#mekamaru

1. Strong and Weak

Mechamaru and Miwa both embody one of the central themes of the series, there’s strength in weakness, and there’s weakness in strength. 

Mechamaru is most likely the strongest Kyoto student, not only that but he has a measure of control because of his puppetry technique, he can doctor records, manipulate people, and is smart enough to play double agent for awhile to further his own goals. 

Mechamaru is very strong as an individual. He’s very selfish as an individual As a person he’s weak, however. Not because of his disability, but rather his inability to handle his own emotions. Of course, Mechamaru has a right to resetnment, he even has a right to hate the whole Jujutsu System, but the way he chooses to handle his emotions by lashing out is not healthy for him ultimately. 

Mechamaru hates himself, and hates his own weakness. Rather than trying to live with his own weakness, or be open about it, he hides behind his strength. Which is why rather than accepting other people’s help, he tends to be secretive, keep his distance, and he prefers attacking them rather than opening up to them. 

Mechamaru has this assumption that other people are going to look down on him, dislike him if they meet the real him, and that’s why he’s so defensive. That’s why he goes on the attack right away when he meets Panda. To stop others from looking down on him, he looks down on them first. 

Mechamaru is a strong person who can’t bear his own weakness, and can’t bear to see himself as weak. 

He has his reasons for this of course, but his primary strategy of keeping distance from others so they never have to meet the real, weak him gets in the way of what he wants. 

Miwa wanted to see Mechamaru as he was, in person. He didn’t need to be strong for her. The only ones who told him Mechamaru couldn’t be with his friends were Mechamaru himself, and the society around him, but his friends were always willing to accept him for who he was. Mechamaru can’t accept himself because he interanlized too much of what the Jujutsu Society taught him about weakness and it became a part of his own self loathing. 

Mechamaru wanted nothing more than to stand with his friends, but he did everything, manipulate them, betray them, protect them from afar, instead of taking the first step out himself to go see them. 

All because of his fear of being weak, and being seen as weak. 

Then, there’s Miwa who while not a fully developed character is a change of pace from a lot of the Jujutsu Kaisen characters because she accepts how weak she is. 

Miwa is the opposite of Mechamaru, a weak person, who doesn’t see her own strength, and doesn’t try as hard as she could to be strong. 

Miwa isn’t motivated to fight for herself, but her siblings she’s currently trying to take care of, so she lacks Maki and Nobara’s complete self possession. She’s not obsessed with the world of Jujutsu and treats it more like a dayjob, so she’s not motivated by saving others like Yuji or Megumi are either. 

However, in the Jujutsu World there’s someone a common sentiment that if you get stronger you’ll never have to lose anything. Characters believe everything is decided on strength alone, and an individually strong person will never have to face any loss. You can fight your feelings somehow. You can punch your feelings in the face, and you’ll never have to be sad again.

When losing Yuji for the first time, Megumi and Nobara’s response is to hide their feelings, and then try to fight the loss. If they get stronger they’ll never have to lose again. The motivation to get stronger isn’t wrong per se, but even the absolute strongest Satoru Gojo could not save his best friend. 

Miwa desires to get closer to others in a way most Jujutsu sorcerers just don’t. She’s a bit of a parallel for Utahime, who unlike Gojo was able to become someone who tethered Shoko and kept her connected to others. This is in part because Utahime is someone much more open with her weakness. 

Miwa tries to get close to Mechamaru anyway, despite knowing she might lose him, and the end result is she does. When she loses him, she feels weak, useless, she cries over it. It’s also the most emotionally open I’ve seen a character be with their grief in this manga.

There’s an emotional strength in being able to process sadness, and grief and yet still want to get close to others, instead of keeping your distance to shield yourself from those negative emotions. That was Miwa’s strength, but also Miwa didn’t push hard enough. Miwa sees herself as weak and because of that she’s desperately lacking in the ambition Nobara, and Maki ust have naturally. 

Miwa also could have been fighting by Mechamaru’s side. She could have pushed harder, she could have confronted him and challenged him more, but she was ultimately too passive until it was too late. 

Mechamaru was unwilling to give up his control, Miwa was unwilling to take his control. Mechamaru and Miwa both saw themselves as too weak individually, to stand by each other’s side, which is why they couldn’t be together. No matter how much both of them wanted it. 

Mechamaru and Miwa could have lended each other that strength: we see this in the fight against Mahito. Mechamaru uses Miwa’s techniques, his main motivation to fight is Miwa’s words to him.

Simple Domain is a pwoerful technique, especially when cooperating with others. There’s a first grade who uses simple domain. Mei Mei uses simple domain as a part of her ultimate attack. It seems really well suited towards cooperation, which is also Miwa’s strongest character trait her desire to connect with others in spite of the pain.

However, Miwa didn’t assert herself. 

The last symbol of Mechamaru and Miwa’s relationship is the distance between them. mechamaru can’t be there for her in person, in any way, emotionally or physically. They are two people who love each other deeply, but couldn’t be together because of their individual flaws. 

It’s because they both avoided each other in a sense. Miwa doesn’t think she’s strong enough to fight with others. Mechamaru is so afraid of being weak, just naturally assumes people will project her, that he preferred to protect MIwa from afar the whole time instead of being close to her. 

While it is a failed relationship, I think Mechamaru’s love for her was very real, and if Miwa processes the grief from this she has potential to grow as a character. There is set up for MIwa, her parallels to Utahime, the fact that there’s a simple domain user who’s a first grade right now who uses shadow style the same as her. 

What I hope is this will be the push Miwa needs to get stronger, not so she can fight as an individual, but so she can drop the “Miwa the Useless” attitude and fight together with the others. 

