Jujutsu Kaisen

Idly indulging in baseless paranormal activities with the Occult Club, high schooler Yuuji Itadori spends his days at either the clubroom or the hospital, where he visits his bedridden grandfather. However, this leisurely lifestyle soon takes a turn for the strange when he unknowingly encounters a cursed item. Triggering a chain of supernatural occurrences, Yuuji finds himself suddenly thrust into the world of Curses—dreadful beings formed from human malice and negativity—after swallowing the said item, revealed to be a finger belonging to the demon Sukuna Ryoumen, the King of Curses.

Yuuji experiences first-hand the threat these Curses pose to society as he discovers his own newfound powers. Introduced to the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, he begins to walk down a path from which he cannot return—the path of a Jujutsu sorcerer.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Gojou, Satoru Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Itadori, Yuuji Main

Enoki, Junya Japanese

Fushiguro, Megumi Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Kugisaki, Nobara Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Nanami, Kento Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Ryoumen, Sukuna Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Zenin, Maki Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Inumaki, Toge Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Okkotsu, Yuuta Supporting

Getou, Suguru Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Seshimo, Keisuke Producer, Production Coordination

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

Kimura, Makoto Producer

Murai, Yuriha Producer

Reviews

Oct 28, 2024

PeterFromRussia

Recommended

It's been a while since I wrote one of these, 4 years since a proper anime review actually, hope I still got it.

\\ I tried to avoid spoilers and hopefully, I didn't spoil anything. I let the "spoiler warning" off, but still be cautious, if you are interested, go give it 2 hours of your time or 6 episodes and you should be able to form your opinion //

Art: 9/10
Jujutsu Kaisen possess a diverse palette. From horror scenes, and demon shrines to vibrant colouring of nature. Fighting scenes with high-level environmental destruction paired with excellent attention to detail. Jujutsu Kaisen is reaching its arm ... at the level of One Punch Man's "attention to destruction". Demon shrines, or Innate Domain specifically, every demon/curse and sorcerer has a unique domain they can invoke and draw their opponent to this "dimension", it is their soul or representation of the soul. What about horror scenes? Strong curses can manipulate the fabric of reality and alter their surroundings. This invites the opportunity for some stunning shots which this anime utilizes to its maximum.


Characters: 9/10
I'll talk about the main four. Yuji Itadori is the main character. An exceptional athlete who is attending his hobby, occultism. When out of school, he visits his grandpa in the hospital. Yuji most definitely breaks some Main Character stereotypes. Average main character... for about two episodes before he suddenly becomes op (hyperbole, sometimes), overtly scared MC, doesn't do anything until the final boss MC, just some examples. I did enjoy the portrayal of Yuji's humanity. Hesitating to kill "cursed humans" and his struggle with Sukuna's personality. Because his mastery of sorcery is low, Yuji utilizes his outstanding strength to defeat his foes but can strategize to outplay stronger opponents, sometimes...

Kugisaki Nobara breaks some heroine stereotypes too. She's not tsundere, she doesn't have a crush on anyone for gag scenes, and she is a useful battle member. Kugisaki hails from a rural area, she moved to a metropolis so she could join the sorcerer high school and find an old friend in the process. Both she and Yuji are more "brute force" characters. "Brute force" in terms of battle, both are confident in their own abilities and prefer brawn to win if possible. Kugisaki uses nails imbued with cursed energy, but she can use straw/voodoo figurines to outplay her opponents. I assume I don't have to explain how voodoo works. Kugisaki is an iron-willed woman who tries to stay true to herself. Very well written heroine.

Megumi Fushigoro gives out the silent OP guy/ silent edgelord OP guy feeling and you'd be correct. Fortunately, not overwhelmingly OP. He is the brains of the fighting wing of the trio. Megumi is above Kugisaki and Yuji in terms of tactics. It is thanks to his ability to use cursed animals/spirits to his advantage. This opens up a whole new dimension for Megumi to outplay his opponents. While Kugisaki has a voodoo doll to surprise her foe, Megumi's cursed animals are an active form of threat to anyone facing him and require the foe to divert its cursed energy to defend against those animals. Personality-wise, Megumi is the least interesting character objectively. Subjectively, it's to each own taste. I know some people will absolutely love his "silent guy" type.

Satoru Gojou is the strongest character in the series by far. He's so powerful the main antagonists opt for a non-lethal elimination. A mentor figure for the trio, especially for Yuji and Megumi. Easy-going personality. Gojou doesn't possess stereotypical gags, like perverted sensei, or a random weakness so stupid nobody would expect. He conflicts with other big names in the high school about the question of Yuji and makes it clear his ideology does not align with theirs. From Gojou's point of view, we see the backstage of the school and learn additional context for some actions being taken.

