Jujutsu Kaisen: Why Gege Akutami made Gojo so “stunning”

Jujutsu Kaisen’s Satoru Gojo wasn’t always a heartthrob, but Gege Akutami made him “stunning” for a reason.

Satoru Gojo is undoubtedly the most popular character of Jujutsu Kaisen. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Gojo contributes a lot to the series’ global popularity. After all, he has every quality that Shonen fans adore: he’s a teacher, unparalleled in battle, has an eccentric personality, and is kind enough to help anyone in need.

He may come off as arrogant at first, but he only shows off his superiority in front of his enemies – which isn’t necessarily bad. To top it all off, Gojo has the kind of appearance fans will always love. In Crunchyroll’s poll, he was the anime crush of 2023.

However, Gojo wasn’t always meant to be so attractive. He wasn’t this popular before revealing the face hiding behind his blindfold.

Why Gege Akutami made Gojo so “stunning” in Jujutsu Kaisen

Lightning, a former JJK translator, shared: “It’s so hilarious to think that Gege drew this spread of Gojo looking absolutely stunning early in the story to help avoid cancellation, then paid the price by requiring he look hot at all times from here on out LMFAO.

In the same post, he also shared Gege’s Q and A where the interviewer asked, “Please tell us what you care in particular when drawing Gojo.”

The mangaka replied, “I make sure to draw him handsome after some point in the story.”

For those who don’t know, Jujutsu Kaisen was at risk of getting canceled during the initial phase. The series started publishing in 2018 in the Weekly Shonen Jump, but was about to get canceled after a few months.

According to leaker JJK Mya, “During its initial phase, Jujutsu Kaisen manga was in danger of getting canceled/axed due to low reception from the audience. So, Gege was ready to permanently kill Yuji when he died in Chap-9 and wrap up the manga in a few more chaps before it gets axed.”

From making a visually appealing character to killing off the protagonist, Gege Akutami pulled out all the stops to make his series a success – and it worked. Jujutsu Kaisen is currently one of the most successful anime and manga franchises thanks to Gege and of course, Gojo.

Even in the anime, JJK characters are often attractive, earning lots of attention from fans. Needless to say, Gojo always stands out among them.