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The entire cast of Jujutsu Kaisen is composed of relatable and well-crafted whacky individuals, each possessing their ambitions, dreams, and goals. Among others, I appreciate one sorcerer who deviates from the taught way of disregarding their life as a sorcerer and cherishes every life even though his cold demeanor hides it well.
Nanami Kento has quickly become a fan favorite, ranking 5th place in the first “manga Jujutsu Kaisen popularity contest” with more than 11,000 votes, diverging from the overpowered hero trope like another viral character Gojou Satoru.
His popularity is based on his ideals, quotes, and, more importantly, the depth hidden inside every action taken by Nanami Kento.
This article will provide all the required information on why Nanami Kento is adored by the Jujutsu Kaisen community and how his hopes, dreams, and ideals translate into creating a well-loved and ideal jujutsu sorcerer. (Warning! Spoilers)
Nanami Kento “The Salaryman Onmyōji” & “The Proportion Mage.”
Nanami Kento was born to an average family in Kyoto. His only prior connection to sorcery was his Danish maternal grandfather, who was a magician. His grandfather made her way to Japan and soon was discovered by the Bureau of Onmyō.
Nanami Kento as a teenager was found to possess an innate ability for Magecraft and was enrolled as an onmyōdō disciple at Tokyo Jujutsu high as a disciple by the Bureau.
After graduation, he left being a sorcerer to pursue a career in finance so he would be able to make enough money to retire peacefully. He quit his job in the finance agency after feeling incomplete from the work he did and came back as a sorcerer.
Known to be one of the best sorcerers in the business, Nanami Kento has reached “Grade 1” due to his abilities. He is 28 years old and entered the scene as a mentor for Yuji Itadori. With a strong sense of professionalism and affection towards his peers, Nanami has participated in the most heated and impactful fights in the manga and supports everyone with his sense of direction and leadership.
Appearance
Nanami Kento’s attire is unique among the sorcerers since it is very different from the black uniform worn by most. It reflects his history of being an office worker. He is 6ft tall, good looking with an athletic build, and has blonde hair always parted to the left side.
He has small brown eyes usually hidden by his signature glasses that have no arms to go behind the ears. He always wears a suit, usually light gray or tan, with matching pants and brown shoes. He supports a soft blue button-down shirt underneath the suit and a dark-spotted yellow tie which brings it all together. Nanami also wears a watch on his left wrist, which he often uses to check his working hours.
When he worked as a salaryman at the finance firm, he wore a pinstriped dark blue suit with similar dark blue striped pants. He wore a white shirt underneath with a spotted beige tie. As a teenager, Nanami wore the usual Tokyo Jujustu High uniform. Still, his hair was parted to the right and covered half of his forehead slightly longer.
Personality
Nanami Kento is the character I find most relatable out of the entire eccentric cast of Jujutsu Kaisen. It is due to his life as an office worker, which he found drained his soul of purpose and the morality he brings to the show. He feels like he always has to be the adult in the room, not because he wants to be, but more likely, he must be primarily for himself.
Make no mistake; this multilayered, seemingly simplistic character is exceptionally well designed and well thought out. Providing a cool and calm exterior detached from everything around him, Nanami is actually kind, caring, and very intuitive, but his abrasive words tend to leave a strong impact on others.
He is a wise man who has been made well aware of the world’s harsh realities and tries to protect others from them by helping them in whatever capacity he can. He tries his best to figure out what’s best for everyone around him. His “normal” persona provides a welcome change from the quirky sorcerers around him.
Stoic
Nanami Kento always puts on a composed exterior; he doesn’t let his emotions rise above the surface, making collected decisions even in heated moments. When Mahito activated his “Domain Expansion” at that moment, he maintained his stoic persona, to which Mahito commented that he could feel Nanami’s soul trembling.
Nanami is very straight-laced and rule-oriented, so he doesn’t make any mistakes during missions; this is from where Ino’s famous line comes in “What would Nanami do?.” He is always working with honesty and tries to maintain control of even the worse situations. This became apparent during the incident in Shibuya or even when he wanted to save Yuji from Mahito.
