idk if ur taking asks abt jjk but i was curious on ur thoughts abt gojo i havenāt rlly heard this around but iāve been thinking abt the fact that gojo desire to basically indoctrinate children to fit his ideal sorcerer society is a bit strange and i saw this on your meta on how the schools only see these kids as tools but doesnāt gojo do the same idk my thoughts are everywhere and i get that gojo was raised in this system so itās normalised in his eyes but idk gojoās ideology is lowkey fucked imo and i was curious what u thought
I think Gojo is a product of the same society that raises up kids to be used as tools, and he unintentionally passes that lesson onto his students.Gojo knows that the system is wrong for using kids that way, but heās such a fundamental part of the system, he doesnāt really know how to overcome it works inside of it instead.Ā I think what he said to Megumi is pretty telling of how he treats these kids in general, he tells him you better get strong or else youāll get left behind.ā He thinks heās teaching them whatās best, because thatās how Gojo understands the world works, but at the same time heās telling a five year old kid if he fails to protect his sister itās all his fault.Ā
Gojo teaches his students to āget stronger, get strongerā as a response for all of their problems. He takes responsibility for their development as sorcerers, but nothing else really, and especially not their well-being as individuals. Gojo basically treats his students like mini-adults, friends he can pal around with, and that makes sense if you think about it, heās raising them all to be political allies. Ā Heās not really trying to raise a bunch of healthy adults. I think Gojo genuinely does care for these kids and stick out his neck to protect them, and his goal is entirely an altruistic one to prevent the childhoods of other children from getting destroyed like his did. However, Gojo is fatally a selfish person just like Geto is fatally selfless, he doesnāt offer help out of the goodness of his heart, he barters. He always expects something in return from these children.
So, on one level I believe Gojo yes is intentionally using these children. He only extends help when he gets something in return from them, his helps is always conditional on the fact that heāll gain another ally. However, at the same time I think the problem more lies in the fact that Gojo doesnāt see individual people as individuals, and therefore doesnāt want to pay attention to the indivdual emotions of his students that he ends up using his students this way. He thinks itās fine. This is how he was usedĀ growing up, but this time, Gojo is using them for good ends instead of a bad one.Ā
I think Gojoās inability to take care of their needs as individuals, especially attending to their emotional needs is why Tokyo Students are so strong indivudally, but weak as a group. Gojoās only interesting in fostering their strength as sorcerers, not their emotional health, or their interpersonal relationships, because he doesnāt view those things as necessary. I mean heās only had one best friend his whole life, and look at him, heās fine.Ā
To give evidence to my argument though, hereās a comparison between the Tokyo Kids and the Kyoto Kids.Ā
1. Tokyo vs Kyoto
Gojo can be a fantastic teacher when he wants to be, but it requires him paying attention to a studentās individual needs, which he almost never does. When he designs a lesson plan raound Yuji, he does two things that make him better than most Jujutsu Sorcerers already. First, most traditional teachers teach that cursed technique is everything, and would have rejected Yuji outright. Whereas Gojo sees Yujiās strength as a brawler. Heās willing to go outside the box, and buck tradition to focus on a studentās individual strength and emphasize those rather than telling Yuji heāll never be a strong sorcerer without strong techniques. The second is he comes up with a method extremely suited to Yujiās learning style.Ā
However, I think itās important to note that Yuji and Gojo are actually really similiar. Heās a really receptive student who hangs off of Gojoās every word. For Gojo itās like him teaching a younger version of himself, someone who believes that strength is everything, and wants to become the strongeste to be a pillar of support to others. You donāt really get good teacher points for spending the most time with someone whoās easy to teach.
And evenĀ with Yuji whose really really receptive to Gojoās highly individual focused learning style, there are several things that Gojo just neglects to teach or even mention. Basic, fundamental things, that every sorcerer should know.Ā
Nanami has to go out of his way to give Yuji the 101, because Gojo neglected to tell him all the basics. Children are smart of course, especially adolescents who are capable of thinking for themselves, but they also generally know what theyāve been taught up to this point. Yuji is a complete newcomer to the sorcerery world, it makes sense heād basically be a blank slate having to learn all of this from scratch, but Gojo himself either doesnāt know this, or doesnāt bother with it because itās too troublesome. He thinks of the kids as miniature adults so, it would make sense that he just assumes they know everything he knows already.
Thatās the entire point of introducing Nanami into the story. Gojo teaches Yuji to be a better sorcerer, but not to be an adult, and itās because he doesnāt really see him as a child to begin with. Gojo thinks becoming a strong sorcerer is the way to teach these kids to be good adults, but he neglects the emotional half of having to teach because Gojo doesnāt deal with emotions well. I mean, even in his training of Yuji, he designs a training method where Gojo doesnāt actually have to be there, and present with him most of the time. He can lock him in a room, and go run off to do Gojo things while Yuji teaches himself. As opposed to a mentor like Nanami who constantly watches and monitors his development.Ā
This is where we start to get to the comparison with the Kyoto students. Because even in the creaive way Gojo taught Yuji, there were some things that Yuji just learned wrong, and internalized wrong from Gojoās lesson.
