Highlights
- The Jujutsu Kaisen power system is highly acclaimed and reminiscent of Hunter x Hunter’s Nen, with varied cursed techniques that complement characters’ personalities.
- Mei Mei’s Black Bird Manipulation may not be the strongest, but it is useful for gathering intel and suits her manipulative nature and tactical intelligence.
- Mei Mei’s Cursed Technique allows her to control crows imbued with Cursed Energy, providing valuable vision and leadership roles, and she developed an offensive technique called Bird Strike.
The Jujutsu Kaisen power system is largely regarded as one of the best in ongoing Shōnen series. Many fans find the variety of cursed techniques to be reminiscent of Hunter x Hunter’s Nen, where each character’s individual fighting style complements their personality and brings out their strengths. Because of this, though many Cursed Techniques are purely offensive, many characters that fall on the tactical side have abilities more suited to strategy.
Cursed Techniques are how those in the Jujutsu Kaisen world who can access Cursed Energy manifest it. Some are more powerful than others, such as Gojo’s Limitless Technique, but each has its own strengths and can prove troublesome in battle if used correctly. Mei Mei’s Black Bird Manipulation is not one of the strongest, but it is extremely useful for gathering intel, and given her manipulative nature, it suits her well and allows her to use her intelligence to coordinate missions and devise plans.
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Who Is Mei Mei?
Mei Mei is one of the Grade 1 Sorcerers introduced in the Jujutsu Kaisen world. She’s presented as a highly intelligent, yet selfish and manipulative character, who values those around her on the basis of their potential to be of use to her. She is not unkind or dishonest, but she is very openly greedy, and places great value on money. Because of this, she is easy to bribe, and holds little regard for allegiances and politics where there is no material benefit.
Mei Mei has great tactical intelligence, and due to her Cursed Technique not being combat oriented, she has honed her tactical and physical skills to compensate for her lack of pure offensive power. It is these skills that often allow her to win battles against opponents who are much stronger than her, such as when she managed to defeat the overwhelming Smallpox Deity in the Shibuya Incident Arc. Of course, this was only thanks to her brother Ui Ui’s help, but her having had the foresight to bring him along and call on him demonstrates her ability to outsmart and outmaneuver her opponents.
What Is Mei Mei’s Cursed Technique?
Mei Mei’s Innate Cursed Technique is called Black Bird Manipulation. It grants her the ability to control crows that she has imbued with Cursed Energy, something she can do from a great distance and with multiple crows at once. She can also share her vision with them, which allows her to easily gather intel on the opponents’ plans and abilities. This makes her very valuable to the Jujutsu Kaisen Sorcerers, and alongside her high grade, it often places her in leadership roles.
When younger, Mei Mei was quite disillusioned with her Cursed Technique, and as a result she chose to largely disregard it and instead learn to manipulate the Cursed Energy in her body to boost her physical strength. However, when she reached her physical limit and could no longer get stronger with this method, she developed Bird Strike, an offensive technique that relies on her Black Bird Manipulation. This attack consists in using a Binding Vow on a crow that forces it to commit suicide in exchange for larger amounts of cursed energy. The boosted bird then launches itself at the enemy and explodes, generating an extremely powerful hit that is capable of defeating strong opponents in a single strike.
The power system in Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the strongest selling points of the series, and abilities such as Mei Mei’s and Hakari’s serve as a testament to Gege Akutami’s immense creativity. The many manifestations of cursed energy make each combat sequence unique, and ensure fans stay entertained as the narrative develops through combat.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
