Yuta Okkotsu

Yuta Okkotsu is the main protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen prequel series Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School. He was initially a Special Grade Cursed Victim haunted by his late childhood friend, Rika Orimoto. Satoru Gojo mentored Yuta and enrolled him at Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Yuta is currently a second-year student at Jujutsu High who is studying overseas.

Appearance
Yuta is a young man of average size with disheveled black hair and dark blue eyes. His body language makes it easy to tell that Yuta is very stressed. His posture is very unconfident and his eyes have dark spots under due to lack of sleep.

At his old school, Yuta wore a suit for their uniform. For casual wear, Yuta sports a long-sleeve shirt that stops at his forearms, or a black t-shirt, and dark green pants.

After transferring to Tokyo Jujutsu High, Yuta received a specialized uniform. Yuta has a loose white jacket with sleeves that stop at his forearms. The rest of his uniform appears to be the usual Jujutsu High dark colors and he also often carries his sword on his back.

Personality
Yuta was a very timid and lonely boy who was bullied a lot growing up. Due to Rika haunting much of his early life, Yuta was unable to make connections with other people and has lost all confidence in himself. This makes it difficult for Yuta to interact with others, as they often scare him without meaning to or he's just too shy to speak to them.

Even so, Yuta genuinely cared about other people and decided to isolate himself from them even if it means remaining alone. Maki called Yuta out for being a moody kid who's lived his entire life without goals. He acknowledged that this was true and used her advice to gain a resolve for being a Jujutsu Sorcerer. This helps Yuta realize that deep down he truly desires the confidence to feel like he belongs.

While his timid nature stays intact, Yuta slowly begins to become more social and interact with others normally. Even after early signs of improvement, Yuta still struggled to understand someone like Toge. He was initially scared of Toge until he realized how kind of a person he truly is and made an effort to establish a friendly connection.

Gaining friends helps Yuta gain confidence in himself and establish the goal to help set Rika free. He felt responsible for her turning into a curse in the first place and worked extremely hard to find a way to help her. He pushed himself during training and took the words of all his friends and mentors to heart, showing a more determined side of himself. At his core, Yuta wants to become someone who can help keep others out of danger.

Against Suguru Geto, Yuta showed the darkest side of himself. Geto hurt Yuta's only friends, and the young man was more than willing to kill him for it. Yuta's rage allowed him to even command Rika's power at will. He was even willing to sacrifice his life to use Rika to kill Geto in order to avenge his friends, the only people who give him the confidence to continue living.

History
6 years ago, Yuta was given a promise ring by Rika and the two promise to marry each other when they grow up. Unfortunately Rika was killed from a street accident forcing Yuta to subconsciously curse her soul to remain with him.

Cursed Child Arc
Yuta is involved in an incident were four student were seriously harmed. The Tokyo Magic College notices that Yuta is cursed with a special graded curse, and takes him to be executed which Yuta agrees with. During his isolation, Yuta tries to kill himself but Rika stops him. Gojo manages to get Yuta enrolled into the college. When Yuta decides to just stay in isolation, Gojo goes and convinces Yuta to head to the college.

As Yuta meets with Panda, Maki, and Panda, which all three notice that Yuta is cursed. The three prepare to attack Yuta, which confuses Yuta. Gojo explains to Yuta what this college is and what they teach. Gojo also warns the three, which Rika appears and defends Yuta. Gojo then explains Yuta's situation to the class. Gojo also introduces the class to Yuta, and that they will be pairing up to today's lesson. Yuta is paired up with Maki, which Yuta has trouble with her.

Gojo brings Yuta and Maki to an elementary school were two children have been taken by spirits. Gojo explains to Yuta how Cursed Spirits are created, and leave them to handle the problem after putting up a screen. As three spirits appear, Yuta is amazed when Maki exorcises them all. As they head inside, Yuta is worried about the spirit that are dwelling in the school which Maki notices that the spirits are not attacking them. Maki wonder if it is because of Yuta and asks to see his student ID. Maki is distracted when she find out that Yuta is a Special-Grade Sorcerer, which Yuta tells Maki that their is a spirit behind her.

Yuta and Maki are devoured by the spirit, which result in them finding the missing children. Maki suddenly falls to the ground, which Yuta wonders what to do. Maki asks him why he came to the college, which Yuta explains why he did it. Maki encourages Yuta to exorcise the spirit, which Yuta puts on the ring that Rika gave to him and has Rika attack the spirit. Once Yuta and the others are freed, Yuta carries them to the exit. As Yuta is about to fall over, Rika's spirit encourages her to continue on which give Yuta enough will power to reach the exit.

Later Yuta is at a hospital with Gojo, after they deliver Maki and the kids there. Yuta talks with Gojo about how this was the first time that he had summon Rika and says that he remembers when he made the promise with Rika. Yuta also says that he believes that he was the one that had cursed Rika and that he will find a way to release Rika from the curse. Afterwards Yuta is given a katana by Gojo, which Gojo explains how Yuta can break the curse that is on Rika.

Three months later, Yuta is training with Maki as Panda, Toge, and Gojo watch. After a little bit, Gojo assigns a mission to Toge and that Yuta will accompany him. Gojo explains what Toge's ability is and that Yuta is to observe Toge without bringing out Rika.

