Jujutsu Kaisen: The Meaning of Toge Inumaki’s Safe Words Explained
We know that the characters of Jujutsu Kaisen are quite interesting and that Akutami tried to make them as good as possible, regardless of their specific powers and abilities. But, while a lot of people like to analyze their personalities, we are going to talk about Toge Inumaki and his Cursed Speech technique, which is one of the more peculiar ones in the series. In this article, you are going to find out what his safe words are and why he has them in the first place.
Toge Inumaki uses a set of specific safe words to avoid activating his Cursed Speech technique by accident. Namely, Toge’s technique allows him to produce the effect he speaks, so if he were to say something wrong to his allies by accident, they could potentially get hurt. This is why he uses a set of safe words, words that are neutral and will not produce any ill effect, to communicate on an everyday basis, and while this might seem odd to someone from the outside, it is actually quite simple to understand for those who know his code words, as he avoids using complex sentences.
The rest of this article will focus on Toge Inumaki and his specific power in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. Toge is a popular and beloved character in the series with an important secondary role in the main anime but an important one in the prequel movie. He is quite intriguing, which is why it makes sense that people want to understand what he is saying, which is why this article was written. This article will contain some spoilers from the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, so be careful how you approach it.
Toge needs to use sade words to not injure his friends and allies
Toge Inumaki is a second-year student whose Jujutsu powers are connected to words. He was born with various markings around his mouth because he is a member of the Inumaki clan. His method enables him to imbue his words with a cursed force. Thus, the individual who hears them will be compelled to carry out the provided instruction (such as “sleep,” “explode,” or “don’t move”). However, the method’s efficacy is based both on the sorcerer using it and the victim of it, as well as their respective levels.
The technique itself consumes a lot of Cursed Energy in addition to increasing the complexity and severity of the desired command, but there is another drawback, namely, the sorcerer himself may suffer by using this technique, resulting in a sore throat, coughing up blood, or losing his voice.
This is why he often uses everyday objects, such as cough syrup, to heal his throat in battle. Because of this ability, he is very quiet, reserved, and accustomed to communicating exclusively with the components needed to make rice balls.
As we have said, Toge’s inherited technique is called Cursed Speech, allowing him to materialize his own words. So, saying something specific will somehow manifest in the real world. This is both practical and dangerous, as you might assume. His technique works on all living creatures and is not, interestingly, disrupted by higher frequencies or distance, which means that he can use his technique over large distances as well, which he demonstrated during the Goodwill Event.
But, while this is a powerful technique, each spoken word also consumes a lot of Toge’s energy, and while weaker curses can be exorcised easily without taking too much of a toll on Toge, stronger ones take a big chunk of his power even when he uses simpler commands. So far, he has used the following attacks and techniques:
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| “Explode“ | Results in the target exploding violently. It is very effective against weaker curses. |
| “Get Twisted” or “Twist“ | This can target a part of a target’s body or the whole target, depending on the latter’s strength. The targeted object twists violently and is disfigured completely. |
| “Get Crushed“ | Toge creates a small but powerful gravity field that keeps crushing the opponent and sending them into the ground. |
| “Crumble Away” or “Plummet“ | Toge creates a small, but powerful gravity field that keeps crushing the opponent and sending them into the ground. |
| “Don’t Move” or “Stop“ | Toge can use this command to completely immobilize a target. |
| “Sleep“ | Toge can use this command to make the target fall asleep the moment he hears it. |
| “Return“ | This command is used to forcibly dispel and return a Shikigami to its respective owner. |
| “Run Away“ | This forces Toge’s opponents to immediately flee from the scene. |
| “Blast Away“ | Creates a blast of an explosion that sends the target flying away into wherever Toge wants to. |
As you can see, this power makes it quite difficult for Toge to actually communicate with others, as some of these commands are very common verbs used in everyday communication. On top of that, Toge has only shown us a portion of his powers, i.e., there are certainly a lot more, which proves just how difficult it is for him to communicate.
This is why Toge had to come up with a set of safe words that enabled him to communicate with his friends and allies. These safe words are neutral, and while they make absolutely no sense from a linguistical standpoint, they are not that difficult to comprehend, and anyone who knows them will be able to communicate with Toge easily. They are:
| Word | Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Salmon | しゃけ, Shake | Used as a replacement for “yes” or any other form of affirmation. |
| Fish Flakes | おかか, Okaka | Used as a replacement for “no” or any other form of negation. |
| Kelp | こんぶ, Konbu | Used as a form of greeting, although it is not clear which one exactly. |
| Mustard leaf | たかな, Takana | Used to show a sign of concern or worry, but also to replace the phrase “I’m on it.” |
| Salmon Roe | すじこ, Sujiko | Used to replace the phrases “Well, well” or “My, my.” |
| Caviar | いくら, Ikura | Used as a curse word. |
| Tuna or Tuna Tuna | ツナ, Tsuna | Used to point something out or to direct someone’s attention to something, or as a replacement for “look.” |
| Tuna Mayo | ツナマヨ, Tsuna Mayo | Used as a general phrase or as a replacement for “do something” (about a situation). |
Oh, aside from these words, all that Toge says is complete nonsense, i.e., while he might use other words as well, neutral ones, of course, they have absolutely no meaning, and the only words you have to pay attention to are the ones we’ve listed in the table. This was confirmed in the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga.