Jujutsu Kaisen - Episode 9 Recap

A recent flashback is shown of the mysterious boy at the end of the previous episode, Junpei Yoshino. He’s being bullied by his classmates. As Yoshino watches a movie in an empty theater, he notices these same bullies cursed and killed by Mahito. Yoshino catches Mahito before he leaves the scene to ask him if he could also use that terrifying power.

Back in the present, Itadori accompanies the sorcerer Nanami Kento in investigating the theater for curses. Gojou was too busy to take on the case, so he asked Kento to look into it with Itadori. Working together, Itadori notices that his personality doesn’t mesh well with Kento. But despite that, Kento is able to teach Itadori new things. For one, he teaches Itadori to see residual cursed energy. 

The residuals from the three dead bullies reveals a set of footprints leading to the building’s roof. Kento and Itadori follow the footprints there and are met with two curses that attack them. Kento easily slices his enemy to bits with his technique, Seven to Three, which allows him to create weak points in his enemy. Meanwhile, Itadori dispatches his enemy with a new technique he’s developed called the Divergent Fist. Kento notices this and finally understands the potential that Gojou sees in him.

With the enemies defeated, Kento also notices that these monsters are not normal curses. They were humans that were transformed! Ieri does an autopsy on the bodies and confirms this. Kento hadn’t noticed this soon enough because they were filled with cursed energy, just like any normal cursed spirits - it’s because of the culprit’s mysterious abilities. Ieri tries to assure Itadori that they died at transformation, meaning he didn’t kill them. Regardless, Itadori still feels burdened by the weight of what he did and the misfortune of the humans. Kento deduces that the footprints were a trap and that the enemy is high level, requiring them to go “all out.”

Elsewhere in a sewer, Mahito teaches Yoshino about the origins of curses, how they often arise from human’s fears. Even natural disasters lead to curses. The fear is so strong and in such a great amount that it gave birth to his intelligent curse allies like Jougo. Mahito is a curse created from humans’ fear and hate of other humans.

Kento has reports from windows that he’s used to narrow down possible locations of the suspect. While he searches, he instructs Ijichi and Itadori to look into Yoshino, who’s energy was also felt at the crime scene. In truth, Kento feels this culprit is too much for Itadori to handle, and wants to protect him.

(image source: Amazon)