FIRST REACT to Jujutsu Kaisen as a Literature PhD | 1x10

[00:00:00]Hi my darlings, I'm Sophie darling and welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, hello. My name is Sophie. I have a doctorate in literature, so I'm not a medical doctor. I cannot diagnose your illnesses, but I can cry over really good storytelling and that tends to be what happens a lot on this channel. Today we're reacting to episode 10 of season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen. Last episode we learned that there is a cursed technique that can modify humans and their bodies, so they're not cursed spirits, but they can use cursed energy and kind of take the form, but they still remain human. We saw the young teenager in the cinema that was getting bullied and picked on go after the manifestation of humans' hatred for one another because he wants to know about his abilities and I think we're going to see him be transformed or at least he's already been potentially transformed, which is kind of my worry because if they're able to modify bodies, he's sent Oh, [ __ ] He's sent Itadori on what he thinks is a simple mission, but what if it's not because what if he's already been transformed? If he's already been transformed, Itadori is about to have an interesting showdown because again, Nanami came to the conclusion that he's not a cursed energy user, that he's not a Jujutsu sorcerer or the evil variation of it, but he could have been modified if that's the right word to use. It's probably not, but altered by a cursed technique. So Itadori might not actually be on a safe mission. Nanami couldn't have known that. It just kind of clicked in my head then of Oh, [ __ ] Hold up.

[00:01:49]This seems like it could be too simple, too good to be true. That's going to be very interesting because I've already said I feel like they're setting them up to be rivals. But without further ado, we're going to get into episode 10.

[00:02:10]It is like Itadori's Itadori's paranormal club, but this is a movie club instead.

[00:02:46]But unlike Itadori, he doesn't even have this safe space, this club.

[00:02:58]What the [ __ ] Yoshino.

[00:03:18]All that hatred and anger manifests into cursed energy. But this I imagine is before the events that we've seen. This is just giving us more perspectives.

[00:03:35]Jesus Christ.

[00:03:44]Or maybe it's not.

[00:03:48]Maybe it's after.

[00:03:56]>> No, it's before.

[00:04:01]Like, I feel so sorry for him because being bullied sucks. It's honestly one of the worst things anyone can experience.

[00:04:55]Interesting.

[00:05:10]What, to justify their hatred for each other? I guess.

[00:05:18]Oh, that's [ __ ] Yeah.

[00:05:48]tiny machine >> They're already setting up how they're opposites. Itadori, who didn't know those people, he felt the weight of their deaths. He was able to feel empathy for them and care for them because the way that they died was horrific. But, he also acknowledges that they were people and they didn't deserve that. Whereas, we now have Yoshino who is openly saying that he doesn't care because he knows how repulsive people can be.

[00:06:20]And that the only way that he would have cared is if it was his mom. But, because he doesn't know these people and he knows how repulsive humans can be, he's not going to feel bad or sorry for those that have been turned into these monstrous forms, you know, and saying, "Oh, I don't think much of it when someone I don't know dies." Whereas, Itadori doesn't feel that way. Itadori's completely different. So, yeah, it's very much as similar students going down different paths. We have Itadori that was part of the paranormal club, but he wasn't being bullied. They were kind of left alone to their own devices and he established a strong core group of friends that he wanted to protect at all costs, which threw him into the position of consuming Sukuna's finger and becoming the vessel for Sukuna and subsequently set him on this path. And then you have Yoshino who was part of a movie club that the room they were using was one that was commandeered by the bullies that basically told them they weren't allowed to meet there even though the room wasn't being used and use it as an opportunity to kind of be in bury and put Yoshino down. And then we also have him being picked on and bullied because he was supposedly looking at this girl's breasts, which she was just being an absolute pick me at that point. And they beat him up for it. And then when he spoke up, they beat him even further. So this constant resentment and bitterness and this feeling of being disempowered has culminated in him pursuing the human embodiment of humanity's hatred to each other after witnessing what he did to his bullies because he marvels at it. He wants to have that power, that ability to get rid of those that berate him or put him down.

