The Flame Awakens: Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 259 Review and Sukuna’s Divine Flames Explained

In chapter 259 of Jujutsu Kaisen which was released today the incredibly intense battle in Shinjuku continued. This chapter that we have read this week was really superb and a bit different from the others. For one thing, the fight centred on Sukuna’s Divine Flame, which was combined with the death of yet another favourite character of the series.

It has finally happened, and these fires now have a significance of their own. At last, fans clearly understand from what source these flames arise, how these flames are related to Sukuna’s cursed technique, and how powerful they ultimately are.

Next, came the return of a well-liked character who has become close to fans’ hearts. Although not the best in this arc, it is definitely a great chapter that will take us all closer to the end of this series. This chapter will mark our step towards an amazing battle!

The Fires of Sukuna’s Kitchen: Malevolent Flames and Furnace of Sukuna Explained

The first thing fans should bear in mind is that Kamino may be read as the Japanese word Kamado which means a traditional stovetop. The stovetop has flames, and narratively it means that Sukuna’s flames are from the stovetop. “Kamino” can be another way of saying “God’s” .

By this I mean either “God’s Stove Top” or “God’s Flames”. Though Sukuna’s ignition of Kamino/Kamado flames makes sense in relation to his abilities he has, there is a deeper meaning of this that surely becomes clear for those who observe him using them closely enough.

In order to realise what it is about, fans are to go back to JJK season 2, where Sukuna’s domain expansion is called Malevolent Kitchen, instead of Malevolent Shrine.

The translation of Sukuna’s domain expansion into Japanese is “Fukuma Mizushi” and in Kanji, it is written as 伏魔御厨子. Fukuma has two kanjis, one is almost identical to the sign of prostration, and the other can be “-ma” which means the same as “Akuma” (demon) grammatically. This put the bad element of the expansion in the area that is so clear because it either implies or means something bad.

However “mizushi” is the most interesting. The word “Mizushi” can mean the Shrine, but also come from “mizushi-dokoro” as this term was used to refer to the was the kitchen compound within an emperor residence in ancient imperial Japan. In the imperial palace’s kitchens, the food of the emperor was cooked. 

Of course, Sukuna’s Domain Extension also has a shrine-like design, but the author might have used double meaning here because (mizushi) also means both things. The kitchen compound is congruent with Sukuna, because Sukuna is the baddest of all and his domain expansion is what cooks evil to begin with. 

Furthermore, Sukuna’s all cursed techniques are borrowed from the kitchen. Accomplished by cleaving and dismantling, both approaches happen when the knife is held by the cook and its edge is being utilised.

While Dismantle is just a normal slice, on the other hand, Cleave is a strong slice or can say the power of Cleave depends on the toughness of the enemy. Secondly, you have either Kamino or Kamado. It is seen in the beginning that Kamado can be called a stovetop. In the kitchen, the fire is started by the stovetop. 

The stovetop is that place from where the fire originates. Sukuna says “Fuga,” which means Open,” to tap into his flames. So he opens the knob of the stove to access it, to get the flames from where they occur. As a whole, Sukuna’s domain expansion can be compared to a kitchen of evil or Malevolent kitchen, which he can use to explore techniques of the evil world.

Ironically Sukuna is a chef; and even though he is a master chef of evil, he uses his infamous Cleave and Dismantle techniques, or evil flames from Kamado.

Sukuna’s BBQ: When Divine Flames Turn a Battlefield into a Cookout

In chapter 259, JJK finally saw Sukuna unleash the Divine Flame. This is something that fans had expected would happen in this chapter, and that was since he had started the preparation for this attack in the previous chapter.

The moment he swung his slashes at the sorcerers, Sukuna opened the door to the Divine Flame and tried to eliminate them. However, in all this, fans also got a “whys” of how Sukuna’s divine fire works first. 

The author implies that, to become eligible to take the Divine Flame inside, Sukuna has to accomplish two things first: Cleave and Dismantle. Not until he enters the Common Chance with Cleave and Dismantle which is the Burning Flame can he have the ability to cook, the Divine Flame. Furthermore, the author tells that Divine Flame is strong but extremely slow and short in range.

