Jujutsu Kaisen just announced the result of its fourth popularity poll, revealing a surprising entry in the top 10.
As Jujutsu Kaisen’s ending draws closer, we get a look at the most popular characters from the manga. The series held its fourth popularity poll in 2024, with its result being announced in the new issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump.
In June, we learned the first three winners of the poll thanks to a popular leaker. Gojo took first place for the first time after ranking second or third in previous polls. Not just that, he also got an overwhelming number of 113,392 votes, far surpassing his following entries.
Since Gojo is the most popular character in the series, it makes sense. The other two top three spot holders are also expected, with Yuji coming second with 48,131 votes and Megumi in third place with 28,502 votes.
However, there is one entry in the ranking that has fans completely baffled. Naoya Zenin sits in fifth place with 11,731 votes, following Geto’s fourth spot. This means he ranks higher than some of the most popular characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, namely Choso, Yuta, Nanami, Sukuna, and Toji, respectively.
Naoya is the heir of the Zenin clan and plays a major antagonist in Maki’s character arc. However, it’s not his villainy that makes his high ranking shocking to fans, but his character. Naoya is a misogynistic elitist who always looks down upon Maki and Mai for being women and born with little to no cursed energy.
He has no redeeming qualities at all. After being defeated by Maki during the Perfect Preparation Arc, he dies with hatred in his mind for being defeated by a woman. This leads to him being born as a cursed spirit, only to be killed by Maki again.
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Thus, there’s no reason for him to get so many votes. But Naoya has somehow managed it, confusing the whole fandom. As one X user wrote, “Naoya over Sukuna this hurt more than the Black Flash.”
“Naoya in 5th meanwhile Maki not in the top ten and neither is Nobara…” pointed out another while a third said, “How is Naoya higher than Sukuna and Nanami?”
“I don’t understand Japanese people voting in Naoya over Toji,” added a fourth.
While the popularity poll result has fans scratching their heads, Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 267 brings back a beloved character from death. The new chapter will be released on August 25, 2024.
For more on the dark world of jujutsu, check out our explainers on the Shinjuku Showdown and Yuji’s domain expansion. You can also find out all the major character deaths in the series.
