In the current state of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, it may seem heretical to attack Yuji Itadori's likability. The kind and powerful first year at Tokyo Jujutsu High used his 24-episode introductory tour to literally knock his first impression out of the park.
JJK's first season sets the bar a little too high for Yuji to maintain throughout the following manga arcs. Readers know a Yuji that continues to strive for greatness, but has fallen short on a number of different occasions.
10 Yuji Invited Sukuna Into His Body Without Considering The Consequences
Before fans even truly knew Yuji Itadori, he sacrificed his own well-being to save Megumi Fushiguro from a powerful cursed spirit. Without truly understanding the consequences of his actions, Yuji consumed one of Sukuna's fingers and invited the most powerful cursed spirit of all time into his body.
While many initially see this action as a bold and noble sacrifice, the more time fans spend with Sukuna, the less likely they are to see it this way. Yuji may have done the right thing, but in doing so, he offered the King of Curses a foothold in the modern world of jujutsu.
9 He Gave Into Sukuna's Power & Nearly Killed Himself & Megumi
During his first encounter with a special grade cursed spirit, Yuji gave up control of his body to the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. Though he did so with pure intentions, Yuji's actions would eventually lead to his own death and begin Sukuna's fascination with Megumi's cursed technique.
Considering the fact that Yuji gave up control of his body to avoid death, his sacrifice was pointless and ended up leading to a binding vow that Sukuna has yet to take full advantage of.
8 Yuji Kept His Resurrection A Secret From His Friends
After having his heart ripped out by Ryomen Sukuna and entering a binding vow with the King of Curses, Yuji was resurrected by Sukuna's power. After returning to the land of the living, Itadori kept his resurrection a secret in order to train under Satoru Gojo and Kento Nanami.
Yuji's time with Nanami is some of the best JJK content that has been animated, but it also reeks of Satoru Gojo's irresponsibility. Yuji would have been better off sharing the truth of his resurrection with Megumi and Nobara immediately.
7 He Played Into Satoru Gojo's Disrespectful Resurrection Gag
To further emphasize how poorly Yuji acted after his resurrection, fans only have to look at the inappropriate gag planned out by Satoru Gojo prior to the Kyoto Goodwill Exchange Event.
The return of Yuji Itadori should have been a quiet and respectful moment that allowed his peers to process their feelings of grief with time and grace. Instead, Yuji burst onto the scene with a plan that Satoru surely only intended as a gag to insult Principal Gakuganji and the higher-ups behind him.
6 Yuji Played Directly Into Aoi Todo's Toxically Masculine Hand
Aoi Todo is an extremely powerful sorcerer with a tricky cursed technique, but his personality could use some serious maintenance. There is nothing inherently wrong about fanboying over a couple of idols, but Todo takes it a step too far when he threatens to bash in the skulls of anyone whose taste in women doesn't live up to his standard.
Yuji is a sweet young man but loses a few points in the likability category when he falls into Todo's twisted social experiment.
5 Itadori Killed Choso's Younger Brothers
Choso is still cast as a villain in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, but manga readers know Choso as a kind and loving older brother to Eso, Kechisu, and Yuji Itadori himself.
In the final episodes of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, Yuji and Nobara confront what they believe are two special grade cursed spirits. Upon defeating the two cursed spirits, Yuji is horrified to discover that they are actually two living curses made of flesh and bone. This moment sets Yuji on his path toward discovering that he is nothing more than a cog in the machine of curse killers created by the higher-ups.
4 Yuji Let Satoru Gojo Step In As A Series Protagonist
Though Yuji Itadori and Yuta Okkatsu are the two main protagonists of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, Satoru does earn his own right to the title of MC during the Gojo's Past arc. During this arc, Satoru steps into the role of protagonist to lead readers on a wild jujutsu adventure.
Alongside Suguru Geto, Satoru Gojo stands up against the might of Toji Fushiguro in one of Gege Akutami's best-penned story arcs. If Season 2 of the anime follows the manga as faithfully as the first season, fans will begin questioning Yuji's status as their favorite protagonist sooner than they may have thought.
3 Yuji Continuously Failed To Defeat The Special Grade Cursed Spirit Mahito
Until the brilliant mind of Kenjaku took Mahito off of the playing field during the Shibuya Incident arc, the twisted special grade cursed spirit was one of the most hated characters in the Jujutsu Kaisen canon. Of course, any good antagonist will be hated by dedicated fans of the protagonist, but Mahito took this hate to a completely different level.
While it is difficult to blame Yuji for Mahito's actions, by the time the Shibuyu Incident arc took place, Itadori had failed to exorcise Mahito on multiple occasions. Due to his failure, Kenjaku was given the opportunity to launch the Culling Games by absorbing Mahito and his cursed technique.
2 He lost to Yuta Okkatsu In A 1v1 Battle
In the current state of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, Yuji Itadori is the one and only series protagonist. This will all change when the Jujutsu Kaisen film Volume 0 makes it to the screen in December of 2021.
Yuta Okkatsu is as lovable as Yuji and immensely more powerful. Though fans were forced to speculate on Yuta's superiority over Yuji prior to the Itadori Extermination arc, it is now clear that Yuta is indeed the most powerful of the two main protagonists of JJK.
1 Yuji Accepted His Role As A Cog In The Cursed Spirit Killing Machine
The most recent chapters of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga show Yuji Itadori recruiting Kinji Hakari before joining the Culling Games. During Yuji's battle with Kinji, he admits to the fact that he is nothing more than a cog in the machine designed by his superiors to kill cursed spirits.
This is a far stretch from the young man who joined Tokyo Jujutsu High to help those he cared about earn a worthy death. In fact, when fans think about all this now, Yuji has always had pretty lackluster motivations.