YutaMaki

"I want to be like you. Strong and resilient. I want to be like that."

- Yuta to Maki in Volume 0 (Chapter 0.3)

YutaMaki is the het between Yuta Okkotsu and Maki Zenin from the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom.

Canon
Yuta and Maki are both Jujutsu High second-years, they meet in Chapter 1 of Volume 0. Maki's first impression of Yuta isn’t the best, as she believes that he is a "punk" and that she has no reason to be nice to that kind of guy. Maki, along with other students, is shocked to see a curse following Yuta around, and even considers getting rid of it, but Yuta stops her. In the same chapter, Satoru Gojo puts the students in pairs for their afternoon practice class, making Maki and Yuta work together in a pair. Maki's first reply to this is dismissive "Gah", but Yuta responds politely with, "I'm looking forward to working with you". Maki then teases him, wondering if he had been mistreated back in his middle school, and adds that she would bully him, too, for the way he acts. During this interaction, Maki says to Yuta that Jujutsu High isn't that easy, making herself seem a bit harsh and blunt.

Three months after Yuta joined Jujutsu High and started training, as Maki and Yuta spar together, Gojo, Panda, and Inumaki stand aside and watch them. Gojo notices how Yuta became more positive, and Panda adds that Maki looks much happier since Yuta joined them. Later Gojo informs Maki and Yuta that he will be taking them to an elementary school to exorcise a curse and rescue the kids. Since this is Yuta's first mission and he is quite inexperienced, Maki has to show him how to defeat the curses, giving him a couple of tips along the way. During this mission, Maki gets injured in the leg, and looses consciousness, so Yuta has to take the reigns and save them himself. After summoning Rika and getting rid of the curses, Yuta to carries Maki out of the building.

After Suguru Geto declares war on Jujutsu High, Maki and Yuta accidentally meet in one of the empty classrooms, and Maki tells her friend about her not having any cursed energy and not being able to see the curses. She admits that she wants to become a sorcerer in order to prove her family wrong and show her strength and resilience in the face of their prejudice. Yuta responds with an expression of admiration, saying that he wants to be like her, and even promising to help her take down the Zenin family patriarch she despises so much. To that Maki calls him stupid, as it's her mission as a Zenin family member, and she must do it by herself.

In chapter 0.3, Geto praises Yuta, but later calls Maki "the Zenin family failure" for her lack of cursed energy. This angers Yuta, and he tells Geto that he won't help someone who looks down on his friends. Maki later explains to him why she is considered a "failure". After having this conversation, Yuta praises Maki for being strong and resilient.

In chapter 144 of the manga, Yuta and Maki finally reunite after the Shibuya incident. Yuta is very excited to see Maki again. Since Maki isn't in the best condition, Yuta comes running towards her, and asks if it's okay for her to be moving around. Yuki explains to them how sometimes burn scars cannot be healed, even with the help of the Reverse Cursed Technique. When the details about the Culling Game are revealed, both decide to participate in it. When Yuta mentions how Kinji Hakari, the suspended third-year, can be stronger than him when he's worked up, Maki chimes in to note that it's not true.

Fanon
The ship is considered a rare pair, with most of the fandom preferring NobaMaki and InuOkko. However along with this, the ship is well-known among manga readers, specifically those who have read Volume 0. As of the end of June, 2021, Yuta and Maki have 233 works on Pixiv, and total of 2902040 views in the shipping chart. The biggest hit the ship has gotten was on March 25 with 42296 views. YutaMaki is on the list of the TOP 30 of the most popular ships in Jujutsu Kaisen's Japanese fandom, scoring 27th place, and being Yuta's 4th most popular ship and the only ship with Maki on the list.

At the beginning of chapter 0.2, when Maki and Yuta train together, the fans can see that Maki is strict with him, but she also helps Yuta to become stronger. Many fans of the pairing saw the beginning of possible romantic feelings for each other in manga, and they hope that since Maki and Yuta are reunited again and are working on the same goal, those impulses might grow into something bigger. Fans of YutaMaki believe that Yuta appreciates Maki's new makeover (like humorously depicted here).

After chapter 149, many JJK fans saw a distinctive parallel between Maki and Yuta ー both lost people closest to them (Yuta lost Rika, the girl he loved; Maki lost her twin sister Mai). After this and due to their deaths they attained unmeasurable power and a special weapon (Yuta had a katana containing Rika's power, and Maki wields a sword forged by Mai through her technique). Some fan works are dedicated to this similarity (like this art).

Fandom
FANFICTION

PIXIV

TUMBLR

TWITTER
 * notable twitter pages:
 * @_neimana's art page
 * @_neimana's art page

Moments

 * When the second-years are introduced to the first-years, Panda mentions that Maki’s softer with Yuta when he’s around.
 * During a mission with Inumaki, Yuta remembered Maki's words, "Curses only team up if they're weak."
 * In order to "scare off" Suguru Geto away from Jujutsu High, they use Yuta (since he's a special grade) to scare him away by calling him "Mr. Yuta!" as if he's the principal. Maki also plays along and says, "Get out before Mr. Yuta kicks ya' out!"
 * Rika once yelled at an unconscious Maki out of jealousy, saying about Yuta "No fair..no fair! Thinking only of you! Thinking only of you!"
 * In chapter 3 Maki blushes and walks away thinking 'Don't think you got recognized or something..' after Yuta says to her, "I want to be like you, strong and resilient. I want to be like that."
 * In the final chapter when Rika transforms back into her child self, Maki has a hand on Yuta holding him back.

Trivia

 * Panda asks Yuta if he prefers women with large or small chests, and after Yuta replies with "Medium-sized", Panda begins teasing Maki by saying that they have a chance on getting together.
 * In Jujutsu stroll for episode 15, when asked "What's your type?", Maki says "At least someone stronger than me." Yuta, a Special Grade Sorcerer, could easily fit that description.
 * In an interview for the Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook, mangaka Gege Akutami was asked if there was ever another girl Yuta had fallen in love with after Rika was gone. Gege's answer is, "I think there will be one from now on."
 * Maki’s view on Yuta changed from an “irritating beansprout” to an “amazing beansprout”.
 * In the original Japanese translation of the scene where Yuta tells Rika to treat Maki as if she were a butterfly or a flower, he uses the kanji «花» (hana) which asides from flower means blossom. Presumably a cherry blossom as in China they represent love, the female mystique of strength, sexuality and beauty.