What Happens to Junpei in Jujutsu Kaisen? Is He Dead?

Junpei Yoshino is a student at Satozakura High School. He became friends with Yuji Itadori but allied himself with Mahito for a time. He is also one of the protagonists of the fight against Mahito. As far as supporting characters go, Junpei is one of the more intriguing ones in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga and anime series. Now, his fate is quite enigmatic at this point so let’s see what exactly happened to him and whether he is dead or not at the moment.

During their fight, Mahito uses his Idle Transfiguration technique and transforms Junpei into one of his many ex-human abominations. Yuji ignores the pain and instead focuses on trying to wake Junpei up but he does not succeed. Realizing that he can do nothing more but watch as Junpei falls to the ground, grasping at his clothes and faintly asking “…Why…?”, before falling to the ground and dying.

As you can see, Junpei really did die in Jujutsu Kaisen. In this article, we are going to present to you his story and tell you how and why it happened. We’re also going to ponder the possibility that Junpei might still be alive and that he might return at some point in the manga. If it’s Junpei you’re interested in, this article is your best source.

What happened to Junpei in Jujutsu Kaisen?

Junpei grew up with a single mother and received a fairly basic education. Unfortunately, while attending school, Junpei was bullied by several of his classmates, Shota Ito being one of them. He received a scar on his forehead from one of the hazings. While watching a movie at Kinema Cinema, Junpei notices that the three boys sitting in the front row are from his school and are among those who have bullied him in the past.

Suddenly, Mahito appears and kills the three students by deforming their heads with his ability. Mahito leaves the room soon after but Junpei chases after him and manages to catch up to him. He asks the scourge if he was the one who did this, but Mahito answers him with another question and asks Junpei if those boys were special to him.

Recalling the horrible treatment he received, Junpei becomes enraged and asks Mahito if he can perform the same feat as the plague again. Junpei follows Mahito into the sewers, where they discuss the nature of the plagues. Junpei asks Mahito what kind of spirit he is to which he replies that he is a scourge born from the hatred of Men.

They continue their conversation, during which Mahito shows Junpei the experiments he has done on humans. Later, as Junpei returns home, the latter finds his teacher, Sotomura, sitting on the steps of his house. When Sotomura begins to annoy Junpei, the latter motions to activate his power but is stopped by the timely arrival of Yuji Itadori.

After Yuji creates a distraction and gets rid of Sotomura, Junpei and Yuji leave to chat by a river. Yuji asks him about the movie theater incident, however, Junpei covers for Mahito and claims that he didn’t notice anything major and could only start seeing plagues fairly recently. The two then start talking about movies and discover that they have a lot in common.

Suddenly, Junpei’s mother shows up and after a brief conversation, invites Yuji to dinner. After dinner, Nagi falls asleep, and the two seriously discuss that Yuji is an exorcist and what would happen if one of them killed a person. After Junpei’s mother was killed by a flail that was attracted to one of Sukuna’s Fingers, Mahito suggests to Junpei that it was Shota who dropped the relic at Junpei’s (the one who dropped the relic was in Mahito reality).

Filled with hatred and despair, Junpei goes to his high school and knocks out most of his classmates with his spell. Sotomura collapses in shock and tries to wake up his students, stunned by what is happening before his eyes. Junpei appears in front of him and reassures him that they won’t die before turning to Shota, asking him if he was the one who left the relic at his house.

Dissatisfied with not receiving an answer, Junpei corners Shota and begins torturing him slowly, starting with breaking his left arm. Shota tries to apologize but his voice is distorted by all the blood in his throat. Junpei is not swayed by this at all, however, before his attack becomes fatal, Yuji shows up and stops him. Junpei and Yuji then argue and then fight all over the school.

Yuji manages to easily overpower Junpei, as the poison from Junpei’s familiar has no effect on Yuji. The latter wonders why Junpei is doing this and after listening to him, Yuji tells Junpei to come to the exorcism school because they will find answers there about the murderer of Junpei’s mother. When Mahito shows up, Yuji is restrained and yells at Junpei to run away.

However, the latter tells Yuji that Mahito is not a bad person but the truth is quite different. Mahito then puts his hand on Junpei’s shoulder, whispering to him that he is just as stupid as the humans he despises, and transforms him with his spell. Yuji tries to save him but nothing helps, as Junpei collapses and dies at his feet.

Is Junpei really dead in Jujutsu Kaisen?

We know that Junpei Yoshino is not a major character in Jujutsu Kaisen. We also know that a lot of people actually liked the guy and that he had a really great story. But, we’re sad to state that by all probability, Junpei really is dead. The first and most important fact that points to him actually being dead is the fact that we saw him die on-screen, which is usually the best pointer when anime and manga are concerned.

Also, he is a true supporting character in every way and his death didn’t have a profound influence on the plot, which is why we think that, sadly, Junpei won’t be coming back.