Starting from Chapter 148, the mass slaughter of the Zenin Clan gave manga readers a rollercoaster of emotions. Most of us expected this to happen someday, considering the Zenin Clan’s vile treatment of Maki and non-sorcerers in general. It was a retribution that was long overdue, but still, fans are debating until now whether Maki’s actions are warranted or not. Why did Maki kill the Zenin clan, her own family? Is the massacre of the Zenin Clan an overkill or simply a befitting punishment for their atrocities? Let us explore the details in this article.
Table of Contents
Maki’s History with the Zenin Clan
Maki Zenin is one of the second-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High, along with Panda and Inumaki. She is known for her tremendous physical abilities brought about by Heavenly Restriction. Despite her lack of cursed energy, Maki is a formidable opponent who is adept at hand-to-hand combat and wielding cursed tools. In fact, she is considered the best cursed tool user at Tokyo Jujutsu High, capable of wielding a wide variety of weapons.
Maki is a non-sorcerer born into the Zenin Family. As a family that values cursed techniques and power more than anything else, Maki was constantly mistreated due to her lack of cursed energy. In every sorcerer clan, women, in general, suffer far worse than men. They are treated as inferior and weak unless they prove themselves and stand out. As such, women in sorcerer clans have to work twice as hard in order to earn the respect of other sorcerers in the family.
This is why Maki suffered horribly at the hands of the Zenin Clan, plus the fact that she lacks cursed energy and therefore has no way to prove herself in the family. Just like Toji Fushiguro, Maki decided that she had had enough and left the clan for good. Her strong contempt towards the Zenin Clan also became her fuel to become a great jujutsu sorcerer. She wanted to make them realize that she was also capable of achieving great heights despite the lack of cursed energy.
What Happened to the Zenin Clan?
The events leading up to the mass slaughter of the Zenin Clan began in Chapter 148 when Maki decided to pay a visit to the Zenin residence. Her purpose, however, is not to make amends but to simply retrieve the cursed tools stored in their warehouse.
Once she arrived at the warehouse, Maki was surprised to see her father, Ogi Zenin, waiting inside. Apparently, Ogi anticipated that she would come for the cursed tools, so he had already disposed of them beforehand. Maki’s twin sister, Mai, was also in the same room and appeared to be brutally beaten by their own father. This was the moment when Jujutsu Kaisen fans realized that Toji Fushiguro was actually not the worst father in the series.
Ogi Zenin planned to kill Maki and Mai because he believed that his children were the reason why he was not chosen as the head of the Zenin Clan. Maki and her father engaged in a fierce fight, but Maki ended up being severely wounded. Afterward, Ogi locked the two sisters in a training and punishment room full of curses that were expected to finish them off.
After Ogi left, Mai immediately checked on Maki, who was still breathing despite being heavily injured. At that moment, Mai decided to sacrifice herself and conjured a powerful weapon at the cost of her own life. Her last words for Maki were to “destroy everything.” Maki woke up after that with a sword in her hands and Mai’s lifeless body beside her. Using her new weapon, Maki got out of the room and made Ogi Zenin her first victim, who was immediately killed with just one swing of the sword.
Maki proceeded to slaughter the other Zenin members who came to stop her, including the Kukuru squad and the Hei squad, which was considered the Zenin Clan’s strongest squad. She also engaged in a brutal fight with Naoya, who was unfortunately overpowered by Maki as well. Driven by the death of her twin sister and her lifelong resentment of the Zenin Clan, Maki wiped out the entire clan and did not spare a single soul—not even her own mother.
The Last Bow of the Zenin Clan
The bloody massacre that occurred in the Zenin residence left manga readers in awe. Some were astounded, while some were more concerned with the path that Maki chose to take. After all, it seems like there is nothing left for her to do since her original goal is to become the head of the Zenin Clan. Now that she obliterated the entire clan, Maki no longer has something to work for. Apart from that, there is one question that frequently comes up, and that is whether Maki actually killed every single member of the Zenin Clan. Here is what we have so far.
In Chapter 152, the Perfect Preparation Arc concluded with the following statement:
”Those from the Zenin Clan who were absent that day would soon die violent deaths—six members of the Hei and twenty-one members of the Kukuru unit. No residuals were found where they died, but trace amounts of cursed energy thought to originate from a cursed tool were detected in the bodies’ wounds. Days later, the Gojo Clan and Kamo Clan proposed removing the Zenin Clan from the Big Three Families, but the jujutsu headquarters is keeping their verdict on hold.”
This portion of the epilogue confirms that Maki indeed obliterated the entire Zenin Clan and even went as far as hunting down the other clan members who were not present that day. Weekly Shonen Jump confirmed this as well as they shared in one of the issues:
“Maki kills everyone in the Zenin Family with her promise to Mai to ‘destroy everything.’ Her dream of becoming the head of the Zenin Clan is now meaningless.”
(English translation by: @soukatsu_ on Twitter) https://twitter.com/soukatsu_/status/1457577967266279427?s=20
Why Did Maki Kill the Zenin Clan?
“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
An African Proverb
Maki slaughtered all the members of the Zenin Clan for revenge. Throughout their lives, Maki and Mai have been put through unimaginable pain and suffering at the hands of the Zenin Clan. Even after Maki left the clan, the Zenins continued to torment her and hinder her advancement as a jujutsu sorcerer. They use their influence in the jujutsu world to prevent her from being promoted to a higher skill grade. As a result, Maki was stuck as a grade 4 sorcerer while her peers advanced to a higher level.
As a child, both Maki and Mai were constantly treated as servants in their own house. They were openly disparaged by other members of the clan, including their own parents, who had no reluctance to tell their daughters how worthless they were. Hell, their own father even attempted to kill them. What’s even worse, Maki also suffered from constant physical abuse and bullying from her cousin, Naoya Zenin. If you think about it, the Zenin Clan definitely had it coming. Mai’s death and last wish simply ignited the fire.
Is Maki Slaughtering the Zenin Clan Justified?
This controversial question has been the center of discourse ever since the chapters were released. It is quite difficult to provide a concrete answer since we do not know the exact details of the massacre.
On the one hand, Maki may have also killed innocent people—those clan members who did not do anything wrong toward Maki and Mai and were not even aware of the plan to execute them. If so, then what Maki did might be overkill. Many Jujutsu Kaisen fans also think that Maki went too far with the mass slaughter and that what she did might come back to bite her in the future.
On the other hand, it’s also likely that everyone in the clan is just as awful as Naoya and, therefore, probably deserved to meet their end like that. We don’t really know the exact details, which leaves Maki somewhere between a heroic girl boss and a merciless supervillain.