As for the side characters. Thanks to the well-written Jujutsu sorcery, side characters have an impact on the story and the fights. One major criticism many anime face is the fact they write wonderful side characters, but mishandle them to death or forget them for 500 episodes and bring them back as a cameo for a bossfight. That's not the case here. I dare say you will form your own opinion just by watching season 1 and find it worth it to remember the name of that cool side character.


Character Progression: 8/10
The main character I'd like to write about is Yuji, he is the main character after all. I dare say his development is excellent, it's not too prolonged for him to learn new techniques, but it is made clear that he has a hall to improve due to his inexperience with jujutsu sorcery. Throughout season 1, Yuji obtains new skills and in the later stages of season 1, he learns to more effectively utilize jujutsu powers. One unfortunate detail is the lack of training, especially in the villain camp. While Yuji sort of carries the protagonist camp, the villains never train. We often see villains plotting, but they never train at all. Considering Gojou is their target, I find it sad they never try to learn or practice a new technique. Some of them sure try to recruit new members, but they don't last, so you're not getting a pass. As for the main three, Yuji is covered, he has to learn a lot, however, I would love to see Kugisaki and Megumi also train to achieve something, like an ultimate technique or something. Gojou is their mentor, so it would make sense for him to hint to them that a certain aspect of their battle prowess needs improvement or present each one with a strong technique and say "Learn it". That's what character progression would need to hit that 9/10.


Story: 8/10
Yuji Itadori is thrown out of his high school life when his occult club mates find a finger of Sukuna and try to do 'occultic' stuff to it. Yuji eats the finger and becomes a vessel for the king of curses. There are two big storylines, the plot to eliminate Gojou and the ticking timebomb of Sukuna. Both of these stories intertwine. Villains try to secure Sukuna, whilst progressing plan A. Gojou and others throughout Season 1 mentor Yuji to improve his Jujutsu skills. Measures are taken against Yuji from certain groups who fear Sukuna. Side stories also progress along. Overall, the Jujutsu Kaisen storyline has multiple layers, every minute is worth watching. You won't feel like any part of the episode feels detached or "filler-like". Of course, there is goofing around here and now, some funsies here and there, that's called life. However, there are instances of "plot demands" which ultimately lowers the score to 8. Plot demands somebody survives, dies, etc. even though it doesn't make much sense.

To summarize, Jujutsu Kaisen season one knows what it wants to do and what it wants to be. There is a vision and the show follows it perfectly.


Story Progression: 9/10
Nothing feels too short or too prolonged. Jujutsu Kaisen achieved great balance. Events progress smoothly, but not too fast. That is because season 1 has 24 episodes. Unlike 12-episode seasons, you are not pressed to fit important events into 200 minutes while skipping some scenes. You have double the time to project your vision properly. That's it, nothing more to talk about. Pacing is an important aspect of anime series and Jujutsu Kaisen nailed it.


Villains: 8/10
It should be noted this is a rating based on season 1, I've already watched season 2 and definitely will adjust these ratings a bit in the S2 review if I make one.

Sukuna: 10/10 - When 20 fingers of Sukuna are collected, the king of curses will fully regain his powers. Sukuna is a masterfully written sealed villain. The biggest challenges when writing a villain sealed inside the Main Character or characters, in general, are the screen time they get, their actions and any change in their behaviour. Sukuna is featured quite a bit in earlier episodes so you slowly start to understand what type of character he is and how powerful he is. He takes control and demonstrates the terror sealing within Yuji, but he does not overstay his welcome. He does not care about the intricacies of "low-level" curses and Jujutsu sorcerers. He is interested in Megumi's sorcery, this motivates him not to kill Yuji or start murdering everyone. After we get to know him, Sukuna appears only rarely, he has no reason to be a part of school competitions or watching movies. This means his every appearance after the initial episode is impactful and unexpected. The biggest positive is that he does not change, there are instances where evil characters change. This is not the case, he is irredeemably evil and will plot to regain his might.

To summarize, Sukuna does not overstay his welcome. After appearing quite a bit in the first few episodes, later episodes become unnerving to watch as whether he makes an appearance or not, adding an extra thrill. He takes actions, but after a couple of clashes, he stops doing reckless stunts that could motivate someone like Gojou to end him before getting his powers back. Lastly, he makes it clear throughout the entire season that he is the villain.