There’s something to be gained even by loss, which is why I think it’s better for characters not to lose fearing this loss. I don’t think Miwa regretted opening up to Mechamaru, or loving him, even if in the end he died, and all it did was hurt her, because she can still carry on his wish and that is their way of being together. Accepting loss also means accepting the people you’ve lost, and being able to struggle together with them even though they’re no longer there.

Yuji can take on Nanami’s suffering, Miwa can take on both Kokichi’s suffering and the happiness he wished to give her. 

1. Just in it for the Money

Miwa parallels two older jujutsu users in her technique. First she uses the same “new shadow style”, as this first class and she uses simple domain users which Mei Mei has incorporated as a part of her techniques by using her little brother Ui Ui. 

She also parallels them both in the fact that she’s not in Jujutsu Sorcery for entirely altruistic motivations. The other New Shadow Style user avoids a hard fight or making any real effort to go after Gojou because he just wants to protect himself. Mei Mei is just in it for the money. She’ll take whatever the quickest route is to earning more money. 

Miwa doesn’t care as much about what is right or wrong, and is more in it for personal advancement. Which is why despite the fact that Maki comments she’s a nice person, she goes along with the other Kyoto Kid’s plan to kill Yuji very easily. 

Miwa’s biggest adult foil is Mei Mei. They are both Jujutsu Sorcerers who are entirely in it for the money, and their own personal advancement. They’re also both older sisters who incorporate simple domains as a part of their technique. However, there a is a strong difference between them. Mei Mei is someone who uses her own little brother for her own benefit. Ui Ui exists to make her happy, and part of their technique is Mei Mei asking him to die for her. She puts her own little brother at risk for the sake of her jujutsu technique. Miwa is someone who is working her hardest for the sake of her two older brothers. 

They are both older sisters but Mei Mei uses her little brother for her own benefit, whereas Miwa overworks herself for her brother’s benefit. This resulting difference also changes their priorities as well. 

Maki is stunned when someone like Miwa gets along with Mai. However, there’s an important difference between the Kyoto kids and the Tokyo Kids. The Kyoto kids are much closer as a unit and strive to get along as friends whereas most of the Tokyo Kids while getting along don’t really act like friends. 

Maybe it’s our nature as a Jujutsu Sorcerer, but even if we’re friendly with each other there’s always this distance between us. 

Being cooperative and working on a team is seen as a weakness in the Jujutsu world where individual strength is valued above all else. This is probably in part why Utahime who is much more adept at social things like routing out spies, or getting along with the higher ups is looked down upon as weak by Gojou. 

This is a running theme in the Jujutsu World. People die at any time. Even children will die. Being a jujutsu sorcerer is a high risk occupation to the point where it’s almost not worth getting close to others because you’ll only guarantee yourself pain. 

Being a Jujutsu Sorcerer isn’t a team sport. No matter how many allies you hvae around you, you’ll always die alone. That’s the prevailing attitude  in the Jujutsu world so sorcerers as a whole avoid getting close to one another. The result is while Yuji, Megumi and Nobara all get along they can’t really confide in each other like friends and often keep secrets and lie to each other. 

Yet, precisely because they’re human Jujutsu Sorcerers also have a desire to become closer. The Goodwill Event Arc is this interaction over and over again. The Kyoto team tries to get the Tokyo team to understand them, and the Tokyo team refuses empathy. 

The Tokyo Team is individually stronger, but the Kyoto team have emotionally bonded on a closer level. It’s probably because of the differences between Gojou and Utahime as mentors and their differences in priorities. However, it goes farther than this.

Maki can’t even get along with Mai her own twin sister. She places her strength as a jujutsu sorcerer as higher priority than the only family member she’s ever liked. 

Megumi is also the result of a person choosing strength over family. His father abandoned him, and he became the strongest human capable of killing several jujutsu sorcerers, but yet Toji was a complete failure otherwise as a person because he abandoned his son, his only connection to other people. 

Gojou was the absolute strongest sorcerer in the world, but he couldn’t do anything to save his one and only best friend because he failed to understand him until it was too late. Companionship and getting along with other people is just as important as strength, because Jujutsu sorcerers are human, but Jujutsu Sorcerers tend to ignore this fact. 

Avoiding closeness isn’t a sign of strength. Maki and Mai aren’t close because Maki is too strong and doesn’t need Mai, it’s because Maki’s too insecure and bad at communicating in order to face her sister. The reason that people have difficulty getting close to each other, is because it’s painful, especially when it’s inveitable you are going to lose those people. 

Mechamaru and Miwa’s relationship is so unique and special because it shows this struggle to be closer to others so vividly. Everything Mechamaru did, was because Miwa was the first person to reach out to him and bridge the gap between him and other people. 

The technique Miwa uses is even called “Domain for the Weak.” Miwa is a weak person, who is not able to go after such lofty ambitions as people like Maki, Nobara and Gojou. All she’s really trying to do is survive and protect ehrself, and yet she meant something so profound to Mechamaru. 

Her simple action of just trying to get closer is not only something that Maki, and Gojou can’t do. Maki can’t get along with her own twin sister, Gojou never understood his one and only best friend. It also gave Mechamaru the hope that made him fight even harder to be with everyone. If Miwa had never gotten close, she would never have to face the pain of losing him. However, at the same time it’s because Miwa tries to get close that mechamaru who spent his whole life alone, hospitalized, and suffering terribly started to love his friends with all of his heart. He went from a spiteful child lashing out at the world, to somebody who would do anything to protect those friends.