Jujutsu Kaisen

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For those who are always on the lookout for the next big hit from Shonen Jump, they've probably been hearing about Jujutsu Kaisen, due to it selling fairly well for its early volumes and making it alive out of its first year of publishing, managing to avoid the early cancelation that kills most Jump series in half a year. But is it any good?

Story: 6.
Honestly nothing you havnt seen before. The setup feels as though its a bit cobbled together from other popular series, featuring a society dedicated to getting rid of evil spirits (Bleach), a school of talented young combatants (Boku no Hero), along ... with some generous dashes of Yu Yu Hakusho. The lack of originality is unfortunate, but the story does better when dealing with character to character interactions. It also has a good long term conflict between main character Yuuji and the demon that possesses him Sukuno, but for now, the series feels lacking in direction. It also has a very fast start, which I am always put off by in Shonen (people feel like they need to rush to exciting parts in order to avoid cancelation, but it reallyy just makes everything mean less when it happens so fast).

Art: 6.
Probably dest described as functional. You can always tell whats happening, but its just not that eye-catching or impressive. I think in a series that relies on feeling stylish, the mediocre art really hurts it. Its also damaged by running at the same time as some Jump series with much better art (Boku no Hero, Dr Stone, etc). The art is probably at its best when drawing freaky monsters This is the first serialization of the artist, so hopefully it gets better with time.

Character: 5.
Pretty glaringly a big weakness of the series. The cast is a bit smaller than most Jump series, but no one is really that interesting. Yuuji is likable, Gorou is cool, but the author has'nt done enough to really make me emotionally invest in either of them, despite them having the most screen time of any characters. The other characters are even more 2D. Mahito the villain is alright, Getou seems like he could get better over time.

Enjoyment: 6.
It was'nt bad, but it wasnt very good either. I'm honestly a little surprised it made it out of the first year, since it certainly is nowhere near the quality of the other popular long running series in Jump. There is some potential on display, but the early chapters are just not that impressive.

Overall: 6
I'm happy I read it, since I suspect it might get better over time, but the current run is mediocre.

I'm pretty sick while writing this so please forgive this nonsensical review.

This might be a strong take to start off with but I feel like Gege Akutami owes to give half of the credit for JJK to Kubo Tite, Masashi Kishimoto, and Studio Mappa as it feels like its strong start was owed largely to them and it felt like he had no idea what he was doing after Shibuya.

Now, onto the actual review portions. I, like many others, was introduced to JJK through the anime adaptation and there was a lot to love at the start. Although many of the elements of the ... series were very reminiscent of series like Bleach, YuYu Hakusho, and Naruto, the execution of these tropes and characters were fresh and it felt like JJK had figured out the formula for modern Shonen. Unfortunately, this did not remain the standard, because the story eventually became bogged down by subplots that never were resolved, characters who never paid off to anything, and the pacing and questionable story decisions in the second half of the series were actively were a detriment to my enjoyment of the series.

Without spoiling things too much: there are a number of characters that die suddenly after either being present or hyped up for large portions of the story. A certain important character is hyped up, but immediately loses their first onscreen battle due to their opponent somehow having the perfect counter to their powers despite never alluding to that. However, the more infamous of these events in the story is chapter 236, where a fan favorite character seems to be winning a fight, but then proceeds to get absolutely hoed off screen just because it generates shock value. I would not even have been mad at the result, but there was no explanation for why it was done the way it was. Normally, the rule of storytelling is "show, don't tell", but for some reason the author loves to "don't show, and only tell 20 chapters later". He built up characters as being arrogant and confident on screen for hundreds of chapters, but then flashed back to them being very vulnerable off screen only after they die. This leads to the "fraud" syndrome that is running rampant in the fandom, and also feels a bit like character assassination after the fact.

Other issues included walls of text, powers not really making that much sense (even for a Shonen series), oh and also killing off half the cast in Shibuya. Although there are interesting characters afterwards, the fact that JJK has such a strong start actually worked against it in the long run since I felt no incentive to become attached to any of the characters afterwards and this was compounded by the lack of payoff for any of the characters in the end.

Apologies again for the rambling, but the tldr of it is that the first half of JJK is good, but the latter half felt like the weirdest mix of decisions that were only focused on shocking the viewer with obviously very little thought put into the story consequences. It makes me sad how frustrated I became with this series in the latter half of it, and although I feel that it was an objectively bad ending to the series, it almost feels like a mercy killing and I'm glad I don't have to blow up my friends phones about how frustrating JJK is anymore.

I have an active dislike for shounen genre buuut JJK was something I begrudgingly admitted it was very good initially...that was until the end of Shibuya incident arc. It turned gigabad with the PubG hunger games type Tournament Arc that I can't recommend it anymore.

Without spoiling, the greatest issue by far is Gege's need to revive a character Archetype after the first instances of the archetypes get good opinions from crowd. The result is the "revivals" make new "characters" with 1:1 motivation and make for extrachromosomal plotholes. There's the Tojo type revived twice, Geto type revived once, NobaraxMegumin type revived once just to name the ... main few. It's expected when Gege claims he consulted a sTrInG theory physicist to rebrand the typical chi/mana/yokai fantasy mechanic to the convolutedcolorclusterfk of a system of cUrSes.

