this is another reason why this is my favorite cut from the fight. Smug smile as the domain takes form -> surprise at Mahoragas adaptation to his slashes -> it clicks what he has to do -> smiles and begins to prepare fuga, overjoyed with Maho as his opponent.
i love soft sukuna i love sukuna who has grown into his humanity with yuji by his side and kept his rough edges and is still largely nonchalant but not about yuji, and the things yuji likes and if yuji likes humanity then sukuna can tolerate them for him
sukuna, despite being a deeply cruel character, has the soul of an artist. he understands the language of flowers, composes haiku with striking precision, and handles a bow with the kind of skill that feels almost ceremonial. even the image of him bowing after the destruction in shibuya carried a strange sense of theatricality, as if devastation itself were part of a performance only he fully understood.
whatever else can be said about him, sukuna is clearly someone who recognizes beauty in the world. that is what makes him more compelling than a character who is simply โevilโ or cruel for the sake of it. there is intention, taste, and a certain refinement to him that gives his character far more depth than surface-level malice.