If there is something that the JJK fandom has been waiting for patiently, then it is for Yuji Itadori to finally get a cursed technique of his own.
True, he is superior to a lot of characters in the manga when it comes to hand to hand combat and physical brawls. But, it felt as if every Itadori fan was trying hard to manifest a technique for him, especially because he had once dreamt of having such “super power”.
First, it was the memory manipulation technique which the fandom put its weight behind, but it was flatly debunked by Akutami. And recently, Itadori’s Soul Swapping CT has gained traction. But, it still continues to be a speculation till date.
Well, I believe that Soul Swapping is not Yuji’s innate cursed technique or anything. If you are surprised to read of this development, check the article below!
Read More: Yuji Itadori’s Soul Swapping Is NOT A Cursed Technique In JJK: Here’s Why
There have been no concrete signs of him developing anything of that sort for 200 odd chapters. Despite all that, Yuji’s fans have not been dissuaded and theories still keep coming out.
And now, adding to fuel to the fire are Itadori’s arms from JJK chapter 238 (the image you saw above). Yuji’s Piccolo arms did not go unnoticed there, as a discourse started on what we were possibly seeing here. He had definitely gotten a power up of sorts.
Mind you, we still don’t know what is happening to him. But that has never stopped us from making assumptions and going crazy with theories right? Without further ado, let’s try to understand what is happening to Yuji Itadori’s arms here.
What happened to Yuji Itadori’s arms?
Itadori’s arms had clearly changed and it now had claws, when we saw it in chapter 238, suggesting that he has received a new power up of some sorts.
Come chapter 240 we got a much better view of it, thanks to the color illustration at the start of the chapter.
In the color illustration, Itadori’s left arm was shown to be red, along claws and a white band-like thing tied on his wrist. Along with the Piccolo-like features, they also had a fin-like structure extending from the base of his hand to the elbow.
One could also argue that they looked like wings, instead of fins.
Setting aside the description, let’s take a look at what sort of a power-up Itadori could have received and go through the scenarios one by one.
Sukuna’s powers awakening in Yuji:
The most common assumption behind Itadori’s arms changing is that he has started to awaken Sukuna’s dormant powers inside him.
Why? If you notice closely, when Yuji transformed for the first time after eating Sukuna’s finger, his right hand had claws. Sukuna is not always shown with claws, suggesting that the claws were some sort of his powers.
This was enough proof for many to jump to conclusions. The sentiment goes something like this – ‘If Itadori got the claws, he would get the cursed technique too right?’
It has been hinted from the start in JJK that in due time Yuji will be able to use Sukuna’s cursed technique. But, after Sukuna left his body and took over Megumi, this possibility was shunned by certain sections.
In Itadori’s soul swapping article, I touched upon how a soul has the power to change the shape and influence a host’s body, meaning it is entirely possible that Sukuna’s cursed technique had already been engraved into Yuji. And that these changes stayed with him even after Sukuna switched hosts.
Yuji probably suppressed this side, consciously or subconsciously because of how much he hated Sukuna. It would be understandable if he did not want to use any powers that he had inherited from his arch-nemesis.
At this point in the story, however, Yuji really doesn’t care where he gets his power from. His only goal is to defeat Sukuna and this could have led him to tap into the remnants of Sukuna’s influence on his body and soul in order to become more powerful.
But then, a possible downside to this theory came in the illustration of chapter 240, where Akutami gave us a better idea of how Yuji’s arms looked now.
When you compare it to Sukuna’s claws or his arms, even in his reincarnated form, it doesn’t look similar at all. Sukuna’s arms aren’t red in color, especially with the winged/fin-like structure.
Also remember how I said Sukuna has not been shown with claws after the first couple of chapters? It is entirely possible that Akutami dropped that design, which again makes me wonder why Itadori has them.
Sukuna’s fingers, the cursed object, on the other hand, look eerily similar to Yuji’s claws.
Since I am not entirely convinced by the possibility of Yuju’s arm being a manifestation of one of Sukuna’s abilities, let’s move on to the next option.
A cursed tool like Yuta’s:
Remember how Yuta has an assortment of cursed tools stored inside Rika for ease of use. It’s just like how Megumi stored cursed tools in his shadow.
Now, when he was fighting Uro and Ryu in chapter 178, he fitted his right arm with a cursed tool. This helped him land tougher blows on opponents and be more potent in a close range fight.
According to Yuta himself, he is someone on the weaker side, so using such a tool made total sense for him in the battle.
