Boomstick: Makima, Chainsaw Man's head of Tokyo Public Safety.
Wiz: These two paranormal mentors are so strong that they change the very worlds they exist in.
For the last 10 years and counting, DEATH BATTLE! hasn't shied away from analyzing characters who could lay claim to be the strongest from their respective settings, and for this upcoming bout, the hosts are set on analyzing two such noted pinnacles of power representing more recent takes in the Shōnen Genre battle scene. Heralded for having some of the most twistedly impressive powersets in all of fiction - let alone the realm of anime and manga, these two demon slayers utilize their tremendous strength to usher in new ages for their respective societies. Now, Wiz and Boomstick are ready to put the Honored One's limitless energy against the Control Devil's unrelenting authority, as Satoru Gojo and Makima prime themselves to end this long-awaited dream match in a death battle.
In a world rampant with Curses, demons born from negative human emotions, there also live Jujutsu sorcerers who battle them in order to protect humanity and among these sorcerers, the undisputed strongest is Satoru Gojo. Born the scion of the Gojo clan, Satoru inherited his bloodline's immense Cursed energy, allowing him to boost his physicality and wield potent, esoteric powers. From his very birth, Gojo's power was so great, the strength of Curses exponentially rose just to keep up with his presence. Gojo himself desired to change the Jujutsu world for the better, alongside his best friend, Suguru Geto and if anyone could accomplish such a monumental task, Gojo could.
In his clan, Gojo was the first in centuries to inherit both Limitless and the Six Eyes. The first technique allows him to manipulate space, with its most basic application being Infinity, an automatic barrier that detects any physical attack and stops it in its tracks by perpetually dividing the distance between the attack and Gojo, ensuring it never reaches him. While a technique on this level would quickly burn out anyone else, Gojo's second technique, Six Eyes, allows him to see and control Cursed energy to the atomic level, allowing him to efficiently manage his already immense power. Gojo is not limited to defense either, as he can use Limitless to create attractive singularities with Blue or use Reverse Curse Technique, essentially multiplying the negative Cursed energy against itself to become positive, to create the repelling Red. By combining the two together, he creates Hollow Purple, an orb of destruction that atomizes anything it strikes. Gojo can apply Limitless in a much broader variety as well. Levitating, teleporting or even applying Infinity offensively by expanding it to crush anyone caught in its path is well within Gojo's capabilities. He can even use Reverse Curse Technique to heal his wounds and is always using it to refresh his brain and alleviate the mental strain of his techniques.
Yet, Gojo's most dangerous technique is his Domain Expansion. Every sorcerer possesses an innate Domain created based on their abilities and can physically manifest it by expending a large amount of Cursed energy. Gojo's Domain Expansion, Unlimited Void, traps opponents in a stream of infinite information, rendering them paralyzed at best and catatonic at worst. Even the large energy cost is little trouble to Gojo, thanks to his Six Eyes. All of Gojo's power and techniques makes him the strongest in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, able to cause earthquakes, move faster than sound and operate within a microsecond. He's faster than a former student who could dodge lightning and stronger than Jogo, a Curse who could summon city-destroying meteors. Yet, Gojo's power could not solve everything. Curses were always growing stronger thanks to Gojo himself and even Geto eventually rebelled against Jujutsu society after growing disillusioned with protecting humans. So, Gojo chose to improve the world in a different way, becoming a teacher who would work to raise his students to be his equals and protect the world when he cannot. Though Gojo will never let anyone, be they ally or enemy, forget why he alone is the Honored One.
One advertisement from Hello Fresh later and the host travel to a different world; a world plagued by horrific Devils born from human fear. Among the most fearsome of these demons was the Gun Devil and in response, the Tokyo Public Devil Hunters were established to combat the threat of Devils everywhere, under the leadership of the mysterious Makima. She proved to be an effective, if ruthless leader and would eventually recruit Denji, a teenaged boy who had fused with his pet Devil, Pochita, to become the Chainsaw Man. Still, manipulative nature and love of dogs and cinema aside, she is certainly no mere desk jockey. As with most Devil hunters, Makima is a skilled combatant and has contracts with numerous Devils that give her supernatural abilities, such as the ability to call death upon anyone with a complex ritual or survive being shot through the head. Of course, unlike most Devil hunters, Makima herself is a Devil.
