I'm sorry... that's it? that's how we're concluding the story? I'm not even the biggest fan of jjk (despite the fact that I decided to push myself through all 271 chapters... listen my curiosity got the better of me OKAY) and yet this felt like a massive slap in the face. and, no, it's not because a certain character never returned.

apparently this wasn't the story gege wanted to tell, and I understand that. I understand that gege wanted to get this story over and done with as soon as possible. I understand that he had health issues that impacted the quality of his work. but that in no way means that this story is absolved from any form of criticism. that doesn't erase the fact that this ending is rushed and leaves so many loose ends left unresolved and so many questions gone unanswered.

did I ever think it was possible for this story to be wrapped up in just a few chapters? absolutely not, but I was hoping to at least have some things resolved properly. I think the main issue with jjk is that it became far too complex for its own good. so many plot points - plot points that had the potential to be good - were introduced, and yet... nothing came of them? none of them amounted to anything? it felt like gege had lost track of all the side plots he'd introduced, or simply did not care enough about them to resolve them properly. speaking of which, I genuinely think gege forgot that yuji is the main character of this series. maybe I feel so strongly about this because of my own personal bias (yuji's my favourite jjk character and I defend him like it's my full-time job), but he was done so dirty in his own story. we learn next to nothing about his past, he's constantly sidelined by the new characters that I couldn't bring myself to care about (the only one I had some mild interest in was higuruma, and even then I cared more about his potential as a character than anything he had to offer presently) and was ultimately reduced to a plot device.

honestly, that could be said about so many of the characters from prior to the culling games arc. they were either sidelined or treated as plot devices. for example,

I'm so glad that nobara returned, but you're telling me she oh-so-conveniently woke up from what I assume was a coma right before she's sent to fight sukuna? and there's no explanation provided as to how she returned?

also, why is it that the characters will go through something incredibly traumatic, and yet... their trauma is never addressed? I know that this isn't exclusive to jjk and that a lot of media tends to gloss over the psychological implications of certain events within the narrative on the characters, but gege has proven that he can exemplify them even a little bit. think about yuji's breakdown in shibuya after he regains control over his body. you're telling me that gege can include a scene like that, and yet, when

megumi had his body possessed by sukuna (leading to sukuna committing so many atrocities while in megumi's body, including killing megumi's sister),

we hardly see the psychological implications of that on

megumi

post the final battle? you're telling me that

yuta was inhabiting his mentor's corpse

and yet it doesn't seem to have any effects on him psychologically? gege... what were you thinking when you wrote this ending?

I could honestly go on about why this ending was terrible and does everything in this story a disservice, but I'll end it there because I'll be here forever if I keep going. overall, jjk is an amalgamation of great ideas that end up being nothing but wasted potential. I'll still be watching the anime as the rest of the manga is animated because the production quality of the anime is fantastic, but I'm so disappointed in how little I cared about this story in the end.