Nanami has been one of the most beloved fan favorites in "Jujutsu Kaisen" since he first appeared in Season 1. A disillusioned salary man who returns to jujutsu sorcery only after his life in the real world doesn't work out, Nanami is especially relatable due to his unique ability, Overtime, which allows him to grow stronger when he works for longer than eight hours.
Still, not even Nanami's disdain for working past his set shift time is enough to keep him alive after he faces a triple onslaught from Dagon (Kenta Miyake), Jogo (Shigeru Chiba/Michael Sorich), and Mahito. His injuries begin when Dagon's domain causes him severe bodily damage, and they are only compounded by the heavy burns he receives from Jogo's scorching flames. Thus, by the time Mahito gets ahold of him, he is in no condition to resist, let alone fight back.
Nanami's death in "Jujustu Kaisen" seems to have also fulfilled a narrative purpose, however. Seeing as Yuji witnesses his final moments and how close Nanami comes to wiping Mahito off the map in their Season 1 battle, the death serves as a shocking upping of the stakes, showing that even the characters that fans absolutely love are on the chopping block in the Shibuya Incident.
Nobara Kugisaki is hands down the most shocking death
While Kento Nanami's demise was already a huge shock to "Jujutsu Kaisen" fans, it is the death of Nobara Kugisaki that has left fans truly reeling. A central character who emerged early on in the series as one of three protagonists that viewers would be following, Nobara is dealt a fatal blow by Mahito after he places his hand on her head and effectively blows her face off.
This latest death in the Shibuya Incident is almost certainly the most shocking and jaw-dropping moment of the arc thus far. To see such a pivotal character killed off in such a sudden and brutal fashion only one week after the death of Kento Nanami has been a huge development for fans to swallow and has raised the stakes in "Jujutsu Kaisen" to an unprecedented level.
It has been floated that her death may one day be reversed, as Arata Nitta, a character with a healing ability, leaves with her body, but as far as manga fans are concerned, the character is still dead in the source material as well. As a result, while it's not impossible that Nobara will one day return, if she does, she's going to look a whole lot different after what Mahito's devastating attack has done to her.
The sorcerers have been giving as hard as they're getting
Still, the struggle has been anything but one-sided in the latest arc of "Jujutsu Kaisen." The central antagonists and environmental curses, Jogo, Hanami (Atsuko Tanaka/Marie Westbrook), and Dagon, have all been killed off during the Shibuya Incident as well, and the show even gave the three a surprisingly poignant farewell, especially considering how they often felt like they were simply Geto's fodder foot soldiers.
On top of that trio of deaths, several curse users, such as Haruta (Wataru Hatano/Chris Hackney), Ogami, Niji, and the reincarnated Toji Fushiguro (Takehito Koyasu/Nicholas Roye), have also perished in the conflict. Between the aforementioned deaths and maimings on the heroes' side of the battle and the blistering action of the Shibuya Incident's many incredible fight scenes, it's safe to say that the arc has more than delivered on its lofty reputation.
While we can likely expect Mahito to die before the arc is through as well, as a villain who kills that many innocent civilians and key characters can't be allowed to survive for too long, who else could be removed from the board or injured irreparably in the remaining three episodes of "Jujutsu Kaisen" Season 2 is anyone's guess. Either way, things will never be the same in "Jujutsu Kaisen" after this transcendent and tumultuous arc.