Gojo explained the theory behind Yujiās divergent fist, but Yuji learned it wrong, because he didnāt understand the way cursed energy flowed through the body. If Gojo was paying attention, he would have caught it and corrected it, but Gojoās teaching style is sink or swim, let students learn or fall entirely on their own. Whereas, when Todo actually sees Yujiās flawed divertgent fist, heās able to point out the problem.
Todo actually acknowledges that thereās a difference between beginners and elite sorcerers, that theirās a learning curve to these things, and rather than leaving Yuji to learn it on his own he guides him through these things. While at the same time, expecting Yuji to figure out some things naturally. Todo never once goes easy on Yuji, Iād say his standards for people are as harsh as Gojoās. You either learn it or you donāt. Youāre either strong or youāre not. However, thereās a distinct difference between Todo and Gojoās teaching styles, and itās that Todo is emotionally intelligent, and Gojo is not.
Todo pays attention to people, he notices when theyāre off, when theyāre going through something, and rather than just ignore it, he almost immediately addresses it and tries to talk them thorugh it. Itās not perfect of course, but having his emotions paid attention to, helps Yuji develop as a person moreso than a sorcerer.Ā
The Kyoto students have a teacher who pays attention to their individual needs. A teacher who actually teaches. While we may not know much about Utahime as a character yet, you can see the direct impact she has on her students compared to Gojo.
Gojoās students are individually strong, but weak as a team,.
Utahimeās students are much weaker individually, but can come together.
It shows both in the Kyoto Battle Event, but also the Shibuya arc. The Kyoto kids are all unstable itās true, theyāre all prone to lashing out, but because theyāve dealt with such dark emotions rather than repressing them theyāre also way more capable of talking about their feelings to others.
Yes, the Kyoto kids donāt deserve to lash out at whoever they want. Yes, lashing out is a bad way to attempt communication. However, itās also true that the Tokyo kids respond with what basically amounts to self-righteousness. The Kyoto kids are lashing out because they are going through something, because theyāre suffering, yet the Tokyo kids donāt really try to understand those feelings.Ā
Kamo was seperated from his mother at a young age. Maki left Mai behind in an abusive household. Nobara has never experienced the same abuse that Mai has so sheās not really in a position to judge which twin she thinks is the good twin, and which is the bad one. Mechamaru is chronically ill and in constant agony, and then instead of getting him medical help heās just being used as a toy soldier.Ā
So.Ā
The problem is.
Gojoās style of teaching. He wants these kids to be political allies. He wants them to try to make a better world than the one he experienced growing up. However, Gojo doesnāt really teach them to think for themselves. He doesnāt teach them to look at the situation, and the way the Jujutsu World is designed to manipulate and use these children.
Individual responsibiltiy is a good lesson to teach.
Individual responssibility can help someone get over themselves and their issues and work towards self improvement, but itās also, not the only solution. Itās also, impossible to overcome these circumstances all on their own.Ā
Mai canāt be strong like Maki. Sheās not weak for folding under the pressure of being in an abusive household. You could even argue that Maki isnāt stronger than her abuse, because emotionally sheās weak, she canāt even maintain a relationship with her own sister she has to cut herself off from everyone.Ā
Kamo has to follow the clanās orders, heās terrified theyāll hurt his mother and heāll never see her again. Sheās actively being used as a tool to manipulate them.Ā
Mechamaru is already strong as a sorcerer, thatās not going to stop the fact that heās chronically ill.Ā
Basically, in this regard Gojoās students repeat what Gojo himself always says.Ā āHave you tried getting stronger?ā We can see why this approach doesnāt work with Kokichi, because he did do what Gojo would always reccomend. He didnāt want to burden others with his emotions so he tried to be strong and solve everything on his own, and that resulted in his death.
Think if Mechamaru had been supported. If he thought it was okay to confide his problems with others, if it was okay for him to be weak, and ask for help when he didnāt know what to do on his own.
However, when he tried to do that with panda he just got slapped with aĀ āYour behavior is wrong.ā Itās why even when telling people, especially children their behavior is wrong you also need to be sure to take care of their emotional needs as well. Especially teenagers, because teenagers are literally all emotions, theyāre not minitature, fully-developed adults. Kokichi was wrong to lash out, but his emotions were right. He has every right to be in pain. When heās told off, he also takes that as a message that heās weak for trying to confide anything in others, that him complaining about his victimhood made him weak in the first place, so what does Kokichi do. He retreates into himself, he quiets down about his problems, he tries to solve everything on his own and he fails at doing that because you canāt. You cannot solve all your problems by simply being stronger than them.Ā
Gojoās students arenāt raised as emotionally healthy individuals, and because of that they also canāt really relate to the emotions of other people, especially the negative one. They are, strong willed individuals yes, strong sorcerers, yes, but theyāre not really a team.Ā
I think thatās illustrated in how they all fall apart in Shibuya. All of Gojoās students basically make the same mistake, they donāt listen to the adults, they charge into battle becauseĀ āIām strong enough.āĀ
Nobara, the adults literally all told you not to fight.
