Is Kenjaku dead in ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ chapter 243?

Warning: the following article contains major spoilers for chapter 243 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga.

Jujutsu Kaisen has enough death as it is, but while some losses are mourned by fans, others are greatly appreciated.

For a long time, readers have had to deal with seeing Suguru Geto’s corpse overtaken and controlled by Kenjaku. Needless to say, this was tough for those who grew to like Geto’s character, making it even more satisfying now that it seems like Kenjaku is done for. After the antagonist’s battle with Takaba in recent chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen, someone came along to put him in his place.

It was about time, in all honesty, but are we completely sure that Kenjaku has met his demise? Shonen characters are typically able to survive a lot of near-fatal incidents, so it’s always hard to trust apparent death scenes. Of course, Jujutsu Kaisen fans are not immune to this mistrust, meaning they are now questioning whether or not this particular antagonist is dead. Judging by his words at the end of chapter 243, he doesn’t seem to believe this is it, at least.

Did Kenjaku really die in Jujutsu Kaisen?

Simply put, it appears that Kenjaku is done for, but we will have to wait for the following chapters to be sure. In the final pages of chapter 243, Yuta made his much-anticipated comeback, coming at the tail-end of Takaba’s fight with Kenjaku to slice the villain’s head from his body. Well, Geto’s head, I mean. At the moment when Kenjaku realizes Yuta’s presence, he tries to use a cursed technique reversal to save his skin, but the sorcerer is too fast to allow that.

As Kenjaku’s head rolls off from its body, he realizes that this was all part of Yuta and Takaba’s plan, and laments the situation. He expresses his belief that he was close to achieving his goal but warns the other two that his will shall be inherited. Naturally, these words are sparking confusion, as we can’t be quite sure of what the antagonist means by them.

Is this a hint that Kenjaku will find a way to live on? Perhaps. There are always more dead bodies to take over, after all. Or maybe it just means that his ultimate goal will be carried out by someone else. The question of who that is, exactly, is something that only time will tell, but it’s safe to say that Kenjaku seems pretty confident.

It may feel odd for an antagonist such as this to be killed off so quickly, but then again, we’ve seen a fair share of characters meet their end in a similar fashion. Gege Akutami clearly has no problem ending lives with a flick of the wrist.