Nanami Kento: Redemption and Sacrifice

A warning first: this post talks about how Nanami’s story ends. If you have not reached the Shibuya arc of Jujutsu Kaisen, you may want to come back later.

Some characters you enjoy; others you recognize. Nanami Kento is one of the second kind for me. He doesn’t need anyone watching to do things right: he shows up, does what has to be done, and does it well, for the simple pleasure of a job well done (the same one I found in Zima Blue). I see a lot of myself in that.

A Good Man #

Nanami is serious, direct, sometimes harsh, but always a good man. In a world where almost everyone is cynical, he keeps his word and looks after the people in his charge. He takes care of Itadori, the boy he is asked to teach, without making speeches about it: he simply shows up, every time, and does what has to be done.

The Bakery and the Beach #

Two small things define him for me.

The first is a bakery. Nanami went back to the life he had left because of a young woman at a bakery he used to visit: a simple moment there reminded him that he could still help someone, and that it mattered.

The second is a beach. At the end, all he wanted was peace: to go to Kuantan, in Malaysia, rest by the sea and read. And in his last moments he thinks about exactly that, and he questions himself about the things he never did.

Redemption and Sacrifice #

I love stories of redemption and sacrifice: Matt Murdock rebuilding himself from nothing in Daredevil: Born Again, Wolverine finding a reason to fight again in Deadpool & Wolverine, or Silver in Treasure Planet.

Nanami’s sacrifice is one of the ones that hits me the hardest. There is no speech and no spectacle: he gives everything he has left protecting others, the same way he did everything else. And before he goes, he leaves what comes next in Itadori’s hands. A good man until the very end.

Pure Art #

There is a fan edit of Nanami, Nothing’s New by Killah Maze, that I love: it is perfectly edited, every cut in its place, and for me it is pure art.

I hope he finally got his beach.