Just for reference's sake, I am a manga reader.
After Episode 5 of S2 aired, a lot of people on SNS and reaction channels on YT felt bad for Geto's internal struggle and state of depression and therefore were inclined to sympathize with him declaring him to still be a noble person with noble goals but with a flawed method. That is where I think people misinterpreted things; maybe it's because people can't get past his character initially being presented as good or him once being Gojo's friend, or that their analysis just remains at surface-level thinking because his trauma and depression is relatable. That's why I want to dive a bit deeper into the character that Geto has been and why his actions ended up being contradictory to how he had seemed to be until now. Read on ahead if you want a rather lengthy analysis of this whole situation with Geto~
This is just my opinion which is grounded based on implications from the manga – if you disagree, that's perfectly alright :)
The Geto in S1/Movie 0 is the one we are used to, the one who has already taken a different path, so he's not really a topic of discussion for right now. But the one in S2 is the main focus as that's who he was initially supposed to be; just another high schooler learning to be a jujutsu sorcerer.
Since the beginning (from his high school days) we see that he's overtly tried to be righteous and speak good and encouraging words for his peers and just for the greater good. He's constantly been scolding the arrogant and immature Gojo about not just what it should mean to be a jujutsu sorcerer but just generally about mannerisms as well, i.e., how he should address those superior to him. In that way, Geto has always been a moral compass for Gojo who as a result, has kept a rather lax attitude since he knew if he made a mistake, Geto would be there to correct him and everything would be alright. Geto always seemed like that one bright person who could have your back, and to top it off, he was also a special grade and at this point in time, just as strong as Gojo so Gojo and everyone else believed Geto to really be who he exteriorly appeared to be. As long as both Geto and Gojo could fight side-by-side and succeed in their missions together earning the title as "the strongest sorcerers," neither had reason to 'break down' or question their quest and where it would take them and that's why life just went on quite nicely as the two had each other until their encounter with Fushiguro Toji.
Yes, the strongest two were hell-bent on succeeding in their mission to protect Riko and to give her the freedom to make her own choice even if it meant fighting Tengen sama himself, and yes somewhere along the way, they did develop a somewhat close relationship to her and her caretaker, something akin to a sibling's relationship as they spent time with her so the ultimate loss they suffered of failing in their mission, getting their asses kicked, and then also losing Riko was no doubt traumatizing. It's like something broke inside all of them without showing the cracks on the outside.
We can really see that fighting Toji and losing to him was traumatizing for Geto as well as believing in the moment that Gojo died by Toji's hand. That's when Geto first adopts the notion of non-sorcerers being like "monkeys" since that's how Toji mocks them all saying that with all their blessings as sorcerers, they (Gojo and Geto) lost to "a monkey like him," in other words, someone who couldn't even use cursed techniques. Listening to that while being only half-conscious and all injured and helpless fumed his hate for Toji, and then the later event with the Star religious group clapping at the death of Riko and thus their failed mission, added more fuel to his bitterness about the whole situation. So yes, the trauma definitely added another layer to his internal struggle, BUT it was fuel for an already ongoing internal battle that Geto had been struggling with since the very beginning. And it wasn't until AFTER the incident with Toji that it became prevalent that what broke Geto wasn't the recent turn of events with Toji, but the compounded deep conflicting thoughts that had surfaced as an aftermath to the whole Toji situation.
I don't like the idea of people considering Geto to be a "fallen hero" or his whole "villain origin" story being something that can be sympathized with, because it simply wasn't something that amazing where you can actually feel bad for him. Geto and Gojo both got initially destroyed by Toji– in fact, Gojo suffered more– and they both failed in their mission to protect Riko which no doubt probably brought feelings of guilt and remorse which is why we saw them both go and try to retrieve her body. In fact, Gojo even brought up the idea to slaughter those who'd rejoice at an innocent girl's death which held implications of him wanting to avenge her in some way but Geto who was also shaken at the sight, reluctantly convinces Gojo that murdering them would be pointless. It's clear that he was fighting back rage when he stopped Gojo, but one has to ask, why did he feel so much rage in the moment? Was just because an innocent girl died? I'll come back to that later.