Specifically, Makima is the Control Devil, who embodies the fear of oppression, arguably making her an even greater threat than the Gun Devil. Her natural ability is the power to mentally dominate anything that she perceives as being inferior to her, which extends to the majority of beings in her world due to her immense power. She can even hijack their senses to listen and see wherever she pleases. As a Devil, Makima is far stronger, faster and tougher than any human and her metabolism lets her down an unthinkable quantity of alcohol. She can drink blood to heal herself, smell targets from hundreds of miles away and even control bodies with telekinesis. Most notably, by pointing her fingers at a body, she can cause wounds to spontaneously manifest. She can also summon intangible chains that inject themselves into a target's body to take direct control of their actions. Thanks to her work, Makima has taken control of almost all of Japan's Devils and can summon any of them and their paranormal powers to her side. These include the Fox Devil, the Future Devil with his precognitive abilities, the Weapon Hybrids, the Bomb Devil, the Zombie Devil and the Angel Devil, who can summon a horrific image of God prior to a victim's death. Makima can also create contracts with any being and thanks to her nature as the Control Devil, these contracts do not have to benefit anyone but herself, such as the one she formed with the Prime Minister that dictates that anything she perceives as an attack on her will transfer to a random citizen of Japan, allowing her to rapidly heal from her wounds.
With this authority, Makima set off to create her ideal world, one devoid of death, war and other undesirable concepts and to achieve this, she needed the power of the Chainsaw Devil aka Pochita, who was now residing within Denji's heart. Makima had long ago witnessed the Chainsaw Devil's power to devour other Devils and wipe their associated qualities out of existence. To obtain it, Makima needed to manipulate Denji, as she did not view him or Pochita as inferior to herself. So, she gave Denji a family just to take it away from him and made him a hero to lessen the fear that fuels a Devil's strength. All of this to possess the Chainsaw Devil's unique ability in addition to her own considerable power. She could "shoot" Pochita into orbit, stalemated one of the Primal Fears, the Darkness Devil, is vastly more powerful than both the building-destroying Bomb Devil and the storm-creating Typhoon Devil and is faster than the Gun Devil, who could move hundreds of miles in seconds. Though all of that power could not help Makima with her real problem. For all of her seeming apathy towards humanity, what she could never admit to herself was that she really wanted to understand human emotion and to live a happy life among equals, something that to her seemed impossible due to her nature as the Control Devil. In the end, Denji, who still loved her in his own way, was able to put her out of her misery, bypassing her immortality Contract through "love" and devouring her. Even still, Control will always exist, and the Control Devil will eventually be reborn, bringing all of Makima's terrifying power with her, though maybe this one will have a proper chance at the happiness she so desired.
After an advertisement for the episode's second sponsor Better Help, some extra provisionary rules are provided to make this especially unique battle work:
- Curses and Devils will be considered as comparable beings in order to avoid any differences in their power systems that'll make the matchup incompatible.
- Gojo and Makima will be considered citizens of the same Japan for an even playing field.
With these additional rules set, the strongest of demon hunters are ready to go. It's time for a death battle!
A Jujutsu High incident report is typed up: On the night of December 6th, a curse incident has been reported at a Tokyo Mall, with Satoru Gojo being dispatched to handle it. The "incident" in question turns out to be Public Safety Devil Hunter, Makima, enjoying a movie when she's joined by Gojo, who helps himself to her popcorn. The sorcerer makes it obnoxiously clear that as much as he'd rather just relax, he has to kill Makima. This threat and Gojo knocking over her popcorn prove to be the last straw as Makima narrows her eyes at him...
FIGHT!
