This is my favorite character in Jujutsu Kaisen
right now. I'm sorry. Remember, how I teased an Inumaki analysis
at the end of Nobara's video by making fun of how he says nothing but rice ball ingredients. Well turns out it's really hard to analyze
a character based on that. - That poor guy. So instead, I'm gonna analyze a character
that I think is so well written and has such a fantastic character arc, that you know she
is one of Akutami's favorites. What makes Maki so fun is that she was treated
like a dreadful case of bad breath by her family, but rather than begging for acknowledgement
or affection, Maki has decided to tear the whole abusive Zenin family to the ground. Of course this video will also be about Mai,
because, as you will see, both of them are basically one character split into two. There is a ton of symbolism around the concept
of twins here after all. And the story behind Maki and Mai is as tragic
as it is heartbreaking. And so it's no big surprise, that is is her
sister who is Maki's biggest flaw and weakness as a character. At the same time however, she has also emerged
from her past as incredibly strong and fierce. I have already focus heavily on female writing
in Nobara's video, so I will not force it here again, but it goes without saying that
Maki is exceptionally well written for Shounen standards and I think in contrary to the beliefs
of at least some people in the industry, having self-confident badasses like Kugisaki and
Maki makes everyone enjoy this story even more. Because, as the manga readers will know, Maki
is here to stay and her character only gets better better. This is the story of Zenin Maki. It's Maki's self-confident and indifferent
attitude, as well as her power in physical combat that make it really easy to like her. As a matter of fact, she represents a lot
of the most common shounen tropes we like to see in our heroes: A tragic past, Power
in combat, a seemingly unattainable gaol they want to reach, an iron determination to fight
for that goal as well as the ability to stick through the toughest moments. We see her fiercely and fearlessly wielding
a whole arsenal of cursed weapons, no matte how strong the opponent she's facing. Maki is so extremely likable, because she
basically has all the characteristics, that our usual Shounen Hero has, only as a badass
girl. She doesn't share any of the external struggles
and vulnerabilities that make Itadori so special, and thus makes it extremely easy to latch
on to her, something we for example see Nobara do. This is a woman that stands up against the
men who have suppressed her and fights for becoming a powerful woman that can lead the
clan herself. Basically, her dream is showing everyone that
looked down on her one big middle finger. - So it's very easy to see what makes her
so extremely cool to watch and follow. Other than Megumi, who internalizes the pain
caused by his family situation, Maki displays her emotional damage openly to the world. And yet, I believe that the reasons Maki stands
out as a character, as with any great Character, are the underlying flaws, unseeing symbols
and steady character progressions, that happen beneath her straight-forward-feeling surface. And Gege Akutami sure went full out when crafting
her character. - Maki and Mai were born as twin sisters to
the powerful Zenin clan, the most powerful family in the Jujutsu world, if it weren't
for this guy right here, - who basically carries the Gojo family on his own. As a result, Maki's and Mai's story isn't
only dramatic and sad in only way, but rather Akutami has piled a whole mountain of dramatic
layers of top of both of them, that weighs down heavily on their lives, you know just
as American breakfast does. First of all, there is the fact that the Jujutsu
world operates based on very traditional and conservative Japanese rules. Born into a powerful family, you are expected
to always put the clan's interest first. You have to be strong and flawless, serve
your elders and bring no shame onto the family name. There is no room for personal feelings and
ambitions. On top of this, big surprise, in this conservative,
combat-oriented and patriarchal family structure, being born as a girl puts you on a harsh disadvantage
right from the start. You neither have the same social standing,
nor the same base physical strength of the male family members, and so every woman has
to work at least twice as hard to be recognized as a full-fledged sorcerer. Then, there is the fact that Maki and Mai
are twins, which for a long time were seen as a sign of misfortune in Japan. I even found this Japanese study that details
different types of food pregnant women were supposed to avoid to not bear twins, such
as twin chestnuts, double section tangerines or double eggplants. Thus, being born a twin automatically made
you less worthy of love and trust. But as if all of this weren't enough already,
Maki and Mai actually also have to deal with real physical consequences of being twins
as well. Their cursed powers basically treated them
as one person as well, so that Mai ended up with a uniquely strong cursed ability, but
no combat skills whatsoever, while Maki is one of the physically most gifted characters
in the story, but without so much as an ounce of cursed energy, which in the largest family