The motivations for the tournament arc was dubious. The antagonist sets whatever rules and the protagonist team decides to participate in it instead of focusing on reversing what happened on the Shibuya Arc. But the dumb rules are not all set by the antagonists though. The more one gets to know how "magic" works in the JJK world, the less it makes sense as to why fights have to be like old turn based Final Fantasy-esque. For example, someone "dies" but not really because the battle is not over and the equivalent of a "revive potion" can be applied by team member to resurrect him before the battle ends. Like what??

Somewhere in middle of Shibuya Arc itself, the author seems to have wanted to cash in on the endless carnage trope that titles like CSM, Dandadan etc do. The change is reminiscent of when Yu Yu Hakusho deviated from a proper story into doing tournament arcs because DBZ popularized it. I can't like this anymore because how videogamey it has become, similar to how isekais quantifies experience, whether cyber or fantasy.

The plot hasn't felt like it has moved in the last 3years. If one considers Shabooya arc's intention to enable development of supporting characters, that fix has only created more holes, more complications and more plot armor. It feels so much fillery-ish especially with new characters out of nowhere, going nowhere; that I hope JJK doesn't embrace DBZ, Naruto, Bleach and One Piece's footsteps to become a long running series. The fact how the story has often changed course abruptly tells me that the author never planned far ahead on how to close the story, which could only mean JJK will get stretched and milked down the line.

Despite its promising start, “Jujutsu Kaisen” ultimately looses its footing in the latter half of the series and is plagued with being rushed for the sake of ending it. It never fully delves into full on horror and tends to have convoluted explanations on characters special moves during fights.

The art isn’t the best of quality and unfortunately suffers from feeling rushed in the later chapters much like the story. Characters faces begin to look exactly the same and fight scenes melt into what can only be described as a rorschach test. Every couple of chapters the reader may be treated to a pleasant panel of ... a cool fighting pose or a truly horrific depiction of a monster but they’re far, few, and in between.

The story started off simple: Yuji must consume all of Sukana’s fingers while Gojo finds a way to either save or destroy Yuji in the process. At least that’s how it originally seemed. Over time the story introduces so many characters with individual stories that it eventually loses track of the main character and what the goal even was. Some storylines are either never resolved or completely rushed over by explaining it in one speech bubble. Yuji was even absent for SEVERAL chapters. He’s the main character and the reader is never given any info about his whereabouts till he randomly shows up again.

As far as characters go, they’re likable… or marketable may be a better fitting term. Each character fits a particular Shonen trope that people tend to gravitate toward. Only a very small amount of characters feel unique, but they’re either never around or killed off for the sake of shock and awe. Some characters have meaningful sacrifices where others seem to be killed for the sake of “pulling heart strings”.

Readers should enter “Jujutsu Kaisen” with caution. Be aware of fan hype. This manga does a solid job in delivering an average, fun yet convoluted story. Many may be mislead by fans who are overly excited about this manga and may end up disliking an otherwise fine Shonen manga. It’s an entertaining manga but it’s far from being a great story and continues to suffer from being rushed.

The first 40-50 chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen sucked balls to me. I hated almost everything about it. It was generic, cliched, and even confusing at times. But then the next 60 chapters made me go like "yeah, its alright". At times it's very fun to read, at others I'd rather listen to Asta scream.

The characters are boring. MC haha so strong naruto style. Fuck that guy. Most boring MC in the world. Kirito was more fun to watch. Sukuna better take over his body fast. The side MCs aka Megumi and the other girl. ... They're setting up a lot of mysteries around Megumi and his powers. His family is more interesting than his character. The other girl hasn't been developed enough as a character but I guess she has a distinct personality. Now the best characters. Every side character and villain is great. Geto, Satoru, Touji, and Nanami all interesting characters. Why the mangaka can make all these interesting characters, but his main characters are absolute ass, I will never know.

The story is pretty generic for the first 50 chapters. In fact, I would say the first 50 chapters are the worst thing I have ever read. I had never been so bored in my entire life. If my life had been any less sad, I would have never read it. After the kyoto/tokyo training arc thing, the story picks up. It goes from trash to treasure. From berserk anime to berserk manga. I'm overexaggerating it but it does get immensely better. We get a ton more interesting characters with much better stories than whatever happens in the first half. The flashback arc or whatever its called is definitely the best arc so far and maybe by the time the current arc ends It may be on par or better.

The art is good. There isn't anything too special about it. Sometimes it looks nice. Sometimes I have no idea what I'm looking at. The mangaka seems to have some problems with clarity sometimes but most of the time it looks good.

The power system is fucking stupid. It makes no sense to me. I probably read too fast in the beginning and missed out on how exactly it works or the specifics because the battles although nice too read, get kinda retarded sometimes. The only power that I can even understand is the one who has none and is just strong. All the of the curse powers are just garbage to me.

Overall, I would recommend the read. If you have the will to get past the first 40-50 chapters, or you may even end up liking it, then the story and characters will be dramatically better. The only thing that holds it back is the MC and his gang, the first few small arcs, and its predictability.

A disappointing waste of a really neat premise, a great cast of characters, and an intriguing power system. The manga never again reaches the peak of the Shibuya Incident arc, and by the last third of the story, abandons any and all forms of character development for the sake of long, drawn-out fights that focus more on spectacle and word salad than a coherent fight. It's a series that seems to run almost solely on "aura" and hype for characters that usually never actually amount to anything. Even if the ending wasn't the most anticlimactic Nothing Burger ever written in the history of Shonen, I ... still wouldn't have been satisfied due to the direction of the story post-Shibuya heading in a way that just wasn't engaging or fun. I denied it for the longest time, but deep in my heart I knew that the story had fallen off; the culling game arc just dragged on and on, and fights got increasingly convoluted to the point where the 2 questions I usually asked were "what is happening" and "why should I care about any of this".

