The Cursed Justice of Hiromi Higuruma

the character who has most recently gripped my heart in judisu kaisen is hirumi higuma the current status of our favorite lawyer is ironically and hilariously similar to noara in that we receive a sendoff for the character that feels fitting for a death scene only to have this death remain a looming uncertainty that being said I don't really care too much about whether higuma is alive or dead at least not right now G is cruel and likes to play silly little games so I want to wait for the story to be complete before jumping the gun and making any bold claims regardless of his status I love the character of hiromi higuma he is the centerpiece of what is jujitsu ka's most overt social commentary in the story so far the few chapters that he appears in are some of the most detailed intensive chapters of the story and his own story provides interesting context to several aspects of the series prior to his introduction and everything sub subsequence gets added Nuance to appreciate and discuss thanks to his existence I honestly believe higuma is some of gig aami's best work who has had an immense contribution to the framework of the series despite the brevity of his screen time he has done a lot for jitu kaisen and he has done it all with a unique disposition to which Gay's writing style lends itself so well his conflicts and mannerisms have been presented in incredibly compelling ways today I hope to convey at least some of my appre apption for this character who has left a massive impact on this story in his wake innate Talent is an awkward thing the line between talents so great as to resemble a god-given gift and the fruits of hard work that empower the ones that are not so blessed is incredibly thin most stories in the Shonen demographic especially choose to tow the line why do some people succeed where others fail is one's achievements just a sum of his circumstances is there a higher power that impacts the creation of this elusive thing we call Talent these questions are raised by stories absolutely everywhere but especially at the heart of weekly shown and jump this line of thought in of itself is social commentary you cannot explore individual experiences without observing the things that surround them what environment Fosters Talent what circumstances dictate that Talent goes wasted on a very fundamental level the question as to whether some people are just born special is incredibly divisive those who would call themselves pragmatic would tell you god-given Talent absolutely exists there are certain walls that can't be overcome with just grits and hard work you either have it or you don't others would declare these self-proclaimed pragmatists to be cical or go as far as to call them defeatist believing every individual is equally capable of achieving great things G akutami would tell you that his character hiroi guruma is 100% blessed with Talent gagay unabashedly displays the true extent of innate talent in this story the power system is literally you either got it or you don't Maki as just a random example went from relatively weak in the grand scheme of things to one of the most impressive combatants in the series in the matter of moments following the death of her twin sister ma sator rug Gojo shifted the balance of the world just by being born and higuma with 2 months of experience as a sorcerer was stated to have talents comparable to Goro not even two weeks into Awakening his technique he was considered on the level of first grade sorcerer he instinctively grasped barrier techniques cursed energy control and reinforcement techniques entirely as a byproduct of Awakening his ability he learned reverse Cur technique In the Heat of battle he was one of the only modern Sorcerers to catch kaku's eye god-given talents absolutely exists in jjk and higuma is the poster boy of it you may wonder why not Satur gjo the one born with a bounty on his head for his inherited techniques it's a slight yet necessary distinction but that power for Gojo was a gift and a curse a life sentence to an exploitative system as the frontman puppet for higuma law school and the bar exam were little more than jokes to him it was just a matter of applying just enough effort to Excel for the outcomes of that effort he was called a genius they never could appraise the actual bottomless well that was hig's talent in case it's not already clear Talent is Central to this character the narrator themselves state that what stands out most about him is his talent as a sorcerer it not only forms the backdrop of his character but the very conflict that defines him is informed by it let me backtrack a bit hiromi higuma is written with these kanji that you're seeing on the screen the first character in his name means generous and the second means seeing almost immediately you can draw a connection to higuma philosophy he wants to keep his eyes open look at things no one else will especially because he is in a unique position to do so Lady Justice wears a blindfold this is to symbolize the lack of bias in the enactment of Justice the very phenomenon of sight is an inherently subjective experience which then informs bias as such it is accepted by the legal fraternity that completely eradicating bias is impossible this is an obvious fact of the world that the justice system must simply live with all they can do is try their best to rid themselves of as much bias as humanly possible you can obviously see how that can be problematic how the whims of those in positions of power can destroy the lives of innocent people hig's problem with the criminal justice system he is a part of is that there is a blatant disregard for the idea that they as the Agents of Justice