Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27

The English publication of Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 has finally hit the shelves, and with the series on its way to wrapping up in the very near future, all eyes are on this shonen staple to see how the story will come to a close. The previous volume of Jujutsu Kaisen made headlines for its shocking disposal of one of the manga’s most beloved, and most powerful, characters, and it seems that Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 is continuing the trend of culling its cast through somewhat underwhelming means

It’s time to talk all things Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27. As always, we will be discussing spoilers in this review, so be sure to read the volume for yourself before you scroll any further! With that being said, we’ve got another action-packed, and very unusual edition of Jujutsu Kaisen to get through. Let’s dive right into the review!

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Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 Review

Image by VIZ Media

Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 jumps straight into the battle between Kashimo and Sukuna that was teased at the end of the last volume, and Gege quickly proves that he is going to continue the trend of breakneck pacing for these final volumes of the series. This battle is instant and explosive, with far less build-up than Gojo’s showdown with the King of Curses, and to balance it out, far less time dedicated to the fight itself. Kashimo and Sukuna are also not given the entire battlefield to themselves this time, as Uraume and Hakari infiltrate the area in a battle of their own. To be honest, I think we all knew as readers that Kashimo stood little chance against Sukuna here, but I wasn’t expected his end to be handled so abruptly.

Kashimo’s death at the hands of Sukuna is fast and underwhelming, even if it let Sukuna himself score some extra points as far as his coolness goes. In many ways, Kashimo felt like a sacrifice for Sukuna to show off his true form, described by Kashimo himself as ‘perfection’. I can’t help but wonder if Sukuna’s perfect form would have been better showcased in the final stages of his battle with Gojo. While I do like how this death scene gave us a deeper look at Sukuna’s ideology, of which I enjoy the unwaveringly evil aspect, it was a shame for Kashimo to be killed off as little more than a pawn in both the sorcerers’ battle against Sukuna, and Gege’s battle with the impending end of his manga.

After this fight, which only occupies two chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27, we move to one of the series’ most unexpected battles – Kenjaku vs. Takaba. In the build-up to this fight, we see Takaba proudly announce himself as a side character, claiming that now it’s time for him to shine – and for the most part, that’s what the rest of Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 is all about. This is Takaba’s volume, which is, of course, teased by the cover art. However, I didn’t expect Takaba to be such a star in such a late volume in the series. A real surprise, but a welcome one.

Image by VIZ Media

Spending this much time with a side character in the concluding arc of the entire series would be a real disappointment – that is, if Takaba himself wasn’t such a fun character to watch in action. In what feels like a real gamble, Gege manages to allow Takaba to take the spotlight in a way that comes across as charming rather than frustrating. These chapters are enhanced further by Takaba’s delightful chemistry with Kenjaku, again, a dynamic I would have never seen coming. Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 does do some damage to Kenjaku’s fear factor as an antagonist, but I actually enjoy the lighter tone he takes on in this volume. It’s a nice foil to the overwhelming terror brought about by Sukuna as a villain. We also get a lot more dimension to Kenjaku than ever before, after his character feeling like a stock villain since it was revealed he took over Geto’s body.

We then get to spend some time in Takaba’s backstory which, to be completely honest, did nothing for me. That whole backstory felt very ‘of the standard’ for anime and manga, which I don’t feel like Jujutsu Kaisen has ever been. The mundanity of Takaba’s backstory is actually highlighted by how trippy and strange the subsequent chapters, 242-243, are. Now, these chapters are…quite something. I think a lot of this humour would likely land better with a Japanese audience, and it does feel strange for such a bizarre chapter to be thrust upon us this late in the series. Those are the downsides. The upside of these chapters is that I absolutely cannot wait to see it animated. Unfortunately, that fun is years away, so it doesn’t help out Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 all that much.

While these trippy, comedic chapters could usually be excused, as I would usually just lean into the fun and games of it all, I was particularly peeved by how Kenjaku got killed off after this. Now, maybe he’s not completely dead, who knows. However, if he is actually dead here, then that is truly an underwhelming end for a character that was, for a good while, the main antagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen. Sure, Sukuna has always been the big bad at the end of the road, but Kenjaku was no push-over – this is the villain behind the Shibuya Incident we’re talking about! Not to be morbid, but I probably would have enjoyed these comedic chapters a lot more if they led to Takaba’s death as opposed to Kenjaku’s, as much as I like him. This feels like it can’t be the end for Kenjaku, but with how Gege has been approaching these last few volumes, it might be.

Image by VIZ Media

Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 quickly turns back to multiple fights in its final chapters, as after Kenjaku’s defeat, we return to the main battleground of Shinjuku, where Yuji and Higurama are taking on Sukuna, and Uraume and Hakari finally go the blows – I guess they were just falling through the sky while Kashimo and Sukuna went head-to-head. As always, we get some great visuals during these battles, but unfortunately, Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 ends on a cliffhanger in the case of both fights. There are some particularly stunning visuals in these late chapters, particularly surrounding Uraume, so Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 has that to boast, even if the rest of the volume is a little shaky.

Ultimately, Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 is a winding, confusing, experimental, and to be fair, brave volume of shonen manga, one that takes risks that don’t always pay off, but proves to be very impressive when they do. It’s quite a feat to achieve, but Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 highlights some of the series’ most bizarre moments, and with Takaba centre-stage, the limelight is given to some of the manga’s side characters. However, its insistence on killing off important characters in unceremonious ways proves to be its downfall, and in many ways, marks Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27 as the volume that starts to show signs of Gege’s rush to conclude his manga.

But what did you think? Did you share my opinions on Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 27, or are you loving all of the eccentricity on show across these chapters? Be sure to let us know in the comments, and until next time, thanks for reading!

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