[00:08:20]He wants to feel powerful. It's quite a classic scenario where the bullied becomes a bully because it's a way of reclaiming power, of reclaiming what was taken from you by exerting pain and suffering onto those that you feel deserve it. But it's quite interesting that he's talking about like Japanese cultural differences that the original translation was the opposite of love is indifference, but because love isn't often used in Japan, it becomes fondness, but it kind of lacks the same original meaning. That was an interesting deep dive into the word play. So I did just have to look up the statement cuz I was like, that sounds so familiar. Like where have I heard that before? It's because it's a statement coined by a famous author called Elie Wiesel, who was a Holocaust survivor. I actually read his book Night, which is his testimony to his and his father's experience. A very beautiful book, very profound. The statement isn't mentioned in the book, but it is very much a core theme that indifference is worse than love and hate because love and hate are intense emotions.

[00:09:34]We are still feeling something. But essentially, the quote doesn't put hate as the opposite of love because hate and love are both intense emotional feelings, which means we are still feeling something towards the situation that we are faced with, whether it be one of love and respect, or whether it be hatred and animosity. There is still emotions there. Whereas, when you're indifferent, you're apathetic. You are detached from it. You're detached to the suffering. And in doing so, it's as good as ignoring the victim. Whereas, the difference is that hatred is still an active emotion. It's a passionate emotion, much in the same way that love is. Whereas, indifference is a complete removal of feeling, a complete detachment. And if anything, I feel like apathy is sometimes even worse, because at least if you feel hatred, you feel something.

[00:10:33]Whereas, apathy is just ignoring what is happening in the world, or ignoring suffering, or ignoring those that might need help and support because you shrug it off as not being your problem. And that's kind of what we're seeing here with Yoshino. But, what's interesting is that Yoshino is essentially saying that rather than striving for love or even hatred, we should strive for indifference. That we should detach ourselves emotionally, because we can't expect any good from people in our lives, so why should we care, essentially. It's quite nihilistic. It's a very detached perspective. And I can understand where he's coming from, based on what he's gone through. He's been severely bullied, treated like he's invisible. So, that indifference towards others is almost like a defense mechanism. He doesn't want to care about people because he's scared to. He's scared to be hurt. So, it's easier to be indifferent to others. It's easier to pretend not to care about people than it is to actually feel love and even hatred. But at the same time, I think, again, it's that reference to the difference in culture that when he talks about how love isn't a word that they commonly use and therefore it was changed to fondness.

[00:12:02]But even still, it kind of removes the intensity of the emotion in changing it to fondness. Hence, the reference to word play. But it does seem like Yoshino's reference to him saying, you know, I don't care if someone I don't know dies, very much seems like that is the philosophy that Yoshino is trying to embody, which is indifference. It's to feel nothing for humanity in general because humanity have never done anything good for him. So, why will he in turn care about what happens to humanity? Which kind of leaves him pretty vulnerable here because, again, he's now surrounded by people, well, not people, but embodiments of curses. But we have Geto wanting to aid in this war where Jogo and the others want to reverse the situation that they're on top and humans are at the bottom. So, now Yoshino is kind of really susceptible to believing that ideology, too, because of this whole attempt to pretend that he doesn't give a [ __ ] I think deep down he probably does care, but he's scared to admit that he cares because of how severely he's been bullied and doesn't want to leave himself vulnerable because to open yourself to your emotions, whether it be love or hatred, to be vulnerable. It is to be passionate and to care about something. What he's trying to promote and rationalize is apathy, a state of uncaring, a state of washing [snorts] his hands with those that he doesn't have a relationship with. Because again, he does distinguish between not caring about someone he doesn't know dying versus his mother. Because he obviously loves his mother, he feels that emotion still.

[00:13:57]But yeah, he's definitely heading down an interesting path. But that also makes me think that he potentially has been transformed or is in the process of being transformed.

[00:14:13]Literally what I just said.

[00:14:17]Yeah, it struck me as he very much wants to be emotionally detached.

[00:14:52]Is he basically saying that the heart is Wait, what?

[00:14:59]in comparison to the soul?

[00:15:17]And then not it repeats.

[00:15:25]>> Oh, he's going to buy into this.

[00:15:39]He's basically saying there's no consequence.

[00:15:47]He's just saying that's the cycle of life, so why put a philosophy to it?

[00:15:52]But him saying I'll sanction it for you is because he's going to transform him.

[00:15:56]He's going to give him that ability, or he already has.

[00:16:00]Oh, no. And Itadori's following him.

[00:16:14]>> [laughter] >> Oh, panda.

[00:16:28]He's doing his best, okay?

[00:16:31]>> [laughter] >> Will you save him?

[00:16:45]>> [laughter] >> Likewise.

