Yuta Okkotsu

Who is Yuta Okkotsu?

Yuta Okkotsu is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, a second-year at Tokyo Jujutsu High and one of only four special grade sorcerers of the modern era. In the main series he's away overseas for a long time, and when he comes back at the start of the Culling Game, it's as Yuji's appointed executioner.

For fans searching "yuta jjk", he's the student who might eventually stand beside Gojo, and Gojo himself says as much.

Personality

JJK 0 Yuta is timid, apologetic and convinced he shouldn't be alive. He's been bullied, he hurts people without meaning to, and his first instinct is to shut himself away. By the end of the film, he's found a reason to keep going: he wants the confidence to believe it's okay to be alive.

The Yuta who returns in the main story is calm and quietly intense. He's kind, but there's an edge to him, especially when his friends are threatened. He's capable of terrifying things and seems at peace with it.

Appearance

Messy black hair, tired-looking eyes and, at Jujutsu High, a white uniform instead of the usual dark one. He carries a katana in a sheath on his back. A ring on his finger connects him to Rika.

Background: Yuta and Rika

When they were children, Yuta and Rika Orimoto promised to marry when they grew up. Soon after, Rika died in a traffic accident in front of him. She came back as a cursed spirit attached to Yuta, attacking anyone who hurt him. Classed as a special grade curse, she made Yuta a danger to everyone around him, and he was due to be executed until Gojo brought him to Jujutsu High instead.

Abilities

Yuta has an enormous amount of cursed energy, larger than Gojo's according to Gojo himself in JJK 0. He's an excellent swordsman, uses Reverse Cursed Technique fluently and can heal others with it, which is very rare.

In JJK 0, he borrows Inumaki's Cursed Speech through Rika during the final battle and fires a beam of cursed energy he calls Pure Love against Geto's Maximum Uzumaki.

Yuta's fights by arc

JJK 0: his first missions with Maki and Inumaki, then the final battle against Suguru Geto at Jujutsu High on December 24, 2017.

Yuta's growth from JJK 0 to the main story

The Yuta of JJK 0 is defined by fear. He's scared of himself, of hurting people and of being alive. By the end of the film he's found a reason to live, and the main series shows what he did with it. He trained abroad, grew into his strength and came back calm, confident and terrifyingly capable. He still has the same kindness, but now it comes with the willingness to do frightening things for the people he cares about.

That growth is why Gojo trusts him so much. In the manga, Gojo says outright that Yuta has the potential to surpass him, and later admits Yuta may be even more blessed than he was. Yuta's final-arc decisions only make sense in that light. He's willing to become a monster if that's what protecting everyone requires.

Yuta and Rika after JJK 0

After Rika's curse is lifted at the end of JJK 0, what remains is a manifestation tied to Yuta's ring. She's no longer a vengeful spirit attached to him, but she still fights beside him and is central to his technique. Their bond is gentler in the main series, and their scenes are some of its warmest.

Where Yuta shines

Yuta has less screen time than the main trio, so each appearance carries a lot of weight.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0. His whole origin is the film. The shopping district mission with Inumaki, the training montage with Maki, and the final fight against Geto are the essentials. The moment he gives himself to Rika before the last attack is still his defining scene.

His return in the manga. After Shibuya, Yuta comes back from overseas and is named as Yuji's executioner. How he handles that order tells you everything about how much he's grown since the film.

Shinjuku. Chapter 261 reveals what Yuta did with Gojo's body. Whatever you think of the decision, the chapters around it show Yuta at his most desperate.

The film doubles as an easy entry point for new viewers too. It works on its own, and the payoff with Rika lands even if you've never watched the series. Fans of the TV anime should watch it after Season 1, since several second-years and Geto make much more sense once you've seen it.

Relationships

Rika is his first love and the defining relationship of his life. Maki, Inumaki and Panda are his classmates and the first real friends he makes. Gojo is his teacher and the person who gave him a future. He respects Yuji deeply once they meet properly.

Yuta quick facts

• Japanese name: 乙骨憂太 (Okkotsu Yūta)
• Age: 16 in JJK 0 (2017)
• Grade: Special grade
• Technique: Copy, via Rika
• Domain: Authentic Mutual Love
• Voice actors: Megumi Ogata (Japanese), Kayleigh McKee (English)

Trivia

Megumi Ogata, his Japanese voice actor, is famous for playing Shinji Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion, another anxious boy carrying an impossible burden, which plenty of fans have noticed. The 憂 in his given name means melancholy or worry.

Is Yuta dead?