My personal biggest gripe with this series however is how Gege builds up so many characters, gives them great designs and makes (well, most of them) them interesting, and then kills them off unceremoniously after their first big on-screen fight. For the Shibuya Incident arc, the number of deaths was fine, it drove home the point that shit got real, but then he just kept killing off more and more and more characters until basically all the characters I cared about were dead. It's the same issue that a series like Akame ga Kill! has, killing off all the protagonists for no reason other than shock value is just so lame and boring. There's no one to latch onto, and I stopped being a spectator, gripped by the story and conflict and became a mere passerby who views whatever's going on with disinterest.

At the end, this manga just reminded me of how many better manga I could've been reading, because this takes clear inspiration from a lot of other manga but doesn't live up to any of them. I wanted to be generous with the score and maybe give it like a 6 because I really enjoyed the first half, but the more I think about the latter half, the more I dislike this series because of how much potential was wasted.

I will try to explain my thoughts without spoilers, so no specifics.

I mostly enjoyed myself up until the end of shibuya incident. Kyoto Goodwill Event and Death Painting arcs were boring to me though. Hidden inventory was the best arc by far. Shibuya incident was good if you turn your brain off.

Culling game was fucking trash though. I have never seen any media take that much of a nose dive in terms of quality. Except for a few small things, almost none of the events that happened during that arc matter in any shape or form. Despite that it takes up a quarter of ... the whole manga or something like that. Just wastes time.

For no good reason a fuckton of new characters are introduced out of nowhere, while our main cast is mostly ignored. As a result our established cast has not been developed for what it feels like 150 chapters. This is obviously unacceptable. Of course the new characters cannot be given enough depth or development within such a short amount of time, as 10 fucking fights are happening at once.

Culling game did not adress existing problems of the series, it decided to say fuck it we ball and introduced more problems while ignoring the past ones.

Another criticism I have is that the artwork has been degrading steadily for a while. I checked out the latest chapters out of curiosity and its become really quite bad. This isn't THAT important though.

I have never been bored this much consuming any piece of media. Culling Game is just a colossal horsehit and it takes JJK from a solid 8 to a 6, barely enjoyable almost mid shounen. Hopefully the last arc is good, I dropped JJK after chapter 230 or so after culling game burned me out. I will update the review after the series concludes.

Going to keep it quick, this series started off great the story, art and characters were all great, then the Shibuya arc happened.
To say things are a mess would be an understatement. Characters were dumbed down to make the plot work, the art for the action has steadily gotten worse each chapter and so many plot conveniences that it's laughable. I lost count how at how many Deus ex machinas their were in the Shibuya arc.
I think the author has bitten more than he can chew, I'm dropping this for now maybe down the line I might pick it back up. Hopefully the author ... can salvage the ending to this but seeing where it's heading I have my doubts.

[TRIGGER WARNING: this series contains a lot of body horror, and explores the subject of death. - If anybody is triggered by this, then take caution when reading / watching the series.]





BEST THINGS ABOUT THIS SERIES:


(1. SUBJECT MATTER: Surprisingly mature for a standard action shonen; - that being confronting death, valuing the life of others as well as your own, and even facing your own demise.
...
This also brings with it a lot of tension and fear that characters you like could die at any moment. And some very well might.

HOWEVER, this is later completely dropped in favour of straight up action and lots of body horror with little repercussion, which ain't necessarily bad, it's just a bit whiplash inducing if you don't expect it.)



(2. WORLD BUILDING: Nearly every arc expands on the world of Curses and Shamans, bringing in a new faction and memorable characters.

It's a dreary and depressing line of work being a shaman, but the comedic elements of the main cast act as a nice contrast to the dark background.

HOWEVER, the magic system, though unique and lot of fun to see in action, gets far too much explanation to the point of tedium, you could skip half the pages of power explanation and it wouldn't matter.)




(3. ACTION: If you want cool characters doing badass things, fight scenes that feel like they have proper weight behind each punch and kick, then you will love this series.

This manga is able to make you really feel the speed and ferocity in the movements, it's honestly a lot of fun. Nearly every fight leaves marks in the environment, and the wind up and payoffs can be extremely satisfying to watch.

HOWEVER, there is very little strategy beyond punching something really, really, really, really, hard. Despite some of the characters having unique powers of their own, they will most likely resort to the good ol' fist-to-face method. - This wasn't so much a problem for me but it might be for others.)





WORST THINGS ABOUT THIS SERIES:


(1. VILLAINS: While the monster designs are cool and creepy, showing off some truly disturbing body horror, a lot of them fall into the trap of "human-like blob monster". Fans of body horror have most likely seen a lot scarier. Its nothing special.

But worst of all, is the fact that nearly every villain, except for one, has the same role; - that being "Wacky Magic Serial Killer". Which gets extremely annoying after a while!

This can get so bad to the point where you're cheering for them to die, just because you want them to shut the hell up. Some are utterly pointless and die straight away. Don't get me wrong, it's super satisfying to see their comeuppance, but theres not much going for some of them beyond that.)




(2. TONE: For the first few arcs the series is legitimately tense as the death of close characters, and even the main character, is at a constant threat.