must rid themselves of bias there are various studies and articles online about the shortcomings of the Japanese criminal justice system one of the main features of it well known in the rest of the world is the extremely high conviction rate rate which exceeds 99% as of this 2019 Source on the screen some claim this is because public prosecutors cherry-pick cases that show promise of a guaranteed conviction which causes the conviction rate to be as inflated as it is it's almost an implicit understanding that if an accused is being tried it is just a matter of time before he is convicted 99% conviction rate meaning roughly one in 100 cases don't end up as a conviction to quote the manga the system had branded him guilty from the very start of course things are slowly changing for the better now and this is a very loaded topic that I have barely 2 hours of Internet knowledge on but jjk clearly aims to depict the reality of the system as it was as recently as 2018 the year the series is taking place in the point I'm trying to make is that higuma is cognizant of the failings of the system he is a part of that murder case he was dealing with before we see him snap and clean out the whole courtroom exemplifies this his client's story is so absurd that not even higar is a assistant believes it yet higuma to his credit doesn't let the bias of having dealt with criminals in unfortunate circumstances or even what some would call Common Sense blind him from seeing the context of his client's actions his lifestyle his experiences every potential causal factor that landed his client in this terrible situation that dealt him such an unbelievable story even if it may have been the truth with his eyes open higuma rids himself of bias way better than the Agents of Justice Who lit Lally blind themselves he finds meaning in the actions of his clients something that isn't forgiven in a consequentialist society like the one jiujitsu kaisan takes place in in the jiujitsu society specifically those who fight shy away from trying to find meaning in certain events or even their own actions that's for the people that come after them to do very reminiscent of Edwin's iconic speech from Attack on Titan it is something that removes the burdens of moral considerations from those who must act today they're that much Freer to act act as a result yuji's role per his own idea is to Simply kill curses will his actions matter who knows is he even on the right side of this war he doesn't have to answer that right now that is for the history books to answer all he can do right now is his best the lived reality of hirumi higuma is rarely rewarding as a man whose job description was to stand firm against the currents of the very Society he was part of he existed in a unique position that not many of our protagonists could for to be in then he awakened his powers and was thrust into a supernatural world that's almost an exact copy of the world he has always known it's also noteworthy that unlike sator rug Gojo whose life path was practically paved for him as he was perfectly slaughtered into a society controlled by those in the shadows higuma has no such connections he's a 36-year-old man with beliefs hardened by his suffering who has gifted talents very few in the story can hope to have at the same time though higuma gets worn down at length he fights for people who don't have a voice those very people project that weakness onto him when he inevitably loses that fight his Rebellion against the system is painfully futile as every failure is another curse to haunt him like I said innate Talent is an awkward thing I find myself thinking about haq a lot as I write this analysis because in that story the subject of talent is tackled with so much insights and a variety of viewpoints winners and losers is the name of the 16th episode and it's the first to evoke a visceral reaction from me when I first watched the anime hiq perfectly explores the fragility that can come with just talent and I want to use that as a springboard to explore higar ruma's own conflicts with all his talents judgeship was never out of question for him when asked why he wouldn't pursue judgeship he says he doesn't have the ambition for it being a judge is akin to being a paragon of justice and as I've made clear he does what he believes agents of Justice need to do for far better than them law school and the bar exam were just a matter of putting in the requisite amount of work nothing to indicate that it was at any point challenging for him a person like this saying judgeship is out of his reach because he's not ambitious enough I don't believe him the truth makes itself known when you examine the other elements of his brief screen time but even before that if you have a decent idea of the distinction between the roles of the parties involved in a criminal trial you could Hazard a guess as to why he decided to become a criminal defense attorney rather than a judge in a criminal trial the leg room that a judge has is determined entirely by the evidence and its framing by the prosecution and the defense the framing of the evidence relies on the competence of the attorneys on either side as such the power lies with the prosecution and the defense attorneys or at least half of it is supposed to be with the defense but with the corruption in the justice system hiur M has seen most of that power lies with the prosecution as such being a judge would only really make matters is worse for him placing him in a position where the public prosecutors with access to taxpayer money and extensive Manpower have control almost always forcing the court itself to side with them that's why he chooses to be a defense attorney he would rather be in a position