Keita Oe

Keita Oe (大 (おお) 江 (え) 圭 (けい) 太 (た) , Ōe Keita^?) is a minor character in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He was the defendant in a murder case where he was represented by Hiromi Higuruma and unjustly found guilty.

Appearance

Keita is a young man with a slim build and a fairly unintimidating appearance. He has light-colored hair and dark eyes with thin eyebrows and freckles on his cheeks. When Keita was fist charged, his hair was about mid-length, reaching to his ears. After spending time in jail, his head was shaved to a buzz cut by the time of the first trial.

Keita before shaving his head.

Personality

Keita is a naive and unassuming person who unfortunately found himself in strange circumstances. His docile personality doesn't fit the bill of a psychopathic murderer. He's just constantly at the wrong place at the wrong time and makes himself easy to be taken advantage of. His live-in job prevented him from contacting the police when he found a murder weapon, but he earnestly meant to turn it in. He cared about his cat so he ran from the police, but they found him later with the bloody knife.

Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Keita always remained steadfast that he was innocent. Even so, being on trial was an excruciating experience for him. Keita was crying most of the time he spoke with his lawyer but he always told the truth. Higuruma believed in him and Keita was grateful for that. However, during the second trial when Keita was branded guilty, he looked at Higuruma with disappointment.^[1]

Synopsis

Culling Game Arc

Keita was once illegally questioned by the authorities because he had an acquaintance that used drugs.^[2]

Keita worked a live-in job as a caretaker at a non-profit organization that ran a shelter and supported independent living for the elderly. However, Keita was not paid wages for his work, receiving only pocket money at New Year's and boxed lunches and groceries as provisions. Despite this, Keita was forced to pay 50,000 yen per month for rent.^[3]

In March 2016, a mother and her daughter were found stabbed to death in their home in Morioka City, Iwata Prefecture. Keita fled when patrol officers questioned him, which led to the officers following him home and finding a bloody knife, with the DNA on the blade matching the victims'. He was promptly arrested and charged by the local prosecutor's office on suspicion of murder and robbery.^[4]

When questioned by public defender Hiromi Higuruma, his defense lawyer, Keita insisted that he was innocent. He explained that the reason he fled the officers was because he was worried that if he was arrested, his cat would die due to the no-pet policy at the organization. He further explained that he found the bloody knife and planned on giving it to the police later since his job prevented him from contacting the police.^[5]

Through Hiromi's efforts, the court found Keita innocent of his crimes.^[6] However, the prosecution immediately appealed the ruling and a second trial found Keita guilty despite evidence proving his innocence, and Keita was unjustly sentenced to life imprisonment.^[7] Keita's look of disappointment towards Hiromi finally pushed over the lawyer over the edge, awakening his cursed technique as he demanded a retrial.^[8]

References

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