But, this changes to a tone in which many characters get stabbed, have their bones broken, blood poisoned, flesh burnt, head smashed and throat slit... and they just walk it off! I don't know what that plot armour is made of but it's strong stuff!

Also, unless you are a regular for horror movies and gore, then the tone can really tire you out sometimes. The fast pace has few moments where it slows down so fare warning when binge reading.)

Things started off pretty okay, even great. But I feel like Gege was told to stretch the story after the anime took off.

After the Shibuya Incident arc, the plots that drew in readers are put on hold, and much of the established worldbuilding is either ignored or seemingly dropped. The best example is the abandonment of the school setting. The reader also isn't shown how big the impact of the incident really is for common citizens, which alienates the story from the reader. How much of the world is affected? We just don't know.

I dropped this manga after chapter 188, which is well into the ... Culling Game part of the story. This arc focuses a lot of fighting scenes: between familiar and unfamiliar characters, or sometimes even between new characters only. It became very hard for me to keep reading however, since the fighting scenes and cursed techniques become more and more far-fetched during this arc. I could barely understand what was going on at some points, though that might also have something to do with the translations. But if you ask me, if you need to take a step out of the fight to explain to the reader how a power works (with tables and everything!), the power is too complicated.

Overall, if you asked me to score the portion of the manga up to the Shibuya Incident, I'd give it a solid 8 or 9. After that, the plot quality drops dramatically to about a 4 or 5, depending on the chapter. My recommendation: read up to the Shibuya Incident Arc.
I will keep an eye on future arcs to see if Gege picks up those plotlines again, but until then, I'm done with this manga.

I think at this point most people are either familiar with either the anime or manga in some capacity. Gege has created a really great cast and a really interesting power system. The characters are fun, the powers are cool, the villains are interesting, and the fights are great. I have practically no major criticisms of the series up chapter 1 to chapter 215-ish.

The last 70 chapters of the series results in a lot of head scratching: unresolved plots, pitiful world building, unrealized character arcs, and a final battle that just went on for too long. It makes me disappointed because it feels like ... I had a meal that started off great but was only served half of it.

no spoilers

Story - 3:
This could've been even lower but anyway you have your standard pseudo-modern Shonen goal and adventure, basically a generic Shonen with a a little(a lot) more edge. I put this as a 3 because if you look back on every "significant" moment, it all felt very impromptu and could've been changed at any given moment(I am talking especially about the later chapters, Shibuya arc...). I actually enjoyed the first 50 or so, idk much more than the rest of it that seemed to drag on for sooo long. Dialogue becomes lengthy and boring to read at some point because they ... try to cram in bs explanations so much when they could've built up for much longer to feel more impactful. So much worldbuilding that doesn't even end up making sense(I can look past that), but even aside from that the exposition and build-up/hype for trying to be entertainment itself is pretty bad. Fights end up feeling hollow and tension is strung high for so long you start forgetting high and lows/variety and plot twists are expected...

Art- 5:
I'm being generous here because I did enjoy the art style direction, and how JJk did seem very artsy in some of it's chapters. But also, as a digital artist I got so freaking annoyed at the excessive use of the "calligraphy"ish brush. It was cool at first, but man it feels more like a crutch than artistic choice now, especially because Todo's hair is literally just that brush and that annoyed me to now end. That's a pet peeve of mine but also there are quite a few sparse panels and pages that are literally only words... is this a light novel...? Sparse pages include covering the entire page in a cool black blot of ink, I guess. Sometimes the art/paneling/typesetting can get messy to the point you don't understand what happened, but that kinda goes for everything in the series so I was lenient xd

Character - 6:
Characters could've had more development, but purely on design and personalities... they were alright, and certainly not an eyesore(most of them). I think a lot of them get ruined because of bad story writing, but taking them at face value, there is a character type for everyone to like. I think the visual designs of the characters can seem boring compared to other big-name Shonen JUMP series, but I suppose you could say it has it's own aesthetic in looking uniform and modern/aesthetic. Either way, they're still great and some are a little more interesting than others, but there are definitely likable characters and characters you can simp for(if you ignore the poor development and treatment they get in story). I initially put this at 7 but then I remembered Mahito...

Enjoyment - 3:
It's manga received Kimetsu no Yaiba treatment but less polarizing. The first few chapters of the manga are... not terrible, but nothing special. However, as the series continues on-- arc after arc, I sincerely wanted to drop the series. There was no "nail in the coffin" when I dropped this series. It just slow burn distaste and became tedious to read and I straight up lost interest for the next arc. I was generous to the aforementioned categories, but it's not a fun manga to binge in the later chapters and once you try to wrap your head around all these details of the story/art/characters, it feels like a botched job in all three categories and not really worth the trouble anymore. Sometimes stuff just happens for what felt like no reason and all you can do is roll your eyes and go "okay..." at this series, and none of the categories held up to keep you latched on or attached to anything that was happening or anyone there. Like I said, there is so much unnecessary text sometimes that it did not feel worth reading.

Overall - 5:
It's kinda generic, not gonna lie but there are some "aha! gorey and really messed up" non-standard Shonen themes and imagery that are well-suited for people who enjoy Shonen with extra edge. I don't find any of it that special or that new, and I am especially disappointed from the later chapters. Before that, it was an alright experience but it just gave me pain, tbh...Anyway, rated it a 5 because it was mediocre at best, but if I'm being real the two extra points were for Nanamin <3

Jujutsu Kaisen is an idea that tried to be unique, but ended up being another Demon Slayer. From the plot, comedy, and characters. They are identical and both foil the same way. Let me elaborate.

