Jujutsu Kaisen has many complex characters, making the anime/manga interesting. The complex background of each side character made the show more relatable and dark. One such character was Rika, The queen of curses that Yuta wielded. This article discusses Rika Chan’s past in detail and how creepy she was before she died.
When is the best time to read volume 0, should I start with it? pic.twitter.com/NUOaa1Bv29
— Spculus (@Spculus) January 6, 2021
Jujutsu Kaisen is an action-adventure manga written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. Studio MAPPA adapted the manga into anime and a feature film. The studio recently announced season 2 of the anime, and the manga has released 219 chapters.
Spoilers ahead!
Jujutsu Kaisen zero
Jujutsu Kaisen Zero, the feature film, talks about the past before the anime. It features Yuta and Rika-chan as the protagonists. Rika-chan is a powerful curse that Yuta wields. He is unable to control her and ends up killing people. He is discovered by Gojou and is inducted into the Jujutsu Kaisen high school to learn to handle his powers.
Yuta trains with Maki Zenin and develops abilities to control Rika. Geto learns about this and tries to Capture Rika Chan for himself. He fails and ends up dead. Geto’s death releases Rika Chan’s curse. Her soul sets free. But who is Rika? How did she end up with Yuta? Fans can watch the anime on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar.
Rika Orimoto – Rika Chan
Rika Orimoto was Yuta’s friend. They ended up being together before Rika was hit by a vehicle and died at age 11. Rika’s mother died a mysterious death when Rika was only 5 years old. Before Rika entered elementary school, she got lost with her father while mountain climbing in the forest. 7 days later, only Rika was found and rescued. Her father was nowhere to be found. Yuta meets Rika in the hospital and finds her enticing. They end up being classmates and friends. Rika steals her mother’s ring to give it to Yuta. Rika ends up living with her grandmother. Rika’s grandmother thinks that Rika is cursed and blames her for the cause of her parent’s death.
Yuta and Rika develop a deep inseparable friendship. She promises Yuta that they will be together forever. One day while playing, Rika gives Yuta her mother’s ring as a sign to keep her promise and marry him in the future. While returning from the park, Rika gets hit by a car and dies. Yuta, unable to bare reality, curses her spirit that attaches itself to him. Yuta only realizes this after Gojou tells him about his family background.
Jujutsu Kaisen fans are now making theories regarding Rika now that her creepy past has been revealed. One user (u/misc_reddit_account) on Reddit was quoted saying :
When I read JJK0, I was so surprised by the additional backstory for Rika, and how much more compelling it made her. She felt like an actual character, and not a plot device. I wish they used some of the material for the film adaptation, particularly the origins of the ring. I know Gege writes plenty of world building that doesn’t make it into the manga, but Rika’s backstory is still a particular stand out. Both of her parents dying under seperate unique circumstances, her living with her grandmother who thought she killed them, Rika stealing her mother’s wedding ring to give to Yuta… is Rika secretly the best JJK character?
Another user u/KamachoBronze said
I think I just realized a more plausible explanation for Rika than her being an evil manipulative sociopath who murdered both her parents.
Rika’s dad murdered her mom. He wanted to abuse her freely, as in sexual assault, and thus had her killed when Rika was little…and Rika saw or found out. Rika was taken by her father to the woods during that camping trip, where she finally killed her abuser and murderer of her mother.
Her grandmother, being the old fashioned mother of her abusive father, likely ignored her sons crimes and any indications of it. She probably emotionally abused Rika, and because she suspects Rika killed her son, also blames Rika for killing her mother(when she didn’t).This actually explains a lot in multiple ways. Why is it mentioned that Rika’s grandmother believes she killed both her parents, when in the sentence before, were given a personal belief from Rika herself? That personal subjective belief being “that Rika knows how adults perceive her”. Why not just outright say if Rika murdered her parents or not, why go with the grandmother believes it? And it explains the ring.
The only momento she holds onto is her mothers wedding ring. She was obviously close with her mother, and doesnt hold onto her father’s wedding ring. If she has only one parents wedding ring, then it makes little sense that she killed both of them. If she did kill both of them, why wouldnt she either hold onto both wedding rings, in some weird grotesque way, or neither of them? Why only her mothers? Its because her mother was a victim of her father.
Rika probably learned to be manipulative to try to sooth or deal with her emotionally abusive grandmother.
As plausible as it may seem, Rika may have been a curse even before Yuta cursed her. Or a curse might have attached itself to her. But whatever the cause is, she was set free in the end. Now, we need to see what powers Yuta wields now. Gojou called him a distant relative, which makes them members of the same clan.
Source: Jujutsu Kaisen Subreddit