It is entirely possible that Yuji is also using a cursed tool that is similar to Yuta’s. Since we didn’t have any sort of foreshadowing for this particular power-up, and since it doesn’t look much like Sukuna’s hands in the color illustration in JJK chapter 240, Itadori’s arms being fitted with a cursed tool kinda makes sense.
Itadori is already a master of close combat, and he can clearly land deadly punches without a cursed tool. So imagine the damage he can do with the add-on of a cursed tool like this.
And this was visible when he landed a punch on Sukuna in JJK chapter 244 (spoilers), and the later seem shook for a moment!!
It is also possible that this cursed tool doesn’t just enhance the user physically, it could also have some sort of cursed technique imbued in it, making it a very handy package for someone like Itadori.
I have a gut feeling that if these are actually cursed tools on Itadori’s arms, he chose them because they went well with the red color of his attire!
In Yuta’s case, the cursed tool fitted on top of his clothes and covered the sleeve of his uniform completely. However, in Itadori’s case, he probably equipped himself with the cursed tool before suiting up, which explains why the sleeve of his uniform is still visible.
OR, Yuji’s arms probably underwent a transformation because of something different. That brings us to our last possibility.
The effect of eating cursed wombs:
Before you proceed further, I want you to read my previous article which details why Itadori ate the cursed womb death paintings. If you aren’t already familiar with it, then you will be confused reading whatever I have written in this section.
So, based on what Akutami said in the fanbook, the cursed wombs Itadori consumed will mostly give him cursed energy and not cursed technique. I assumed it because the other 6 cursed wombs seemed too weak to have a proper/strong cursed technique (seeing how weak Kechizu was).
But then, what if consuming the six cursed wombs together did give Itadori some sort of cursed technique, or even an ability to partially transform. After all, these cursed wombs too are cursed objects just like Sukuna’s fingers.
Just like how Itadori’s body transformed when Sukuna took control of it (the tattoos appearing and what not) it is possible that now Itadori’s body is transforming as a result of the 6 cursed wombs inside him.
Unlike what happened with Sukuna, I don’t think the cursed wombs’ personas will ever appear inside of or take control of Itadori. However, Itadori being the benevolent soul he is, might have kept the consciousness of the cursed wombs alive inside of him.
This would explain why Choso said that his brothers would continue to live on inside of Itadori.
If that is indeed the case then Itadori might be able to transform his body by tapping into their powers. The modified arms which we see in chapter 238 and 240 could be a result of this.
I don’t have any concrete explanation for why they look like that, but I have been mentioning that the structure on his arms did look like fins (especially dorsal or ventral fins). Going by that image, allow me to point out something about a certain fish and the culling game.
Abortive Migration, Culling Game and the fishes:
Abortive Migration is a term used to describe the phenomena of forced ecological migration of fishes in Japan. Due to the warm ocean currents in the area, fishes from the south migrate to the north Japanese Sea.
However, when the temperature in these seas becomes too cold, a number of fishes who migrate are unable to adapt, which results in their death.
Why am I suddenly talking about this? Well, the Japanese term for Abortive Migration is Shimetsu Kaiyū, which is also the exact term for Culling Games. Shimetsu Kaiyū can be translated as the Abortive Migration, Annihilation Migration, and even as Culling Game/Death Game.
See where I am going with this? No? Read on!
Itadori is still a culling game player. He is a fish, who has been forced to adapt to the change in circumstances, carried by the currents around him. And the culling game is ongoing and Itadori is still fighting for survival.
If there is any symbolism in Itadori’s arm sporting a fin-like structure of a fish, then his current situation as a fish stuck in an abortive-migration-like scenario comes to my mind first.
It doesn’t end here.
If you remember, Itadori was portrayed as a Juvenile Emperor Angelfish in the very first opening of Jujutsu Kaisen anime. So this isn’t the first time he has been likened to a fish either.
However, when I look at Itadori’s arms now, he reminds me of a red roman fish (in terms of colors atleast). These fishes are known to be aggressive too, which would suit Itadori’s physically strong side.
While none of this symbolism explains the TYPE of power-up that Itadori might have gotten, it sure seemed like an interesting detail to add to the mix.
Final thoughts:
To answer in short, I believe that Itadori’s arms have been fitted with a cursed tool like Yuta’s. Because of a substantial lack of evidence as to what happened, this is the only assumption I can come to now.
However, it is highly possible that the cursed wombs he ate also brought about some sort of transformation in him. After, the death painting wombs do signify a transformation and change. If that is anything to go by, then it would explain why Itadori is able to transform his arms.
What are your thoughts on Itadori’s arms? What sort of power-up do you think has he received? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or you can reach out to me on Reddit/Twitter!
This theory seems really potent
Sure does.