Jujutsu Kaisen: Gojo Clock Theory

Since the release of Chapter 268, we have been seeing a lot of clocks. Is this a sign of Gojo’s return to the series or of a deeper symbolism?

Thanks to @manganimist for compiling some of the key ideas here.

Origin

We begin in Chapter 268: Conclusion, where after waking up, Megumi joins Yuji and Nobara to the spot where they will meet with Maki and the rest.

Before the trio reach the location, we see a clock that says 1:52. 

Later in Chapter 269, as Mei-mei and Kusakabe talk about the New Shadow School and Simple Domain’s Lifespan Contract, we see a grandfather clock that now says 2:21.

221 is the chapter where Gojo was freed from the Prison Realm.

Another link is the time between the two clocks seen between the two chapters.

Chapter 269’s time is 29 minutes after Chapter 268’s.

The reason some fans find this link is because Gojo is currently around 28 years old and at the age of 29, Buddha attained enlightenment.

what are the odds gege made the time on the clock, that we rarely see in jjk, 2:21 — 221 being gojo’s return chapter, 29 minutes after 1:52, the age gojo was listed as (not dead) when considering exact prison realm time and the age buddha left to become enlightened, for no reason pic.twitter.com/OY1Jcxbzl2

— baeli 💫 (@BIGDADDYGOJO) September 17, 2024

This might be stretching things but let us see what purpose the focus of these clocks serve the story.

Clocks and Parallels

Clocks do have some significance in the manga.

Chapter 3 has a clock on the train station show the time of 10:05. This is the station where Nobara first appears and prior to this, Gojo tells Megumi and Yuji to

In Chapter 66, the discussion of Tengen’s Immortality cursed technique shows multiple clocks.

Back to Chapter 221 itself, Hakari brings up the idea that the people trapped in the Prison Realm do not die.

These two instances and the New Shadow School Lifespan contract discussion in Chapter 269 all revolve around immortality or life extension.

Whenever there's a clock, there's a topic of immortality or lifespan extension. This was the case for Tengen in chapter 66, the prison realm in chapter 221, and the NSS head in the last chapter.
Could this pattern repeat itself for the clock appearing right after Gojo's letter… pic.twitter.com/hy150jEC7t

— Buih Amghet Jalal (@jalalcasa94) September 13, 2024

Last year, specifically in Season 2 of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, some even point out that the time there (5:07:20) is a reference to the SaToSuGu ship (STSG) between Satoruo Gojo and Suguru Geto, due to how similar 572 sounds in Japanese phonetically-speaking.

not sure if anyone in the western side of jjktwt has mentioned this already, bc I saw some fans in the eastern side point this out

the time on the clock is 5时7分20秒 (5 hours, 7 minutes, 20 seconds)

572 is another ship name used a lot for Stsg in eastern fandom 🙃 pic.twitter.com/2n1GEktCxN

— ririri 🌊 (@r1rang) July 7, 2023

For the most part, these all seem like isolated incidents.

However, clocks were never given the same level of focus as they are in these recent chapters

Mangamist also brings up the idea of the Six Eyes potentially being sacrificed, as shown with the volume sketches depicting one of Gojo’s eyes being in focus or obscured in some way, such as in Volume 26’s front page, the same volume that shows his death, Vivid Vice (Opening 2), Phantom Parade PV, and the Avant music video by Eve.

Shoko was not present during the discussion in Chapter 269, only being briefly mentioned as the one handling Yuta’s damaged body.

With Yuta having left Gojo’s body, what becomes of him?

Mangamist also emphasizes how it seems like no one is bringing up Gojo’s death or feeling its impact.

We are nearing the second to the last chapter of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga as of writing this and yet no significance is given to the death of Gojo outside what happened during the Sukuna raid.

There does not even seem to be an explicit reference to Gojo dying, at least after the end of the Sukuna raid.

However, I do think this idea of Gojo coming back is too good to be true.

At best, we might see that clock symbolism fulfilled in the next chapter, given the consistency between Chapters 268 and 269, even if it has nothing to do with Gojo surviving. 

At worst, we only have mere coincidence, which would be a shame given the usage of clocks for a purpose outside something subtle like a story subtheme regarding unrelated or disconnected mentions of immortality.

Sources: Youtube and Twitter

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