Atsuya Kusakabe

* Anime
* Manga

**Atsuya Kusakabe** (日 (くさ) 下 (か) 部 (べ) 篤 (あつ) 也 (や) , *Kusakabe Atsuya*?) is a supporting character in the *Jujutsu Kaisen* series. He is a grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer and instructs the second-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High.

## Appearance

Atsuya is a tall man with spiky brown hair and sharp dark eyes. Atsuya wears a dust brown peacoat over a white dress shirt with a jade necktie, black pants, and black shoes.

## Personality

Kusakabe appears to be a fearful individual and focused on his own self preservation as top priority. He is also willing to be deceitful to save his own skin as shown during the Shibuya Incident where he lied repeatedly to Panda so as to keep him around for safety, while directing him away from B5F where Gojo was sealed as to avoid clashing with special grade curses. He does however have a courageous side, as seen when he protected Kasumi Miwa from Kenjaku's Maximum: Uzumaki.

## Abilities and Powers

**Overall Skill**: Despite not possessing an innate technique, Kusakabe is a respected grade 1 sorcerer and a master swordsman of the New Shadow Style. Mei Mei regarded Kusakabe as the only sorcerer of his grade to make that rank without an innate technique.

Kusakabe openly admits on several occasions he has no chance of defeating a special grade and avoids them at all costs. However, he is fully confident he can defeat other adversaries such as the curse users Toshihisa Negi and Manami Suda, who he considered below his level.

While several jujutsu sorcerers in training were fighting to get Prison Realm from Pseudo-Geto, Kusakabe intervened just in time to save the lives of all his allies. Pseudo-Geto even commented on Kusakabe's knowledge on New Shadow Style, seemingly out of respect for his skill.

**Master Swordsman**: Kusakabe's swordplay is his main weapon in battle, relying heavily on physical prowess. In combination with the swordsmanship techniques of the New Shadow, he has showcased high proficiency in wielding his blade. Using Batto-Sword Drawing, Kusakabe made short work of three curse user henchmen in an instant.

## Battles & Events

**Cursed Child Arc**

* Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

**Shibuya Incident Arc**

* The Shibuya Incident
	+ Jujutsu Sorcerers & Choso vs. Kenjaku & Uraume

**Shinjuku Showdown Arc**

* Jujutsu Sorcerers vs. Sukuna

## Trivia

* According to Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook:
	+ His hobby is fishing.
	+ Favorite dish: Torotaki-maki (fatty tuna and pickled radish roll).
	+ Least Favorite dish: Tuna eye.
	+ Cause of stress: All missions.
* Atsuya's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows:
	+ Atsuya ranked 39th in the second Popularity Poll with 58 votes.
	+ Atsuya ranked 25th in the third Popularity Poll with 197 votes.
* Atsuya's surname has the Nanori reading for "day" (日, *kusa*?), the Kan-on reading for "underneath, end" (下, *ka*?), and the Kun reading for "division, section, department" (部, *be*?). His given name has the Kun reading for "cordial, warm-hearted" (篤, *atsu*?) and a Jinmeiyo kanji "to be" (也, *ya*?).

## References

*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 88 (p. 8).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 114 (p. 14).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 134 (p. 11-12).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 115 (p. 9).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 115 (p. 11).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 246 (p. 3-4).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Chapter 114 (p. 15).
*Jujutsu Kaisen* Manga: Vol. 13, Cover
9. ↑ *Jujutsu Kaisen* Official Fanbook: (p. 48-49).