Kind
While seemingly abrasive and very rough around the edges, Nanami Kento is very kind. He decides to leave the Jujutsu Sorcerers following the death of his friend Yuu Haibara due to an error made by the higher-ups. His friend’s optimism lives inside Nanami as he goes out of his way to help others in need.
He could not live the life of sorcerers who were taught to throw away their lives and not cherish them; the loss of his friend also wounded him. During his time in the finance industry, he grew tired of the work ethic of others. He always helped his clients generate a profit but seeing his work leave no lasting impact ate away his soul.
He used to visit a bakery where the baker was troubled. He couldn’t keep seeing her in pain and helped the baker suffering from a curse by removing it, which led him to join the sorcerers. His strong morals can are apparent through his nurturing of Yuji.
He actively saved Yuji from Mahito even though he knew his opponent was more impressive than he was in raw strength. Sorcerers are taught to steal their resolves and lose their compassion.
Nanami wiped a tear from the eye of one of Mahito’s victims in pain, showing that he still cares for others even when they have lost their humanity. He found happiness in helping others, and his work as a Jujutsu sorcerer allows him to live his life with a purpose and without regrets.
Forthright
Nanami is a very blunt person who lacks tact. He is very straight to the point and say’s it as how it is. He is direct in his approach and does not care much about leaving things open-ended, being straight to the point without regard for others’ feelings. He hates work in general especially working overtime. He is very easily irritable and expresses it without fear.
Still, even with all these personality traits, Nanami is very sociable, with Gojo Satorou exclaiming that he did not believe that he and Nanami would get along but turned out to be good friends. Nanami is a deviation from the eccentric jujutsu sorcerer. He represents a more mundane human being who believes that adulthood isn’t reached with age but small despairs that help us grow into who we are today.
Abilities and Fighting Style
Nanami Kento perfectly represents what a Grade 1 sorcerer should be. His strength, poise, and work ethic reflect this greatly. He was born with magic circuits but didn’t start training as a sorcerer until the age of 13, when he quickly became a top student in the Bureau.
Nanami has amazing fighting and tactical skills, along with his stellar intellect makes him a force to be reckoned with. Technique and precision are the basis of his fighting style. His solid abilities and curse energy allow him to easily defeat high-grade curses and let him stand on equal footing against special grade curses; he might even have the upper hand if he is allowed to prepare beforehand.
Tactical Skills
Nanami has displayed exceptional skills as a tactician on several occasions, using his intellect to defeat curses, some even those who are stronger than him. While going against Mahito during his first encounter, he quickly understood that his cure power would not work.
So he used the environment to pin down Mahito while using Yuji as a medium whose ability strongly affected Mahito, creating an efficient strategy on the spot while being in an unfortunate situation.
His abilities can also be recognized by looking at how he pursued the Mahito case and quickly understood that the curse led them to a trap. Hence, he decided to go in alone to reduce casualties. He managed to stand up to the special level curse even though he had weaker curse power due to his excellent tactical skills.
His executions and leadership qualities shone, especially during the Shibuya incident when the plan went awry. He took control of the situation, which is the perfect example of how he strategizes his approach. Even at the end, he gave Yuji a nod so that he wouldn’t be burdened with curses showcasing his great intellect.
Strength and Combat
Nanami uses a blunt blade wrapped with a white cloth sporting dots, affecting curses. He is highly proficient with it and can make precise cuts with the help of his technique; even when his enemies are blocking, it is said that he can cut through anything. In addition to his weapon expertise, he is powerful in hand-to-hand combat.
This is prominent during the Shibuya incident, where Nanami goes against Shigemo, who was thrown at extreme speed after being dealt a single blow from the sorcerer. His unarmed combat skills can also be seen when he made a cut with his bare hand to destroy the curse that was inflicting the baker.
Nanami is very quick on his feet and can manipulate his curse energy to increase his physical prowess, enabling him to dodge transient attacks from the many curses.
His strength is spectacular, being able to withstand Shigemo’s attacks like a brick wall and even battling toe to toe with two powerful curses in Shibuya, withstanding Dagon’s Death Swarm: Endless Swarm of Man-Eating Fish. He survived many brutal attacks at Shibuya saving the lives of many, and even managed to repel the attacks from Jogo.