[00:16:49]So, what if he can't?

[00:16:53]Then fight him to the death.

[00:16:55]>> [laughter] >> Oh, okay, restrain him.

[00:17:18]I got to name when you have to do that.

[00:17:30]>> Right. Okay.

[00:17:33]>> [laughter] >> Well, aren't you being told now? So, I mean.

[00:17:38]>> [snorts] >> He's like, "I have no patience."

[00:18:05]I love that they're all scared of Gojo.

[00:18:07]It's great.

[00:18:08]>> [laughter] >> Please be okay. We only just got you in this series. I can't lose you the next episode. I will be fuming. But, yeah, though, like if you were Gojo, I'd be [ __ ] >> [laughter] >> I love Gojo.

[00:18:36]Similar as in similar attitude or is this foreshadowing that there's a deeper connection between them?

[00:18:53]My hands.

[00:18:54]>> [laughter] >> Just be straight to the point.

[00:19:18]>> I imagine those small un-registered than I know.

[00:19:26]Probably the soul.

[00:19:33]Wait, can the soul come first if there's no body?

[00:19:41]I don't know.

[00:19:47]Okay.

[00:19:52]I was right. I didn't know if I was right. I was just guessing.

[00:20:05]Oh, what the [ __ ] He sleep dried them out like jerky. You know, like the little things like the toys like the tiny and then you put them in water and then they expand. So, that's what that is.

[00:20:37]It's so weird.

[00:20:45]>> [clears throat] >> He just stood by and watched him getting bullied.

[00:20:54]I wonder if he's going to exact revenge. No, they were not What the [ __ ] What do you mean to friends?

[00:21:04]Kicking the [ __ ] out of him.

[00:21:16]Don't understand.

[00:21:29]He so lame kicking the [ __ ] out of him and he didn't do anything.

[00:21:47]>> [laughter] >> Oh, [ __ ] Oh, [ __ ] >> [screaming] [laughter] >> Yeah.

[00:22:16]>> [sighs] >> He just saved that guy's life. Like, damn.

[00:22:38]None of YOUR BUSINESS. OH.

[00:22:41]>> [laughter] [laughter] [screaming] [laughter] >> IT'S A STORY.

[00:23:02]You what?

[00:23:04]Maybe It's a story is how Yoshino can change.

[00:23:13]I don't know. Maybe.

[00:23:22]Wasn't indifference, it was hatred.

[00:23:25]Which is an emotion.

[00:23:30]I think his natural ability to treat people like friends and to want to help others might get through to Yoshino.

[00:23:41]Oh, damn. Okay.

[00:23:46]Oh, he's stretchy.

[00:23:51]>> [snorts] >> Oh my goodness.

[00:24:05]Oh, that's foul.

[00:24:35]Aw.

[00:24:40]>> [laughter] >> I was going to say that's not the truth cuz he wiped the tears away.

[00:24:54]He's not going to be a test subject.

[00:24:59]Oh.

[00:25:23]I was so scared for him.

[00:25:32]No. No. No.

[00:25:39]Oh, it's like a really intense game of tag.

[00:25:51]I'm so scared.

[00:25:52]>> [laughter] >> I'm like, "Please, don't transform him."

[00:26:04]He's clocked off for the day.

[00:26:06]>> [laughter] >> It's the end of his shift.

[00:26:15]>> [laughter] >> You've made him go into overtime. How dare you?

[00:26:21]Going to make you suffer because of it.

[00:26:23]>> [laughter] [laughter] >> Are you sure about that, Panda?

[00:26:42]>> [laughter] [laughter] >> Shakes, stop stealing my uniform.

[00:27:05]>> [laughter] >> It's not even my scarf.

[00:27:11][ __ ] Gojo. I love Gojo. Honestly, this show is phenomenal. At first, I thought perhaps Yoshino might sort of become an antagonist, but I don't know. Just seeing the way that he was looking at Itadori when Itadori pulled his teacher's pants down and then came back and was like, "Oh, you hate him. Well, you don't want someone you hate standing outside your house." Shows that Itadori is really good at reading people, really good at reading their emotions, and even people he doesn't know, he cares about them. He cares about their well-being and wants to help them. So, I don't know if maybe that will end up rubbing off on Yoshino. If Yoshino can kind of turn around his perspective from speaking or at least getting to know Itadori. I don't know if it's going to happen overnight because the bullying he's gone through is really intense and it makes complete and utter sense to me that he would go down this path and feel this need for revenge and the frustration of wanting to have power when you've been made to feel so powerless. I get it. But, I feel like he potentially has potential to maybe go down this dark path, but be redeemed, like brought back because of Itadori. I feel as if it's either going to be that he doesn't go down the path because Itadori changes his perspective or he does go down that path, but Itadori is able to bring him back. I don't think it's going to be the former.