Getou: 8/10 - He plots a lot. Geto has a connection to the Jujutsu high school. He is the main antagonist in season 1. He operates from shadows and never faces Gojou for obvious reasons. He has a plan and is sticking to it. There is also a backup plan. That's as much as I can tell you about this guy, he's not exceptional. A good "grand battleplan" villain, but nothing outstanding at all.

Mahiro&the gang: 6/10 - Example of when you overstay your welcome. Mahiro should not be living after episode 25, however, he will. Defeat after defeat and somehow, he survives and always the magnitude of damage sustained/mana consumption is raised quite significantly. I understand he has something to him for many watchers. Objectively, he's a nutjob, an entertaining nutjob. When you have a popular character or villain, you try to keep them alive for milking. I use the "&gang" because there are characters that should not have been able to survive certain battles. It is lazy, I understand it takes time to think of new characters, but that's how horror shows should always go. People you liked die and new characters or villains appear, or the show ends. Mahiro is a main antagonist because of his screentime, but does he strike you as a worthy major villain? No, he's an entertaining nutjob, that's all.

If it wasn't for Sukuna, I say the villains of Jujutsu Kaisen are quite underwhelming. No one is standing out in season 1.


Sound: 8/10
Let's start with the opening and ending themes. They are weak and don't fit with the theme of Jujutsu Kaisen much. The best one would be "Lost In The Paradise". During episodes, the soundtracks pick up the pace and battles are decently sounded. In the end, opening and ending themes don't play a role in this case as the mark would not go above or below 8 in either case. The sounding is good, but not great enough for a 9 and definitely not a 7 out of 10.

So, Jujutsu Kaisen, season 1 scores an 8,43/10, which is 8/10. In my subjective feeling, I would go much closer to a 9, that's how much I liked it. However, there are unused opportunities and some small red flags, like villains sometimes not dying that I will not ignore. In the end, I can recommend this show to you, it is quite unique and there's a decent chance you might like it too.




Or not :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 3, 2024

MrSlamboni

Mixed Feelings

The first season of Jujutsi Kaisen is mediocre, but it is necessary to be able to understand the second season which is a masterpiece. The problems of season 1 leak into season 2 like a chronic illness that doesn't go away. However, season 2 is worth it because it has a much more exciting plot and animation which completely make up for its issues.

Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK) is a shonen anime that has many very convoluted mechanics which never get adequately explained. But when it does explain something, you get even more confused. It's not satisfied with telling you that Doodoohead shoots balls of fire. It ... has to tell you where the flammable material comes from, how the combustion reaction is, what is the entropy, the effects of weather on the superpower, climate change, etc. Gojo's power is that nothing can reach him, but instead it constantly goes on this tangent about Zenos' paradoxes or Achilles and the turtle. Frankly, nobody cares.

There are also concepts lifted from other shonen which JJK never tries to fit in its own universe. For example, the concept of power contracts which was lifted from HxH. In HxH, Aura comes from willpower. A user can impose restrictions on himself as a testament to his willpower which makes their abilities stronger. For example, "I will explain my ability to anyone I see" which in turn makes you stronger. In JJK, this concept is lifted, never explained, but also cursed energy does not come from willpower in the first place. As a result, the whole concept just sort of exists and is weakly justified, not that JJK makes any serious attempt to explain all of this. It just vaguely mentions something about "contracts" and you're supposed to have watched HxH as homework.

Every thing in JJK has been seen before. Evil spirit sealed in MC? Edgy rival? Humorous but strong teacher? That's all Naruto. Power contracts? HxH. Domains? Yu Yu Hakusho. Last moments of a dead parent as a motive? Blue Exorcist. While I don't mind copying stuff from other shows, I do expect a reason to watch this, such as a unique way of arranging these concepts or a twist. However, season 1 doesn't really have anything special about it. Therefore, it's just mediocre on its own.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 2, 2024