Abilities
Cursed Energy Manipulation
As a grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, Nanami possesses substantial control over his curse energy and can manipulate it according to his free will. His energy manipulation is also prominent with the strength of his binding vows. Nanami was able to withstand Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration with the help of his energy manipulation.
Mahito was also shocked because finding someone competent to repel it was his first encounter. He can use his curse energy to reinforce his body and deal devastating blows while protecting himself.
The fight in Shibuya with Nobura against Shigemo is the perfect example of Nanami using his curse energy to exert his dominance. His body became a brick wall that Shigemo could not damage or cut; everyone could feel his presence. Nanami’s energy was so dominant that Shigemo didn’t know what hit him.
The Black Flash
It is a technique that any jujutsu Sorcerer can use, but it is insanely difficult to pull off; it requires the user to release cursed within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. This causes cursed energy called the black flash to release, which increases the strength of an impact by 2.5 times.
Yuji stole the record from Nanami, the record holder for landing four consecutive Black Flashes in a row against several grade 1 curses. This can also be attributed to his ability and the precision of his attacks.
Binding Vows
Binding Vows are restrictions Jujutsu sorcerers impose upon themselves to regulate and increase their curse energy output by abiding by them. Contrarily breaking binding vows can have weird repercussions.
Revealing One’s Hand is an ability that the Jujutsu Sorcerers use to maximize their curse energy or increase it by revealing the secrets of their techniques to their enemies. This is the basis of Binding Vows and helps Jujutsu sorcerers go against curses even more robust than them.
Overtime
Nanami’s signature binding vow resonates with his salaryman persona. While on the clock working for the Bureau, Nanami limits his curse energy. Depending on his work shift, this can be from 8 am to 5 pm, or 9 am to 6 pm. Once he goes off the clock, his Vow: Overtime initiates, increasing his curse energy massively.
The energy released generally due to his binding vow is around 80 to 90 percent, but as soon Overtime activates, the amount of energy released becomes 120 to 130 percent. Nanami can break his vow at any time to use 100 percent of his power, but this would result in overtime, only increasing his power by a tiny 1 percent.
Innate Techniques
Nanami’s fighting style is very technical, with his main focus being him exploiting the weak points of his enemies. This precision and focus-based fighting style allow Nanami to challenge enemies stronger than himself and even stand toe to toe against them.
Ratio Technique
From his career in finance to his fighting style, we can find precision in everything Nanami does, and this helped him create the Ratio technique where he can divide a target, albeit entire enemies, body parts, or even walls, into ten parts, and find a weak spot by the ratio of 7 to 3.
He creates an imaginary line at any given location and points on the enemy depending on the situation as he sees fit. This technique allows him to sever entire body parts or even destroy enemies in a single blow, even with his blunt blade.
Collapse
This technique is derived from the ratio technique to allow Nanami to maximize the benefits he can reap from his surroundings. By analyzing and destroying its weak spots, using them to his advantage. Nanami did this while facing Mahito to trap him inside the underground area.
Just Working a Typical Job: The Legacy of Nanami
History and the Loss of a Friend
Nanami’s hailed from a typical Kyoto family. They had no one apart from his grandfather involved in mage craft, who was a Danish Magician. At 13, Jujutsu sorcerers discovered his abilities. After joining the Bureau, he started attending Tokyo Jujutsu High and began his training as a sorcerer.
He became friends with Yuu Haibara, who was also his partner during the mission at Okinawa, where they were to assist Staorou Gojo and Suguru Geto. Nanami’s friendship with Yuu strengthens but during another mission due to mislabeling a grade 1 curse (which was labeled grade 2).
Yuu was a casualty during the mission, and his death was brushed off by the higher-ranking sorcerers, which changed Nanami’s perspective considerably. After graduating from Jujutsu High, he pursued a career in finance.
The Bakery and an Epiphany
While working in finance, Nanami always strived to help his clients make a profit but soon realized the harsh realities the world had to offer. He realized that his work was meaningless. He often visited a bakery where a curse plagued the baker, and there he had an epiphany. He could no longer ignore the baker’s pain, removed the curse, and called Satorou Gojo to start working as a sorcerer again.