While we can infer that Geto starting to call non-sorcerers "monkeys" could also be a projection of his hatred for Toji for what he put them through, that incident alone was NOT the cause of his downward spiral and it was not because of Toji how this whole "villain arc" started for Geto, contrary to how many believe. Gojo had gone through the same humiliation as Geto, if not more, and had also failed in the ultimate goal of the mission even though he was highly expected to succeed. Yes, Gojo was able to awaken his powers and defeated Toji in the end, but he had also failed in the main goal of the mission as Geto had.
Geto's breakdown and change in moral values was a direct result of Geto surrendering to and then even willfully embracing the dark intrusive thoughts he had once tried to suppress within him that manifested due to several separate events happening one after another– THAT is what caused his downward spiral. It was a philosophy he had been aware of all along and just tried to reject until finally giving into it and stripping away his humanity; the unfortunate events that took place just served as excuses to pave the way for this new manifestation and change in his beliefs. Here are reasons to believe why Geto, being as intelligent and calculating as he is, had always been the way he turned out to be:
1) Geto was depicted as being an exemplary young student of sorcery; while that in of itself is not suspicious obviously, it definitely makes sense later on to see why someone who had been in an internal battle to try and go out of his way to exteriorly appear as righteous and caring as he had been initially trying to suppress imbuing darkness. That's why we constantly saw him lecture Gojo on why a jujutsu sorcerer must protect the weak in society; it's almost like he was trying to constantly convince himself by lecturing Gojo. If someone is innately moral or holds an appreciation for what morality is and disagrees with evil, they will naturally understand that one must not bully or that it's good to help weak people, it's not something they would feel the need to excessively preach about, unless someone goes out of their way to act against that. Although Gojo had always been arrogant and callous, he understood what was expected of him as a jujutsu sorcerer which we come to see later on when he confronts Geto on his actions. For Geto, it seemed to be that he constantly forced himself to keep a facade of being nice so he didn't "slip."
2). During his conversation with Haibara before Yuki shows up, it is implied in great detail that Geto already knew his thoughts to be morally wrong and that accepting them was part of his ongoing struggle. But at that point, he had already accepted himself as not being "a good person" as he questioned Haibara's judgment about who he could tell was bad or good when he reassured Geto that Yuki who they had just met was good. So from this, we can infer that his tipping point wasn't even the conversation he had with Yuki after Haibara left (unlike many people believed) which made him choose the path to murder all non-sorcerers, it was already something he had contemplated since he so nonchalantly suggested it to Yuki. Now, it would have maybe helped a little bit if the person he had this conversation with was someone who could have rebuked him right away sensing on the potential danger of Geto's thought process and not instead lay that out as one of the possibilities that are out there (which is how Yuki handled it); but Geto choosing the path of evil was not ultimately Yuki's fault just as it wasn't Toji's since Geto had already preconceived ideas about where he wanted to channel his hate.
It's also noteworthy to ask why he didn't just confront Gojo about his whole dilemma since the two were so close? There was reluctance on Geto's part to extend his feelings to Gojo because he had a guilty conscience and knew deep down that his stance was actually against everything he always preached to Gojo; he knew it was wrong, but still wanted to come to terms with it which is why felt more comfortable to have such a conversation with someone (like Yuki) who maybe didn't know him as the 'usual Geto' and didn't expect anything of him, making it easier for himself to accept his dark thoughts in turn.
3) Going back to the incident with Toji, anyone who had really been shaken by the damage Toji caused them would have done everything in their power to prevent such a massacre from happening again yet instead of condemning what Toji had done, Geto had in fact become just like Toji in that he didn't even bat an eye before slaughtering innocent people and those he felt were "in his way." It was almost as if he took inspiration from Toji as he also even started to use the same word, "monkeys" as him. In fact, his actions lead me to believe that the anger he felt back when he and Gojo went to retrieve Riko's body wasn't because he felt bad about her death (like Gojo did), but because he felt hatred for non-sorcerers or monkeys to clap or mock him in that situation– which explains why he then later went on to slaughter the whole group in contempt even though he told Gojo that killing them would be pointless. If someone innocent like Riko dying so cruelly by Toji had impacted him at all, he wouldn't then go to make it a life goal to murder those just like her and Kuroi; so, he had become the same cold killer as Toji. Using his trauma from Toji as an excuse to commit genocide and murder his own parents is a big logical fallacy because again, he'd be killing people just like Riko, the person he should have felt bad for.