This issue was a huge problem for Sukuna and because he couldn’t ignore it anymore, he wielded the Binding Vow that enabled him to overcome his weaknesses. Nevertheless, this skill was intrinsic and he could not use it now on other targets that were outside his domain. In short, he just restricted his Divine flame originally to a large territory, which is what he did in this chapter. 

Away from his domains, he does not have an advantage over multiple targets either, because he will not be able to use Divine Flame as a ranged-area attack. However, this trick was very useful to Sukuna. That means inside his own territory Sukuna can annihilate all living creatures after reducing them into ash by employing the Malevolent Shrine at the first step.

In JJK chapter 259, it was also during the period that Sukuna scorched the earth with the power of the luminous flames. It is possible for the fans to see giant explosions within Sukuna’s domain, and the final scenes show the earth completely scorched. The level of his mastery of firepower was beyond description, I am almost sure of this being equivalent to Gojo’s Hollow Purple. 

Upon mention of Gojo, it was also noted that Sukuna was unable to use the Divine Flame even against Gojo. The Binding Vow was keeping changers of the part of the fish tank that had to be kept constantly during his fight with Gojo and so much that this could not be done by Sukuna because building the Binding Vow during this fight needed a lot of energy.

In addition, to be suitable for Gojo, her divine flame would need to skip Infinity and straight hit him. It did not just work in a general battle, but also here, when this attack was blocked by somebody who does not have Infinity.

Choso’s Sacrifice: Using the Last Bit of His Energy to Protect Yuji. Talk About Brotherly Love!

As soon as Sukhuna ignited the Holy fire, everyone present instantly knew that Yuji would live on. This is exactly the same reason that fans all knew early on that some sorcerers would end up surrendering their life for the main character, and that is precisely what happened. 

Naturally, there was just one man who would dare that, and that was Choso. Blood-like sphere he surrounded Yuji with, was proof of one of the best things that ever happened in the given chapter. In the process of using his own body to shield his brother, outside forces took Choso out of the scene in one instant and he was completely dead. So the fans felt an emotional moment, but this emotion was also well prepared. There was no other way out for him other than this, but Choso’s defence can help him to emerge from this attack without even a scorch.

Choso had been a willing party in this and it was doubtful whether he could expend a few more words in the name of exchange of feelings. Choso apologised to Yuji for being a bad elder brother. But Yuji told him that he was there for him in his darkest times, isn’t that already more than anything? 

Lastly, Choso went to the next life, probably for a reunion with Kechizu and Eso. He added that the apology is also for Yuki, because Yuki has been his inspiration during the entire time, and he has also directed his responsibility to Yuji to stop the very worst: Ryomen Sukuna.

Finally, Some Action: Aoi Todo Rolls Up to the Battle Scene in JJK

The big change for Jjk 259 was to stumble Yuji to the core of himself. Instantly he was aware that his brother was not there any longer as he stepped outside Choso’s domain. He, but, was most of the time scared: the fear that everyone he knew had also died. When he was on the verge of falling down on his knees, another figure, who appeared to be there to provide Yuji a helping hand, just showed up. 

It was once again Aoi Todo, another person whom Yuji refers to as his brother. Fans had asked for Todo’s return even years before the story finally came out.

Todo said that he rescued all of them with his Boogie Woogie due to Mei Mei joining forces with him. As such, the others might now be safe too. Yet, he found Choso and Yuji to be at the point of the domain which is why they were not in his range given the fact that Choso lost his life. 

In any case, though, Choso’s main purpose in these events is to help Yuji bring down Sukuna, and he is now officially part of the fight for what is right. In fact it is highly interesting to see how this fight is going to balance out from here on and I really appreciate Todo giving Yuji the strength of steel.

What’s also great is the Sukuna’s inability to use his cursed power currently due to the fact that he would need some time before he can use the power of it once again. Now, the two powerful sorcerers have got the control. 

However, Sukuna is going to get severely hurt here; this is going to be interesting to find out whether this is the only battle up next for him.