One of the highest-selling manga in circulation, Jujutsu Kaisen has broken many records and is now a popular anime too. Given this success, one would expect the story to be extraordinarily original, but it really isn’t -- Jujutsu Kaisen is another demon-hunting shonen with a trio of protagonists that closely resemble Naruto’s beloved ones.
Despite the familiarity of its plot and world-building, Jujutsu Kaisen does have something going for it. For example, despite the overwhelming prevalence of male characters, its representation of women is pretty great. In particular, Nobara Kugisaki, the young woman in the main trio, is one of the most unapologetic and strongest female characters in the show.
Nobara’s Femininity Is as Important as Her Strength
When she is first introduced, Nobara seems to be the stereotypical embodiment of young women in shonen anime. She loves shopping to a fault and is the third wheel in a team that includes two seemingly unbeatable young men. In the first fight she engages in, in spite of her evident strength, Nobara needs Itadori to save her in order to survive.
However, Nobara’s development during the first season proves that the audience’s first impression of her was wrong. Nobara is an amazing fighter and a resolute person. In the last episode, it’s her turn to save Itadori from the enemy -- it's her cursed technique that allows the two to defeat the Death Painting Wombs Kechizu and Eso. Once they realize that they killed human beings, not Curses, both Nobara and Itadori have similar contemplative reactions, but neither of them breaks down -- if anything, it looks like Itadori is more shaken than Nobara by it.
Nobara Likes Herself When She’s 'Pretty' as Well as When She’s 'Strong'
In her fight against Momo in Episode 17, Nobara puts all this into words in an outstanding monologue that expresses her idea of feminism. When faced with Momo’s outdated notion of what a woman should be, Nobara says that she doesn’t care about men and women, that she likes herself both when she’s pretty and when she’s being strong and that she is simply Nobara Kugisaki -- nothing more and nothing less.
Nobara is what women characters should be like in all anime. They don’t need to be crazy or masculine to be strong: they can be as girly as they like while still being wonderful fighters in battle. Nobara is an example of feminism done right in anime -- a delightfully surprising detail from a show that is so unoriginal in everything else.