of jujutsu sorcerer, basically made her the worst amongst the worst. As a result, both Maki and Mai grew up as
outcasts of the Zenin family, which left them with nothing but each other to hold onto. - Long story short Maki and Mai basically both
share the same fate of growing up abused and neglected by a family that only cares about
power. And yet, both of them deal with it in very
different ways. And while the story introduces us to Maki
as the mature, tough and straight forward twin, Mai is presented as hateful, evil and
childish. And yet this perception is purposefully misleading. As I explained in my analysis of Nobara, as
we learn throughout their flashback, in the relationship of the twins, Maki is actually
the more hurtful one. Her big desire in life is paying back those
who abused her and her sister, who she always used to protect as a child. and yet in the process of struggling to get
stronger, she forgets about her sister completely, focusing fully on her goal. Mai on the other hand, never wanted to become
a sorcerer in the first place, she never had maki's mental strength. All she wanted was having her big sister by
her side, the only family she had. And yet, through Maki's fight for power, she
herself has no choice but also become a sorcerer, or be left alone at the bottom of the clan. In addition, probably in an effort to protect
Mai from the consequences of going against the Zenin clan, Maki severs her ties with
her sister. - however this hurts Mai even more. And while she finally finds comrades at the
Kyoto school, she never had Maki's conviction, power or drive. As a result we hear her echoing a lot of the
opinions and behaviors around her, as she doesn't have the confidence to form her own
opinions and forge her own path. She's just letting herself be pulled along
by the stream of events around her. And the only way she now sees to get her sisters
attention is by taunting her or those close to her, where she wants to be. - The
point here is, that very much in the spirit of being twins, Maki and Mai are one person
split into two. Both dealing with their abusive family in
their own way and yet at the same time both being a side of the same coin. Mai is insecure, weak-willed, averse to fighting,
emotional, but also has an extremely powerful ability that allows her to create matter from
nothing. Even though she actually forms friendships
really fast, her whole life is determined by her relationship with her sister. Her fault as a character then, fault from
a writing perspective of course, is relying on her and making her responsible for her
own feelings and events in her life. Mai's arc is about finding the determination
to fight back herself against the abuse and oppression by her family and the jujutsu world,
side by side with her sister. Maki on the other hand, is strong, a fighter
and just like Gojo, thinks everything can be solved by strength alone. And while strength surely is important in
the Jujutsu world, Maki has internalized a ver unhealthy view of strength: not showing
any weakness. Maki blocks out her own emotions and insecurities
completely focusing mostly on herself. Similarly to Gojo, she knows the value of
having strong companions and being able to fight together, but in the end, her philosophy
is this - Gojo to Megumi. It’s not that Maki is a hateful person it’s
that she’s conditioned not to accept any kind of love because she was never shown the
unconditional love of a family she was owed. She is so busy trying to reject everything
that the Zenin clan stands for, that she can’t really accept other people’s feelings at
all positive or negative. She’s too busy thinking about herself, protecting
about herself, trying not to hate herself. She can't receive Mai's feelings. Again it's easy to draw a parallel to Megumi
here, who is not even blood-related to his sister, but does everything he can for his
only real family member, desperately wanting to talk to her. - Maki however, despite having the chance
to talk to her twin sister and only real family in the world whenever she wants, doesn't. Her having to wear glasses because she otherwise
is blind to curses is really symbolic here. Because these glasses also represent her inability
to see other people for who they are. If you watched my Gojo video, you will recognize
a pattern here. As a result, Maki's character arc is all about
understanding, that strength isn't always the answer and that forming real relationships
with others, especially her own sister is an essential part of living a good life. And this also includes acknowledging and accepting
her sister's feelings and wishes into her heart. And while her justified hatred towards her
family is a powerful drive for her growth as a sorcerer, at some point after dealing
with the Zenin clan, she will need a more healthy goal in life, that is not defined
by violence and hate, but that actually will do good in the world, or sink into deeper
darkness, as members of the Zenin family tend to do. One thing however is for certain, Maki already
being as strong as she is, with Mai by her side, once again becoming one whole, she will
be a force to be reckoned with in the jujutsu world, and no-one should underestimate her
power and role in the story.
