Choso might be a supporting character in Jujutsu Kaisen with nowhere as many scenes as the main cast. However, his popularity still knows no bounds. His calm and reserved personality, coupled with his bored expression and handsome features, has won over many fans.
The character is a half-cursed spirit but doesn’t have any desire to attack people. He doesn’t even harbor any disdain towards Jujutsu sorcerers. After initially aligning with Kenjaku and Mahito, he aligned with the Jujutsu sorcerers.
Gege Akutami’s Inspiration Behind Creating Choso
In the Official Guidebook of Jujutsu Kaisen, Gege Akutami has revealed more information on Choso. In the guidebook, the author revealed that Choso’s character design was inspired by a fashion model that he once saw. While the name of the model wasn’t mentioned, it might have been a really famous model that Akutami just didn’t know about.
Choso is also the eldest of the nine Cursed Paintings and the half-brother of Yuji. However, he looks completely human, unlike the other Cursed Paintings. Akutami mentioned that the appearance of a Cursed Painting depends on the vessel they have reincarnated into.
Choso might have been reincarnated into a vessel so weak that Choso could maintain his appearance, unlike Sukuna, whose vessel, Yuji, is too strong-willed to change. Choso’s handsome appearance makes him the talk of the town amongst Jujutsu Kaisen fans, and one of them might have figured out which model Gege Akutami might have been inspired by to create the character.
Choso’s Design in Jujutsu Kaisen Might Have Been Inspired by Marilyn Manson
A fan pointed out that some pictures of Marilyn Manson held an eerie resemblance to Choso in Jujutsu Kaisen. Manson is an American rock musician whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner. He became a prominent figure as the lead singer of the band Marilyn Manson. During the 1990s, he had gained an ill reputation as a controversial figure.
The picture pointed out in the Reddit post shows Marilyn Manson sporting long black hair, with black lips and a black border drawn across the face from ear to ear. This, temporary black mark on his face resembles the black blood mark of Choso.
Choso has a black blood mark that extends from both sides of his face and crosses the bridge of his nose. He can even make his mark bleed at will if he needs to produce ammunition for his cursed technique. While the mark can change shape while using the Flowing Red Scale, it mostly stays stationary during the length of the series.
According to Redditors, Gege Akutami might have come across an image of Marilyn Manson in this exact getup and mistook him to be a model. The author must have had the image stuck in his head before he decided to create Choso. Both of them have pale skin and dark eye circles, along with black hair. Thus, Choso might have been inspired by Marilyn Manson without the author even recognizing the prominent pop culture figure.
The Jujutsu Kaisen manga is available to read on Viz Medi, and the anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