where he can try his best and fail rather than pass judgment with only the information that other people's efforts have brought to light higuma places tremendous importance on agency and the ability to affect things with his own hands this is why his introduction to Yugi being him soaking in a bathtub is significant after snapping he's now spiraling he wants to wash himself clean but he remains in the suit that identifies him as a lawyer coupled with his use of a gavl when his technique is active the gavl being a symbol of enforcement of Justice you get the impression that higuma is someone that wants to make a difference with his own hands being in a position that blinds you to the meaning behind the actions of the weak even if it empowers you to enact Justice is not suitable for higuma as a person becoming a judge would be close closing his eyes another angle to consider this from is how he speaks lesser of the very clients he fights tooth and nail to help it isn't exactly malicious but he actively makes a distinction between himself and the weak their depravity is what Drew him to them and in his own powerlessness he grows to hate the weak higuma also never once thinks of himself as a hero despite that being a fairly apt description of him there isn't a shred of awareness in someone as cognizant of himself and his environment as higuma of any kind of altruism falling in line with the broader thematic structure of the story The heroic battle higuma wages in the courtroom with every case is underscored by his own sense of selfishness he became a defense attorney despite it putting him in the position of an underdog or rather because it would put him in the position of an underdog this job for higuma is more self-satisfaction than altruism there's a difference between helping the weak for the sake of helping them and doing it to gratify one's own conscience that being said higuma is an incredibly subtextual character so you may have different interpretations on this which I'd love to hear if you'd like to share them in the comments below whatever interpretation you choose to adhere to the story reinforces the idea that he's not suited for judgeship in various ways a judge has to close his eyes to the depraved he has to Blind himself to the reasons they act the way they do and restrict himself to just the evidence as framed by the attorneys on either side the reasoning and context ceases to matter it ends up being entirely consequentialist just like jiujitsu society higuma would rather keep his eyes open even at the risk of inviting bias in fact his job description requires bias he is intrinsically opposed to the strict non-aligned and thus unbiased position that judgeship requires his family name higuma is composed of two kanji he and guruma which together form the word sunflower which in Japanese culture represents presents loyalty hope for the future and Justice aspects you would want to see in a defense attorney this is why defense attorneys wear a sunflower pin on their laple higuma characterized by the sunflower chose the profession of defense attorney which is also characterized by the sunflower this is yet another rather explicit pointer to the idea that he's just not built for judgeship he was always fated for this role higar ruma's role in the greater framework of the story is best Illustrated through the parallels he shares with a few key characters as previously stated higuma acts as a new lens through which to read into the sections of the story prior to his introduction through the clear similarities drawn between the justice system and the jitu system as such the value higuma brings to the story is immense especially considering how the hups and judisu Society itself exists as this malicious backdrop to the events are protagonist experience rarely ever being directly interacted with the character higuma shares the most interesting parallels with is suguru ghetto both of these men were born gifted to a family that doesn't Define their identity in any sense which is noteworthy in the context of the story it's significant because unlike Goro whose talents and resulted fate can be ascribed in large part due to his genetics for ghetto and higuma there can be nothing but a stroke of Fate to which their talents can be ascribed I know Gojo is obviously fated but the distinction between his success in the world of judu and the success of these two born in regular non sorcerer amilies is obviously important both higuma and ghetto have a similar visual of washing themselves attached to their moments of descent as they struggle with the systems they find themselves in that are entirely unforgiving on their minds while ghetto represented the ideal standard of morality expected from an exemplary jiujitsu sorcerer higuma represented the ideal defense attorney given that both are corrupt systems that are manipulated by those in positions of power we can see how their respective descents complement the other in the greater context of the story GTO literally consumes and ingests curses that is what his god-given talent demanded of him and it drove him to Madness in a similar way higuma figuratively consistently welcomed curses into his life knowing he would receive some of the blame for the Court's unjust ruling and become the subject of negative emotions manifested by his clients both of these men willfully exposed themselves to the ugliness of the weak until they eventually snap completely losing faith and believing their actions are pointless but even when both of them claim to be free of the constraints that turned them against the system they were once on the side of they still enacted the same behaviors as if to say they were in trapped by them gor continues