... Before the theater explodes and its patrons are forced out into the mall, with zombies, a smug Gojo and an irritated Makima falling from the top floor. Berating Gojo for his rudeness, the Control Devil summons chains that inject into the zombies, letting her hurl them at her foe. Gojo quickly destroys them with fisticuffs and, upon landing, uses Curse Technique Lapse: Blue to create a singularity that crushes Makima and her minions to pulp. Rapidly healing from the attack, Makima tries to blindside Gojo with a swing of her sword, but the sorcerer's Infinity halts the attempt with Gojo himself mocking the Devil's efforts, much to her ire. Makima ends up taking a point-blank blast from Gojo's Red which tears apart her upper body, but her Contract transfers this injury to a hapless citizen in the mall's bathroom, who's promptly blasted into chunks.
With that, Makima regenerates her upper half while playfully ribbing Gojo for his attempt on her life. The two exchange "pleasantries", with Makima expressing some amusement for the sorcerer's boldness before summoning more chains that attach to her contracted Devils and Hybrids. She fires another chain at Gojo, who shatters it with Red, a single link obscuring his vision long enough to allow the Devil Hunter to disappear from his sight. Countless weapons are hurled from the second floor at Gojo, but all of them are effortlessly halted by his Infinity. He teleports upwards in search of his opponent, unaware that she's behind him, making the hand gesture that summons the Fox Devil who swallows Gojo whole. But the Devil is unable to restrain him for long and is soon exploded from the inside with her would-be prey immediately following up by shooting Red at Makima, blowing her apart. His attack on her leaves him open to an ambush from the Flamethrower Hybrid, whose efforts are in vain anyway as Infinity deflects the flames and sets the surrounding mall ablaze, much to Gojo's amusement.
Still, this gives Makima the opportunity to finish healing and dusting herself off. The Devil Hunter summons yet more zombies that are quickly dispatched by Gojo. He pulls Makima over to him with Blue, but she seems to take this in stride and simply points her finger at Gojo before uttering a single word: "Bang". To his shock, the attack bypasses Infinity and punctures his body, leaving him vulnerable to Makima "shooting" him three more times with the last shot tearing off his right leg. Having finally gained an advantage, the Control Devil summons another chain and pierces Gojo's head. With her Control established, Makima steps on Gojo's mangled leg, laughing maniacally while ordering him to accept his impending doom and subjecting him to the Angel Devil's image of God as the rest of her Hybrids start to close in on the injured sorcerer.
However, Gojo manages to defy her Control and compose himself, healing up his chest injuries with Reverse Curse Technique and repelling the Devil with a wave of Blue that incinerates her and wipes out her remaining minions. Regenerating his leg, Gojo unleashes his Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void and traps Makima, who had regenerated and was attempting to "shoot" him once again. Unable to handle the infinite information, Makima is left paralyzed and can only watch as the strongest sorcerer summons Hollow Purple. Gojo fires the orb of destruction at her and Makima's fearful death cries soon fade out as her whole body is obliterated. An exhausted Gojo reclines on a pillar in the middle of the burning Tokyo mall as the completed incident report notes both the casualties and his success at eliminating the Control Devil.
KO!
With the Horseman of Conquest vanquished and the Honored One ready to relax after such a harrowing battle, the hosts break down why Gojo had the skills necessary to take victory in this complex bout. First of all, while Makima's ability to control others was formidable, it was not infallible and required that she was undoubtedly convinced of her superiority over them, something that would prove difficult given Gojo's immense power and unwavering confidence in himself - justified given that Gojo has served as the absolute pinnacle of power within the realm of Jujutsu Kaisen. Even if his will did falter, his brain automatically refreshes itself using Reverse Curse Energy on a daily basis, making this control unlikely to last long.
She may have been able to prove this superiority if she had the raw power to force Gojo into submission, but while Makima was likely faster when considering her battles with the Gun Devil, Gojo's ability to best Jogo proved that he had far greater power than Makima or any of her contemporaries, such as the Typhoon Devil. Even Makima's collection of Devils and hybrids would not have gained her a significant advantage; Gojo has lots of experience battling similar foes in the past, Infinity would be able to repel any attacks from them, and Red and Blue could wipe them out with ease. Likewise, even with the benefit of the Future Devil's precognition, Makima herself had little means of shutting down Gojo's abilities or even playing keep away to set up her more devastating instant-kill ritual as Gojo could simply use Six Eyes to track her and catch up with his teleportation.
