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mania-sama · 4 months

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“always an angel, never a god” and why it only works with gojo, not geto

ft. gojo & geto

Not Strong Enough - boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus

The song lyric "always an angel, never a god" from the song Not Strong Enough has been making its rounds on SatoSugu TikTok and I'm here to talk about it (mainly why I think the general interpretation of the line referencing Geto's POV is wrong, and that it only works well with Gojo's POV).

Here is an example of the popular interpretation (Geto's POV):

On an entirely surface level analysis, without any deep-diving or true understanding, this makes sense. Gojo became the strongest and left Geto behind. Geto was strifed with this, knowing it would be impossible to catch up. Therefor, he is the "angel" that can never become a "god"; Geto can never be Gojo. He can't even match him.

This interpretation implies that Geto was jealous of Gojo. Jealous of the power that allowed him to be better than everyone, exercise more curses, and do more right in the world. Jealous that Gojo left him behind. Jealous that Geto can never catch up or be on the same level as Gojo. Jealous of the fact that Gojo got to live a life Geto can't even dream of achieving.

I disagree with this analysis of Geto entirely. To put it simply: it's wrong. The only jealousy Geto felt comes from one of the much more glaring issues I'm about to talk about. Geto's problems never came from Gojo. It all has to do with curses, depression, and jujutsu society, not the fact that he and Gojo have differing power levels.

Geto is special-grade sorcerer. Need I remind you that, before the Culling Games revived hundreds of sorcerers, there were only four special-grade sorcerers in jujutsu society. Yuki Tsukumo, Okkotsu Yuuta, Gojo Satoru, and Geto Suguru. Sure, you can make the argument that Gojo far surpasses everyone else on this list, but that's not the point. The problem here, in relation to Geto's internal conflict, is that both he and Gojo are too strong. Shoko's cursed technique makes it so she doesn't go on solo missions. After Gojo ascended in Hidden Inventory, jujutsu society deemed that Gojo no longer needed to, nor should, work with a partner. With Shoko out for the count, that meant Geto was also stuck fighting alone. He felt like he was drifting away from his friends, and instead of reaching out, he was worsening it by pushing them further and further away and refusing to let them in on his struggles.

Cursed Spirit Manipulation. As I've stated, Geto's strong, and this is mainly due to his cursed technique. He has said on numerous occasions that swallowing curses is horrible. "The taste of a cursed spirit that no one else knows... like swallowing whole a cloth that was used to wipe up vomit...". Even this quote alone exemplifies how ostracizing this experience was for Geto, and he'd already ingested hundreds, if not thousands, of cursed spirits at this point. No one else can understand him. No one else can understand how much of a toll this takes on his psyche. It's clear why he was pushing people away. He never felt that they could share his burden.

His gradual development of depression. Geto sunk away from his friends as they were put on more solo missions. I can't reinstate this enough: his mental condition worsened every day, and he turned to no one but himself. He felt as though he was climbing a grueling, tall mountain with the pointed summit obscured by clouds. This isn't an analysis based solely on dialogue, either; physically, he was drawn with slouches, eyebags, a quiet demeanor, taking long pauses to do something as simply as lift his gaze, as though that takes his body too much energy to complete. He was severely depressed and utterly alone.

The inherit flaw of jujutsu society. Alone, depressed, and fighting the never-ending battle, Geto confronted the elephant in society that everyone ignores: it will never stop. Humans have negative emotions. These normal people, the majority of humanity, cannot fight the curses they create with their negativity. It's inevitable. Only people that can see curses and have cursed energy can deal with this problem. There is only one way to fix this, so Geto would never have to swallow another curse again, so he can be friends with the people he loves -- turn everyone into a sorcerer, and kill them if they don't comply.

This is Geto's character. Gojo is in it very little, because you know why? Gojo was never the problem. Gojo was just another knight being used to capture pawns by the higher-ups of jujutsu society, but never to checkmate the king. Geto's infamous line "Are you the strongest because you're Gojo Satoru, or are you Gojo Satoru because you're the strongest?" has nothing to do with jealousy. In fact, Geto felt quite the opposite. He saw the Gojo for what he was (what I just mentioned), and felt his hatred for society rear it's head. He was seeing his best friend be used, and he wanted nothing more than to end both of their sufferings. I do believe that people comparing "always an angel, never a god" to Geto & his strife with Gojo is a consequence of people misunderstanding the aforementioned "Are you... the strongest?" line. He never wanted to be as powerful as Gojo. He wanted them to be happy. And they could never have been that in jujutsu society.