SenpaisThighs

Not Recommended

As a preface, while I am reviewing the 1st season and also scoring it solely based on the 1st season, this review will touch on the movie and the 2nd season as well (no spoilers though), and the problems I have here more or less translates there as well. Anyways…
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Dramatized:
Ah there I was, it was 2021 and I had just finished JJK season 1. My roommates turned to me, all eager eyed, asking me what I thought about this anime from a manga that they love very, very much. I gave them a thumbs-up and my signature smile: “Very greato..!” I says. Ah, but as ... you can tell by my score, it was a lie. If I were to man up and tell them the truth, I’d yell out “MIDDDD!!” But, as mid shows usually go, I honestly couldn’t quite put my finger on why I thought that, and I didn’t want to break their hearts. I mean, sure, I could point to the fact that it’s world and the first 8 or so episodes of JJK had the creativity and depth equivalent to a “How to Draw Anime Faces for Beginners” book you’d find at your local Target, but I believe there’s more going on here. And, to JJK’s credit, it can get pretty creative in how it plays into common battle shonen tropes. It wasn’t until JJK 0 and then JJK season 2 that I finally figured it out, but not without the help of a fever dream I had about a certain game with a certain minigame
Can you guess it?
Yup, that’s right:
MARIO PARTY 8 for the Wii.
No no! Hold on! Stick with me here!
-----
The minigame in question is one called “Punch-a-Bunch.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with Punch-a-Bunch, the minigame is simply about using your wii remote to repeatedly punch the Bowser statue in front of you until it breaks. There is, however, a second condition to this minigame that I conveniently forget to mention to my newby rivals. You see, this minigame isn’t simply about who punches the fastest, but is instead about timing your punches to whenever your boxing glove swells up the most.
Basically: bigger fist = harder punch.
JJK is like an amateur that tries to win by punching as fast as he can. It’ll get the job done, sure, but man does it have way more OOMPH if you give it a second and time it right. How this translates into a story is that there is hardly any build-up for anything, rarely anything to look forward to later down the line, empty or forced feeling plot lines, and no depth to the show for you to pick out.
So what you have then is a show that has to ride or die on its cinematography and animation to facilitate impact (thanks Mappa!) or its moment-to-moment insanity to maintain intrigue. Unfortunately, its moment-to-moment insanity (in season 1) is as crazy as a middle-aged mom’s shopping list. I think there were 3 moments in its 24 episodes that took me for a ride. And, sure, I feel like the moment-to-moment insanity doesn’t have to mean that the plot is always twisting-and-turning and just cRaZY; the ride itself can just be the ups-and-downs affiliated with that feeling of a journey. I tried to rewatch season 1 for season 2 and man, I was right there, but I just couldn’t finish it. It was just so mind-numbingly boring. The “ride” for the twists aren’t there anymore now that you already know what’ll happen and the “ride” for the journey isn’t there because, I suppose, the contents of the story were just too shallow to be enjoyably reexperienced.
-----
Ok, so I established how JJK is uncreative and shallow and blah blah blah.
What would happen if JJK DID build-up to stuff, if it DID have something to look forward to, if it DID play Punch-a Bunch like a pro, all while Mappa comes in with the assist? While I won’t spoil anything here, the Gojo Flashback arc is by far the best part of JJK and is a good example of what happens if you take most everything I talked about above and really utilize it. Unfortunately, it’s only like 4 episodes. Also unfortunately, JJK returns to relying on Mappa and it’s moment-to-moment insanity again starting with the Shibuya arc. At least the moment-to-moment insanity is a lot crazier there, though I am curious to see if my enjoyment would hold up if I watched it again, just because this entire show feels so inherently shallow.
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Ending this review on a…
GRAB BAG OF OTHER THINGS I LIKE OR DISLIKE ABOUT JJK
- Is pretty show :)
- Cursed Energy is a needlessly complicated power system that also squanders the depths of an otherwise cool, abstract concept.
- Now, I know the logistics of the world of battle shonens are usually secondary to the power system and fights, but man JJK has to be up there with the most plot holes, and even beyond its plot holes, the JuJutsu world (the academy, the clans etc) feels so uninspired and half-assed.
- The (*main) antagonists are decent. Mahito and Toji in particular are great. I like Jogo for his grumpy grandpa energy. Sekuna is fine as well, mostly because he plays off of Naruto’s Nine-Tails in a more interesting way.
- The few times JJK settles into a slice-of-life, I’m actually pretty surprised by how realistic and funny some of the conversations are.
- I almost like Itadori and his friend group, but… Nah, I just don’t care.
- Most of the side characters are whatever as well. Generally likable, but fairly underutilized and uninteresting beyond their gimmick. At least Miwa is pretty cute uwu. And I’m vibing with Nanami.
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Not Recommended if you already know your battle shonens and want something new or if you like more substance to your show, even in terms of shonen anime (-->this is me<--).
Recommended if you are new to anime and want to see the “rule of cool” in action or if you are an anime veteran who just really needs their fix for new battle shonen action (there are those that do "battle shonen" vibes better though, just saying).

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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