Did Toji Know Megumi Was His Son When They Fought?

This arc of Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami is just so tragic for Toji and Megumi. It is clear that Toji knew that the boy he was fighting was his son when they clashed. He even recognized Megumi’s family name, Fushiguro, which is his wife’s maiden name. Toji is just a broken man who has been destroyed by the jujutsu world. He is a mere shell of a man with no emotions whatsoever. He even made a pact with himself to kill the boy as quickly as possible so that he could be showing his son some sort of “mercy” as a parent. It is really interesting to see how Akutami writes Toji off as just a normal villain, yet at the same time it is clear that there is so much more to him than that. He is just a father who has lost sight of who he is as a human being.

The two forms of combat engaged in by Toji and Megumi are impressive to read, especially in how they contrast from one another. The Sorcerer Killer is known for his ruthless methods, and how he handles fight after fight in a brutally efficient manner. In contrast, this young Jujutsu Sorcerer is still searching for his limits. We see a ghost of what this boy could become if he follows Toji’s methods, while at the same time warning him of the strong possibility that he could lose himself to them. This fight is twisted in the sense that Toji sees his son in this boy and tries to kill him ‘kindly’ as a parent. It’s a scene that really lingers long after the chapter has ended.

That fight looked painful. Toji has to know the name of the person he's fighting. And, as he hears Megumi's name, he pauses for a moment and almost stops mid-sentence. But that's just how Toji is. He abandoned the name "Zen'in" long ago. He abandoned his family. He abandoned his humanity in order to sell his soul to all sorts of dark and evil curses. Recognizing the fact that the person he's fighting is his son doesn't matter to him. He's already decided that nothing matters. And that's why he's such a great antagonist: he's powerful, and he's completely without hesitation. He's a force of nature, basically.

It’s also very ironic in that Toji praises Megumi’s potential in this fight, yet he is attempting to kill him. You would think that the final moments of Toji’s life would be filled with regret, but you can’t tell if he is feeling that or not. The manga leaves it up to the reader to interpret, which makes it even more haunting.

Toji absolutely knew who Megumi was the moment he introduced himself with the surname Fushiguro. It was the same surname as his wife. Toji didn’t seem to care, however. His reason for fighting the young boy was to ‘end things quickly’ for him. This fight wasn’t about a parent fighting against his child. This fight was between two ideologies: that of Toji who had rejected the jujutsu world long ago, and that of Megumi who was struggling to find his place within it. And the degree of brutality employed by Toji makes one wonder whether he still had some humanity left in him or not.