“Nah I’d win” is a remark from the manga character Satoru Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen that became a meme after controversy over the translation from the original Japanese spread. The frame has now become an exploitable image shared across Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok.
The simple format lends itself to replacement with other characters or settings and mixing with other memes and genres as it spreads.
Where does ‘nah I’d win’ come from?
The Gojo nah I’d win meme leaped from the pages of the manga Jujutsu Kaisen, a series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami and first released on October 3, 2020. It follows the quest of Yuji Itadori to rid himself of the ancient and evil sorcerer Ryomen Sukuna after he becomes possessed by the man.
Normally, anyone who became host to such evil would be executed, but the teacher Satoru Gojo instead proposes that Yuji seek to find and consume all of Sukuna’s fingers to end the sorcerer’s curse. Later in the series, Gojo expects that he will do battle with the sorcerer.
This casual and confident response to the question of what the outcome of the fight would be was such a hit with fans of the manga that it blew up into meme form, escaping the bounds of Reddit and catching the attention of internet users outside of the fandom. Even people who aren’t into manga and anime, in general, took notice and wondered what this meme was about.
Why does Gojo say ‘nah I’d win’?
In the original English translation of the manga, Gojo simply says “no” to a question from another character, who asks if the teacher expects to lose during the expected future showdown with Sukuna. VIZ media later changed this to “nah, I’d win” as a callback to chapter 3 of Jujutsu Kaisen, in which Gojo drops the same cocky line.
Another translation changed the answer to “I will win,” but fans consider the meme line to be the best because it fits so well with the character. Fans on the subreddit debated which response was best in a post comparing the three, and most seemed to agree that the Gojo “nah I’d win” line was the best option.
In the comments on this April 25 post, Reddit users began to turn the phrase into a meme, trying out their own responses for Gojo to drop or redrawing him as characters from other works of fiction.
In what page and chapter in Jujutsu Kaisen does Gojo say ‘nah I’d win’?
The iconic line from Gojo that became the meme appears on the final page of chapter 221 in Jujutsu Kaisen as presented on the VIZ website. The publisher posted it on April 23, 2023.
The first time he says it in the manga is actually on page six, chapter three, when the main character Yuji asks Gojo if he thinks he can defeat Sakuna. There was never any controversy around the translation of this page, likely because it was the original in the first place rather than being changed by VIZ to appeal to the fans.
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