In 2019, Kimetsu no Yaiba took the anime world by storm and then followed up with a movie in late 2020 that smashed all box office records to become the top grossing movie of all time in Japan. Jujutsu Kaisen seems to be following the same strategy, having been arguably the most popular anime series released in 2020, and judging by how absolutely packed the movie theater was, it will probably be another record-setting anime film in terms of financial success. However, how is the movie in terms of actual content? Pretty damn good I must say, even coming from someone who enjoyed the anime but did not buy into the hype train at all.
The story is a prequel to the series, and stars previously unseen character Yuta. This movie shows the incident with the mysterious villain Getou, which was only mentioned in passing/hinted at in the series, and finally fleshes Getou out as a complex character with interesting motives and backstory. The story itself is rather straightforward and nothing to write home about, but serves its job well of further world-building and character introduction.
The prequel sees the return of series favorite Gojou-sensei, with the sempai trio Maki, Panda, and Inumaki also getting ample screen time. It showcases their characters a bit more than the original series did, which was a very welcome usage of running time. Nanami and the Kyoto school team also make an appearance, and although they do not have an influence on the story, their fight scenes/cameo were much appreciated.
My one gripe with the characters is with Yuta, the movie’s main protagonist. Personality-wise, he is like a slightly less annoying version of Shinji from Evangelion. His powers are poorly-defined and kind of overpowered, a deviation from the “technique-based” fighting styles that all other characters are introduced to have in the series. His backstory is also very cookie-cutter generic for anime protagonists. However, he did not annoy me as much as Shinji does and I grew to like him by the end, so this was not a huge complaint.
As expected of Mappa, one of the few studios that can rival the likes of Ufotable and KyoAni in terms of animation quality, the animation here was top-notch. All of the fight scenes (half the reason I went to see it on opening day) were crisp and an absolute pleasure to look at. There were some awkward CGI-assisted shots and far-away shots that did not look as good as the rest of the movie, but they were sufficiently few and far between that I was not bothered.
The soundtrack for the film was great, but nothing outstanding or particularly memorable, working well as background music. The ending songs were kind of generic and not my cup of tea, but I might grow to like them with repeat listens.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this movie and really liking the plot threads it sets up that should be further explored in future seasons, and it got me excited for the future of this franchise.
(Side note: JEREMY LIN spotted in the film credits haha.)
Overall: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
