Work sucks, adulting is hard. Happy belated bday Nanami

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Thought I'd make a Nanami post for his birthday.

As most of us know, Shibuya Yuji's Striking Strength is directly compared to that of Nanami by Ino (Image 2, Chapter 94). However, besides this one line of comparison, we aren't given much, which is kind of a problem because there is a lot that goes behind the strength of an attack. In this post I'll go through the different variables that come into play and why I don't think it's as close as a direct comparison may make it out to seem.

Why it doesn't include Ratio

This is the easiest one to debunk, and has been talked about time and time again. It's one of those things that you're either convinced of or you aren't at this point, and others have already went into more detail over, so I won't spend as much time on it, but it is still crucial to talk about when addressing the entirety of their comparison.

Simply put, Nanami's Ratio Technique doesn't actually make his attacks hit harder, it makes the enemy weaker at the critical point, thus inflicting more damage (Image 3, Chapter 20). The strength and force behind the hit remains roughly the same, and it's all derived from how hard Nanami himself can hit independently of Ratio's debuff. Thus, it cannot be part of the equation when discussing striking strength, which luckily for us, Ino made sure to specifically make the point of comparison.

Why it almost certainly doesn't factor in Overtime

Nanami's second most important buff, and probably the most important topic of discussion of this post, is his Overtime binding vow. As we should already know, Nanami has an active BV at all times which restricts his output to 80% during working hours, in return for it to increase to 120%. While it may not seem as much at first, this may as well put Nanami in a different tier during OT, as it gives him a 50% increase in output from his On the Clock performance, 2.5x larger than the 20% given by domain amp, which can make or break fights.

However, it is imperative to understand that Overtime is the exception, not the rule. While we see it both times Nanami has an important showing (vs Mahito and in Shibuya), this is just a sampling bias shown to the audience as the show focuses on the important events of the verse. In-verse, Nanami is an employed sorcerer, he does this for a living first and foremost. Jujutsu Society employs him at his On the Clock output, because being on their clock is literally what he's getting paid for, so all of his in-verse comments are On the Clock, unless otherwise stated or implied. This makes him a Grade 1-level sorcerer even at an output reduced by 20% (with more raw strength than their strongest Grade 1 at the time, at that).

Even internally, Overtime to Nanami exists purely for the sake of existing as little as possible. Nanami has a very low estimation of jujutsu society, the cyclical labor that makes it go round (Image 4, Chapter 19), and the role he plays in that (Image 5, Chapter 99). High Grade 1 Sorcerers are insanely strong for Pre-Shibuya standards, they can virtually one-tap any threat below their level. So, being effective enough as a Grade 1 at his 80% output, the OT boost is only there in case something is not that easy to deal with, to wrap things up fast and spend as little additional time in the line of work he despises as possible. Just compare how the tempo shifts in his fight with Mahito pre and post Overtime.

Regarding Ino; it's important to remember that even though Ino is like 22 years old (and actually closer in age to Nanami than the JJH students), he is still his Grade 2 Acolyte who's up for promotion, and Nanami is his patron. Being with Ino is, in the most literal sense of the word, being On the Clock for Nanami. The days he brings Ino along, Ino is his assignment for the 8-hour shift. They're not partners on equal footing, and it's doubtful that most assignments they've been in have went into Overtime (which the previous paragraphs should clear up on their own, but I will also address more in the following section). Remember, Nanami's Overtime isn't bound by a strict time limit, but rather his working hours. He says he started work at 10, so he must get off by 6 (Image 6, Chapter 22). Given his next Mahito assignment starts at dawn, it's clear it's bound by when he starts and an 8-hour counter following that, rather than by a binary 10-6. It would make sense that sorcerer working hours are not so set in stone, as it's not like curses follow shifts of their own.

Why it most likely isn't comparing Nanami and Yuji at the same exertion

While significantly less important than whether Nanami is in Overtime or not, it's also important to compare where the points of striking strength are coming from. For Yuji, we have a very clear point of comparison: Right before Ino makes his comment, a fresh Yuji that is so locked in his eyes went blank is seen throwing a fully charged up haymaker at a large, stationary, lifeless target that is the Shibuya veil (Was meant to be Image 7 but I forgot to upload it, it's in the comments, Chapter 94). This can very easily be assumed to be the absolute strongest punch this Yuji has the capabilities of throwing.

Nanami though hasn't really thrown anything comparable in Shibuya at this point, so we can only take Ino's comparison to come from previous experience with Nanami. Now, a little context which also ties to why I don't think Ino was talking about Overtime: Nanami is notoriously careful with younger sorcerers, with it being a very sensitive topic to him and all. Yes, even though Ino isn't that old, he's very juvenile in behavior and it's clear Nanami has some sort of paternal instinct regarding him; he admits that Ino is fit for promotion but still feels uncomfortable promoting him (Image 7, Chapter 95), likely as it would mean higher risk missions and more exploitation by JJH, and Ino himself gets anxious when he's left with Transfigured Humans, which should be multiple grades below him in effect, as Todo mentions them being around the level of Grade 3-2 Curses, so right above Grade 4-3 Sorcerers (Image 8, Chapter 129). Yes, he mentions the awkwardness of them being human, but stops caring about that and becomes ecstatic as soon as Nanami says he'll promote him if he does it, and his first concern is that there's a lot of them (Image 9, Chapter 26).

