jjk's heian-era: an analysis (pt. 1) 🧵

important tidbits we have, the flourishability of a prequel, and more

contents:

i. intro
ii. foundations
iii. sukuna & his origins
iv. uraume's origins & sukunas compassion

(expanding more of this thread later)

i. intro

at the outset, i always believed jujutsu kaisen would benefit from a throughly explored heian-era prequel. the current narrative of jjk is fundamentally a framed narrative, operating out of an already established societal framework from millenniums ago

modulo was compelling, but ultimately theres a great deal of information missing from the past narrative gege would've profited from the past rather than the future itself, in favor of modulo's existence however it reinforces many problems and fixes some.

in terms of overall depth, something is compelling about the historical narrative of jujutsu kaisen. this aspect is widely overlooked narratively, and in terms of depth and feasibility, the heian era and epochs alike deserve a more careful analysis due to correlation to history

often described as the "golden age of jujutsu" and one of the most neglected segments of jujutsu kaisen as a whole, it essentially haunts the narrative. properly exploring this era would not only bridge gaps within the present series, but also deepen the narrative overall.

in this essay i will explore the possibilities and potential flourishability for a well-executed heian era prequel. this subject has been a matter of discourse for several years within fan discussion; however, it lacks an adequate clarification on advantageousness.

ii. foundation

this will cover:
- why the era is called the “golden age”
- aristocracy & meritocracy
- status and order
- emergence of conservative jujutsu structures
- cursed energy at its peak

we should begin by understanding why the heian era is referred to as the "golden age"

in the heian era (even historically), there was a BUNCH of unrest and violence due to political rule and indifference in morality, cursed energy is derived from violence and negative emotion in this universe, so this is the reason why opponents back then would be stronger than the ones in present day jjk.

its crucial to understand a great majority of jujutsu kaisen's political and societal rules are formed by heian-era logic.

much like the real world, the heian era serves as a bedrock layer hidden beneath the worlds traditional values, shaping how society views power and class alike.

the modern era running off heian-era logic is troubling, since, the dilemma of chaotic, ruthless power was intrinsically linked to status. this flawed framework in itself is responsible for clan logic, forming as a defense plan, political power, and inheritance strategy

the role of power being linked to status is something to be touched on, as knowing these traditionalist views in society is crucial for understanding the role of a highly significant character woved within the narrative

...this character is sukunas mother

iii. sukuna & his origins

quite possibility one of the most overlooked characters in jujutsu kaisen history that is responsible for a great deal of the narrative is sukunas mother.

in popular fan theory, she is described as an improvished woman who lacks class and faced severe starvation due to lack of necessities.

this connects with the canon, since, sukunas mother starves for a long period of time, we don't have a particular reason as to why she starved to death, but its widely interpreted as her role in society. sukumama was likely not an aristocrat or noble at all, and was likely a peasant woman, which contributes to her role in society being treated as discardable.

her lack of sustenance and nutrition she could've provided for her children is widely regarded as a catalyst for sukuna "eating" his twin in the womb, an action done to survive due to lack of nourishment.

its worth noting that the real reason why sukunas mother couldn't provide the twins with food is purely speculative and is not explored yet, however we are led to believe this is the case because of heian era logic

this singular event caused an eruption within jujutsu kaisen's narrative, twin's in jjk are essentially treated as one being. when sukuna ate his twin, he essentially gained much of his cursed energy from this and was granted the anatomy of a parasitic twin.

after sukuna was born, we know that he was either abandoned or something happened to his mother (like starving to death), however, I personally believe he was abandoned.

the reason i believe sukuna was abandoned is for many elucidated points within the narrative, but my favorite is personally the many nicknames he gives himself (see attachments for info)

this tidbit gives us a great understanding for sukunas backstory, we now understand a few things:

- his parents were absent
- he referred to himself as an "unwanted child"
- he had a deformed appearance

these attributes leads us to believe sukuna was frequently ridiculed or disliked by many as a child, and developed most of his behavior as a response to it (including his cannibalistic tendencies from the previous taste of his brothers flesh)

it shouldnt be very surprising to realize that this led him to hate society as a whole, those who are constantly alienated and treated as less-than-human tend to start to hate humanity as a collective whole due to exposure.

knowing that he was treated inhumanely, we now understand why he trained so hard to become the strongest and rejected moral truths.

as a result of trauma, frequently alienated individuals tend to have a desire to get stronger to prove to themselves (and others) they are not as weak as society paints them as. in japanese history, miyamoto musashi is a great example of this.

sukuna took the road less traveled.

however, its still worth noting sukunas backstory is still heavily underexplored, we don't know how most of his childhood was, but we can expect that it was full of self-sustenance and self-reliability

i like the monk theory here: reddit.com/r/Jujutsushi/c…

the reason why the monk theory actually aligns with a lot of sukunas themes is actually due to a few factors, namely jjk's endless buddhist imagery and symbolism, (due to japans intrinsic link to it historically) HOWEVER, its highly likely since sukuna has a very anti-monk mindset..

in addition to this, we must also mention another reason why the monk theory is likely and how it shoehorns into sukunas themes..

iv. uraume's origins & sukunas compassion

it might not occur to many people, but uraume is a monk.. yes, they're a monk chef.