Comedy (6)- Let’s start with the comedy, one my substantial problems with this manga. The comedy is a bunch of screaming and yelling between Itadori and his friends (or adversaries considering the situation.) The author’s idea of “comedy” is a bunch of screaming and yelling in confusion or idiocracy. I will give credit where credit is due though as this manga had me dying on the floor at some portions. Where ... the character would do something so unexpected(for example In chapter 64 when Kugisaki finished talking with Yuko about Itadori she decided that she had to get a boyfriend before him. While the “it’s like that” portion before that was a pathetic excuse for comedy the aftermath was hilarious.) This could be considered dense or even expected of this series full of shit that is random comedy, but this still had me dying on my floor.


Art (8)- There is not much to say about the art. It is equal to 2020 standards, nothing to special but it is more so on the good side. The fights are decent and the art in conversations can be annoying at times but overall it’s good.


Character (5)- The MCs in Jujutsu Kaisen: Yuuji Ittadori (Main protagonist), Fushigoro Megumi and Kugisaki Nobara(MCs friends, all attend Jujutsu High). Finally, but definitely not last, Gojou, Satoru(MCs Sensei/teacher of Jujutsu High) Yuji Itadori is a generally like-able guy. He is athletic, has decent looks, and has an “outgoing” personality. “Outgoing” refers to him constantly screaming and getting excited over nothing. (Just for the “comedy”). Yuuji ate a cursed finger to save his friends etc. (I’ll get into it later). His friends Fishigoro Megumi and Kugisaki Nobara are just that. His friends. They don’t get nearly enough screen time and never had the opportunity to show off what the have in a mission etc. There is little character development from Yuuji throughout the story and zero to zilch character development in Fushigoro, Kugisaki, and little in Gojou. By the way who is Gojou? He is the real protagonist, and a godlike Jujutsu sorcerer (most likely the strongest atm.) Even though Gojou doesn’t get a lot of character development he gets a shit ton of screen time; in which I can appraise this series for as he is a total badass. The artwork done in his fights are on another level too. Even though his character might not be deep or relatable he is very entertaining; which leads us into our next topic-enjoyment.

Enjoyment (8)- While Jujutsu Kaisen might lack character depth, story, and comedy my enjoyment while reading was a solid 8/10. Whether it be Garou creating his infinite domain or Yuuji releasing Ryoumen to obliterate other cursed. This manga is sure to catch your eye.

Story/Plot (5)- The idea of killing cursed/demons is not untouched, but Jujutsu Kaisen tries to do it different by fighting cursed with curses. This genuinely sounds interesting but is executed rather poorly as “cure users” look like regular people, fight like regular fighters, and act like regular people. There is nothing unique about them that may have intrigued me if they had unique attributes to specific curse users like Noragami has. The story is about Yuuji Itadori who has to swallow a cursed finger to kill his friend. Where most are incompatible with curses there is a one in a million someone is compatible with a curse. Yuuji is compatible with the great curse of Sukuna, so he has to go around collecting his 20 fingers of his five arms before being executed by Jujutsu sorcers. If you want a complete summary read the synopsis. The base of the story is great but the execution turns into a generic and sometimes cliched story. The story gradually gets better but again; relapses into another generic arc.


Overall (6)- I know this is a harsh rating considering my former ratings a barrage out to a 6.5 but the wasted potential in this manga is immeasurable. Relating to demon slayer again as the flaws of both are very similar. The comedy, characters, and plot are all very similar. If you are wondering if you should read Jujutsu Kaisen I recommend reading Demon Slayer(Kimetsu no Yaiba) first. If you love it then I can confidently reccomend Jujutsu Kaisen to you as a solid read. If demon slayer was mediocre for you then skip this manga. It won’t be the next big showmen if it dosent turn around soon, and it doesn’t look like it will.
*This is my first review, don’t take anything too seriously*

If this review was helpful please upvote :)

Story: 3, Art: 5, Character: 7, Enjoyment: 6, Overall: 5

JJK sucks

Jujutsu Kaizen a new Shonen leaving its mark and dropping big numbers alongside others like My Hero Academia. To set my footing here ill ask myself the simple question, what do I think of JJK? .... The best way i can explain this is by saying, this is the most overrated piece of generic Shonen since Demon Slayer. Why? everything, from the characters to the story is all ripped off and nobody opens their eyes because the manga got a great anime adaption.

Rating

Story 3: The story is exactly just like My hero, ... Black Clover, Naruto and every Shonen that uses tropes. Yet the only difference is that everyone praises JJk for doing the exact same garbage that every other shonen does. My Hero gets hate for its generic story, Deku gets accepted into the most prestigious school after getting the strongest power. Itadori gets assigned into the or one of the most prestigious sorcerer school after getting the curse spirit of Sukuna. Itaodir has a basically demon inside of him, Asta has a demon in his grimoire. Yall see what I'm saying? JJK is on par with your typical generic shonen. Just that these other mangas like My Hero and Black Clover, have better execution to garbage tropes.

Art 5: Honestly I'm being generous here, it pisses me off how poorly drawn some chapters are, ranging from 0 shading to scribbles all over a page when Itadori uses Black Flash or basically any fight in this manga is splattered with ink and scribbles. Sometimes the drawings are un readable, i cant see a single thing and the body proportions looked morphed and lazy. The art is mid at most and low resolution even though i read on VIZ.

