Studio
MAPPA
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen, now streaming onCrunchyroll, and Chapters 147, 184, and 185, available to read throughVIZ Media.
Panda, fromJujutsu Kaisen, is a panda, and across two seasons and a movie, that’s the start and end of the joke; in a story full of cursed spirits and sorcery,whynota talking panda? Except, Panda isn’t a panda, and if his role in the story is a joke, the punchline is anything but a laugh riot, something that became terribly apparent during the Culling Game arc.
First appearing in Episode 5 of Season 1, Panda is a second-year student at Jujutsu High and - of course - a talking panda, the latter of which is promptly glossed over during introductions. Over time, it’s revealed that he is actually a cursed corpse, or more accurately, an object imbued with cursed energy, typically to be controlled as a puppet by a sorcerer.
The Truth About Panda’s Creation
The exact nature of Panda’s existence and the significance therein were made apparentas early as the Kyoto Goodwill Event Arcin Season 1, during his fight with Mechamaru. Unlike normal cursed corpses, which possess a single core (or heart), Panda possesses three, each capable of augmenting his body in different ways. More crucially, Panda is fully sentient, a breakthrough the means for which his creator/father, Masamichi Yaga, kept secret for years.
At least, until Satoru Gojo was sealed in the Prison Realm during the Shibuya Incident. Up until then, no one dared to press Yaga for the secret behind Panda’s creation, much less impose restrictions on him for such a potentially dangerous ability. Like with a lot of things comprising the status quo ofJujutsu Kaisen,it was Gojo’s power that served as a deterrent, keeping Yaga and Panda safe, but without him, the wolves descended.
“Remember… Even Pandas Cry”
When we reunite with Panda at the start of the Perfect Preparation Arc, he is a prisoner, meant to lure out Principal Yaga, whose death sentence has been ordered by the higher-ups. It’s here that we learn the extent of Yaga’s experimentation with cursed corpses and that there is an entire forest full of his creations, protected by Tengen. Furthermore, the corpses are capable of storing the souls of the deceased, like Takeru, the nephew of Atsuya Kusakabe.
Yaga seeks out Panda, his son, only to end up on death’s door at the hands of Kyoto Jujutsu High’s Principal Gakuganji. Much to Gakuganji’s shock, Yaga tells him the secret behind Panda’s existence. He is sentient and self-sustaining because the three compatible souls within him (presumably replicated like Takeru) constantly observe and regulate one another.When Gakuganji asks him whyhe didn’t reveal the truth sooner to save his life, Yaga only says this:
“It’s a curse… Principal Gakuganji… a curse from me… to you.”
How Panda Carried On Without His Father
It’s a powerful chapter, one that puts Panda’s existence and Yaga’s compassion for his creations into shocking perspective. Panda has always been one of the kindest, most cheerful members of the cast, but it wouldn’t be a popular shōnen if the most adorable character didn’t have something messed up in their lore. Despite such a tragic loss, though, Panda kept his chin up and rejoined the main characters during their effort to recruit Kinji Hikari to their cause.
For a short while, Panda felt like his usual self, which is to say that his scenes were incredibly fun. He and Yuji brawled in an underground fight club, he worked with Fushiguro to ease tensions with Hikari, and then agreed to join Hikariin the search for Angeland Hajime Kashimo. However, the fun came to an abrupt stop when he came to blows with the latter of those two.
The Tragedy of Panda’s Siblings
Within no time at all, Kashimo evicerates Panda’s base form and subsequently humbles his gorilla form. As a last-ditch effort, Panda unleashes his third form, that of his older sister, but even she is no match for Kashimo, leaving him at his foe’s mercy, his body destroyed. It’s around here that we see the true nature of Panda’s relationship to his siblings, through what could be interpreted either as a flashback or a peek inside his innate domain.
In chapter 185,Panda is the youngest sibling of three “kids”: the big sister, a triceratops, the big brother, a gorilla, and him. His older brother would always pick on him, and his older sister would always come to his rescue, but Panda never stayed sad for long, nor was his heart one to harbor hate. One day, Gorilla went too far and Triceratops told him he’s spoiled to have a younger brother who forgives him no matter what.
Gorilla planned to make it up to Panda, but he never got a chance. In the middle of the night, he and Triceratops were taken away by their father, told that they couldn’t stay with Panda. Gorilla couldn’t accept it; he didn’t want to leave his brother behind, but his father explained:
“You don’t understand, Gorilla. We’re the ones… being left behind.”
Why Panda Needed To Survive
It’s the little details, the full scope of which the above explanation only scratches the surface of, that make this one of the most heartbreaking moments in the series. Regardless of one’s interpretation of the chapter, the conclusion is the same.Panda is his father’s legacy, a breakthrough bordering on playing god, but in a story full of people cursing each other, he’s also perhaps the purest soul inJujutsu Kaisen. A soul worth protecting above all.
So seeing his body destroyed at Kashimo’s feet brings this sinking feeling, like that legacy has been tarnished, until Hikari swoops in to save the day, and Panda with it. It’s an emotional prologue to one of the Culling Game’s most beloved duels, between Hakari and Kashimo, but there’s just one problem with all of this. Beyond this threshold, Panda’s story doesn’t have anywhere to go.
The Culling Game Grinds Panda’s Story To A Halt
It’s probably getting a bit tiring at this point, hearing about all the things this manga didn’t flesh out by the end, but this one particularly hurts.By the end of Hikari and Kashimo’s fight, Panda has regenerated his body, albeit at a much smaller size, and for the rest of the story, he remains that way. Because of their sacrifice, we never see the Gorilla Mode again, much less see what Triceratops Mode can do other than look completely awesome.
Panda’s story effectively ends, and as a reader, this leaves one unsure of what to make of his arc. After all these revelations about him, his father, and his siblings, there’s nowhere for his story to go, much less any clarity about his feelings on the matter. There’s no catharsis in seeing Panda get stronger and master the other cores’ abilities, and he doesn’t contribute to the fight against Sukuna during the final arc.
According to the epilogue released with the final volume, he eventually lost self-awareness after the damage to his cores caught up to him, though not until many years later. It’s tough, because on one hand, Panda had the potential to go so much farther, but at the same time, he ended the story alive and with a smile on his face, surrounded by his friends. Nothing about the way he lived at the end betrayed the kind of person he was the whole time. Missed potential aside, it’s far from a sad ending in the grand scheme ofJujutsu Kaisen’s imperfect, captivating tapestry.
