Mahito's end in JJK was worse than I remember

True form Mahito

 One year after the Shibuya incident re-aired, I rewatched it. To be more accurate, I rewatched the last few episodes a year after they aired. The other episodes, before Mahito starts losing the 2 v 1 vs Yuji and Todo, I had rewatched at least once. 

It's physically painful to watch him get beaten up. It's frustrating to watch Todo and Yuji succeed with their plot armor. It doesn't often feel like a fair battle given the circumstances, skills, and abilities of all 3 fighters. Beyond that, it's just utterly embarrassing to watch how desperate and pathetic Mahito acts in his final moments.

I'm also angry that Gege wasted Mahito. He was the strongest cursed spirit. He was built up as the leader of the disaster curses. He was fast to learn and faster to adapt. Gege could have really drawn that out. Maybe I'm just selfish and wanted more time with him.

I'm also insanely salty that one black flash by Yuji knocked Mahito out of his true form and back to his base self. BTW it was a completely unguarded punch while Mahito was distracted. It wasn't creative, he didn't outsmart Mahito. He basically sucker punched him. It felt cheap. Like come on, we've had this big battle til now and you just catch him off guard? Weak.

And from there he was just weakened prey for Yuji.

Mahito vs Yuji in his final moments

It was hard to watch this the first time because of how painful it was to see my boy all broken and scared. This time it was painful because it was just embarrassing.

It was then, among several other moments, that I remembered Mahito is the villain and we aren't supposed to like him or root for him and he's definitely not supposed to look cool and composed.

Since when do villains get fair treatment? Authors of these types of characters are usually not writing them for the pleasure of any fans they have--it's so they finally get their comeuppance. Everyone can revel in the satisfaction of the villain's demise.

Still, I was hoping for something more fitting. Something more dignified. Trading blows until the end. A chess match where someone finally outsmarts the other. Where Mahito admits defeat gracefully, at least.

Though, maybe running away in terror, with no tricks and no energy left, is the most fitting end for Mahito. 

Then the cherry on top was thinking he was being rescued by Kenjaku. Only to be betrayed. This was Mahito's fate all along, as revealed by Kenjaku. He never intended to save Mahito; he intended to use him to start the Culling Games. Mahito himself knew he was going to be betrayed. "After all, I was born from you humans". Those were his last words. 

A bloodied Mahito, right before he's consumed by Kenjaku/Geto

So, earlier I said Gege wasted Mahito. That's probably dramatic. Of course I, the superfan, would say that. Mahito was meant to break Yuji, to be the catalyst to rebuild Yuji. And ultimately to give way to a bigger, more calculated, more sinister villain. One who has been brewing hatred for over a century and uses it to make precise, methodical plans.

I know all this and yet I can't help but wish that we had more time with Mahito. I wanted to see him mature. I wanted to see him exposed to more human emotions. I wanted to see what could happen if he befriended a human. What reason would a curse have to befriend a human? I don't know. I'd like to find out. He had such a powerful technique and domain expansion--I just wanted to see how far he could take that, too. 

Mahito, self-embodiment of perfection