Having addressed that, I don't think Nanami has often, if ever, taken Ino into missions where he has had to go into Overtime or use a lot of strength, because Ino is clearly not used to high-intensity missions. It is entirely in character for Nanami to think of these missions as too much for a young sorcerer who still hasn't been confirmed as a standalone Grade 1. They're not even together in the Night Parade of 100 Demons, with Ino being seen with Kusakabe instead, hoping that Nanami is around and somehow sees his performance. Given that Ino is canonically the one interviewing him about Black Flash, I don't think he got to see that magnificent performance either. Now, that's important because we know how Nanami feels about excessive force. He's not Gojo, he's not going to throw a Hollow Purple to impress the students. Even when he is actively participating in his duty as a jujutsu sorcerer, he makes it a point to not get carried away and only give things the appropriate effort required, no more (Image 10, Chapter 19). This is much more eloquently stated by the man himself in the anime as "Where moderate effort will suffice, use moderate effort". "Nanami's level", to Ino, is actually just what Nanami has needed to put out, rather than the maximum of what he can put out. Remember, their CE control is canonically "immeasurable" (Image 11, Chapter 48), it's not that easy for Ino to read Nanami.

Yuji's Striking Strength

Unlike the rest which are in relation to Nanami, this is in relation to Yuji. The argument is that Yuji's Striking Strength, at least at this part of the series, is an outlier stat that is much stronger than his other stats. I say this because the bulk of Yuji's strength at this point is still derived from having a superhuman base strength even before applying CE Reinforcement. Looking back even at his pre-sorcerer days, his strength has always shined. He can bend a pole with a shot put ball from 30 meters, which is an absolutely insane feat, but his running speed is just about twice that of an athlete, with his classmates even commenting that he's known as tiger (speed) but should really be known as gorilla (strength) (Images 12 & 13, both from Chapter 1).

Even later on in Shibuya when he's familiar with CE, the very version of Yuji that's compared to Nanami in SS, can get cut by regular knives from very low level opponents unless he specifically puts his mind to reinforcement. Given that he had been fighting for a while here, his baseline level of reinforcement was already up, but it took effort on his part to get his Durability up to par with his Striking Strength. He remembers the same event later against Yuta, saying that he can't get lenient around a sharp blade, implying it takes a pretty long time for him to get the hang of proper Durability reinforcement (Image 14, Chapter 141). Image 15 just for aura. Haruta and Yuta are completely incomparable foes, but it illustrates that Nanami's stat profile is a lot more well rounded because he's no selling and putting BTA effortlessly at the same time.

Bonus comments

I don't think I need to address why, but the comparison obviously doesn't include Black Flash, Black Flash Zone Amp, or Revealing One's Hand. The first one is an outlier attack treated as a gift by the gods, the second is even more niche than that, and the third is even more excessive effort than hitting as hard as you can. Yes, Nanami uses it to teach it to Yuji, but not again in his presence or against low level enemies. Ino has graduated from JJH. I think he knows these basics.

A lot of people argue that this is an inconclusive statement because Ino wouldn't be honest about putting his goat on the level as some random kid. If this was Ino saying it, or thinking it much after the fact, I would agree. But this is Ino thinking it to himself on first instinct, the fact that he doesn't say it to Yuji when it would be a great compliment I think actually helps the case that this is an honest, unfettered assessment with the might be instead of a certain is being part of that unfiltered truth. It's one of those statements that are there for a reason; Nanami is still very strong by this point, and the fact that Yuji is getting there goes to show how much he's grown. But ultimately, he is still a kid.

A Grade 1 Sorcerer is a big title by Shibuya standards. Even among Grade 1, the Grade 1 Sorcerers specifically dispatched to Shibuya are the best batch Jujutsu Society had to give, given the gravity of thousands of civilians trapped in a veil. This is further proven by the fact that THE Satoru Gojo is on the same mission, and that this is the first appearance of Naobito, who can safely be assumed to be the strongest sorcerer out of the 3 Big Clans, & Kusakabe, for a FACT the strongest non-clan affiliated Grade 1. Yuji has gotten very strong, yes, but he still has catching up to do. This is best portrayed comparing his performances against Ko-Guy and Jiro to Nanami's against Haruta.

Conclusion

A brief view at a simple statement is going to give you a brief conclusion, which in turn can be interpreted a magnitude of ways. The baseline you can deduct from this statement is Nanami ~ Yuji, right? But what does that mean? Does it mean they're fully equal? Is it in OT and Yuji already outclasses Nanami? Does it factor in Ratio, meaning that Yuji cliffs the life out of him in the other stats that Nanami can't boost with Ratio? These are all assumptions you can very easily make out of such a vague conclusion, but they don't take the full picture into account.

So, instead of a simple "Nanami ~ Yuji", the statement can be better interpreted as "On the Clock Nanami SS ≥ Shibuya Yuji SS", or if we're being generous "On the Clock Nanami SS ~ Shibuya Yuji SS", if you are doubtful of the moderate effort clause. This still puts him > Shibuya Yuji in a full stat profile, >> in OT, and >>> in AP with OT + Ratio.

Base Nanami's non-Ratio hits were grazing Mahito, his Base Ratio hit blew his arm up, and his OT Ratio hit cleaved his leg as if it wasn't there. The first and the third are almost exactly how Shibuya Yuji's hits compare to OT + Ratio in AP. Full comparison in Image 16.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful king ❤️🥳🥹🏖️

It's that time of the year!! Drew a quick sketch of our birthday boi ^^. Hope ya'll like it!

In honor of the GOAT's birthday, I decided to write an article on my JJK Substack about his iconic scene from an emotional lens!

https://open.substack.com/pub/nanamisandwich/p/nanami-vs-haruta-a-masterclass-of?r=4c1fhg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true