4). I also think there's sufficient reason to assume that there was also a jealousy problem going on that fed into Geto's bitterness. A year after the incident with Toji, we saw that Gojo had been working hard towards improving his technique and finding ways to control his power better and it was evident that he had learned from (and even let go of) the past events as he looked bright and like his usual energetic self whereas there's a stark difference in Geto's physique as he had developed dark circles under his eyes and appeared to have lost weight, as Gojo also pointed out, out of concern. We also saw how his mental condition hadn't improved since the events from the previous year, but what stood out more was how he singled out Gojo as now becoming "the strongest" while carrying a regretful and fatigued expression, as if Gojo's success implied some sort of a disposition for Geto. That's when it starts to become obvious that Geto starts to feel distant from Gojo all on his own as his mind spirals further and further. He no longer considers himself as Gojo's equal and thus starts to experience solitude, even though to Gojo, absolutely nothing had changed.
Then, later when he slaughters the village and is confronted by Gojo in their first encounter after Geto just leaves jujutsu high, he coldly shuts Gojo out calling him arrogant for telling Geto his plan to kill all non-sorcerers is not possible; he asks him if he's Satoru Gojo because he's the strongest or if he's the strongest because he's Satoru Gojo, verbalizing his disconnect from Gojo for the first time as he singled him out to be the strongest, whereas before, Geto always considered the both of them to be strongest together.
In their confrontation, Geto had taunted Gojo and made him feel bad about being powerful even though we know that Gojo had always considered Geto as his equal and didn't think of himself to be superior. And Geto was aware of this too yet he still had to let his envy speak for him and blamed Gojo for being egotistical as he taunts him for knowing that he (Gojo) could most definitely achieve Geto's goal given how powerful he is– as if it's only a question of power scale to commit mass murder! Just imagine it: the person who preached to you about an ideal turns out to be the same person who then tramples on it and calls you arrogant, as if pinning the whole blame on you. He absolutely backstabs Gojo. He coldly then turns away from Gojo leaving him confused and devastated, turning his back also on their years' worth of friendship for his own senseless and evil conviction.
5). Then, the other separate event that occurred which further fuelled Geto's evil conviction was another fellow sorcerer dying for a greater cause. If one was to argue that one of Geto's reasons to choose the path he did was because he deeply regretted the idea of his fellow sorcerer comrades just dying in the name of justice just as Haibara had, then that also doesn't justify Geto's final decision because Nanami was put in the same situation as well upon witnessing Haibara's death; in fact, he started to hate the whole jujutsu world as well, but what did he do? He opted out of working as sorcerer and instead chose a regular office job as a career. Yes, THAT was the way Nanami chose OUT of all this and how he rejected the jujutsu society, he simply abandoned it instead of turning to genocide. And when he met Yuji down the road, he tried to find ways to protect him and worried about Yuji's future as a jujutsu sorcerer, but when it came down to it, he also fought alongside him, mentoring him in his own way. People may argue that although Geto's method wasn't right, he still always had noble goals, but that's not true because his whole reasoning to kill non-sorcerers was so that curses aren't born and hence sorcerers wouldn't have to suffer. He changed his stance on who was weaker and decided that it was the sorcerers who needed to be protected (even though they are inherently more powerful than regular humans...); and yet in the movie when he realized that Yuta didn't agree with his ideals would not cooperate with him he decided to just kill him and absorb Rika, his special grade curse. This sounds more like the typical villain who takes down anything in his path to get what he wants rather than someone trying to carry out noble goals. He was ready to play dirty and resorted to violence if he didn't get what he wanted, no matter who the violence was projected onto.
These are some of the important reasons why, Geto's "villain origin" story doesn't feel like a "sob story" and why it's hard to sympathize with him– it's just as Shoko had said when she met up with him for the last time after he committed the massacre: she laughed at his crazy and evil ambition and said even though he says he doesn't expect everyone to understand him as a child would, she points out that his actions really are just him sulking as a child because he knows no one would agree with him. This really hits the nail on the head with how Geto had acted after taking a 360 degree turn; because he devised that no one would understand him (since his actions were so crazy), he decided on taking drastic measures by causing destruction to let himself be heard. Even though one could argue that Geto's breakdown was due to many years' of pain and solitude just accumulating and then things getting worse because of different factors such as absorbing disgusting curses for the sake of cultivating his cursed technique, or because he eventually feeling insecure when next to Gojo, he had already started to become aware of his thoughts being morally wrong and instead of seeking out help or trying to eliminate such ideas, the internal struggle he faced was then focused on just accepting that part of him (not pushing it away); yes there were trigger points along the way but it was a gradual and self-aware descent. He understood morality very well and realized the difference between good and evil, but chose to abandon that part of him that practiced good and embraced evilness in the name of a self-proclaimed justice.