Character 7: I tried being as generous as possible here to but honestly the characters in JJK are the 1 and only thing that is decent in this plot hole, generic and poorly executed story. Characters like Nobara get hardly any development but people don't notice that because "oh she's a unique and badass character" which makes no sense because there still has to be development regardless of uniqueness. Megumi has had pretty good development but i wish he relied more on his friends, nevertheless he still has great character development and he reminds me of Aki frrom Chainsaw Man. Itadori... wow it is a shit show with him, he starts off as someone who wants to save someone and is always happy to him being the exact same in the latest chapters. The only character development we saw from Itadori is in the Shibuya arc, he gets more mature but right after all his friends get basically killed he is back on his bull shit as being a happy dude. I wished he grew up and realized hes living a fucking nightmare.

Enjoyment 6: honestly iot pisses me off how people say this is a 9/10 or 10/10 saying this is peak Shonen, Shonen at its best. Then after they come and say that, Black Clover is bad because its generic, my hero is bad because the characters suck. Literally the characters in my hero are just as bad in JJk, the story is just as generic in BC than it is in JJk. People need to wake up and drop the hypocrisy.

Overall 5: Its at most a mediocre series so far, the manga sucks so far with a lot of plot holes and a lot of missing context and bad writing. To begin with Gojo got his power off of some bs, he basically trained for like 1 month and got the strongest buff in new gen Shonen history with hardly any training and no development. The manga is a rip off of every other new gen and a accumulation of character designs from every old generation show.

Truly, this is a story called Jujutsu Kaisen. It has a tremendous start, along with some of the highest peaks in the medium but slowly descends into bewildering mediocrity. In this review I will detail my conflicting thoughts with the story, divided into two sections: Spoiler Free and Spoiler, not free, I guess.

Spoiler Free:
Overall the story starts off very strong. People often say that JJK utilizes a lot of generic Shonen tropes, which is true, especially the main plot point being a demon sealed inside the protagonist. However, tropes are so common for a reason, they work. For the first half, JJK deftly employs ... these tropes to its advantage with an interesting power-system, nuanced society along with some very solid characters. The main trio is likeable, fresh and fun, while the other characters are equally interesting, especially the iconic GOJO. Also, the artwork is really good, it's simultaneously rough enough to emphasize the grotesque creatures/circumstances and sharp enough to be captivating.

However, towards the final massive arc a major flaw rears it's head that really bogs down the series: the aforementioned power system. For some reason, Gege seems intent on explaining every convoluted ability and frivolous tactic in excruciating detail. There are pages upon pages of text detailing the machinations of every ability, which either you have to painstakingly think through or gloss over, but if you do the ladder, as the story goes on the combat system will seem even more and more convoluted (because it is). Literally mid-fight we'll pan over to other characters so they can explain what's going on for multiple pages, in reference to the fight you were just reading.

Imagine if in Jojo's rather than coming up with simple, goofy explanations for powers, it brought out a mathematical equation and a 10-step proof to prove to the reader that the character could actually do it. I know this may sound like a minor detail but it really is that prevalent, it's all-encompassing, especially since so many characters with new abilities get introduced in the last arc.

Also, the story becomes extremely repetitive and rushed after a specific mind-blowing fight (easily the peak of the series), if you know, you know. Too many characters are consistently being introduced and killed in quick succession, for such little payoff. Overall, the pacing both feels slow because of the cyclical nature of the events happening but also fast because each cycle lasts only a couple chapters. Finally, the ending was extremely underwhelming in my opinion. I'll go more into that in the spoiler, not free section.

Overall I would give the story a 7/10. It was still good, but it could have been so much better, which is annoying. I believe at the half-way point I gave it a 9/10, which shows how much I disliked the final stretch. If you really like classic Shonens like Naruto, HunterXHunter, Bleach etc. you will probably like (and maybe even love) this story. However, if you are more focused on character and plot, or love fighting but hate over complex power-systems then I'd recommend you avoid this series.

Spoiler, not free, I guess:

- stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled -

I don't have too much more to say so I'll be brief and focus on the ending. The defeat and death of our two main antagonists was super underwhelming. Kenjaku, the mastermind behind the events of the whole story, gets caught up in a gag, beheaded by surprise and died without any gripes or concerns. Towards the end of the story it really seemed like after the culling games started and Yuji's connection to him was revealed, Gege couldn't care less about him or wait to remove him from the story to focus on Sukuna.

Sukuna's demise also left a lot to be desired, though I can't 100% percent put my finger on the reason why. After easily decimating hordes of individuals, his last 1-on-1 with Yuji felt very anti-climatic. After Yuji's talk-no-jutsu failed, he simply punched Sukuna one more time and that punch was the one that did him in, and without much of any words he turned into goo and died.

It was also an extremely strange decision to see Sukuna in the afterlife do the whole "things could have been different", like, my man, you have been on demon hours brutally murdering people for 1000 years, you really switching up now? It doesn't make any sense.

Final side note, but I hated how after Gojo's defeat (who has been hyped up for like a billion chapters as the strongest character in the world) every single enemy Sukuna meets has 'more potential' or 'more talent' or 'poses a threat', like the power creep is crazy.