Still, Makima wasn't completely disadvantaged, as her immortality Contract could not be detected by Six Eyes and it was always possible for it to target and kill him instead due to him being a Japanese citizen. Similarly, Makima's "Bang" could bypass Infinity, as it does not use a physical projectile and manifests directly on a target's body, though it likely could not inflict permanent damage thanks to the Reverse Curse Technique's healing. However, Makima herself had no way to counter Gojo's Unlimited Void, which proved to be the sorcerer's ace in the hole for this battle. It would be unlikely to trigger Makima's contract as it isn't a direct attack on her, but even in the event that it did, Makima would have no way to transfer over an unlimited amount of information to a finite amount of Japanese citizens, which would still mean that the overload of information would eventually fry her brain. Conversely, Gojo is immune to the effects of his Domain Expansion, granting him safety if the transfer were to affect him. This in turn would leave Makima vulnerable to Gojo setting up Hollow Purple, an attack that completely eradicates its victim to nothing and thus bypasses Makima's contract as she still needs some part of herself to come back from. While control as a concept would continue to exist and ensure the Control Devil would one day reincarnate, such a reincarnation would not be Makima herself as seen in how she canonically meets her end in Chainsaw Man, meaning that she really only had one life to give in this battle, albeit one that was extremely difficult for her opponent to take.
Overall, the Jujutsu Sorcerer and Public Safety Devil Hunter had many tricks up their sleeves and made this a difficult fight to analyze, but it was ultimately Satoru Gojo's more esoteric powerset that allowed him to survive and retain his title as "the Strongest" after facing such a game opponent.
Wiz: The winner is Satoru Gojo!
"Gojo VS Makima" contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Boomstick shows an interest in Makima despite knowing full well what kind of person she is, much less what she is, even considering her a future "Mrs. Boomstick".
- Actually Pretty Funny: While Makima was understandably annoyed by Gojo's rudeness and attempts to kill her, even she couldn't help but be amused by Gojo's supreme self-confidence.Gojo: Don't worry. I'm Satoru Gojo, the strongest.
Makima: (giggles slightly) Confident, strong and idiotic. - Always Someone Better: And a major factor behind Gojo's victory. In terms of raw power, Gojo surpasses Makima by a wide margin and both Infinity and Limitless prove so great a challenge for her that her only viable weapon against him is her 'finger gun', though even that is rendered moot by Gojo's ability to heal himself with Reverse Cursed Techniques. The clear difference in ability is also why Makima's usual shtick of using her chains to brainwash and control her opponents ultimately fails as Makima needs to view herself above her opponent in order for her power to work. Because Makima recognized that Gojo's power was well beyond hers, her power ultimately failed.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Makima's Finger Gun is the only attack in her repertoire that manages to deal any sort of damage to Gojo and bypass Infinity, though her 'gunshots' are rendered moot by Gojo's Reversed Curse Techniques.
- Awesomeness Is a Force: A key reason for Gojo winning: Makima can only mind control someone she sees as inferior to herself, but Gojo's very birth upturned sorcerer society just by the sheer balance shift, something most people can tell just by looking at him (not to mention that since the rules say they're both citizens of the same Japan, Makima should know about his reputation anyway). As such, Makima would have to prove herself superior to Gojo to control him, something she ultimately couldn't do.
- Backing Away Slowly: Boomstick slowly steps back after Wiz comments that seeing God for the 20th time gets boring.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: This is one of the only Death Battles where a date is given for the fight, and it's on December 6th, the day before Gojo's birthday. Thankfully for him, he lives to see the big day.