Geto's actions cannot can be sympathized with but on the contrary, Gojo proved to be quite commendable by the end of the inventory arc. (and then of course, in the current timeline). Gojo always saw Geto as a moral compass and so was susceptible to do the wrong thing just by following that one best friend whom he always took inspiration from and held in a high regard. But, as soon as he finds out that Geto committed the massacre, his mind and body goes into shock, so much so that we see him act so out-of-character for the first time. Gojo's shock no doubt came from the nature of the heinous crime Geto committed but also from the fact that it was none other than his righteous best friend who had, out of nowhere, gone out to kill several people. It wasn't just that the crime shocked him, but you could sense he felt fear for what would befall Geto now that he committed the crime; he felt scared for his well-being and it was probably the first time that it occurred to Gojo just how much Geto had been struggling alone. Yet, he still resisted Geto's conviction and decided to confront him holding onto the hope that he could talk Geto out of it; that he could pull him back from a looming darkness just as Geto had always steered Gojo away from the wrong pathways. Even while he became alone after losing his best friend, Gojo remained steadfast and didn't give into evil temptation as he could have very much been influenced to also walk the dark path as "the strongest duo," yet his judgment wasn't clouded even though he felt hurt for the first time- Gojo understood that killing innocent people, or the majority of the population, is not what will ultimately be in the best interest of sorcerers, that it was an intrusive and meaningless goal- he understood something so simple which Geto resisted to acknowledge. Geto would walk down an evil path at the expense of being sentenced to death, at the expense of bloodying his hands, at the expense of his humanity and at the expense of a true friendship he probably wouldn't find again. Geto allowed his solitude, jealousy, and overall bitterness to shatter everything good in his life; and the saddest part is that whatever darkness was imbuing in his mind, Gojo had no idea about any of it and Geto did not feel the need to confide in Gojo about it yet Gojo always considered Geto as his equal and truly cared for his friend; it's evident now that Geto did not care for Gojo in the same way. Geto is the best depiction of the notion "the devil got the better of him." But the devil can only overcome those, who surrender to him.
Geto used all the negative happenings in his life and his disposition as a curse manipulator to drive himself over the edge and become exactly that which once caused him pain, whereas Gojo used his past painful experiences to prevent the same situation from arising again. He had understood Geto's dark side for the first time and instead of giving into hate or into destruction as Geto, he worked his way up in the jujutsu world to create and mentor strong allies so the new generation of sorcerers wouldn't fall into the same hole as Geto had and would have the tools to fight against and stand up to evil– who would actually recognize and accept what it means to be a sorcerer and the noble duties that come with that.
The difference between Gojo and Geto was that although Gojo was initially portrayed as an immature and callous character, when it came down to it, he chose to use unfortunate circumstances to look for CHANGE WITHIN HIMSELF to combat difficult times whereas Geto just projected fault ONTO OTHERS as a coping mechanism even though he initially seemed righteous. Gojo wasn't a hypocrite like him, he was honest and transparent. And in the end, it became evident that it was only Gojo who truly treasured the friendship they had while Geto's need to accept his dark side masked his voice-of-reason and relationship with Gojo and he failed to see that friendship in the same light as Gojo.
This is why Gojo resolved to mentor Megumi himself and "take him in" so that not another young sorcerer would feel left behind ever again.
There were other ways to make the world a better place for sorcerers rather than opting to kill all non-sorcerers. Geto really had to willfully choose the evilest (and not to mention most difficult) ways of them– all for what? to spite regular humans who most can't even see curses or control them? to spite his own unfavourable cursed technique? to spite Gojo because he was born the strongest? As I said earlier, his descent into darkness was a self-aware process for which he cannot be sympathized with, only condemned.
Anyways, I should really be working on writing my grad school statement yet here I am triggered by an anime. Thanks for reading my food for thought lol |