Yuta and Toge are then drive to the Hapina Shopping district by Kiyotaka. Once they arrive, Kiyotaka begins to explain the mission when Yuta and Kiyotaka notice that Toge has headed off to buy throat medicine. Yuta and Toge then head into the shopping district and Yuta watches as Toge easily exorcises the spirits. As they leave, Yuta and Toge notices that the screen has not been raised. Suddenly a power spirit appears and attacks them. Toge pushes Yuta out of the way and uses his powers to crush the spirits arm. Toge begins to cough, which Yuta saves him from the spirits attack and brings him to safety but they lose the throat medicine. After resting for a bit, Toge decides to go face the spirit which Yuta decide to accompany him much to Tode disagreement. As Yuta approaches the spirit, the spirit notices Rika presence and becomes furious. Yuta manages to dodge some of the spirits attack and is able to land a blow on the creature. Yuta notices that he can't defeat the spirit and quickly gets the throat medicine to Toge. Toge takes the medicine and uses his power to crush the creature, which afterwards the two compliments each other on a good job.

Afterwards Yuta and Toge head back to the college. Yuta meets with Panda, who explains how Toge is a nice guy and that Toge was worried about Yuta since their situation are similar. Yuta then goes to train with Maki, which he asks her how to pour curse power it his sword but she has no idea.

Days later, Yuta is with Toge, Panda, and Maki when Getou and his comrades show up. Getou quickly introduces himself to Yuta and begins to explain his reason for wanting to kill everyone who is not a Sorcerer. Yuta then becomes angry with Getou when he starts to insult his friends. As the faculty come and tries to force Getou out of the college, Getou announce that he will start an all-war at multiple locations. Getou then leave with his comrades, but leave some cursed spirits for the college to deal with.

On December 24, Yuta is at the classroom when Mai shows up. The two start to talk, which Maki starts to explain her situation and how she plans to head back to the Zenin clan and become it head one day. Yuta says how he want to become someone like Maki someday and wants to fully support her, which Maki becomes embarrassed by this and leaves. When Getou puts up a screen, Yuta notices that it is being put up.

Later Yuta comes across Getou and his defeated friends. Yuta gets angry and summon Rika to his side. As Getou launches multiple spirits to attack Yuta, Yuta defends against them all and manages to rescue his friends and heal them. Yuta then continues his power against Getou. As Getou summons more spirits, Yuta uses Rika's powers to easily exorcise all the spirits. Yuta manages to get close to Getou, but Getou manages to overpower Yuta causing Rika brings Yuta away from Getou. Yuta decides to continue to fight and get close again but Getou manages to break Yuta's katana. Yuta simply starts to punch Getou, which forces Getou to distance himself. After a brief chat the two had with each other, Getou decides to use all of his spirits against Yuta and Rika. Yuta resolves to fully release Rika's power at the cost of his life, and they fires a blast strong enough to exorcise all of Getou's spirit along with forcing Getou to retreat.

Afterward Yuta wakes up to find all of his friends around him. Yuta notices Rika and explains what he had done, but is shocked that when Rika's curse is undone. Gojo shows up and congratulates Yuta on undoning Rika's cursed. Gojo also explains how Yuta is a distant relative of his and that it was him that had originally cursed Rika by accident. Yuta then bids Rika goodbye as she fades away. Later Yuta is walking with Gojo, when Gojo explains things about Getou and Gojo hands Yuta back his student ID. Yuta then meets up with Maki, Panda, and Toge.

Cursed Training Arc
Megumi mentions to Nobara that Yuta is currently studying overseas when she first meets the second-year students. Meanwhile, while watching over Yuji's dead body, Gojo mentions to Ichiji that he believes Yuta is one of the few students that have the potential to someday surpass him, alongside Yuji and third-year student Hakari.

Shibuya Incident Arc
Gojo mentions that they still have Yuta on their side, but the cursed user controlling Suguru Geto's brain and therefore his body tells Gojo that Yuta's powers (both copying cursed techniques and his boundless cursed energy came from when he had detained his loved one Rika's soul and that Yuta can't become the next Satoru Gojo.

Abilities and Powers
Overall Skill Level: Yuta is one of four Special Grade Sorcerers recognized by Jujutsu High. While being haunted by Rika's Cursed Spirit, Yuta was immediately registered as a Special Grade due to Rika's immense power. He apparently dominated all of the Kyoto students in the 2017 Goodwill event and was able to defeat Suguru Geto after releasing the limiters on Rika's power.

After training with Gojo and the other students, Yuta learns to control his Cursed Energy and becomes reliable with a sword. Even after Rika's Curse is dispelled, Yuta retains his Special Grade ranking and Gojo has stated that Yuta has the potential to surpass him. Yuta's great power comes from being a descendant of one of the Three Great Sorcerer Clans and is the reason he Cursed Rika when he rejected her death at a young age.

Expert Swordsman: Yuta was given a katana mainly as a way to channel Rika's power. Through vigorous training with Maki, a frequent Cursed Tool user, Yuta became decent with a sword, able to hold his own against powerful Cursed Spirits and even Suguru Geto, who has exceptional physical prowess. However, he often makes mistakes including cutting too shallow or pouring too much Cursed Energy into the blade, which can cause it to break.

Trivia

 * Yuta ranked 7th place in the manga's 1st Character Popularity Poll with 7,934 votes.