Hiromi Higuruma

Overview

Hiromi Higuruma stands as testament to how systemic corruption can transform idealism into supernatural capability. Once a defense attorney genuinely committed to protecting the innocent and ensuring justice through conventional legal mechanisms, Higuruma gradually recognized that Japan’s judicial system fundamentally serves corruption and privilege rather than truth. His transformation from devoted lawyer to cursed sorcerer reflects not moral degradation but rather philosophical evolution: when conventional justice becomes impossible, alternative mechanisms for achieving justice emerge. His Judgeman Domain Expansion represents the crystallization of this new philosophy—a supernatural courtroom where he serves as judge with actual authority to determine guilt and enforce consequences through immediate technique removal. This manifests as perhaps the most efficient anti-technique weapon in the series; within his domain, Higuruma can strip sorcerers of their cursed techniques entirely, reducing them to ordinary humans regardless of their prior power level.

Higuruma’s characterization raises profound questions about justice and institutional failure. His disillusionment is not paranoia or cynicism but rather careful observation of systemic corruption at every level. He witnessed judges who prioritized political expedience over truth, prosecutors who fabricated evidence without consequence, wealthy defendants who purchased freedom while poor defendants received harsh sentences for minor infractions. These weren’t individual failures but structural features of a system designed to serve power rather than justice. Upon discovering jujutsu society’s existence—a parallel structure operating entirely outside legal authority, immune to conventional oversight, filled with powerful beings answerable to no one—Higuruma’s final faith in conventional systems shattered completely.

Backstory

Hiromi Higuruma worked as a defense attorney for years, beginning his career with genuine belief that the legal system, while imperfect, could ultimately serve justice if dedicated practitioners worked within it. He took cases pro bono for defendants who couldn’t afford representation, developed expertise in criminal defense, and built reputation as someone who fought intensely for the innocent and wrongly accused. During early career, he experienced successes that seemed to validate his faith: innocent clients were acquitted, guilty parties faced consequences, and the system occasionally produced correct outcomes. His idealism remained intact because his personal victories allowed him to believe the system could work, given sufficient dedication.

However, as decades passed and he encountered increasingly egregious examples of systemic corruption, his perspective shifted. He noticed wealthy clients with obviously guilty actions walking free because they could afford expert witnesses and strategic lawyers, while poor defendants received harsh sentences for minor crimes. He watched judges make decisions that prioritized political convenience over evidence. He observed prosecutors plant evidence when necessary to secure convictions, operate with impunity because institutional hierarchy protected them, and maintain stellar records through convictions regardless of actual guilt. Most devastatingly, he recognized that these weren’t individual aberrations but systematic patterns—the entire structure functioned this way by design, perpetuating inequality and serving institutional interests rather than truth.

Upon encountering cursed spirits and discovering jujutsu society’s existence, Higuruma experienced final philosophical shattering. He realized that supernatural forces operated entirely outside legal authority, that jujutsu sorcerers wielded power without any legal constraint or accountability, and that Japan’s entire justice system lacked authority to address supernatural threats. The revelation that powerful beings existed in shadows, answerable to no one, that could use their abilities without legal consequence, rendered his decades of legal practice meaningless. He abandoned his practice, recognizing that conventional justice had become irrelevant. His experience as attorney didn’t disappear; rather, it transformed into something far more dangerous—absolute certainty about justice’s necessity and absolute willingness to achieve it through supernatural means.

Personality

Higuruma’s defining characteristic is his transformation from idealistic naïveté to philosophical conviction that systemic reform is impossible. He maintains his core belief in justice but has fundamentally restructured his understanding of how justice achieves realization. Rather than believing that systems can be reformed or that institutional mechanisms can enforce justice, he now believes that justice requires direct supernatural application of judgment and power. This shift isn’t bitterness or cynicism but rather clear-eyed recognition of institutional reality combined with willingness to pursue alternative solutions.

Higuruma demonstrates analytical intelligence honed through decades of legal practice. His legal training taught him to examine evidence carefully, construct compelling arguments, identify logical fallacies, and predict how institutions will respond to circumstances. He applies this analytical framework to supernatural affairs; he approaches Culling Game participants as he would legal cases, examining their actions to determine guilt and deploying his technique to strip power from those he judges deserving of consequence. His manner remains formal and controlled, maintaining professional distance even in combat situations. His disillusionment hasn’t made him cruel or sadistic; rather, he pursues justice as he understands it—absolute judgment combined with enforcement through power removal—believing his decisions are righteous and necessary.

Abilities

• Judgeman Domain Expansion — Higuruma’s primary cursed technique manifesting as courtroom where he serves as judge with supernatural authority. Within the domain, he determines guilt and innocence with binding supernatural force. The domain creates a space fundamentally altered by his conviction, where his judgment becomes enforced reality. This represents his most powerful application of cursed energy, requiring significant reserves and focus to maintain.

• Technique Stripping — His domain’s crucial function allows him to completely remove sorcerers’ cursed techniques, rendering them powerless regardless of their prior power level. This strip occurs when he judges someone guilty, functionally serving as his primary weapon. The removed technique cannot be recovered through normal means, making encounters within his domain catastrophically dangerous for sorcerers reliant on their techniques.

• Judgment Authority — Supernatural power granting him the ability to determine guilt and innocence with unquestionable authority within his domain space. His judgments carry binding weight, enforcing consequences through direct power application rather than institutional authority. This manifests as the domain itself responding to his judgments, automatically stripping away techniques from those he condemns.

• Analytical Intelligence — Legal training enabling sophisticated strategic analysis, evidence examination, and decision-making under pressure. He can quickly assess situations, determine likely outcomes, and identify opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. This intellectual capability extends beyond mere intelligence into strategic genius specific to combat scenarios.

• Cursed Energy Reserves — Substantial reserves supporting domain maintenance and extended combat scenarios. His reserves, while not exceptional by special-grade standards, suffice for maintaining his domain and deploying his technique repeatedly without significant depletion.

• Professional Bearing — Psychological discipline from legal practice enabling him to maintain control and authority even in chaotic situations. He projects confidence and professionalism that translates into combat advantage, unsettling opponents through his unflappable demeanor.

Story Role

Higuruma serves as character whose disillusionment transformed into supernatural capability—demonstrating that genuine ideological conviction, even when rooted in despair and institutional criticism, can manifest as overwhelmingly powerful ability. His Domain Expansion represents perhaps the most fundamentally anti-technique ability in the series; within his courtroom, even special-grade sorcerers become powerless because he can strip their very power away. Thematically, he embodies the danger of systems that fail their idealistic practitioners—Higuruma’s decades of legal work didn’t create institutional reform but rather a highly capable supernatural individual completely divorced from legal system constraints. His story suggests that when institutions fail to serve justice, those who believed in them most become most dangerous, directing their dedication toward alternative paradigms. The irony of his approach—using supernatural power to achieve justice outside the legal system—mirrors the larger irony of jujutsu society’s existence outside conventional authority. Higuruma’s character raises questions about whether personal judgment alone suffices as justice mechanism, whether his removal of sorcerers’ techniques represents righteous punishment or inappropriate abuse of power, and whether individuals possessing conviction combined with overwhelming capability should exercise judgment authority untempered by institutional oversight.