to take in curses he just shifts the goalpost and higar ruma's feelings of helplessness manifest in the technique through which he asserts Freedom the gavl that higuma uses is a false symbol higuma is not the one passing the Judgment judg man is the one in that position higuma is simply banging the gavl it's clear from the language here that higuma actively disassociates from his technique at least at this point of the story before he blooms the main distinction between ghetto and higuma is that the former develops a superiority complex and genuine disdain for the weak he once devoted himself to believing they should all be eradicated while higuma recognizes his own weakness and by his own admission considers all people to be weak and ugly including himself higuma is able to reflect upon his own failings in a way that ghetto couldn't or at least didn't have the time to before being killed humanity is all he has ever known whil ghetto was the other half of the kid with the biggest God complex in the story with that inherent human core higuma can recognize his regrets for the people he has killed so far especially after being snapped Back to Reality by the story's Prime representative of humanity Yuji is the next character who higar ruma's role in the story serves to benefit higuma is a play on the word haguruma which means Cog or G gear I don't think I need to explain how that relates to Yuji and just the story as a whole but through this link a lot can be uncovered about hiromi both of these characters were cogs in their respective systems people who seek to make a difference assume the role of a hero with an altruistic motive but they quickly realize the truth that they're nothing more than pieces of a larger machine and it quickly becomes clearer in the case of Yuji that there is an ironic root of selfishness in his persistence which as I earlier mentioned I think is a fair interpretation of higuma similar persistence to throw himself into guaranteed suffering the differences between these two is what brings them together higuma became disillusioned and snapped after his many failed cases whereas Yuji after witnessing the deaths of comrade after comrade internalizes this to the point of self- neglect through their relationship both learn that a middle ground exists that they strive to reach and of course both are entrapped in the cycle of curses which is something that can be said for almost every character in the story yuji's case is pretty obvious as most people close to him are now either dead or incapacitated and Kaku makes a tongue-in-cheek remark about Yuji being a curse himself as the eye of the storm his agency is robbed of him as the curse that lies within is what Kaku shaped all of his schemes around and higuma enforces the karma of his victims on them through his technique literally placing them on trial for their past actions the cycle of curses is akin to the karmic cycle since you can only receive what you put out into the world hig's technique is ineffective against someone who has never broken the law as he perceives it moreover he detests the skewed balance of power in the criminal justice system but ends up propping himself to be the one with power through the use of his technique judg man is perhaps the most impressive instance of gaygay applying his power system for characterization it expresses his inner conflicts perfectly the technique manifested in a bit to reclaim some power some semblance of ageny after the justice system pushed higuma beyond the brink he now acts as the prosecutor meaning he is now in the position of power he receives perfect evidence from judg man whose eyes are swn shut and can never be biased betraying higuma wishes to keep his eyes open the technique forcibly makes the trial Fair as it forbids fighting in the domain and forces those caught in the domain to participate in a trial with them as the defendant the interesting thing about this technique is how riddled with contradictions it is higuma celebrates the reversion of society to natural law he originally wanted to preserve the culling game's basic mechanics to create a world where rule Breakers would be punished automatically via some kind of objective function and his domain even reflects this with its n omniscient capabilities coupled with the reversion to archaic principles higuma is a modern sorcerer with a not so modern domain in the older eras domain users were a dime a dozen since they didn't feel the absolute need to incorporate a short hit mechanism minute higuma is the first person we see with a complete domain that adheres to the older era standards as such the legal process within the domain is extremely simplified and displays aspects of various eras of Justice systems the era of judge jury and executioner in how judg man and higuma operate with the obvious removal of the jury being a result of hiod duma's unwillingness to let biased individuals bind his ability in a courtroom again higuma starts off the trial on a raised platform and judg man stands directly behind him which is a callback to the ma restoration era courtrooms when prosecutors used to sit on a higher platform with the judge all of this is undercut by the fact that the proceedings happen in accordance with modern Law And while higuma acts as the prosecutor he still wears his sunflower pin it couldn't be clearer that this whole thing is not really him on a more fundamental level domains are manifestations of your identity the truest representations of your personality and self higuma on the other hand entirely disassociates himself from his technique he treats judg man as an autonomous being and not as a product of his own technique for the better part of his screen time the