When fans last saw Nobara Kugisaki in the Shibuya Incident arc of the hit manga and anime series, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen‘, her fate was left uncertain following a fierce battle against her classmate Mai Zhang. With heavy injuries and unconsciousness, it seemed like Nobara might not survive.
However, in a recent chapter, she surprisingly returned, raising questions from fans about whether this was a retcon by the author Gege Akutami. While it may seem that way initially, a closer look reveals Nobara’s return was carefully set up and not a retcon at all.
How Did Nobara Return?
Though Nobara was left in critical condition at the end of Shibuya, there were hints dropped that suggested she might survive. We never saw her definitively die on screen, instead her fate was ambiguous.
Moreover, other characters discussed possibly trying to save her if found alive. This left the door open for Nobara to potentially pull through with medical help. Rather than being a retcon, Akutami cleverly avoided explicitly showing her death to allow for the possibility of her return later in the story.
Gege Akutami Worked Around Noabara’s Death
The revival of the character was all but possible because of Gege Akutami’s approach. Nobara’s left eye was touched by Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration which led to her whole left side blowing up. But it wasn’t explicitly shown that she was dead as compared to the fact when Gojo got split in half in his battle with Sukuna.
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The damage inflicted by Nobara did not lead to her death but her return was in such a way that it implied the Curse’s damage took several months for her to recover and re-establish from. Though not leading to her death, her left eye was lost in the process and the reveal was made in the 267th chapter of the manga.
Now that she has resurfaced, it fits logically with the contextual clues provided during the cliffhanger of her death. Nobara’s return was carefully set up and her ambiguous fate was skillfully managed by Gege Akutami, dismissing the possibility of a retcon through clever writing and approach.
