The Time When Jujutsu Kaisen Pitted a Gambler against a God (And Why It Worked So Well)

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen, Chapters 185-190, available to read through VIZ Media.

Jujutsu Kaisen is about a lot of things: what it means to be the strongest, the flaws of traditionalism, and consequently, the importance of the next generation in addressing said flaws. It just so happens that one of the Culling Game Arc’s most beloved duels, between Kinji Hakari and Hajime Kashimo, touches upon all of these ideas, while also just being sick as hell.

Beginning at the tail end of Chapter 185, after Panda’s heartbreaking defeat at Kashimo’s hand, this spectacular battle is one of the most acclaimed from an arc full of unforgettable fights. It’s not hard to see why; the clash of their powers is exciting and unexpected, and the fight choreography is impactful and striking – an exemplary display of author Gege Akutami’s skills.

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Getting to Know the Contestants

An Old God Seeking New Thrills

Hajime Kashimo is the reincarnation of a sorcerer who lived hundreds of years ago, one of many such reborn sorcerers brought into the new era in new bodies by the antagonist Kenjaku. Known as the God of Lightning, Kashimo was one of the strongest sorcerers of his time. After a life of battle, he found himself bored and desired to face the strongest there was. Unfortunately, the strongest was Ryomen Sukuna, and he was long dead by the time Kashimo was alive.

With his aged body beginning to fail on him, Kashimo agreed to be part of the Culling Game. He would be reborn and do whatever it took to battle Sukuna and discern from him the true meaning of strength. As soon as the game began, he quickly murdered around 40 other players, finding their strength lacking, including Panda, whom he tore to shreds. But then, a new challenger appeared: Kinji Hakari.

The Gambling, “Good-For-Nothing” Powerhouse of the New Generation

Hakari is a third-year student from Jujutsu High who, up until this arc, was completely absent, but not without reason. After clashing with one of the higher-ups and beating them up in the process, he got suspended from the school. Shortly after, he began hosting an underground fight club between sorcerers. His backstory offers compelling insight into the in-universe politics surrounding sorcery.

The conservative faction of jujutsu society has a traditionalist view of cursed techniques and how they should work, but as society/technology evolves, so too does the shape of sorcery. Hakari’s technique, which functions like a pachinko machine, embodies that changing tide. It’s different and strange, but also powerful, which, combined with his demonstrably rebellious nature, makes him a threat in the conservative faction’s eyes.

A High-Stakes, Hair-Raising Brawl

Kashimo’s edge in battle is the electric nature of his cursed energy output, giving his attacks an added punch that can electrocute opponents regardless of whether they block a strike. Worse still, the accumulated electricity can be discharged in a powerful blast of lightning that’s impossible to dodge. He also possesses an innate technique, but he intentionally does not employ it during his duel against Hakari, specifically because he’s saving it for Sukuna.

Hakari’s cursed technique, on the other hand, is not only powerful but bizarre, especially considering his opponent, the strongest of a bygone era. Granted, Hakari’s domain expansion conveys the rules to an opponent, but even so, fighting a reincarnated sorcerer with effectively a pachinko machine has got to feel like explaining memes to your grandparents. Faced with such impressive strength, however, Kashimo didn’t seem to mind.

Simply put, Idle Death Gamble, Hakari’s domain expansion, gives him the chance to line up three of the same number. If he hits a jackpot, he becomes unkillable for 4 minutes, 11 seconds. As a bonus, he gets unlimited cursed energy and his body automatically performs reversed cursed technique, despite him never having learned it. Even Kashimo’s lightning strike, which tore off Hakari’s arm, was rendered null in mere moments.

The End of the Lighting God’s Boredom

Both of them are evenly matched and equally elated by the duel. By the time Hakari hits another jackpot, Kashimo is grinning from ear to ear, high on the very “fever” that Hakari delights in drawing out of people. Hakari’s strength is based on risk and reward, or as he put it in Chapter 183, “[using] skill to grab a hold of luck”. His technique operates on complex rules, whereas Kashimo’s strength is relatively simple to understand.

Kashimo was the strongest of his time because he was the one left standing. His linear command of victory collides with Hakari’s complex evolution of cursed energy, but everything changes when Hakari hits that second jackpot. The rules say that he can’t kill Hakari for 4 minutes, 11 seconds, but his understanding of strength can’t accept that. Instead, he gleefully decides to defy the rules. Hakari is unkillable, but Kashimo is going to kill him anyway.

Jujutsu Kaisen’s Greatest Battle?

There’s a reason people love this fight so much, and it’s only half because of the stellar presentation. It’s because the two combatants, both of whom hadn’t been in the series that long, commanded every page with unforgettable charisma. If their personalities and motivations weren’t already clear at the start, they were articulated with grace and as clear as day by the time the dust settled.

As a result, they became fan-favorites through sheer force of will, and like the best of rivals, they brought out the best in each other. Hakari vs Kashimo isn’t just one of the best fights in Jujutsu Kaisen, but a reminder of why the series continued to captivate audiences even as its flaws became more pronounced with time. When this story misses, it hits hard, but when it succeeds, it’s a jackpot.

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