- Bittersweet Ending: A darkly comedic one. Gojo, the more heroic combatant, manages to kill the Well-Intentioned Extremist Makima for good and coolly leans back against a wall... in the middle of the destroyed, burning mall. Then the end card says he accidentally killed over a thousand people just to rub it in.
- Bond One-Liner: After trapping Makima with Unlimited Void and having her dead to rights, Gojo declares "Between heaven and earth, I alone am the Honored One," right before delivering the final blow with Hollow Purple.
- Bookends: The fight begins and ends with a Jujutsu High incident report.
- Breaking Old Trends: This is one of the rare episodes in which Wiz and Boomstick implement new rules to help even things out. In this instance, they make it so Devils and Curses are comparable to one another and that Gojo and Makima both live in the same version of Japan instead of hailing from different universes.
- Brick Joke: When discussing Makima's contract with the Prime Minister of Japan, which transfers any attack she suffers onto a random Japanese citizen, Boomstick points out this means someone could just die while on the toilet. One unlucky man ends up suffering this fate in the fight after Gojo's attack on Makima is transferred to him, reducing him to Ludicrous Gibs.
- The Cameo: The losers of the season's 3D animated episodes prior to this battle (the Chosen Undead, Darth Vader, Guts and Alex Mercer) can be spotted as spectators in the background of the movie theater Makima is in.
- Continuity Nod: The movie Makima and Gojo are watching is Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai. Doubles as an Actor Allusion; Kaiji Tang - Gojo's English voice actor in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime - voices Jack in that episode.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Despite both the animation and the post-fight analysis making it clear that only Makima's Finger Gun had any real chance of harming Gojo, once she decides to use it, boy does it hurt Gojo.
- Death of Personality: Ultimately Makima's fate. While Gojo's Hollow Purple is able to destroy her down to the atomic level, leaving nothing for her to regenerate from, it isn't capable of destroying abstract concepts so the Control Devil will be reborn eventually, but the Makima personality itself is gone much like how she is in Chainsaw Man canon with her rebirth as Nayuta.
- Disrupting the Theater: Gojo infiltrated a movie theater in the mall, and he decided to be as obnoxious as possible to get Makima's attention until her patience runs out.Makima: (after the theater explodes) No talking during the movie.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Gojo makes it a point to steal Makima's popcorn twice while they're watching the movie. It's the second time he does this, along with his threat to her, that finally pushes Makima to go on the offensive.
- Evil Laugh: Makima lets herself have a few when she finally gets the upper hand over Gojo and attempts a killing blow.
- Exact Words: Similar to the Ghost Rider VS Lobo Death Battle where the Ghost Rider was able to permanently kill Lobo as God forbade anyone from claiming his soul, not outright destroying it. Makima's contract with the Japanese Prime Minister states any and all attacks perceived as an "attack on herself" is redirected to a random Japanese citizen as an accident or illness. Gojo's Unlimited Void is only technically an attack, specifically an attack on her senses. Between this and Hollow Purple inflicting "zero" and erasing her existence down to the atomic level, Makima ultimately loses.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Makima is hit by Unlimited Void, her brain being overloaded by information is represented by several images flashing in the background in rapid succession. Including, among other things, Makima's canonical death, the deaths of multiple previous combatants of season 10, Columbo, Chihiro Rokuhira and DEATH BATTLE! writer Liam Swan's screaming face.
- Inferred Holocaust: Conversed at the end, when Boomstick points out that if Makima's contract tried to protect her from Gojo's Unlimited Void, it would kill the entire population of Japan (which amounts to 123 million as of the episode's writing) due to its infinite nature. Wiz says not to think about it. The episode's ending does say that 1012 non-Sorcerers died as a result of the fight, which is still bad but not as much as the scenario the hosts describe.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Gojo plays the part of the smug Showy Invincible Hero during the fight, but the moment Makima blasts a bunch of holes in him with her Finger Gun, he stops screwing around and pulls out Unlimited Void to set her up for complete obliteration.
- Loophole Abuse:
- While Infinity prevents any physical attacks from hitting Gojo, Makima's Finger Gun bypasses this, since no projectile is involved and it directly damages opponents.