technique manifests as a bid to reclaim agency but the very manifestation of the technique strips him of that very agency he is nothing more than the arms of judg Man by higuma own logic where judg man is an autonomous being higuma doesn't have real power he doesn't make the Judgment he simply bangs the gavl this is further supported by his fight with Yuji happening in a theater the justice that higuma was trying to enforce was a show he put on a sham the direction higuma character takes following his meeting with Yuji is my favorite aspect of his character so much happens in such a short span of time such as the nature of the culling games and Gay's recent writing the momentum is at an all-time high and the characters don't have much time to think let alone breathe but this is homi higuma a Man compared to sat Gojo in terms of his talent as a sorcerer a man who literally learned reverse curse technique in a matter of moments against sukuna when it took godo several years to reach that stage and despite this god-given talents higuma has a death wish he has given up on the law and believes it has given up on him and for his final Act he wants to deliver his own punishment that's his role in this conflict he has been thrust into only concerned with the curse of his previous life and the actions he once committed I want you to think about the fact this defense attorney who devoted himself to fighting for accused murderers who went on to kill several people because of unfair treatment of these accused clients he defended refuses to defend himself of course he knows for a fact he's guilty of those crimes but that doesn't change the fact that someone who spent the better part of their lives in service of the weak and ugly as he puts it himself is incapable of forgiving his own weakness and ugliness every aspect of this man's identity his beliefs the sunflower imagery his name is tied to his position as a defense attorney and yet his curse technique turns him into a prosecutor alongside a judge turning himself into the two things he hated the most and so in typical ironic gaygay fashion hig's death is a form of salvation for him like Gojo and like Kashima sukuna once again gives his enemies a taste of freedom in death and if he's alive well the brink of death you know what I mean to Mark a clear departure from his previous state when he fought against Yuji higuma is no longer disassociating from judg man rather he believes that he can influence the Shiki gami which is a personal concession from him that there is interplay between his will and his technique that is so far removed from everything he thinks he is this makes the scene of judg man crying tears of blood in hindsight a representation of higuma own turmoil upon seeing yuji's strength even in weakness equality higuma knows he lacks he wants to keep his eyes open but it became too much for him to bear and so against his wishes his eyes were sealed shut in the form of his curse technique suk's trial takes the many contradictions of higuma to an even greater Extreme as one of judg men's eyes bursts open as if to imply bias breaking that state of impartiality and that brings me to my ultimate Point higar ruma's character despite being unique in so many ways is ultimately just another character in jiujitsu kaisen if you've watched any of my previous jjk videos on the channel you'll know that those who are true to themselves and act with agency are those who are awarded in this story whether it's a hero or a villain characters who act according to themselves Prosper while those who stray from their own individuality suffer this is not a universal Rule and there's obviously significant Nuance depending on the context however this idea applies to hiur um's latest content pretty perfectly I'm planning a video over the the next few weeks regarding black boxes in jjk as a representation of curses which is a manga presentation trick gig has been using since the start of the story that recently garnered a lot of discussion on Twitter through this little trick we can see how higuma comes into his own and truly blooms in the battle against sukuna whether he holds on to his life or otherwise his character Arc is concluded and while gaygay does not directly address some of the looming questions surrounding huruma he gratifies him with a moment of fulfillment higuma self-loathing demanded he can't look Yuji in the eyes that he must throw himself into this battle against the Calamity he knows nothing of that almost guarantees his death the words he said to Yuji in the flashback are shown lingering in hig's mind in a black box representative of a curse his own words of cursing him forcing him to partake in this battle and fulfill his role but only a few pages later after suffering the blow that may have taken his life that same role is framed in a white panel if curses are things that Rob one's agency their appearance in Black panels implies that character is acting as per the curse but with a different perspective that same curse can be shown in white panels where that character is acting according to themselves this is perfectly demonstrated on this page from chapter 121 all that is to say higuma in passing the Baton onto Yuji to finish the job fulfilled his role and overcame its curse by doing this solely for himself and he expresses that individual agency by entrusting the burden onto another perfectly exemplary of the Jujitsu sorcerer reality

Channel: Radman

Views: 52,359

Keywords: jujutsu kaisen, higuruma hiromi, jujutsu kaisen manga, jjk, jjk manga, higuruma, higuruma vs sukuna, judgeman, sukuna, yuji, yuta, yuta domain

Id: H02cYplAqmE

Length: 27min 41sec (1661 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 03 2024