It seems like you can’t take a step these days without hearing of someone else being brutally killed in Jujutsu Kaisen. In the anime equivalent of a crossover between a Shakespearean tragedy and Game of Thrones, you either die mercilessly or you (somehow) live long enough to see the end of your series.
But, whether you’re caught up with the manga or anime, one question has been floated in circles centering on the infamous Gege Akutami manga: is Kugisaki Nobara dead or alive in Jujutsu Kaisen? Let’s figure out the definitive answer to this for anyone who’s unable to read or watch at home.
Note: Spoilers will follow for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga and anime series.
What’s the current state of Nobara in Jujutsu Kaisen?
It is currently unclear whether or not Kugisaki Nobara died in Jujutsu Kaisen’s Shibuya Incident Arc, though all signs seem to be pointing to “yes,” she did in fact bite the dust.
In chapter 125 and 126 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, during Yuji Itadori and Kugisaki’s fight against Mahito, Kugisaki let her guard down long enough for Mahito to use what seemed like Idle Transfiguration to impact the left side of Kugisaki’s face, causing her eye to melt and the skin on that side to rot and putrefy.
In her last chronological appearance, she definitely looks dead, and upon Todo and Arata Nitta arriving on the scene, the latter tells Todo he treated Kugisaki’s wounds, but he says “she’s probably dead.”
It would seem that even later in the manga, Kugisaki’s status has still not been explicitly confirmed. It’s always possible Akutami will pull a surprise reversal and bring her back by the manga’s end, but as of now it’s probably best to accept that Nobara Kugisaki is, in Nitta’s own words, “probably dead.”
But, she’ll always live on in our hearts. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go sob in the corner real quick.