Now. Here's where this essay gets BETTER. Because I am going to tell you why I think this fits Gojo much better than it would ever fit Geto. And you're probably thinking: "But Gojo is a god. He ascended and became the Honored One." Yeah, he did that, and he said that, but Gojo also said he would win. And he didn't. So. His words are worth nothing to me. Let's take a deep dive into Gojo's POV:

Before I get in further, this interpretation is not of Gojo believing that Geto is the god, the being higher than Gojo, because, while there is merit to the interpretation, that's not what I'm going for. This analysis is about Gojo and a reflection upon himself and jujutsu society, not necessarily comparing himself to Geto.

To me, this is a much better interpretation of this lyric. We all know Gojo is better than everyone else. The narrator of Jujutsu Kaisen will explain someone's ability, say they are the best in an aspect, then say "except for Gojo Satoru, of course." Gojo is simply better. I know this, and that is exactly the point I'm going to make using this song lyric.

Gojo is the Honored One. He's better, he's faster, he's smarter, he's stronger. In theory, there is no limit to his power. As Geto said during the KFC break-up, Gojo could achieve the goal that he claims is impossible for others - he could kill all of humanity, or force them to become sorcerers. Everybody knows he is stronger. Everybody knows that he can do whatever he wants, and if he wanted, he can force other people to do what he wants, too. But in reality, he can't.

Corruptness of jujutsu society and the exploitation of love. The problem with Gojo is that he has two enemies: 1. The higher-ups. No matter what, no matter how hard he fights, jujutsu society has placed a shackle over him. If he wants to save those he loves, he has to operate within those bonds of society. But yet, the higher-ups hate him. They hate that he doesn't respect those weaker than him. They hate his power. They see him as a threat that must be contained. So they contain him. They put the ones he loves into precarious situations that force his hand. In his effort to work against the higher-ups, he is forced to work within their bounds, too. There is no winning. Gojo once said, "Love is the most twisted curse of them all." He knows this because he has experienced it. The ten years he and Geto were separated was because of the chains of jujutsu society. What is a god, if he is strapped to the mortal plane? What is a god, if he has no control over his position on the chess table?

Those that don't wish to be saved. Gojo's second enemy: the human psyche. To put it simply, if they don't want to be saved, then Gojo cannot save them. This is what happened with Geto. Geto became depressed, and he pushed Gojo away, and there was nothing Gojo could have done. It isn't any more complicated than that. A god could save the ones he loved. Gojo is no god. He is an angel. His hands are tied behind his back, and all he can do is watch as the one he loved was stripped away from him.

Gojo is always the angel, never the god. He is a responsive unit to the ones above him, and an observer of those that have turned away from him. In truth, despite the popular belief of other characters, he cannot force anyone to do anything. Physical power can only go so far. There is a limit to limitless. An angel can have limitless power, but it can't use all of it unless comanded.

Conclusion: This is going to be hard for you to hear, but I really need to say it. Not every popular audio or emotional quote can fit your fav. I know. I know it hurts. It's the toughest pill to swallow. I, too, force my favs into songs that don't fit them. But we need to leave SatoSugu alone with this one unless it's done right. There are other parts of this song that REALLY fit Geto well: "Every clock's a different time. It would only take the energy fix it." ; "I don't know why I am the way I am." ; "I tried, I can't stop staring at the ceiling fan and spinning out about things that haven't happened." Then there's this line that fits the ship really well: "Skip the exit to our old street and go home. Go home alone." Here is an example because this is actually such a banger lyric:

The accompanying trend: "Know it's for the better // All I wanted was you" fits them. So much better. I also think that "always an angel, never a god" fits a lot of other JJK duos, just not SatoSugu. It works with Mai and Maki especially well.

Conclusion Part 2: WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS PEOPLE. SatoSugu is heart-wrenching. Keep making it heart-wrenching.

A link to the Tiktok that inspired this whole shipwreck: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8nG9gox/

#god help me #satosugu #geto suguru #gojo satoru #being able to make my rants public will cause irreperable damage #stsg #rant post #fandom #gojo x geto #always an angel never a god #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk rant #jujutsu kaisen rant #literary analysis #boygenius #not strong enough

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