- Nobara Kugisaki to Yuji

Jujutsu Kaisen’s tritagonist already has a lot of conspiracy theories and rumors regarding her death (or should I say potential death?). But while we wait for the truth to be revealed, it’d be a great disservice to not know all there is to know about this brash and loveable character.

Nobara Kugisaki remains one of the most important characters in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga series, and it is only in honor of her presence in the JJK storyline that we have here a complete character wiki/analysis. Do you think you know all about Nobara? Read through and let’s hammer some info and analysis into you!

Nobara | Profile

Name (Romaji): Kugisaki Nobara
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Age: 16
Birthday: 7th August, 2002
Eye Color: Orange
Hair Color: Ginger
Grade: Grade 3
Manga Debut: Chapter 3
Anime Debut: Episode 2
Voice Actor: Asami Seto

Who is Nobara Kugisaki?

Nobara Kugisaki is one of the first-year students at the Tokyo Jujutsu High alongside Megumi and Yuji. She is also the tritagonist (third main character) of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga series. She is a grade 3 sorcerer and comes from an unnamed village close to Morioka. She learned all about Jujutsu and her techniques from her grandmother who was also a Jujutsu sorcerer.

Nobara | Background

While the identities of her parents remain unknown, Nobara was born on the 7th of August, 2002. She was raised by her grandmother in a little village somewhere in the Iwate Prefecture, located in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. When she was seven years old, she became friends with shy Fumi and Saori, an older girl who just moved to her village from Tokyo.

Nobara and Fumi became friends with Saori and Nobara greatly admired her. However, the villagers treated Saori with disdain. Saori treated Fumi and Nobara as her little sisters, delighting them with delectable treats that Nobara had never experienced before.

Sadly, Saori's family was forced to leave due to the intense animosity of the villagers, a situation that deeply disturbed Nobara. It was for this reason that she had to engage her grandmother in a heated argument when she decided to relocate to Tokyo after some years, all in the hopes of reuniting with her dear friend.

Nobara Kugisaki | Appearance

Physical Appearance

Nobara is a petite and attractive lady with a slim figure and average height. She has chin-length ginger-colored hair that is adorned with bangs parted to the right part of her forehead. She has thin eyebrows, long eyelashes, and pretty eyes all of which have the same orange color.

Clothing

Nobara wears the conventional female Jujutsu High uniform which is a gakuran-type top with matching dark blue knee-length pleated skirts. The long-sleeved shirt is worn over a white long-sleeved shirt and has three gold buttons with black spiral lines drawn on it. She wears a brown belt fastened at the front, to which she attaches a pouch (at the back) that holds her nails and other equipment. Lastly, she wears a long brown sock legging with a pair of brown shoes.

Nobara | Personality

Nobara is a bold, confident young lady with an unwavering moral code who is adamant about remaining true to herself at all costs. She refuses to let anybody influence her and takes great satisfaction in being an attractive girl as well as an excellent fighter.
Nobara might come off as a very haughty and proud person at first, but underneath her tough exterior is a kind, and obedient person who seldom shows people that side of her. She is also emotionally intelligent and more attached to people than she lets on.

Nobara was different from others in her village by being outspoken at a young age. Even as a child, she was a bit of a bully/troublesome child, but she helped Fumi ward off the boys that were bullying her. She was always in one kind of trouble or another. Remaining loyal to her sense of self, she exudes confidence in her role as a jujutsu sorcerer and maintains her composure even in potentially dangerous situations. She enjoys lighthearted banter in polite settings and also enjoys dissing anyone she's confronting, regardless of who they are.

Nobara has demonstrated that she is pretty crazy, despite her dislike of crazy people, and she wouldn't hesitate to put people in their place whenever she has to. She also sometimes takes it upon herself to go out of her way to help her comrades in battle. This is to make sure she doesn’t feel like a failure or burden on them.

Nobara | Motivations

Nobara’s life as an adult in Tokyo stemmed from three simple motivations:

• Eating more of the goodies that Saori fed her in their village;
• Finding Saori to rekindle their friendship;
• Making the world a better place through her Jujutsu training.

Nobara | Relationships

Nobara’s personality is very evident in her relationships and how she interacts with others around her, from colleagues to foes. Here’s a brief analysis of how she interacts with other characters in her life.

With Saori And Fumi

Nobara looks up to Saori as more than a friend, but as a sister and role model. Fumi is her childhood friend whom she always shared every moment with, even though Fumi wasn’t a person of many words. After Saori moved into their village and the girls started hanging out with her, Nobara became more of a refined little girl than the brash and overly exuberant one that Fumi was used to.

With Yuji and Megumi

With her close relationship with Megumi and Yuji, Nobara manages to preserve her own unique identity and independence. Her interactions with them demonstrate a strong sense of respect and camaraderie, rooted in their shared goals and principles. These two are very much her only friends in Tokyo and she often uses Yuji as her handbag, banking on his nice self and his gentlemanly side.

Regardless of their varying levels of experience and abilities, Nobara interacts with Megumi and Yuji on an equal footing. She, however, has more similarities with Yuji, especially as they’re both clowns and often look to annoy Megumi with their antics.

Other Sorcerers

When relating with other Jujutsu sorcerers, she treats them all with respect, but never to the point where she allows anyone to walk over her. While she likes and respects Maki Zenin most, she also has a great deal of respect for Satoru Gojo. Like many others, she can’t help getting ticked off whenever he starts being a clown.

