Jujutsu Kaisen: Is Misato Kuroi Related to Riko? Relationship Explained!
With the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen finally underway, we had finally gotten the chance to see some great new characters that were, as part of Gojo’s part, important back in 2006, when Gojo and Geto were still students. Misato Kuroi is one such character, but Riko Amanai is one such character as well. Riko Amanai is the current Star Plasma Vessel set to merge with Master Tengen, while Misato Kuori is her caretaker and the only person she has in the world. But are the two of them related or not? In this article, we are going to explain the relationship between Misato Kuroi and Riko Amanai.
Misato Kuroi and Riko Amanai are not related, i.e., they are not family. Still, Misato Kuroi has been Riko’s caretaker ever since Riko’s parents died in an accident some time ago and seems to be in her service, based on her clothes. It is not known if Misato was in the service of the Amanai family before the accident or whether she came to Riko later. She is fiercely loyal to Riko, and they seem to trust each other. Despite her limitations, Misato is ready to defend Riko at all costs.
The rest of this article will explore the relationship between Misato Kuroi and Riko Amanai while focusing, in particular, on the nature of their relationship and whether they are related by blood or not, which is also the main and principal question of this article. If you’re not fully up-to-date with the events of Jujutsu Kaisen, this article might contain some important spoilers, but we have to state that no new information will be presented here, as we will focus on old and well-known facts about the two of them.
Misato and Riko are not related, they are not family, but they are very close to each other
Misato Kuroi is a young woman of 31 who was first introduced in the second season of the anime, i.e., during the Gojo’s Past Arc of the manga. She has been Riko’s caretaker ever since her family was killed in an accident. She is primarily a non-combatant, which surprises her opponents since she is also a sorcerer with combat skills.
On the other hand, Riko Amanai is a young girl who was the Star Plasma Vessel in 2006, destined to become Tengen’s new host body, a task she had fully embraced initially.
Her protection was a vital mission assigned to Gojo and Geto, as many jujutsu sorcerers and religious groups wanted to prevent such a merger. Near the end of the mission, she admitted to Geto that she wanted to live her life more as a normal teenager instead of merging with Tengen.
Moments later, Toji shot her in the head, completing her assassination. The aftermath of Amanai’s death has manifested itself in the present as Tengen, who has not merged with her as he should have in 2006, has evolved into a being more like a curse rather than a human, who may become an enemy of humanity. Kenjaku orchestrated these events in preparation for Tengen’s merging with Japan’s humans.
But while Riko’s fate is not particularly interesting here, her relationship with Misato is. Not long after the first attack on Riko, the one executed by Q, we also meet Misato, who wears a maid uniform and is introduced as Riko’s caretaker. Although it seems like the is the caretaker of the Star Plasma Vessel, she seems to take care of Riko Amanai more than the Star Plasma Vessel, who is also Riko.
She later reveals that she has been in Riko’s service for years, ever since her parents died in an accident when she was little. It is, though, unknown if Riko had already been in the service of the Amanai family when the accident happened or whether she came later.
Be that as it may, Misato knew that Riko had no one else besides her and that the girl had no other family; seeing how close they were, Geto commented that Misato was actually Riko’s only family now, which made Misato blush. This showed that she was quite close to Riko and was proud to be considered so close to her.
And while Misato and Riko weren’t family, as we’ve said, they were very close. Misato cared deeply for Riko, and she was willing to use even her limited fighting skills to protect the young girl, while Riko considered Misato her friend.
They also seemed to trust each other and were extremely loyal to each other, as was revealed in the series. Even though Misato wore a maid’s uniform, Riko never actually treated her like a maid. She respected her and treated her as her equal, not as her subordinate.
Sadly, we don’t know any details about Misato’s history, so we cannot really say how and why she ended up taking care of Riko, nor if her own family was somehow related or connected to the Amanai family.
Heck, even Riko’s own family is a mystery, save for the fact that we do know that her parents died in an accident when she was little, but it is unknown what accident it was and how they actually died. We know that Misato has been there for Riko since she was a kid.
The extent of Misato’s loyalty was best seen when she ultimately faced Toji Fushiguro, a character who was miles above her own skills; for comparison, Toji, despite not being a cursed user or a jujutsu sorcerer, almost killed Gojo, so… there’s that. Still, Misato faced him, and while she did sustain heavy injuries that left her fate up in the air, this move showed just how much she cared about Riko and what she was willing to do to keep her safe.
