Contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 177!
Yuta Okkotsu is about to reveal the full extent of his powers in the final arc of Jujutsu Kaisen. It’s exciting for longtime fans who are curious about what Yuta might do after his reintroduction to the series. It also comes at an appropriate time for international fans of the series as the film Jujutsu Kaisen 0which features Yuta as the main character, is set to release in less than 2 weeks in the US and Canada.
Jujutsu Kaisen is a manga written by Gege Akutami following Yuji Itadori, a young Jujutsu wizard who protects society from malevolent curses. Gege also released a prequel arc to the series called the Cursed Child arc following Yuta Okkotsu, a Jujutsu wizard barely a year older than Itadori. In this prequel series, Yuta had to figure out how to control a cursed version of his childhood friend Rika to thwart curse-wielder Suguru Geto’s destructive plans. Upon resolving this arc, he realizes that he has kept Rika’s spirit trapped on Earth in her curse and he manages to free her. After that, he leaves to train abroad with another wizard. After the Shibuya Incident arc, he returns to Japan and allies himself with the main protagonists. Mysteriously, he can still manifest Rika, though he has yet to use his most powerful form.
It looks like that is about to change. Over the past two chapters, Yuta has fought a variety of powerful opponents in Sendai Colony. In the final chapter, two users of the Cursed Technique, Ryu Ishigori and Takako Uro, pushed Yuta to his limits with their devastating attacks. While Yuta held up well against the damage they inflicted, he lacks Cursed Energy to use for his Reverse Cursed Technique. So, in the last panels of the chapter, Yuta calls Rika, telling her to give him everything.
Exactly what this will entail is unclear at this time. Before freeing Rika from her curse, her fully manifested form was one of the strongest curses in existence, able to easily destroy any threats she fought against. However, it is unknown what the exact nature of the curse Yuta calls Rika is now. Although it still resembles the original curse, Rika’s mind has evolved, making it likely that the full manifestation of this curse is much weaker than the original. The most important question regarding this complete new manifestation is whether it will be able to copy other cursed techniques like the original was able to do. It was by far his most versatile ability, giving Yuta access to a variety of different cursed techniques. Given how powerful his current fighters’ abilities are, he’ll likely be able to heavily sway the battle in his favor if he can copy them.
It will be fascinating to watch Yuta unleash his full strength in the next chapter if he fully manifests his current Rika curse. It will also provide an interesting comparison to his original abilities in the Cursed Child arc, which is being adapted into the soon-to-be-released movie. Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Regardless of how the current Earth compares to its former counterpart in the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, unleashing his full powers will surely make for an epic fight in the upcoming chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen.