The only binding vow in Jujutsu Kaisen I’m willing to accept is the death of my favourite characters. In exchange, I want a compelling story. Unfortunately for Gege Akutami, that is not a ‘fair trade’.
Beware of the manga spoilers below.
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What Are Binding Vows?
In Jujutsu Kaisen, a ‘Binding Vow’ is essentially a contract that a sorcerer makes to gain advantages at the cost of some sacrifices. For example, imagine you want to ace a test. You make a binding vow to know all the correct answers but give up your ability to see any clocks. Although you know the answers, there’s no guarantee you’ll finish on time. This represents a ‘fair trade’: you give something up to gain an advantage.
How Do You Determine Which Trade Is Fair?
A ‘binding vow’ is valid through a ‘fair trade’. But who determines what’s fair? The author himself, Gege Akutami.
One of the most criticized uses of binding vows is when Sukuna murdered Gojo in a brutal battle. Gojo’s ability, ‘Limitless’, prevents any object from touching him. Sukuna bypassed Limitless with a binding vow, creating a slash that cuts everything in the world itself, including Gojo.
Sukuna’s sacrifice? The next time Sukuna wants to use his slashing ability, he needs to always do a hand sign (keep in mind he has four arms) and he needs to always recite his incantation (keep in mind he can emerge a mouth at any part of his body).
This isn’t the first time Sukuna has used binding vows to gain an advantage in battle. After defeating Gojo, he made many ‘unfair trades’ to defeat his opponents. For a sorcerer as powerful as Sukuna, each victory felt cheap and undeserved.
It should be made clear here that I understand Sukuna’s strategy. But the point of this article is to criticize the storytelling aspect of Jujutsu Kaisen, not the technical aspect of its power system.
This problem isn’t limited to Sukuna. It also affects Todo, who sacrificed his already injured left hand for a vibraslap, enabling him to use his teleportation ability 50 times per second. Previously, he could only use it once per clap. How is that a fair trade? If anything, it’s an upgrade.
How Do Binding Vows Lead to Bad Writing?
Imagine that test again. If Sukuna took it, he would vow to know all the correct answers in exchange for sacrificing his blue pen–so he simply used a black pen instead.
In screenwriting, this is known as ‘deus ex machina’—a plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence.
By using binding vows, characters achieve victory with minimal effort. This undermines tension and stakes, breaks the suspension of disbelief, and diminishes reader satisfaction. Ultimately, it robs these beloved characters of genuine development. Such overly convenient elements are the result of lazy writing.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the overreliance on binding vows in Jujutsu Kaisen detracts from the story’s depth and character development, leading to unsatisfying and contrived plot resolutions. Gege Akutami’s use of this narrative device compromises the integrity of the series, leaving fans yearning for more genuine and earned victories.
But what if I told you that binding vows could enhance a story’s greatness? Well, that’s an article for another day. Look forward to it!
