Yuji Itadori may be the underdog protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen, but Nobara Kugisaki is arguably the true underdog of the series. She’s not your typical born-with-superpowers hero. Instead, she comes from a tough background and had to work hard to get to where she is.
Nobara is a fun character to watch. Her dynamic with Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro adds depth and richness to their group. She brings a different perspective that complements and balances the team dynamic, making her an essential part of the trio.
But Gege Akutami has historically not been afraid to kill off lovable characters, so is Nobara safe in the series? Or, is Nobara Kugisaki dead?
Well, there has been no official confirmation of Nobara’s status. Many believe she died in the Shibuya Incident arc, along with numerous other iconic characters, but it’s still inconclusive.
So, let’s reflect on her character, her role in the story, and why fans still speculate if Nobara’s dead or not!
Does Nobara Kugisaki Die in The Shibuya Incident Arc?
This fight occurred in the Shibuya Incident arc following Sukuna’s devastating rampage. Yuji Itadori was still reeling from the destruction caused when Sukuna took control of his body.
Overwhelmed by shock and despair, he oddly finds himself dead calm. He knows he must continue to fight, or else he’ll never make up for the lives lost during Sukuna’s rampage.
Mahito, knowing he had to find Yuji, cloned himself. One of these clones runs into Nobara in an alleyway, and they begin their battle. Nobara, feeling she must contribute more to quell the ongoing chaos, decides to face off against the slippery cursed spirit so she gets ready to face him right then and there.
During the battle, we witness how quick on her feet Nobara is. She avoids Mahito’s hands, knowing his cursed technique involves manipulating souls with a single touch. However, her opponent doesn’t have this ability since she is fighting a clone, not the real Mahito. As the battle continues, Nobara realizes this and becomes more daring.
She taps into the core of her cursed energy, which she felt when she unleashed the Black Flash. With three nails injected with cursed energy, she attacks Mahito’s clone.
Although Mahito’s clone manages to dodge the nails, Nobara’s attack causes a sign in the alleyway to fall near him. She seizes the opportunity and kicks the sign into Mahito’s clone. He tries to stop the sign from hitting him, and Nobara jumps off the sign, simultaneously hammering two nails into it. When she’s far enough away, she activates her “Hairpin technique.” Both of the nails explode, injuring Mahito.
While Yuji and the real Mahito fight inside the station, Nobara is still developing a strategy in the alleyway. She keeps throwing nails and detonating them, but nobody’s coming out on top. If the battle continued like this, Nobara would eventually tire herself out. Both she and the clone know that she’s outmatched when it comes to cursed energy.
Little does he know that Nobara has been setting up a trap for him this whole time. While the clone was busy taunting her and saying that her attacks were no match for him, Nobara distracted him and then jumped on him from above.
In seconds, Nobara aims and hammers a nail right on his forehead. This injures the clone and the original Mahito, who was fighting Yuji. So Nobara saved herself and Yuji at the same time.
Meanwhile, Yuji takes this opportunity to attack Mahito’s weakened main body furiously. Mahito separates his body into several smaller pieces and runs away from Yuji. Back with Nobara, she decides to finish off his clone, but he gets up and runs away! Nobara and Yuji quickly give chase, heading towards the Fukutoshin Line Platform.
You’d think they’re running towards each other so they can merge, but no. Yuji catches up to them first, but Nobara arrives a little later.
They just run right past each other, meaning that the clone is heading towards Yuji, and the real Mahito is heading towards Nobara. Yuji realizes that Mahito wants to use his soul manipulation on Nobara. However, because Nobara came in a little late, she didn’t know the real Mahito was running towards her.
Taking advantage of this, he lands a devastating hit on Nobara’s face. As her face swells, Nobara recalls her past and the impact that the Jujutsu High sorcerers have had on her.
It’s never a good sign when the hero starts recalling their past after getting wounded, as it usually means they won’t make it. Steeling herself, Nobara remains defiant and tells Yuji that it wasn’t so bad in the end.
Witnessing Nobara’s sacrifice pushes Yuji to his breaking point. Meanwhile, Mahito relishes his success. He intends to finish Yuji off, but suddenly, another jujutsu student, Aoi Todo, appears and interrupts the fight.
Aoi’s arrival offers a glimmer of hope as he stands up against Mahito. Yuji, however, struggles to find the strength to fight back. Overwhelmed by guilt and the deaths, Yuji questions his worth and ability to save others.
That’s where this intense battle comes to a pause. Nobara lies injured, Yuji battles his inner demons, and Aoi Todo prepares to take on Mahito. Nobara’s fate seems inconclusive, but her death is implied.
Is Nobara Kugisaki Dead in the Jujutsu Kaisen Manga?
Things are a bit murky regarding Nobara’s status after the intense Shibuya fight. We haven’t received a concrete confirmation of whether she’s alive or dead.
Now, here’s the thing – Nobara’s situation doesn’t look too promising after her battle against Mahito. The last we saw of her, she was seriously injured. The manga hasn’t given us any significant hints or indications of her making a triumphant return to the action.
To complicate matters, Yuji and Megumi, her teammates, are also in the dark about her condition. They’re left wondering and worrying about what happened to her. In one of the recent chapters, Yuji opens up to Megumi about his concerns regarding working with Hana Kurusu and Angel.
He worries that they might be replacing Nobara, and that thought weighs on him. Megumi suggests he apologize for even thinking that way, but the truth is, they haven’t been officially informed about Nobara’s fate. It’s a tough situation for them, not knowing if she’s alive or dead.
While other character deaths have been confirmed in previous chapters, the fact that we haven’t received any confirmation about Nobara yet leaves room for speculation. There might be a reason why the manga hasn’t revealed her fate just yet.
It’s a waiting game for us fans, and we can only hope for the best, although most have accepted that Nobara is not coming back!
Will Nobara Kugisaki Come Back?
Whether Nobara comes back or not depends on whether she’s even alive, so we still can’t be 100% sure. However, Hana seems to have taken her place in the trio for now.
The trio formed an alliance because Hana’s unique abilities could unseal Satoru Gojo. However, their relationship was strained because she wanted to destroy Sukuna, who resides within Yuji. Despite this tension, they managed to get along pretty well.
Yuji has even said that he’s concerned that Hana might take over the role that Nobara once had. This thought may have sprung up from the fact that Yuji treats Hana in a similar manner to how he treated Nobara.
This is actually a positive sign for the series. After the intense Shibuya Incident, the manga took a darker turn and lost some humorous interactions we enjoyed in earlier chapters. Gojo and Nobara were not only great fighters but also brought a lot of humor to the story, so it has been quite dark since their absence.
However, with Hana effectively stepping into Nobara’s role as someone for Yuji to goof off with, we might see a return to the fun and lighthearted moments that made the earlier chapters so enjoyable.
For fans of Nobara, it might be a bittersweet realization. While we may miss her, it’s reassuring to see that the series is continuing to explore the dynamic between Yuji and his teammates.
Conclusion
Nobara Kugisaki’s fate may still be up in the air, but we can only speculate until it’s been officially confirmed. This is probably one of the most confusing parts of the series.
Some fans firmly believe that Nobara is coming back because she received help at the very end of her fight against Mahito, and her death was too sudden and still remains unconfirmed. Others can’t believe that Nobara is still alive, as we haven’t received updates on her status in 100+ chapters.
We’re still waiting to hear what happened to Nobara, but things don’t seem good. It would be great to see Nobara return with a badass facial scar and a newfound power, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
With that, I conclude this article. I hope the article answered your question: does Nobara Kugisaki die in the anime and manga? And if you enjoyed reading it, share the article with your friends!
