Hump Day Husbandos: Kento Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

It’s time to celebrate Kento Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen!

It has only recently dawned on me that despite having covered it a couple of times in the past here at Rice Digital, I have never gone into any specific reasons as to why I enjoy Jujutsu Kaisen so much. It consumed much of my time and attention until Chainsaw Man fully distracted me as of last year and I somehow managed to not talk about it enough.

Now that its hype has well and truly died down, I feel more than comfortable tackling the subject of it once more for today’s Hump Day Husbando piece in order to go more in-depth about my adoration for it. Better late than never, right?

So for today’s column, I wanted the candidate to be supporting character who is far too frequently underappreciated and sidelined when his fellow and more popular comrade gets all the love and attention. Conor is unable to stop me now!

And so, I bring you Kento Nanami. Here’s a belated celebration to the Jujutsu Sorcerer Salaryman who has stolen our hearts and is able to do so without any effort required whatsoever.

This article is spoiler-free.

Who is Kento Nanami?

Kento Nanami is a First-Grade Sorcerer who had previously enrolled into Tokyo Jujutsu High. He left the field due to regarding it as a “pain”, but he had also experienced hardship and loss during his time there, which would have surely counted towards his decision. Since then, he began sinking his time and attention into making a sizable amount of money as an office worker to retire with sooner rather than later.

A lot can be taken away from his character when taking just this meagre amount of his backstory into consideration. Nanami went into seeking a more comfortable life for himself, but with that decision came the sort of issues any regular person can relate to. Every day is on repeat; life tends to be an endless cycle of ceaseless, meaningless necessities of working to make a living and living to work. We live our lives with little to no direction or reason, and Nanami was no different. (Way to make us all feel good in the middle of the week, huh? – Ed.)

However, Nanami would end up finding a purpose and a sense of fulfilment after a single encounter saw him vanquishing Tokyo of Curses in a small and rather insignificant way — and the gratitude that resulted from this situation. This would be his turning point in him picking back up his responsibilities as a Jujutsu Sorcerer once more, and where we eventually meet him as Itadori’s new mentor. No one could possibly trust learning anything and everything from Gojo, right?

Why we love him

We’ve already touched upon his relatability and the arc he is currently in the middle of experiencing upon his introduction to both Itadori and the audience. When taking into account just his surface-level appeal, there’s just as much to say there. As the “dependable tutor” type of supporting character, Kento Nanami’s role is primarily to widen the main characters’ understanding of their world and improve both their skill set and mentality for the long road they have ahead of them. He may seem little different from other characters of this type in this regard, but he’s most certainly refreshing.

Despite his stoic demeanour and overall indifferent appearance, Nanami happens to be Gojo’s underclassman and is actually a lot younger than he looks. He’s 27 to be exact, although his mentality and permanently stressed out appearance would fool anyone. The reason for the latter is a twofold deal. Firstly, it can be translated into how he is exhausted with his work as both a salaryman and Sorcerer, so much so that going into “Overtime” as the latter is his Binding Vow to get the job done quicker by unleashing a burst of conserved power.

Secondly, his outlook on life comes from a scarred past that showcases just how little worth there is in holding out for a future in this well and truly cursed world he lives in. Despite his deadpan and brutally honest approach to everyone and anyone, his empathy cannot be masked. He works to protect others well after having chosen to walk away from such a lifestyle. His hidden heart knows no bounds, which is evident enough by how he stands by Itadori’s side when he is at his most vulnerable.

Why you will love him

Nanami’s minor storyline is a unexpectedly emotional one, what with him being stuck between a rock and a hard place for his entire life. Consider his career path choices being between office work or Jujutsu Sorcery – neither are very life fulfilling, and both will surely result in his untimely death due to either stress killing him off or a Curse snuffing him out.

But it is also just as much of a surprisingly wholesome one thanks to his backstory depicting his unwillingness to make the rich richer and a desire to feel alive by improving others’ lives — even if it is through the most minor changes. He’s a genuine good guy despite his outward appearance and cynical view of the world. He continuously works and puts himself on the line for others, and looks cool in doing so.

I mean, he quite literally beats his opponents by delivering a critical hit – his Cursed Technique targets his enemies and strikes their weak point. This adds to his character since it’s quite fitting to his personality, what with his sharp fashion sense and regimented sensibilities. Speaking of, him being just as methodical as he is professional makes for just one wonderful side to him. His dynamic with Gojo is hilarious, while his developing bond with Itadori is an emotional one for what Itadori learns from him.

There is never a dull moment when he’s on screen or on the page. He absolutely loathes overtime as much as any other normal and sane person does. And he acts as quite the mother hen despite his outward appearance; he is one of the few adult characters in the series to be explicitly caring and protective of those younger than himself. All in all, he is a continuous delight from beginning to end.

Nanami is a character who never stops trying to do the right thing. While the saying typically goes “money makes the world go round” it is bittersweet and ironic how the idiom should actually be for what his character ends up representing – kindness is what matters most.

In closing, he happens to be voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda, that of Kishibe from Chainsaw Man, Overhaul from My Hero Academia, Joker from Fire Force, Chikage from Hakuoki and Hanzo from Nightshade. Love at first sound, right?

Watch the anime now on Crunchyroll.

^{Disclosure: Some links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on them. This is at no additional cost to you and helps support Rice Digital!}