Mixed feelings about Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK). Started strong, but later lost appeal with a too much dark and somewhat plotless direction. Feels like it's adding fillers, complicating simple deaths with unnecessary subplots.
Darkness isn't the problem; it's about its purpose. Monster is dark, but its darkness serves a meaningful impact, distinguishing it from what is seen in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Reminiscent of Demon Slayer's focus on fight scenes over plot. Rating it 8, good but not as expected (there are worse mangas who have been rated 8). Recommend to JJK fanatics or anime-only viewers :P . Concerns about (more) potential decline in quality over time. (Could ... turn out like MHA losing its fans as the story progresses)

PS: I am upto date with the manga (250) its just i dont really know how to use MAL properly also jjk evoked strong emotions causing me to write this review
PPS: I am a hardcore bleach fan, when i first saw jjk i thought it was tybw (i saw a cursed spirit which seemed like a hollow)
Perhaps the reason why i still read jjk is because i cant really find any good ongoing mangas (the ones can think of are vinland saga, frieren, one piece, sakamoto days) (i do read the weekly shonen jump and shonen sunday and some more outliers but cant really find some impressive manga like say Monster or vagabound (born too late)) (even beserk's not been updatd for 4 months)

Jujutsu Kaisen has the makings of something greater, yet falls back into the limitations of a battle shonen being a far too often.

The introduction reads like a mixture of popular battle shonen titles, thrown into a blender. Main hero Yuji is a generic high schooler, wishing to help other people. By accident, he turns into the host of an extremely powerful demonic curse, Sukuna. The edgy, yet good-natured Megumi saves Yuji. Joined by the token female teammate Nobara, they end up under laid-back, white-haired sensei Gojo in Tokyo Jujutsu High, where they train as sorcerers to exterminate evil curses.

Does this initial set-up sound ... generic and derivative? At first glance, extremely so. If you read shonen, you've already read part of this before somewhere.

However, Jujutsu Kaisen ultimately isn't generic at all. The manga throws many unexpected elements into the mix. This continues to be Jujutsu Kaisens greatest strength throughout its whole story: it's surprisingly creative, surprisingly fresh in ways other battle shonens don't dare to be.

First, Gojo isn't just more powerful than his pupils: he's absurdly, world-breakingly powerful. Antagonists constantly have to work around Gojo, which remains a major plot point.
Second, we get impactful character deaths: sympathetic characters aren't immune to being killed off for good, if they overreach themselves.
Third, add actual character development: even side characters will go through some personal arc related to the story.

What's also praiseworthy is how the plot of Jujutsu Kaisen twists and turns. Just give it some time to unfold. The actions of the antagonists, intertwining with multiple subplots, lead to a truly wild ride. Both the main objective of our heroes and the composition of the "good guy" party vary from arc to arc.

Doesn't sound half-bad? Definitely keeps Jujutsu Kaisen engaging enough to keep reading. Nonetheless, at its core, it's a battle shonen and suffers from most drawbacks inherent to the genre. Yuji is a frustratingly boring character, given his bland characterization and relationships. Battles between secondary characters often aren't all that engaging, yet occupy a fair amount chapters.

There's also a major subjective flaw: I dislike the artstyle. It borders on ugly in some panels for me. Characters that are supposed to look attractive in-universe look plain and average for manga standards. Battles will look messy, attacks oftentimes lack visual impact.

The designs of many major characters appear outright weak and unimaginative. Do you ever feel visually threatened by all those demonic curses hell-bent on destroying humanity? Yeah, me neither, as most of them just look like clowns ... or trees. Or octopuses.

So there you have it. A manga that's surprisingly innovative and daring at times, yet remains an ultimately flawed battle shonen: Jujutsu Kaisen is mediocrity with potential.

Like many others I was intrigued by the hype around Jujutsu Kaisen and surprised by its many obvious flaws when compared to similarly popular titles. Regardless, as a straightforward Shounen Manga I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

This is by no means a perfect Manga and most of the criticism leveled at JJK is perfectly reasonable. Parts of the narrative feel so derivative that it is almost laughable. Anyone with even a passing interest in Manga will immediately notice how the first few chapters read like Naruto fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off. It's all there—the idiot protagonist with the mysterious, dark haired sidekick, the easygoing ... but seemingly omnipotent teacher, as well as the academy setting.

However, while the first chapters of Naruto succeed in making the protagonist into a character that is at least emotionally compelling, JJK has very little to offer in this regard. Hilariously, a number of other characters are given far more interesting, relatable backstories than the Manga's actual main character Yuuji, who is as bland as can be, and one of the least interesting parts of the series. The rather aimless main story also leaves a lot to be desired as it mostly serves to lead up to a barrage of fight sequences, before receding into the background.

So why bother? Because, with all the above being said, JJK fortunately laser-focuses on what it is truly good at. Namely, its action sequences, which, more often than not, are genuinely riveting. As many others have pointed out, Akutami has a talent for choreographies and the Manga's messy art style really shines here, giving most of its fights a beautifully dynamic and spontaneous quality that is often hard to come across in this genre.

Similarly, JJK's power system is far from perfect but I find myself consistently surprised by the creative and sometimes wacky powers that JJK's protagonists wield. While a comparable title like Hunter x Hunter does a far better job at explaining the minutiae of its power system's mechanics, JJK mostly succeeds in conveying enough information to make the fights interesting and allow for surprising ability match-ups.

As a sidenote, I was also pleasantly surprised by JJK's female characters. Although, as mentioned above, character depth is not exactly JJK's unique selling point, there is little to no fanservice and the author makes their female characters just as diverse in temperament and personality as their male counterparts (although, admittedly, the bar is pretty low).