She momentarily held a bit of animosity toward the students from the Kyoto sister school mainly because they came across as enemies of her friends and colleagues. She changed her tune during the Shibuya Incident, having no issues in joining forces with them against a common enemy.

With Opponents

This is where the depths of Nobara’s craziness comes into play. She doesn’t spare any emotion or rationality when dealing with cursed spirits. She could be cunning, while still being smart, brash, or even trash-talk her opponents while trying to beat them down. She never seems to be fazed by the death of anyone she has deemed worthy of being killed.

Nobara | Roles In The Story

Nobara is one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s main characters, and as such, is one whose roles in the story cannot be overstated. Her presence in the storyline has gained considerable positive reception, seeing as it enriches the general narrative, especially through her quirks and abilities. Here are some of Nobara Kugisaki’s contributions to the general theme and dynamics of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Symbol of Feminine Strength

Nobara offers a progressive depiction of femininity in anime, especially in the Shonen genre. Her character challenges established gender stereotypes, demonstrating how strength and combat ability are not limited to male characters. Her aggressive and outspoken personality also defies biases and prompts a nuanced examination of what it means to be strong, regardless of gender.

Combatant and Sorcerer

Nobara is portrayed as a powerful sorcerer, adding a distinct combat technique to the series. With her unique technique using hammers, nails, and straw dolls, she demonstrates remarkable adaptability in combat, excelling in both close-quarters and long-range combat. Her expertise shines during team fights, where her knack for strategizing and adapting her techniques proves invaluable to her team.

Group Dynamics

Nobara’s interaction with her peers, especially Yuji and Megumi, has helped their group in a myriad of ways. Her blunt and straightforward communication style serves only to counterbalance Yuji’s optimism and Megumi’s pessimism, resulting in a harmonious and effective team.

Nobara | Skills & Abilities

Overall Skills

Before Nobara came to Tokyo, she had learned about Jujutsu, Jujutsu techniques, and exorcism from her grandmother, who was also a Jujutsu sorcerer. Due to her minimal experience and being a first-year student, she is ranked as a grade 3 sorcerer.

That didn’t stop her from taking on cursed spirits that were ranked above her. For what she lacks in physical abilities, she makes up for in mental fortitude and always finds it easy to adapt to her opponent’s abilities and use that against them, especially as her techniques allow her to do so.

Tactical Intellect

Nobara has a rather silent, calculated, and cunning approach to matters, especially in the way of misleading her opponent in battle. She makes them think she has no other technique or weapon in her arsenal, leading to them dropping their guard. Then, BAM! She seizes the opportunity to deal them great damage.

High Pain Tolerance

Nobara's exceptional pain tolerance reflects her great tenacity and drive. This enables her to remain undaunted in battle even after sustaining injuries, irrespective of how severe it is.

Jujutsu

Manipulation of Cursed Energy

Nobara possesses an impressive amount of cursed energy and also an exceptional mastery in its manipulation. This allows her to constantly infuse her nails with cursed energy, granting her the ability to effortlessly levitate them and use them as projectiles when struck with her hammer. She is also capable of amplifying the cursed energy in her surroundings using hers.

After some battles, especially after she successfully delivered a Black Flash, Nobara has proven to have an almost endless amount of cursed energy. She never seems to run out of it irrespective of how long a fight takes. Her physical energy and stamina, as well as her nails, seem to usually be in a rather short supply, as she often runs out of those.

Kokusen – Black Flash

This is a Jujutsu technique wherein a user’s physical hit is significantly amplified by applying cursed energy to it within one microsecond. Because it is an amplified strike, the effects of Black Flash on the receiver always have a devastating effect, so much so it was able to break through and nearly kill Hanami. Nobara was able to use it to deal a great deal of damage to Kechizu.

Innate Technique

Surei Juho – Straw Doll Technique

This is Nobara’s main technique. It allows her to imbue different tools and weapons with cursed energy and use them in her battles. Some of these weapons include a hammer, which she uses to hit nails imbued with cursed energy, and a straw doll which she uses to represent her opponent.

Kanzashi – Hairpin

This technique allows Nobara to imbue her nails with curse energy and then detonate them like bombs at will.

Tomonari – Resonance

Makes use of a straw doll to channel Nobara's cursed energies onto her intended victim. While any part of her opponent could be used, a severed limb can serve as a link to her target's vital appendages, allowing her to launch more devastating attacks. When used, Tomonari makes the target's chest sprout enormous black spikes.

Tools And Weapons

Rubber Mallet

Nobara only ever uses this red mallet on humans, so she doesn’t kill them.

Hammer

She uses this to hit her nails and launch them at opponents.

Nails

These metal nails are fundamental to all of Nobara’s techniques, as she uses them in one way or another when using a technique. She channels her cursed energy into the nails, enhancing them and making them levitate. Depending on how she uses them, they could serve as projectiles or even bombs.

Straw Doll

As the name implies, this is a small doll made of straw, which she uses to represent her opponent after linking them to the doll. She then strikes it with any of her techniques to deal damage to the intended opponent.

Nobara | Dead Or Still Alive?

During Nobara’s fight with Mahito’s double in Shibuya, he leads her to his original body and hits her with Idle Transfiguration, and almost kills her, leaving Yuji devastated. Just as he was about to finish Yuji off, Aoi Todo arrived with Akari Nitta who then tried to save her. However, Nitta hinted that “she didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing… the chance that she survives isn’t zero.”

So, at the time of writing this, there is no indication whatsoever on whether or not she’s still alive.