Warning! Contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 202!The ultimate plan of Jujutsu Kaisen's main antagonist Kenjaku has finally been revealed, and it proves that he is one of the most interesting villains in Shonen Jump. Jujutsu Kaisen has always featured compelling and hateable villains like the cursed spirit Mahito. But series author Gege Akutami hasn't fleshed out Kenjaku's motivation enough yet to make him anything more than mysteriously intimidating. At least, until now.
Kenjaku is an immortal sorcerer who survives by hopping from body to body over the years. They are currently possessing the body of Gojo's former friend Geto and like his host, he can manipulate various powerful cursed spirits in combat. This combined with his vast knowledge of sorcery and cursed energy makes him an incredibly powerful foe. But despite being present for almost the entire series, up until now Kenjaku's actual motivations weren't fully revealed in Jujutsu Kaisen. This has had a major impact on a lot of fans' enjoyment of the Culling Game, which has been orchestrated by Kenjaku for mysterious purposes. The lack of a clear reason behind the Culling Game has made some fans feel more like the arc is a bunch of filler fights. But the latest chapter rectified this, revealing Kenjaku's motivations as well as the purpose behind the Culling Game.
In chapter 202, Kenjaku breaches the protective barrier surrounding Tengen, another immortal sorcerer who is an incredibly important part of Jujutsu society. While Kenjaku and Tengen are both immortal, they both have different methods for remaining alive, and Tengen's method makes them an incredibly dangerous threat if they aren't given human sacrifices or sealed off from the world. If they are allowed to evolve and lose their sanity, they could potentially merge with the Japanese people, becoming Jujutsu Kaisen's most powerful curse. This is what Kenjaku wants to enact through the Culling Game, which served as a necessary precedent to merging Japan's non-sorcerer population with Tengen. Kenjaku also reveals that the ultimate reason why he wants to merge Tengen with the people of Japan is that he doesn't know exactly what will happen when he does it, and it seems like fun.
Kenjaku's Motivations Fit His Character Perfectly
This is the perfect motivation for Kenjaku's cryptic actions given his immortality. Given how long he has been alive, there is likely not much that can easily surprise or interest him anymore, making a truly unprecedented event a very exciting concept for him. And given how many people he has outlived over the course of his incredibly long life, his disregard for the value of human life makes perfect sense as well. All of this makes Kenjaku a natural consequence of immortality, which makes him feel incredibly realistic.
The reveal of Kenjaku's motivations make him a much more interesting character and make him one of Shonen Jump's best villains in a current series. Given the outstanding villains in other manga, like Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter, this is quite a feat. But it is a testament to the thought and care that Gege puts into all of Jujutsu Kaisen's characters and proves once again why the series is one of Shonen Jump's best.
Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 202 is available to read from Viz Media.