Warning: the following article contains spoilers for chapter 236 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga.
Just when you think everything is alright, Gege Akutami comes back with a new chapter of Jujutsu Kaisen that hits you like a ton of bricks. It’s well known in the fandom that the mangaka dislikes Satoru Gojo — he doesn’t try to hide it — but it looks like we’ve reached a new level of hostility.
In chapter 235 of the manga, fans were lured into a false sense of security, led to believe that Gojo’s confrontation against Sukuna wrapped up with an exciting victory for the sorcerer. That all quickly came crashing down in the following chapter, however, when disaster struck.
Chapter 236 starts out with what some readers may be inclined to believe is a flashback to Gojo’s past, as he amicably converses with Geto. However, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that something isn’t quite right. As the conversation continues, Gojo talks about his fight with Sukuna and reveals that he’s happy to have died in battle at the hands of someone stronger than him, instead of dying of old age or disease. It’s this moment that makes it obvious — this isn’t a flashback, Gojo is in the afterlife. Or so we think.
Does Gojo really die in chapter 236?
Yes, Gojo appears to die in chapter 236 of Jujutsu Kaisen. After the character’s conversation with his deceased friends in the afterlife, we’re thrown back into the real world, only to be met with Gojo lying on the floor, with blood coming out of his mouth. His body has been cut in half by Sukuna, who stands above it and proclaims his admiration for Gojo by saying that he’ll never forget him.
This comes as a shock to a lot of Jujutsu Kaisen fans, who for the longest time believed Gojo to be undefeatable. He is the self-proclaimed strongest man alone, after all, and ranks high among the most powerful anime characters of all time. But then again, so does Sukuna. All that said, some fans still refuse to accept that this is the end for Gojo.
Is there any chance that this is a fake-out and Gojo will be resurrected in a future chapter? Well, yes, everything is possible in fiction. The fact that the sorcerer was seen saying goodbye to his friends in the afterlife may suggest that this isn’t the end of the road. Typically, the afterlife is portrayed as a place where someone can reconnect with lost loved ones, but how many times do we see characters walk away from them? Plus, Gojo has survived a lot in the story so far. What’s one more miracle?
For now, though, fans will have to live with the agony of uncertainty as they wait for the next Jujutsu Kaisen chapters.
