Thie following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Shibuya Incident Arc!
Jujutsu Kaisen is filled with lovable, eccentric characters, with its side characters being some of the best in anime. The Shibuya Incident Arc introduced many new characters and added a great deal of depth to its existing cast. The latest episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen massively increased the appeal of a character who was overlooked back in season 1.
The Goodwill Arc in Jujutsu Kaisen season 1 introduced many new key supporting characters that played a massive role in Shibuya, especially Maki Zenin and Todo Aoi. There’s another character who was overlooked but now got the spotlight, and he went on a wild ride: Kokichi Muta or more commonly known as Mechamaru.
From Villain To Hero: Kokichi’s Journey
Created by MAPPA, based on the original manga by Gege Akutami
Back in the Tokyo Goodwill Arc, Panda had a very tough match against Mechamaru. It was revealed that Mechamaru was actually a puppet being controlled by a sorcerer called Kokichi Muta, who was simultaneously cursed and blessed. In exchange for a huge amount of cursed energy and an incredible range of distance for controlling puppets, he was given an extremely frail body. He was bedridden and was confined to a dark room his whole life, possessing what was called a Heavenly Pact technique. He hated his powers and longed for a normal life.
Episode 6 revealed that Kokichi was the mole who aided Geto and Hanami in infiltrating Jujutsu High, but he was misled, and had no idea that the students would become targets in the attack. In exchange for giving them information, Mahito would use his power, which allows him to alter a person’s body, to give Kokichi a normal body. His actions that could be considered traitorous instead managed to add several layers of depth to him. Kokichi fought Mahito as soon as he got his new body with the plot to kill him once the deal was done while secretly building an incredible puppet.
After an incredible battle to kick off the Shibuya Incident Arc, Kokichi lost. It was assumed that he was killed since Mahito and Geto are ruthless and wouldn’t let him live. The latest episode of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 revealed that that might not be the case. After Gojo was sealed in the Prison Realm, a small puppet that looked exactly like the Mechamaru puppet appeared in Itadori’s ear, and in a rush, simply told Itadori to listen and not to ask anything. The episode ends with the puppet telling Itadori, “Gojo Satoru has been sealed”, confirming that Kokichi Muta was still alive.
How he managed to survive is a mystery. It’s known that he can control a puppet from anywhere in Japan, meaning that his current whereabouts are also unknown. He still had 9 years worth of cursed energy left after his fight with Mahito, so he might have healed himself same way Gojo did in his fight with Toji. What fans do know is that he is alive, and with all the information he holds he’ll surely be important in the arc. From a simple background character turned traitor, and now a hero slowly redeeming himself, Kokichi Muta has had some of the most interesting character development in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Watch Now on Crunchyroll
