Who is Choso and what is his technique in ‘Jujutsu Kaisen?’

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 2 Episode 13 and Choso’s parentage, as explained in manga chapters yet to be adapted.

Of all the antagonists featured in Jujutsu Kaisen’s Shibuya Incident, Choso differs from the rest because he has no grand evil goal he’s pursuing. Compared to the others, he’s more along for the ride—that is, as long as he can kill Yuji Itadori and avenge his two brothers. Other than that and his love for his siblings, Choso doesn’t seem to have much that drives him with passion.

This fact only adds to his intriguing appeal and makes him one of the most interesting players in this arc. His cursed technique is fascinating to see in action, which is fully highlighted in one of the most mesmerizing fights in the series—a battle that ends in surprising fashion and intrigues first-time viewers further.

A dedicated big brother

Choso first appeared in season 1 as one of nine Death Paintings, which were depicted in their Cursed Womb form (sort of like fetuses in class casings). While that means his existence technically dates back to more than 150 years in the past, he only acquired the physical appearance viewers know during the events of the goodwill competition between Tokyo and Kyoto Jujutsu High. Choso was reincarnated and acquired a flesh and blood vessel when ingested by a human, as were his two brothers, Kechizu and Eso, both of whom are defeated by Yuji and Nobara in the first season’s finale.

Choso does not take the killing of his younger siblings lightly. In fact, that loss seems to be the fuel to the fire for the character, who seems otherwise aloof and quiet. It is apparent in season 2 that, except for Yuji and Nobara, Choso does not bear the jujutsu sorcerers any special antipathy, despite being introduced as an ally to Pseudo-Geto and the disaster curses.

Well, there is actually another exception to this rule: his father. Choso’s father is Noritoshi Kamo (the ancestor, not the Kyoto student, obviously) or, to be as concrete as possible, a Noritoshi Kamo who at the time was possessed by the same creepy, toothed brain that took over Suguru Geto after the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The brain’s true identity, the ancient sorcerer Kenjaku, used his innate technique to transplant himself into Noritoshi, and while using his body, conducted several experiments on Choso’s mother that resulted in her giving birth to the Death Paintings. Thanks to Kamo’s blood, which Noritoshi embedded into the cursed wombs, Choso inherited his innate technique. Due to the highly depraved and immoral circumstances surrounding his and his siblings’ conception, Choso feels no affection whatsoever for his “father.”

Using Blood Manipulation to its full potential

Although we’d seen Blood Manipulation in action for the first time in the fight between Noritoshi Kamo (the student), Megumi Fushiguro, and later against Hanami, the apex of its possibility is shown through Choso. He is clearly the better of the two users, especially in his brawl against Yuji in season 2, episode 13. To be fair, not only is Choso a half-curse hybrid endowed with a stronger anatomy, but he also had over 100 years more worth of time to hone his inherited Kamo technique. That practice is different from combat experience, which Choso lacked before fighting Yuji. Hence, Choso has the unique capacity to not run out of blood in a fight, while we see that Noritoshi has to bring extra bags of blood with him to avoid bleeding out.

Season 2, episode 13 showcases how versatile the technique can be, accompanying visible manifestations of its capabilities with narrated explanations of how they work. Blood Manipulation has deadly applications to both long and close-range combat, so even after Yuji manages to make it impossible for Choso to properly use the blood outside his body, he still gets outmatched. His opponent readily adapts, using other techniques like Flowing Red Scale, which enhances the user’s physical abilities, in order to keep up with, and even defeat, a natural hand-to-hand brawler like Yuji.