For any anime fan that has been living under a rock, Jujutsu Kaisen is a 2020 anime that got immensely popular immediately after release. Using the famously adored shounen formula, this anime depicts the story of a Jujutsu (sorcery) school in which gifted teenagers are learning how to rid the world of “curses” ⏤ dreadful entities that are created from malice and hatred.
With a lovable trio of main characters and incredible antagonists to match, this anime was an instant success across the web. However, it’s not just the main characters who are the stars of the show. Gojo, a special-grade sorcerer and an instructor at the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, was particularly favored among fans due to his witty personality and powerful maneuver. This adoration toward the characters only goes to show that everyone in Jujutsu Kaisen has their own set of interesting qualities and quirks, from the students to the teachers.
One particular character who has yet to get more screen time, however, is Mei Mei, a first-grade sorcerer.
Who is Mei Mei?
Introduced in episode 17 in the anime and in chapter 40 in the manga (with a few small cameos in the first couple of chapters), Mei Mei is a first-grade jujutsu sorcerer who only briefly appears in the anime. Cunning, ambitious, and greedy, Mei Mei’s introduction shows the sorcerer at her core, considering that her first appearance is when the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event is going on and where money is obviously involved. Mei Mei is requested by Gojo to attend the event to meet the students, with a special focus on the protagonist, Yuuji. Upon seeing the potential of the two groups that will be battling in the event, Mei Mei and the rest of the jujutsu sorcerers involved bet on the team they believe to be the winner of the “contest.”
In the manga, however, Mei Mei has already been more explored and the readers have finally gotten a grasp of who she is. Depicted as someone who is calm, collected, and honest, Mei Mei has always been very candid about her motives, which always involve money. Her relationships and even friendships tend to revolve around money in some way or another, with her even going so far as to not understand those who aren’t as easily motivated by monetary gain as she is. In spite of it all, she appears to be someone who is friendly with nearly everyone as long as they serve some sort of purpose. It is also known that she served the role of the instructor when Gojo and Geto were just students at Jujutsu High School, already giving an insight that she isn’t just any Jujutsu sorcerer if she has trained and taught two of the strongest characters in Jujutsu Kaisen.
What about her powers, and how strong is she?
Although not all of her powers have been thoroughly disclosed, the readers of the manga already have a bit of information on her abilities and what they entail. Each Jujutsu sorcerer is (supposedly) born with an innate technique used to defeat the curses, however, Mei Mei’s wasn’t deemed a particularly strong one. Mei Mei’s ability allowed her to control birds (hence why her first introduction involved crows surrounding the sorcerer), named Black Bird Manipulation. Although it may not seem like a particularly strong ability in battle, Mei Mei came up with a technique called “Bird Strike,” which was only survived by Satoru Gojo. This technique forces a bird to commit suicide on Mei Mei’s behalf, enhancing the animal’s cursed energy as it throws itself at its opponent, hitting them with intense force. The sorcerer has also mastered close-quarters combat as if to compensate for the lack of power in her other abilities. This has helped her win major fights with semi-grade 1 and massively strong curses.
Using her trusty gigantic axe as a helpful tool, Mei Mei swings the lethal weapon with extreme precision and speed, thus making up for an extremely quick and intelligent opponent to face. As a matter of fact, in order for Jujutsu sorcerers to completely master their technique and evolve as powerful fighters, some skills are particularly important to learn.
In the chart made by Todo, the readers are immediately able to tell intelligence and learning ability are something extremely important for any Jujutsu sorcerer. Mei Mei has appeared to have an incredible tactical intellect from the way she astutely devises plans against curses. She craftily manipulates her surroundings in wary situations (just like when she had to escape with Utahime) and whenever she devises intricate and complex plans, immediately telling how an opponent fights and the best possible way to work around it.
Besides her innate technique, Mei Mei is also particularly strong when it comes to cursed energy, an extremely important feature as seen by the chart above. Jujutsu sorcerers usually require a great jujutsu sense, which implies that the sorcerer will use negative emotions in battle to fight curses. Mei Mei has trained her cursed energy to the point of manipulating her physical strength, increasing it even if she reaches her limit.
All in all, Mei Mei is a brilliant fighter and strategist, and even though no one is entirely positive about the strength tier list (other than Gege, the author), everyone can assume that Mei Mei will surely be a part of it even if not on par with Gojo ⏤ but then again, who is?
