With the Jujutsu Kaisen movie premiering in the West earlier this year, Yuta Okkotsu has never been more popular. Starting out as the franchise's original protagonist, he was labeled a Special-Grade sorcerer that was on par with even the likes of Gojo Satoru.
Interestingly enough, after the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Yuta has largely been absent from the franchise until just recently. Returning after the "Shibuya Incident" arc, Yuta is finally back in the spotlight.
Yuta's Return From Overseas
After the "Shibuya Incident" arc, current franchise protagonist Yuji Itadori was re-sentenced to be executed by the jujutsu higher-ups. Having just returned from training overseas, Yuta offers to be the one to carry out the sentence. However, this was a ploy on the part of Yuta to try and protect Gojo's new student, and he knew that he would be able to kill Yuji and bring him back thanks to his Reverse Cursed Technique. After doing so, Yuta explains that he is an ally to Yuji, alongside Choso and Megumi Fushiguro, the pair decides to regroup and figure out a way to stop the mastermind of every event in the series: Kenjaku.
Yuta, along with the rest of the group, ends up meeting Master Tengen, who explains to them Kenjaku's plan and motives, as well as the battle royale "Culling Game" he has initiated. Tengen tells them that the Culling Game is essentially a ritual that's meant to generate enough Cursed Energy in order to force them to merge with all of humanity in Japan, due to Kenjaku believing that this will create a wholly new being and evolve Cursed Energy. Realizing that in order to stop the ritual, free Gojo from the Prison Seal he is trapped in and save all the participants, including Megumi's Sister, Yuta states that they themselves will have to enter the Culling Game.
Yuta's Participation in the Culling Game
As the Culling Game is taking part across 10 separate colonies, the group decides to split up in order to deal with them. Yuta chooses to head to the Sendai Colony in order to gather as much information as he can before the rest head to their own colonies. Since arriving at the Sendai Colony, Yuta had been engaging in battles non-stop with other sorcerers. Thankfully, due to his immeasurable amount of Cursed Energy, as well as Rika, he has had no real problem dealing with any of his opponents.
While it might seem strange for Yuta to still have Rika after the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, there is actually a good reason for this. After the spirit of Rika Orimoto passed on, the Cursed Spirit that acted as her vessel ended up becoming Yuta's Cursed Technique. This version of Rika is still an incredibly powerful spirit that Yuta is able to manifest much easier than before and use as an incredible ally and partner in battle, just like her original incarnation.
By wearing his ring, Yuta is able to completely manifest Rika, not only giving him access to all of Rika's Cursed Energy but also enabling him to copy and store the Cursed Techniques of others seemingly without limit, giving him an endless arsenal of abilities. He can also have her store weapons and other items for him to use in combat when he needs them. In this state, she becomes an even stronger partner in battle, helping him fight multiple opponents at once. The only downside is that Yuta can seemingly only sustain this for five minutes, requiring a cooldown period afterward.
So far, Yuta has taken down multiple powerful sorcerers and even some Cursed Spirits, garnering all the points he can in an effort to accomplish his group's goal of stopping Kenjaku. Even though it appears as though he is completely on his own in the Sendai Colony so far, his strength as a Special-Grade sorcerer and Rika's assistance seems to make him impossible to beat. However, the Culling Game is still very much underway, so it remains to be seen just how successful Yuta and his allies will ultimately be against the evil mastermind Kenjaku.