Nobara: Nah itās fine Iām strong.
Look at how Nobara loses. The second she starts fighting with Yuji as a team, she makes a sloppy mistake because she 1) underestimated her opponent and 2) was never taught how to fight in a team.Ā
Itās not just Nobara though itās every single one of them.
Yuji runs off on his own, fights on his own, and loses to Choso.Ā
Megumi suicide attacks to take down one (1) opponent whose just a regular curse user when he reaches his limit.Ā
This is what they are all taught. They all have to fight on their own, be strong on their own, and if theyāre strong enough theyāll win, if theyāre not strong enough oh well. The Tokyo Kids genuinely like each other as a team but theyāre always running away from each other. They all overestimate themselves and what theyāre capable of handling and get in over their heads.Ā
And it does go back to the Kyoto Battle arc, because the Tokyo kids are just as emotionally disturbed as the Kyoto kids, they just are repressed about it. Take Megumi for example, Megumi has been abandoned and neglected all of his life, and Gojo never really offered him any support or healing for that abandonment.
Thereās no canon indication that Gojo ever raised Megumi or did anything with him other than provide for housing, and protect him from the Zenin clan on the condition that Megumi STILL BECOME A SORCERER, JUST ONE POLITICALLY ALLIGNED FOR HIM AND NOT THE ZENIN.Ā
He didnāt offer Megumi a chance at a normal life, or even help him grow up as an individual because Gojoās not interested in these things. Gojoās help is conditional on the fact that Megumi work hard to pay him back, and reach his full potential as a sorcerer. As a result, Megumi is walking around with completely unaddressed abandonment issues as a result of never having a stable adult in his life, and this goes, completely unnoticed, which leads to him constantly risking his own life, endangering and harming himself. Megumiās just as unstableĀ as the Kyoto kids, heās going to do something dangerous someday soon. Itās just Megumiās been taught from a young age, he has to be the responsible one in his household, and he has to take responsibility for everything on his own by working to become stronger, and look like where that has led him.
Hmm, I wonder why Megumi always feels like itās his responsibility to sacrifice, what could have possibly led him ot that conclusion? Why does he feel so responsible for the actions of other people around him? Itās a geuine mystery.
However, the Kyoto kids are capable of doing something the Tokyo kids canāt do. They can cry and be weak in front of other people. They can support each other as a group. Not only did they help Miwa at her lowest point, but Yuji would have given up, had Todo not shown up when he did.Ā
Yuji actually wasnāt capable of handling it all on his own. He couldnāt defeat Mahito just by being stronger than him, or having a strong will.Ā
Individualism like Gojo teaches is important, but itās also incomplete. Itās only half the solution. The Tokyo kids need the camraderie of the Kyoto kids, the same way the Kyoto kids need to learn to take responsibility for themselves.
Thatās why the Shibuya arc ends the way it does. The Tokyo kids failing as individuals, and the Kyoto kids coming together as team. However, since both sides only have half the answer, neither side is able to defeat Kamo Sr. totally.
However, Gojoās mistakes are shown even more clearly after the arc resolves. Gojo doesnāt actually teach people to think for themselves, because heās raising them up to follow his politics. Now, look at what his students are doing in his absence. Gojo wants to fix the broken world, but Yujiās conclusion he comes too after suffering is that he doesnāt want to think about fixing the world. He just wants to become another cog in the machine.
What was the greatest mistake the previous generation made?
Geto.
Not only in exposing him to the trauma of Riko dying in front of him.
But also, offering him no support a year afterwards.Ā
Yaga completely neglecting him and failing to see what was going wrong.
Then, when Geto finally did break, sending another student to kill him.
Yaga really canāt understand why this eighteen year old would hestiate to kill this other eighteen year old, thatās been his best and only friend for three years.Ā Why is this child not comfortable with an execution mission? It baffles the mind.
Gojo, by failing to raise his students as emotionally healthy individuals repeats the same mistake.
Yuta and Yuji both donāt really care about the world around them, or politics. They donāt pay attention to those things, they werenāt raised to do that. However, now because of that, because both are willing to become cogs in the machine theyāre both letting themselves beused right now.Ā
They refused to think for themselves, so now the elders are manipulating them into a conflict against each other. Yuta because he doesnāt see the situation at large, he only wants to protect his friends. Yuji, because the only way he thinks he has value is by killing curses, heās just going to keep blindly executing them until Yuta comes to kill him. Gojoās students are divided specially because of that reason. Theyāre not together as a group, theyāre just a group of particularly strong individuals, and Gojo never even thought that these strong individuals with no particular connection to each other might turn against each other. They might lie to each other. They might keep secrets from each other. They might fail to communicate. Because, Gojo doesnāt really pay attention to complex relaitonships like that. Heās only had his one friend his whole life.Ā
Even though thatās also exactly what happened to his one and only friend, his emotional needs were neglected by the system around him until he completely fell apart. Geto and Gojoās problem wasnāt that they werenātĀ āthe strongestā when they were together. Itās that they were neverĀ ātogetherā again after a certain point.Ā
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