Whether reading the manga or watching the anime, following 'Jujutsu Kaisen' involves one emotional beating after another. Gege Akutami has been leaving a string of dead characters throughout the seriesincluding some very beloved ones. But unfortunately the death of some of them was completely inevitable and the final push that the protagonist, Yuji Itadori, needed.
Warning, this article contains spoilers for season 2 of 'Jujutsu Kaisen'!
The first season of the anime was already warning, but the second season was devastating. Especially with all the events of the Shibuya Arc, which has completely shaken up the plot and changed the configuration of the series as we knew it until now.
The Shibuya Arc left us with several deaths, but one of the ones that hurt fans the most was undoubtedly that of Kento Nanami. And also to Gege Akutami himself, although the mangaka has also explained that Nanami's death was inevitable and that it was better for it to happen sooner rather than later.
“I didn't really want Nanami to die at that point[during the Shibuya Arc]but I thought there was no way around it. Then Itadori came in, and you know how it all happened,” Akutami explained in the exhibition dedicated to his manga. “At first I even thought that Nanami had surpassed the script. But Nanami was the motivation for Itadori, who surpassed the script in turn.”
It seems that Akutami's intention had always been to kill Nanami, although perhaps this was planned to occur during the following arcs, such as Shinjuku Grim Battle Arc which will close the manga in five chapters. But there came a time when Itadori needed a clear motivation, and killing some of his dearest friends and companions seemed to be the only way forward.
However, the death of Nanami, as well as the death of Kugisaki Nobara and the massacre perpetrated by Sukuna, almost sank him completely more than anything else. Luckily, it seems that Itadori has managed to get out of the hole and is ready to face everything in the next stage of the story.