The Mahito Case
Satoru Gojo introduced Yuji Itadori to Nanami while asking him to take care of Yuji and watch his growth. During a case, they receive at a movie theater where Nanami teaches Yuji how to notice remnants.
They follow the trail and encounter a few curses, which they fight. Still, as the fight is ending, Nanami catches something peculiar about the curses, which upon later inspection, leads to the horrifying reality that these curses were once human.
Nanami, following this lead with Yuji, finds many missing person reports and mysterious death reports; he lets Yuji follow a separate lead while venturing to find another one in the underground sewer system. In the sewers, he finds Mahito and engages in a fight with him; as the heated battle rages on, Nanami manages to overpower Mahito with his Overtime skill, but Mahito, during this battle, manages to injure Nanami.
He then uses his abilities to make use of the surrounding area to block Mahito’s path and encapsulate him while also damaging Mahito so that he can make his escape.
While pursuing the Mahito case, Nanami informs Yuji not to visit the high school. At the same time, he goes back underground, but knowing Yuji’s impulsive nature decides to go to the high school, knowing Yuji will be there, leaving the minor curses to Takuma Ino.
Upon reaching the high school, Nanami manages to help Yuji, who is overwhelmed by Mahito. Nanami manages to devise a strategy to fight against Mahito with the help of Yuji, who can strike Mahito.
As the fight progresses, Mahito manages to restrain Nanami and use his territorial expansion on him, where Nanami accepts his fate without regrets. In the nick of time, Yuji manages to save Nanami with the help of Sukuna, and Mahito flees the scene.
Warning! This portion is only covered in the manga and not yet seen in the anime so beware of spoilers!
The Shibuya Incident
At the Tokyo Metro Station, on October 31st, Nanami and Megumi Fushiguro, and Takuma Ino are near the station. Nanami heads towards the screen to protect the people from mutated human curses along with his comrades. He discusses the situation with Megumi and Takuma, telling them to help save the people.
At the same time, he would focus on defeating the culprits responsible for such a scenario. Yuji manages to locate Nanami and informs him of Satorou Gojo’s situation. Nanami heads off to where Yuji is.
There, Kokichi Muta explains the plan to which Nanami agrees, letting Yuji, Megumi, and Takuma deal with the problem concerning the screens and putting Takuma in charge. In contrast, he heads off to meet with Kiyotaka Ijichi.
Nanami finds Kiyotaka injured and later finds the party responsible, Haruta Shigemo and Nobara Kugisaki dealing with him. He swiftly makes work of and interrogates Shigemo to reveal all the information needed about their allies. Shigemi attempts to harm Nanami with his sword with a sneak attack, but Nobara saves him.
Nanami throws Shigemo out of the building and explains the current situation to Akari Nitta and Nobara Kugisaki. He then moves forward while not letting Nobara participate in the upcoming battles, claiming that they are for grade 1 sorcerers only to protect her.
The Final Fight
Nanami encounters Maki Zenin and Naobito Zenin, where they have to face the special grade cursed spirit Dagon. As Naobito distracts the spirit, Nanami and Maki move forth with the attack. Still, Dagon defends himself from the onslaught, which leads Nanami to recognize his massive amounts of health.
Dagon is forced to retreat but manages to trap the three in his domain expansion, where Nanami is brutally injured by his Death Swarm: Endless Swarm of Man-Eating Fish but advises Maki on how to survive it.
Megumi Fushigoro arrives at the scene and uses Chimera Shadow Garden allowing Maki to access Playful Cloud, letting Nanami signal for them to retreat using Megumi’s created exit. They are surprised to find Toji Fushiguru, who helps them escape and takes on Dagon.
The Last Hurrah
With the situation reaching its climax, Nanami is concerned about the arrival of Jogo and goes on to confront him but is quickly taken out. After battling so many strong curses, he is worn out, and half of Nanami’s body is burned off due to Jogo’s attack, but he still manages to survive.
Even on the brink of death, Nanami takes on many mutated humans. He then has hallucinations about how his life could be if he went to Malaysia to relax and wonders how the others are doing.
