Premiere Date
08-05-2025
Warning: This contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen seasons 1 and 2, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
An exciting story and lovable characters are one thing, but the power systems of shonen anime can be incredibly fun to learn about and see explored throughout a lengthy adventure.Your mileage may vary on the qualityofJujutsu Kaisen’s power system, but there’s no denying that there’s a lot to sink your teeth into, among which Blood Manipulation particularly stands out.
First introduced in Season 1’s Kyoto Sister-School Exchange Event arc, Blood Manipulation is an inherited cursed technique unique to the Kamo Clan - one of the Big Three Families. As the name suggests, the technique allows users to control their blood, creating weapons but also augmenting physical capabilities by manipulating the blood down to its cellular components.
How Blood Manipulation Works
Viewers first bear witness to Blood Manipulation through the heir to the Kamo clan, Noritoshi Kamo, particularly during his lengthy duel with Megumi Fushiguro in Episode 18. At first, Kamo used arrows laced with his blood to control their trajectory and ignore physics, but once his arrows ran out, he proved to be no slouch at close quarters either. This is the introduction of “Flowing Red Scale” and, by extension,the sheer versatility of Blood Manipulation.
Flowing Red Scale allows the user to control body temperature, pulse, and the number of red blood cells, all to enhance speed and strength. In the heat of the battle, Megumi compares it to doping in competitive sports. Part of what makes Blood Manipulation so interesting is how its potential is based on real science, similar to how Satoru Gojo’s overpowered abilities are based on math the closer you look.
The Versatility and Strength of Blood Manipulation
Whether up close or at range, Kamo consistently puts Megumi on the back foot during this duel, at least until the latter can create an opening to summon larger shikigami and gain momentum. Soon after, their fight is interrupted, and they’re compelled to join forces, but Megumi gets the impression that he might have lost the battle even if theyhadcontinued fighting each other. This is demonstrated in Episode 19,when Kamo unleashes “Convergence: Piercing Blood”.
Convergence, the technique in which blood is compressed into a small orb, is probably the most notable application of Blood Manipulation throughout the series, and for good reason. Piercing Blood releases the compressed blood in a thin but powerful stream that deals devastating damage. As Kamo, Megumi, and Inumaki flee from the cursed spirit Hanami, Kamo manages to wound them, whereas Megumi could hardly even scratch them.
How The Technique Evolves
In a short time, Noritoshi Kamo demonstrates the versatility of this technique and how it compliments his own well-rounded skill set. However, I would hazard a guess that most fans didn’t truly appreciate the potential of the technique until Season 2. That’s because Choso - another user of Blood Manipulaton - takes it to a whole new level, and nowhere is this demonstrated clearer than inhis fight against Yuji Itadori in Episode 37.
We’ve previously written about how this is one of the best fights of Season 2, and possibly one of the best in the anime so far, and Choso’s mastery of Blood Manipulation is a big reason why. It takes everything the viewer might remember about it and magnifies it while simultaneously expanding the scope of its capabilities. As Choso isn’t human but rather one of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, he has had over a century to hone his technique.
Stretching Blood Manipulation to Its Limits
Thus, his Piercing Blood is noticeably stronger, and he even uses Convergence in other ways, like Supernova, which bursts the compressed blood orbs like a shotgun blast. Choso gets a lot more creative in general, turning his blood into daggers and other various blades or even solidifying his blood to use both offensively and defensively. That adaptability is essential when the tables turn inthe second half of Choso’s duel with Yuji.
When Yuji sets off the sprinklers in the bathroom and lures Choso within, he creates an environment where external manipulation of blood is no longer feasible. The compressed blood will burst soon after being formed, making Convergence impossible and forcing Choso to contend with his opponent in close quarters, where Yuji has the advantage. Despite this, Choso still wins through quick thinking and hardening his blood, even at the risk of thrombosis.
Underrated or Underutilized?
Blood Manipulation is one of the most versatile cursed techniques presented in the series, and depending on one’s taste, it’s definitely one of the coolest. To the latter point, blood powers are surprisingly common in anime,a trend I explored in a piece two years ago. There are mechanical reasons why these powers are so cool, but there are simpler aesthetic reasons as well that lie in what we as an audience tend to associate blood with.
When one thinks of blood, it tends to be associated with wounds, the loss of blood, and, by extension, the steady loss of life, as the body only carries so much of it. Taking this essential and limited fuel within our bodies and using it to fight back is cool and edgy in an easily readable way because of the implied risk and reward, to say nothing of its macabre association.Jujutsu Kaisencertainly makes it look cool, but it also somewhat shoots itself in the foot.
Where Kamo and Choso Differ
BecauseJujutsu Kaisen’s powers are often rooted in real-world science taken to a magical extreme, the weaknesses of techniques like Blood Manipulation can make for a huge trade-off. Noritoshi Kamo is strong -a semi-grade 1 sorcerer, to be exact- and his intelligence, combined with his technique, make him formidable, but he only has so much blood. He has to carry around blood bags to avoid suffering from anemia from blood loss.
At first glance, Choso seems to represent the pinnacle of Blood Manipulation and, thus, what Kamo might be striving toward by the end of the series. Unfortunately, even without looking ahead past what the anime has currently adapted, there’s only so much Kamo can do, and they aren’t exactly on a level playing field. Choso isn’t exactly human, and the limitations posed by Blood Manipulation do not affect him and Kamo equally.
How Jujutsu Kaisen Does Kamo Dirty
In this way, Kamo is a victim of the rapid pace ofJujutsu Kaisen’s second half - a character utilized effectively but without reaching their full potential.
Blood loss means very little to Choso; so long as he has cursed energy, he can convert it to more blood, a traitunique to him as a Death Painting Womb. This single trait completely sets him and Kamo apart, and since the former plays such a big role in the story after the Shibuya Incident, the latter ends up being somewhat sidelined. His skills and intelligence still make him reliable, but the longer the story goes on, the more his power level is overshadowed by others.
In this way, Kamo is a victim of the rapid pace ofJujutsu Kaisen’s second half - a character utilized effectively but without reaching their full potential. As a result, his cursed technique similarly ceases to gain any greater depth. Choso continues to fight alongside the main characters and stretches the technique to its limits, but only by leveraging the benefits of being a Death Painting Womb - benefits Kamo cannot attain.
Despite some missed potential, however, it’s safe to say that Blood Manipulation isone of the sickest cursed techniques inJujutsu Kaisen. Its versatility, strength, and aesthetic charms speak for themselves and contributed to one of the anime’s greatest fights and certainly one of its best-directed episodes.