[00:28:53]I think it's the latter that Itadori will bring him back onto the right path eventually. But, Yoshino can redeem himself with all the negative emotions he feels and then also being granted this ability and being sanctioned to take a life if he feels like it because that's just the cycle of life in itself and he shouldn't be penalized or punished because of it.

[00:29:22]It's opened up a new perspective of the world, a new path that he never previously had and I think that power might kind of get to his head a little bit and we might see him not able to fully break away from the hold it has on him. But, he's also showing that indifference isn't something that can actively be practiced because even in that moment with his teacher and his teacher making reference to them being friends, he feels hatred. And again, hatred is an intense emotion. He can't even be indifferent towards his teacher. He hates this man that's lecturing him on not going to the funeral of the very people that made his life a living hell who seems to think that they were friends even though he saw the bullies kicking the [ __ ] out of him. I love Nanami basically saying that he doesn't bring his emotions into work, but he still stops to wipe the tears off of this victim that he knows he can't save because there's no turning them back once they have been transformed. And whilst he's not breaking down over it, he's still exhibiting care, which you know, initially looks like indifference, initially looks like he doesn't give a [ __ ] when he's saying he doesn't bring his emotions into work, especially when we've had that whole conversation about the opposite of love is indifference. But the actions themselves show that he's not indifferent. He understands the suffering and is witness to it and is trying to comfort them knowing what they're going through. And he's even kind of called out on it that his soul is quivering because of the emotions. He's just not letting it show because he doesn't want to give this guy any advantage over him. I keep forgetting his name. His name's come up a few times now, but his name eludes me.

[00:31:18]There was a lot of conversation around the soul and the soul shaping the body around it and that he's not healing himself. It's just his body reshaping around his soul or something along those lines. It was a tad hard to follow because sometimes the subtitles go really, really fast and most of the time I'm fighting for my life trying to keep up with what they're saying. So sometimes I don't have chance to kind of take in what's going on. We have Nanami clocking in to overtime and he's not happy about it cuz his shift is ended.

[00:31:52]And we had mention of the soul and the importance of the soul and in this question of what came first, the body or the soul, the soul came first. The soul is this important aspect and I think the reason he sees the soul as an important aspect is because it's the essence of what makes you a person, but also it's what allows him to shape the body because again, he talks about the body shapes around the soul. So if he can manipulate the soul, he can manipulate the body and turn the human into whatever he wants, which is why he says the heart is useless because it's not the heart that allows him to experiment on these people. I think that's why he put so much stock in the soul, but then again, in a lot of religions or even just spirituality in general, the soul is this important aspect in that it's the essence of what makes us us.

[00:32:52]And that without it, we would be a husk.

[00:32:55]But it also makes sense as to why the transformed humans still have some element of consciousness because if you subscribe to a philosophical idea of the soul, then you believe that the soul is the source of our conscious being. That it's because of our soul that we're aware of the world and can perceive it. The fact that even when he transforms the body, he can't transform the soul. There's still an element of that human consciousness, which is what they're retaining, which is what he's not able to erase. Because he's saying that the brain isn't something that he's been able to alter, but that's because technically the consciousness, the part that is thinking, feeling is part of the soul, which remains within these mutated humans, which is why we have this human mutation begging to be helped because it's aware of its situation, similar to the others that we've seen that are latching on to words that they know from being humans because it's all they can do to communicate. Because he's saying that the brain's awareness, he still lacks precision with that. I think because he doesn't realize that conscious element, that awareness is part of the soul itself that remains unchanged, that remains within these human experiments that he's creating because again, it's not the soul that he's changing. It's manipulating the soul so that the body forms around it to make these monstrous beings. At least that's how I perceived it. I could be wrong, but again, don't tell me, don't explain it to me. The show will correct me. We will learn as we go. But thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this react, please consider liking, subscribing, and leaving a comment below to help push this video into the algorithm. And until next episode, bye.