Suddenly, Yuu Haibara appears before him, pointing to the side where he notices Yuji arriving at the scene. Nanami tells Yuji, “You’ve got it from here,” and is then killed by Mahito, who makes his surprise arrival. Even with his death, the battle at Shibuya raged on.
Notable Relationships
Gojou Satoru
Nanami’s relationship with Gojou is rather odd at first. Gojou openly exclaims that he did not believe that they would get along. Opposites attract; Gojou’s carefree persona compliments Nanami’s serious deadpan attitude. This creates a fun dynamic between the two, leading to quirky and enjoyable moments.
Both are good friends, whereas Nanami states that he trusts Gojou with his life but does not respect him, as portrayed by his feelings toward Jujutsu Sorcerers.
They first met during high school, where Gojou was Nanami’s senior, but they did not interact as much. Gojou was the first person Nanami called when he decided to join the Sorcerers again. He enjoyed the time spent with him.
Yuji Itadori
Nanami Kento acted as a father figure to Yuji, who was dumped on Nanami by his friend Gojou knowing that Nanami’s straight-laced personality, tactical outlook, and morals would help Yuji grow into a fine sorcerer. Yuji viewed Nanami as a gloomy adult but grew to respect him as he saw him operate while they worked together.
Nanami wanted Yuji to maintain his youth and not spend his teenage years facing the world’s harsh realities. Yuji finally managed to get Nanami to acknowledge him after the events concerning Mahito. Yuji felt great respect and regard for Nanami.
Yuu Haibara
During his years at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Nanami was gloomy and cynical. Still, his outlook on life was evened out with the presence of his overtly optimistic friend Yuu Haibara.
The two went on missions together, but due to an incident with a mislabeled curse, Yuu lost his life. This significantly impacted Nanami’s life, and Yuu’s outlook can be seen reflected in Nanami’s actions and decisions. He carried Yuu’s will to help others until the very end.
Takuma Ino
Takuma worked alongside Nanami on several occasions and deeply respected him. He would even think of him as a role model or a hero, with his signature phrase being “What would Nanami do?” during challenging situations.
Nanami Kento is a perfectly executed character with remarkable development that stands at the forefront of relatability and morality. His willingness to help others in need and generousness shows the salaryman as one of the series’s most in-depth characters. Even though he is gone, his will and teachings will live on in Yuji Itadori.
His persona capitalizes on the distinctiveness of each character in the series; his entire arc was a refreshing journey in excellent storytelling.
Fun Facts
- Nanami’s name is also a reference to 7:3, which is his technique. This was done intentionally by the creator of the manga.
- He is the only sorcerer in his family.
- Nanami is the second heavyweight in drinking in the entire cast of Jujutsu Kaisen.
- Nanami enjoys reading, eating, and drinking in his free time.
- His favorite food is Bread or items cooked in garlic oil, and his least favorite food is Ribbon Pasta.
Nanami Jujutsu Kaisen Guide: FAQs
Question: Did Nanami Ever Go Back to the Bakery?
Answer: No, Nanami did not go back to the bakery, but it is revealed that he is not actively avoiding it.
Question: Is Nanami in a Relationship?
Answer: No, we do not know, but it is revealed that Nanami wished to get married but not while he was working as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Question: What is Nanami’s Relationship with Money?
Answer: Nanami never truly focused on the meaning of life. After the passing of his friend Yuu, he only sought money that would then allow him to retire in peace.
He would go to sleep thinking about it, but his actions would always be to the contrary, actively deluding himself by focusing on money and running away from working as a sorcerer.
Question: What is Nanami’s Hobby?
Answer: Apart from being social and enjoying interactions, Nanami is a foodie and is very active on his food blog, where he critiques various places he visited during his missions outstation and whenever he gets the chance to. He is very fair in his critique and tries to be impartial.
Question: What does Akutami Say about Nanami?
Answer: He was one of the initial characters designed by Akutami, with his techniques decided during the early stages of planning. Nanami was initially meant to be a villain, but Akutami later changed that.
Akutami enjoyed drawing Nanami since he was easy to draw but decided he needed to finish his arc while planning the Shibuya incident because he felt Nanami had “reached his ceiling.”