Nanami Really Fathered The Hell Out Of Yuuji - Tumblr Posts
Something I love, and this is by no means a new or unpopular observation, is that Nanami really is a parental figure to Yuuji more so than he was a teacher or mentor. And not to say that Yuuji didn’t learn anything by working with Nanami or that Nanami is a bad teacher his work with Ino obviously disagrees with that. But it’s more so that he recognized that Yuuji didn’t need a teacher in that time he needed someone to reassure him that his being alive isn’t a bad thing, to reinforce that he is someone worth protecting, that he is a child and it doesn’t matter how strong he is or the destiny set out for him he is a child and in these moments they have together Nanami will do his very best to keep him safe.
During their time together Yuuji doesn’t learn any new techniques or learn how to get rid of divergent fist or even better control his cursed energy. What he does learn is that after 2 of the most devastating moments in his life there was someone he could turn too someone who showed him comfort, an adult that taught he being treated like a child does not mean you are stupid or weak. Nanami tells him straight up “it is not a crime to be a child” and that’s not something you hear a lot from these genre of shows were you have kids fighting all the wars. To me this is only matched by Reigen’s speech to mob that he’s not responsible for the adults around him and it’s okay to run.
Yuuji might not have improved his fighting style in those months with Nanami, he may have not technically advanced as a jujutsu sorcerer but he was quietly reassured of his worth as a person independent of his worth as a sorcerer. Yuuji wants to honor his grandfather and that takes the shape of wanting to save everyone and Nanami simply tells him that he should be part of that everyone too. That he is worthy of being saved, of being protected. And you can tell when Yuuji rejoins the others there’s a marked difference to how he approaches curses and transfigured humans and people he couldn’t save.
Nanami took this unmoored child, who just came back from the dead and is being hidden away from all his friends to avoid being killed again and decided he didn’t need a teacher, or a sorcerer. He needed a parent and he tried to offer that comfort as best he could. And maybe it wasn’t perfect but he tried.