Can Yuta Still Use Rika After Jujutsu Kaisen 0? (& How?)
Yuta Okkotsu is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and one of the more popular characters in the whole franchise. This young boy was thrust into the world of Jujutsu sorcery thanks to his powerful curse, Rika, known as the “Queen of Curses”. At the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 storyline, Rika seemingly dies, leaving Yuta without his Cursed spirit. But, when Yuta reappears in the main Jujutsu Kaisen storyline, he seems to be able to use Rika again and in this article, we are going to tell you whether that is correct and how he is able to do it.
As has been revealed in Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuta Okkotsu can still use Rika because she is Yuta’s innate technique and remained with him even after Rika Orimoto passed away in Jujutsu Kaisen 0. It was explained that this Rika, though, is not the same Rika we initially saw in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 but rather a technique in itself, which is the difference between the two and the reason why Yuta can still use her.
The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to tell you about Yuta and Rika in more detail. We are not going to focus on Jujutsu Kaisen 0 because you probably know everything about it by now, but rather on the aftermath of the movie and Yuta’s reappearance in the main Jujutsu Kaisen storyline.
Can Yuta still use Rika in Jujutsu Kaisen?
At the end of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, we saw Rika die and Yuta going away to train with Miguel. Now, in order to properly answer this question, we first have to see what Yuta has been up to after that.
When Satoru is about to be sealed by Pseudo-Geto, the former mentions that they still have Yuta on their side, but the Curse controlling Suguru’s body tells Satoru that Yuta’s occult powers came from when he possessed Rika’s soul. The impostor then tells Satoru that no matter what, Yuta will not be able to become the “next Satoru Gojo”.
Moments before a little girl is about to be devoured by a Curse, Yuta skewers the Curse to the ground and asks the girl if it scared her. As he asks her how she is feeling, the Curse resurfaces behind Yuta but suddenly disappears in a spatter of blood. Yuta then tells Rika not to overdo it as he leaves with the little girl.
Arriving before his superiors, Yuta tells them that they don’t have to be polite with him and that he will do what they ask of him even if it means taking an oath. He then states that he will kill Yuji Itadori even though he is Satoru’s protege. Later, Yuta appears in Shibuya, where Yuji, Choso, and Naoya Zenin are. He jumps and breaks an infrastructure shocking all the actors present. Yuta looks at Naoya and asks him who he is. The latter presents himself as an ally and asks him not to tell anyone else that he killed Yuji if he succeeds because he needs him as bait, which Yuta accepts.
Yuta then leaves Naoya who takes care of Choso while he pursues Yuji and the fight between the two begins. As Yuta throws a car at Yuji, the former asks the latter if he is surprised at how powerful he is in view of his physique before adding that in reality, he is physically weak. Afterward while crossing a car, Yuji retrieves a dagger but has it broken by Yuta. He decides to go to melee but is restrained by Rika. Yuta stabs him and then apologizes.
Yuta drags Yuji’s bruised body to where Choso and Naoya are facing each other and knocks Choso unconscious. He then tells Naoya that he is in a sorry state and offers to heal him in exchange for him notifying their superiors of Yuji’s death, which he presumably accepts and leaves Shibuya. Later, Yuta watches over Yuji who suddenly wakes up. Yuta then bursts out laughing and feels relieved.
While he is confused, Yuta explains to him that Satoru asked him to take care of him and that he only pretended to kill him. Afterward, Megumi appears and asks Yuji to come back to the school. After Megumi explains the situation to them, Yuta is asked by Yuji to kill him if Ryomen Sukuna manages to regain control to which Yuta replies that he won’t hold back.
After they do their job in their school, Yuta and Megumi ask Tengen what Kenjaku’s goals are and how to unseal Satoru, which Tengen is about to do. After Tengen reveals Kenjaku’s objective to them and Yuki and Choso appoint themselves as his bodyguards, Tengen tells them how to unseal Satoru. He gives them the “Reverse” of the Edge of Torture and tells them that to force it open, they will either need the Inverted Spear of Heaven or the Black Rope.
