Nanami

Kento Nanami (七なな海み建けん人と, Nanami Kento?) is a major supporting character in Jujutsu Kaisen. He was a former student of Tokyo Jujutsu High where he was an underclassman of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. Nanami initially left Jujutsu High after graduating to become a salaryman, but returned four years later to continue working as a jujutsu sorcerer.

While working as a Jujutsu High sorcerer, Nanami was ranked grade 1 and operated primarily out of the Tokyo campus. With Satoru's introduction, he also became a close mentor to Yuji Itadori.Nanami is a very wise and reserved kind of man, often appearing so calm and indifferent that he comes off as stoic and aloof. He seems like the kind of person who's too serious about his work, but Nanami just knows how to separate sentimentalism from service. He's blunt and straight to the point in most conversations and doesn't care for impractical optimism[3] or questions left open to interpretation.[4]Additionally, Nanami is very avid and quick to express his irritation, either on his face or verbally with his words. Nanami is often very impatient. He hates working overtime and is very serious about not going a single minute over what's required of him.[5]

Beneath his tough exterior, Nanami is actually quite sociable and doesn't mind intelligent conversations.[6] He's practical and overly serious to an almost comedic point on occasion as well. He claims he only became a jujutsu sorcerer because it's slightly less idiotic than being a salaryman. In the role of one of Yuji's mentors, Nanami is a very big contrast to Satoru, who is far more outspoken and easy-going.[7] Yuji and Satoru describe Nanami as "gloomy" and the former didn't believe they would get along at first.[8]Nanami knows being a jujutsu sorcerer is a dangerous and demanding job for crazy people, and so he has a hard time respecting people in the profession. Even though Nanami and Satoru are longtime friends, the former claims he doesn't respect Satoru despite their mutual trust in one another.[11] He returned to being a sorcerer from the life of a salaryman because he never felt truly appreciated and didn't believe his work had any significant impact on anyone. In contrast, work as a sorcerer allowed him to build up small bits of appreciation from innocent people. For Nanami, this was more than enough to allow him to live without regrets.[12]

Nanami had a similar yet naturally less mature personality while he was a student at Jujutsu High. He saw missions as a burden but his negativity was always offset by his classmate Yu Haibara's extreme optimism.[13] Haibara's death affected Nanami greatly and likely played a role in his initial decision to leave his life as a jujutsu sorcerer behind. One of the reasons he believes that jujutsu sorcerers are trash is because they must force their comrades to accept that they must willingly sacrifice themselves. He recognizes that this led him to "run away" from the profession, admitting that it's a more befitting phrase than suggesting he "quit".[14] Nanami wants to believe he's never been frustrated by his own uselessness, but many of his failures haunt him, such as allowing Haibara to die.[15]