Anime Villains Done Right: Jujutsu Kaisen
Toji Fushigoro is arguably one of the most well written villains in anime. Not only are you exposed to some of his personality quirks and his hobbies, but you also see a villain who has such an immense level of discipline and cunning that few characters dare to exhibit. Do expect spoilers for this blog post.
What do you typically think about when it comes to anime villains? Exhausting monologues, fights with mindless punching back and forth with an uncomfortable amount of talking? Stereotypical motivations? If you need a break from such evil characters, enter Toji Fushigoro. Introduced in season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen, Toji is a skilled bounty hunter and swordsman with incredible physical feats. While most of his abilities are still unknown in the anime, he has shown to be an cunning, patient, and ultimately professional bounty hunter. Before we explore his expertise on the field of battle, let's explore Toji as a man. Even in the very few episodes we have to explore this character, we do see he has a hobby of betting on jet ski races, and we also witness a scary, stern temperament. He seems to come to conclusions based on how successful his bets are. However, Toji is extremely goal driven. When confronted by a civilian who bumped into him, spilling his ramen, Toji just stared him down without a word, intimidating him into silence as he remained on the phone with his mediator. We also see he has a complex relationship with his brother, Megumi. When it comes to battle, Toji always puts himself ahead. Before Sato Gojo and Suguru Geto knew it ,when they were assigned a task to protect Riko Amanai, Toji already initiated his plans to weaking them. He established a limited bounty to allow other hunters a chance to assassinate Riko. He knew fully well they would all fail, as he has done his research on Sato's abilities. Instead Toji used them as tools to lower their stamina, gather more intel, and increase his odds of slaying his target. In episode three of season 2, you witness his brilliantly smart plot come through fruition. After the two lowered their guards when they entered the Jujutsu Academy, assuming the barrier protected them, he made his move. Instead of targeting the girl, Riko, he went full force to attack Sato. While Sato narrowly used his ability to survive a blade through his chest, Toji used his speed, his cunning, and his curse to take out what otherwise would've been an impossible fight for most. He allowed Suguru to take Riko while he fought Sato. But in the middle of the fight, Toji made himself hidden, creating a decoy using a swarm of insectoid curses to distract Sato. The second he came to the conclusion that Toji went after Riko, Sato lowered his guard. Toji swooped in and dealt a fatal blow through his chest and heart. This fight makes Toji stand out as a villain compared to other anime villains, but this doesn't end here.
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Towards the end of the episode after Toji defeated Sato, he took the opportunity with Suguru and Riko's guards lowered. A dramatic, and expert shot, he fired a gun from a distance and assassinated Riko right before his eyes. No monologuing. No giving away his surprise advantage. A clean assassination, and a goal achieved.
In season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen, we witness how a well written character can make the audience feel dread, finality, and the consequences of the decisions of the heroes. Life threatening situations truly feel life threatening. Heroes feel the threat of failure with characters like this one. When it comes to amazing stories and amazing characters, we could always use more villains like Toji.
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