- Unlimited Void bypasses Makima's contract, as it's not an attack, simply a massive amount of information overloading her mind. It's noted even if it did trigger the contract, it's infinite, so it'd eventually run out of people to die in her place... except for Gojo, who's immune to his own technique and would still be in the position to finish Makima off with a Hollow Purple.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: A meta example. Gojo and Makima’s abilities are so unusual, even compared to the abilities of previous combatants, that special rules had to be added just to make this matchup work.
- Mistaken Identity: While Gojo is aware that Makima is far from human, he still thinks she's some sort of powerful Curse rather than the Devil she actually is, though there are certainly similarities. Further helped by an extra caveat added by Wiz and Boomstick that has Curses and Devils treated as the same.
- MST3K Mantra: Invoked: After Boomstick abruptly realizes that Gojo winning potentially killed most of Japan in the process, Wiz just calmly tells him to not think about it.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Thanks to not knowing about Makima's contract, Gojo accidentally ends up with a massive body count thanks to Makima's many deaths being transferred to random Japanese citizens.
- No Body Left Behind: One reason Gojo wins is that Hollow Purple leaves nothing left. Makima can't regenerate from nothing, so it could kill her off for good.
- Noodle Incident: When Boomstick brings up the Angel Devil's origins as more or less representing the fear of God and standing before Him, Wiz blandly comments on how meeting God has gotten old after the last twenty times. No explanation is given, and Boomstick nervously backs away from his co-host.
- No-Sell: Makima successfully hits Gojo with one of her chains, implying she now has him under her thrall... only for Gojo to reveal her power has no hold over him as the difference in power between them is too great for her to consider herself "above" him. Gojo immediately turns the tables on Makima by trapping her with his Unlimited Void before killing her off with Hollow Purple.
- Padded Sumo Gameplay: Between Gojo's Infinity barrier and Makima's sacrificial contract, both fighters are incredibly tough to kill for good. Makima could bypass Infinity with her telekinetic Finger Gun shots, but Gojo was judged to have the superior killing techniques thanks to Unlimited Void being able to lock Makima in place and Hollow Purple disintegrating her to the point where she can't regenerate.
- Red Herring: One of the rules introduced exclusively for this battle is that Gojo and Makima will be interpreted as living in the same Japan rather than alternate universe versions. Many viewers may expect this to lead to Gojo getting killed by one of his deadly attacks being redirected to himself, since any damage Makima takes is sent to a random Japanese citizen instead, and that's the only thing that would be affected by this rule (at least directly). However, while this is noted as a possibility with his standard attacks, it's a non-issue in the fight as Gojo is immune to his own Unlimited Void technique, which is what sets up Makima for the finisher, and then he completely destroys her down to the atomic level with Hollow Purple, meaning there's nothing for the Contract to actually regenerate her from.note However, this does play into a part of why Makima's control abilities would fail to work on Gojo. If the two exist in the same setting, Gojo's reputation as the strongest means that Makima cannot consider him beneath her without proving her superiority first (something she ultimately could not do).
- Shout-Out:
- Gojo getting so powerful the axis of the Jujutsu world turned on him is compared to the metagame surrounding broken characters in Fighting Games, with the characters shown being Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Leroy Smith in Tekken 7.
- Makima is described as dressing like Columbo.
- Smug Super: Both combatants are quite confident, especially Gojo who views Makima as weak and never once loses his cool, barring briefly when she manages to bypass Limitless with her finger guns.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Literally. Both hosts express a surprising amount of pity for Makima despite her heinous actions and manipulation, noting how her skewed sense of morality as the Control Devil seemed to get in the way of her arguably beneficial end goal and her true desire to live equally with others.
- Villain Respect: In the storyboard
shown by John Mitchell after the episode was released, Gojo runs into Denji and Nayuta sometime after Makima's death. After a Meaningful Look between the two, Nayuta calls Gojo "doggy". While Denji chastises her, Nayuta counters him by saying she likes dogs, so it's meant to be a compliment.
