Warning: spoilers ahead for Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 189!
One of Megumi Fushiguro's greatest moments in Jujutsu Kaisen was just undercut during the latest Culling Game fight between Kinji Hakari and the ancient sorcerer Hajime Kashimo - a battle that should have ended long ago.
Already an ambitious undertaking, the Culling Game arc has been forcing Jujutsu Kaisen to introduce a plethora of new enemies for the story's cast of jujutsu sorcerers to ostensibly battle to the death, as they desperately try to acquire new points to save Megumi's sister. But creator Gege Akutami took quite a risk in having the last two fights involve opponents who are almost, if not completely, new characters. And just when the series could have finally brought the focus back to either Yuji, Megumi or Yuta, it instead elongated the second battle between Kashimo and Hakari while simultaneously diminishing one of Megumi's greatest victories.
When the ancient sorcerer Kashimo dealt a fatal blow to his opponent Hakari during Hakari's second battle, fans believed that Hakari was finally finished. Hakari first began fighting Kashimo after successfully attaining over four minutes of invincibility from his Domain Expansion that he unleashed against his previous opponent Charles Bernard. Hakari later unlocked another bout of invincibility when he summoned his Domain Expansion for the first time against Kashimo (the second time overall). He managed to bring back his Domain Expansion yet again against Kashimo for a third time, which healed the blow that had seemed so definitive. Although this elongated an already lengthy battle, readers learn in chapter 189 of Jujutsu Kaisen that Hakari actually positioned his Domain Expansion over a large body of water to counter Kashimo's electricity-based cursed energy techniques.
This latest development is especially aggravating for fans of Megumi's tactical genius, especially when Megumi previously deployed his own Domain Expansion over a large gymnasium pool to confuse his opponent Reggie Star. Megumi has proved to be especially proficient in how he innovates the use of Domain Expansions. Before ingeniously incorporating the real-world environment into his overall Domain Expansion strategy against Reggie, Megumi exploited the normal way in which two Domain Expansions are commonly used against each other, poking a hole in his opponent's special barrier. This tactical experimentation had been a hallmark of Megumi's tactics, but it no longer feels so unique now Hakari is pulling the same tricks.
Hakari had already been positioned as the next Gojo, but Megumi managed to stand out due to his tactical genius, especially in relation to Domain Expansions. Hakari's latest stunt is therefore infringing on Megumi's territory during a battle that is already testing reader patience. In allowing Hakari to ape Megumi's tactical genius, Jujutsu Kaisen makes the far more essential hero feel less special - a move that Hakari's battle didn't need, given it's already gone on such a surprisingly long time.
Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 189 is available to read now from Viz Media.