However, Tengen also tells them that the Inverted Spear of Heaven was either sealed or destroyed by Satoru and that the latter would also have destroyed the Black Rope. Yuta adds that he went looking for the Black Rope with Miguel but they didn’t find anything. However, Tengen tells them that they have another asset, Hana Kurusu, a millennial exorcist and Culling Game participant who can undo spells.
Yuta tells them that he will gather some information before the Game begins and as soon as it begins, he will participate. Later, Yuta enters the Culling Game. On November 12 around 11:28, Yuta, then in possession of 35 points, confronts and kills Dhruv Lakdawala. After defeating him, Yuta leaves to reassure and shelter the surrounding humans.
Yuta tells them to enter the stadium but suddenly, humans are running toward them chased by cockroaches. Yuta tries to rescue them but without success, as they are finally devoured by the thousands of cockroaches. Yuta asks Rika to bring the beasts to him and sends a blast of energy toward them.
Yuta subsequently bumps into Kuro-Urushi and asks his Kogane if he’s a player. He replies yes and gives him his name. Kuro-Urushi decides to devour Yuta who is an obstacle to his “meal”. Yuta, convinced that he is the one who will kill Kenjaku, confronts Kuro-Urushi who attacks him. Yuta dodges and cuts off his right arm.
The fight continues and while they are in contact, Kuro-Urushi sends his spell on Yuta. The latter cuts the two larvae growing on his shoulder but Kuro-Urushi plants his saber in the young man. Yuta, who is about to be eaten, ends up kissing Kuro-Urushi using the Reversal Spell. By injecting positive energy into the Curse, Yuta exorcises Kuro-Urushi, gaining 5 more points.
As you can see, Yuta is currently a participant in the Culling Game, the most lethal event in the Jujutsu society and he is doing quite well. His activities in the plot after Jujutsu Kaisen 0 all show us, among others, that he can still use Rika and that she is as present as she was before her death, and equally protective of Yuta, and equally dangerous. Now that you have the answer to this question, we can finally explain how that is even possible.
How can Yuta still use Rika?
Now, before we give you a clear answer on this one as well, we have to clarify that there is a difference between the original Rika, i.e., Rika Orimoto, and the Rika Yuta is currently using. Let us see that difference.
Rika Orimoto was an S-class Curse who was originally Yuta’s childhood friend whom the latter cursed on the day of her death. She only fully manifested twice, yet both times showed she was truly one of the most potent Curses to ever exist. While haunting Yuta, she could attack anyone who got too close to him using her arms without fully manifesting, and he could draw colossal cursed energy.
Manifesting fully with only a small percentage of her power, Rika could easily kill gigantic Curses. At full strength, Rika was able to fight almost every Curse in Suguru’s arsenal. After overstepping her bounds, Rika’s power was far beyond all of Suguru’s Curses combined in his Whirlwind technique. Rika Orimoto’s curse was subsequently successfully broken and her soul broke free from Yuta’s grasp, allowing her to finally access the afterlife.
However, Rika’s form as a Curse remained with Yuta as a completely different entity. This curse is all that remains of the spirit of the real Rika Orimoto. It is both a kind of spell independent of Yuta as well as a reserve of cursed energy. Her ability to copy spells without conditions, which is the result of her connection with Rika, we mustn’t forget, also stayed with this version of the girl.
This spell can only be used when Yuta wears the ring that the real Rika gave him, thus granting him two other possibilities, such as making her appear entirely and possessing even more cursed energy. Rika also has the ability to store a wide range of cursed items and can equip Yuta with them. Furthermore, Yuta can only maintain this link, via his ring, for only 5 minutes.
This distinction actually explains how Yuta is able to still use Rika, although she is dead. Namely, the current Rika is not the same Rika as the one before. This Rika is both a result of Yuta’s inherent cursed energy, i.e., she is a manifestation of Yuta’s natural powers regardless of Rika, but looks like she does and has the power she does because of Yuta’s earlier connection with the real Rika.