In conclusion, if a solid, no-nonsense, action oriented Shounen is what you're after, JJK is sure to scratch that itch. So far, there hasn't been any major story or character development that has truly surprised me and I'm not sure if I can expect anything like that down the line, but as long as the action stays as outrageously fun as it is, I will keep reading.


EDIT: I downgraded my rating from a 7 to a 6. Since the Shibuya Incident Arc, there has been a severe and noticeable drop in quality. The story feels meandering, hordes of new characters are introduced and never explored sufficiently, while the author has seemingly forgotten about much of the original cast and introduces one inconsequential plot point after another. Most of the series' female characters have become completely irrelevant and we've arrived at a truly bizarre meathead shonen trainwreck. I was really hoping for this series to live up to its potential but it's not looking like that is going to be the case.

JuJutsu Kaisen is a traditional Shonen in which a plethora of interesting ideas and virtues engage in a never-ending, ferocious battle with equally strong deficiencies and shortcomings, ultimately resulting in a fascinating mixed bag.
Although heavily inspired by other works like YuYu Hakusho, Naruto and JoJo, author Gege Akutami manages to add his own twist to classic tropes of the genre, twists that often take the plot in interesting directions and captivating scenarios despite the stereotyped context. This, strengthened by a thrilling feeling of dread and tension thanks to the imposing presence of villains and the tangible mortality of characters, is enough to distract from the ... fact that characters themselves are quite dull, but sadly not enough to distract from the horrible pacing. The story keeps overwhelming the reader with characters, lore and worldbuilding information at an alarming rate, without granting any of those character and ideas enough time to settle properly.
The pacing gets significantly better after the first hundred chapters, as the action get pleasantly strategic and deep with various imaginative powers that keep battles heterogeneous. But that's also when Akutami starts getting too comfortable with it as many overly convoluted techniques and tedious explanations start making the experience often feel more like a chore than enjoyable.
As things stand in 2022, JuJutsu Kaisen is a constant clash between good and bad ideas, with many reasons why I would suggest checking it out, but just as many reasons why I would not recommend it.

When this manga is on top of its shit, it is absolutely a wonder to hold. I will die on the hill that I found the 3 chapter Takaba and Kenjaku "battle" to be one of the best moments I've experienced on this whole ride. The jackpot explanation of Hakari's domain comes in a close second, and to be honest, the way that the final villain was finally dealt with in the final chapters is rather excellent in my taste. But when I say that the journey through this "final" arc was a slog... I mean it. There were whole weeks I became uninterested in ... the advancement of the culling game's end because it really didn't move along at all. I don't know what occurred from an editor's standpoint but the flow of explanations and series of events became so formulaic: event happens, backstory to when the characters put the plan into motion for said event, event which happens was thwarted because character is too strong and cannot be defeated yet, new character comes in, old character returns, defeat, last minute event no one saw coming, progress, opponent is so strong, repeat repeat repeat. Now, granted, this would all happen in different ways but the final villain of this was too big to fail and every week for months would move at a glacial pace. And the main battle would go to side battles whose outcomes at times did not matter. Lastly on this, the events were so confusing at times, and the explanations so bonkers so as to make a new-gen Jojo stand comprehensible, that at points I found myself glazing over the dialogue of a battle shonen.
This manga absolutely deserves its accolades for a strong early story and the hype behind it is absolutely warranted, the middle-ish arcs in Shibuya and the backstory for Gojo and Geto as younger students, early culling game, those moments were great, hell, even some later moments in the culling game such as when the military gets involved were refreshing breaks in the story. The image that comes to mind is that drawing of a horse 3/4ths of the horse are well drawn but the last 1/4th is a kids drawing. What would have been higher in my enjoyment plummeted once the story was moving a centimeter per week. Now I will be the first to acknowledge that absolutely the author's health comes first and I was so glad the author took a well deserved break after delivering a seven page semi conclusion to a fight, and I don't know what happened to let the story escape from the author's hands or if the hype and enjoyment, maybe even nostalgia, of early JJK made the latter bits much less enjoyable. The author could not match the thrill of the early and middle days once the end reared its ugly head.
It's a good story and I would very much enjoy a reread catching what made it a magical moment in the beginning, and such a wealth of unique characters with amazing design and powers, it's unfair to compare with a nostalgic lens but as the story went on, it lacked the magnetic energy of earlier fights and plotlines. But on its own, the ending fails to grasp my attention, even literally the last chapter I just saw the final panels and just nodded, I dont know what the story needed, maybe a pace modifier, maybe an edited timeline where things felt earned, maybe the action not being interrupted by the setup of the action, or you know what, THOSE TIMES WHERE PEOPLE WOULD CALMLY JUST SIT IN EXPOSITION AND EXPLAIN WHY SOMETHING WOULD OR WOULDN'T WORK, those chapters were rough... but I guess that's what happens when you write something to complex that in order to set up rules for things in your world you'd need to explain the policy and how we got there.
I don't envy the spot Gege was left in, it's a monumental task that many a fan might not be able to even arrive to an ending that would satisfy even a tiny minority. Just what we received, maybe it's fitting that the last panel is a middle finger.
A good ride, a meh ending, I'll see you on the next one, Gege. For now, enjoy the rest. (Gege's probably got fuck you money from how big this story has become).