Jujutsu Kaisen 0 review: Bloody, action-packed and a powerful anime prequel

When it opened on December 24th, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 over 1 million tickets sold and earned more than 1 billion yen. At the weekend, the prequel to the popular anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, based on the manga by Gege Akutami, has nearly tripled its box office, breaking the record Demon Hunter film a run for your money. It wasn’t a Christmas miracle. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Earns its success by doing what so many prequels fail: telling a satisfying story that follows on and improves upon the main series while welcoming newcomers to the franchise.

Set in a world where humans exude cursed energy that can create creepy creatures known as Curses / Cursed Spirits Jujutsu Kaisen Anime focuses on Yuji Itadori, a high school student who becomes a vessel for Ryomen Sukuna, one of the most powerful curses there is. After that, a group of jujutsu spells – people who can control their cursed energy to fight evil spirits – enroll Yuji in Tokyo Prefecture’s Jujutsu High School to help him control his power while keeping an eye on him to have. This is the barebones recap of the anime series that aired October 2020 through March 2021 … and the basic recap for Jujutsu Kaisen 0.

The prequel tells the story of Yuta Okkotsu, a high school student who gains control of an extremely powerful cursed spirit and is enrolled by Jujutsu Sorcerers at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School to help him control his power and put him in the Keep an eye on. Yuta and Yuji are two very different people, with the former starting out as a shy, gloomy, bullied kid and the latter being a hyper-energetic extrovert with the kind of strength and perseverance that would make Batman jealous. Still, the similarities between the setups of the TV series and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 not to be overlooked. It’s almost like the movie is both a prequel and a remake. A Vorwerk? Request? Whatever you want to call it, the 105 minute film hits many of the same tones as the show by using a living underdog character to introduce audiences to the world of jujutsu sorcery and cursed ghosts, etc.

Image: MAPPA / Toho Ltd.

There is a lot to experience for long-time fans. For one, Yuta Okkotsu is not a new character as he has been mentioned a couple of times on the series but has never appeared before. And he has a beautifully tragic backstory, as it turns out that the powerful curse that held Yuta is his childhood sweetheart, Rika. After dying in a traffic accident, the gentle and caring girl turned into a snake-haired, tooth-faced monstrosity who may not have the most disruptive design on the market, but its demeanor makes up for it. When the damned Rika with Yuta. speaks with child’s voice about how much she loves him or kills people who bully him without feeling bad about it, the juxtaposition of her terrible looks with her cute, but sometimes moody, childish demeanor makes one of the most memorable Jujutsu Kaisen cursed spirits of all time.

The film also gives more screen time to its constant presence villain Suguru Geto Jujutsu Kaisen, but mostly in the back seat of the resident Big Bad Mahito. In Jujutsu Kaisen 0, However, the focus is on Geto, what he eats up with great pleasure. Geto is an extremely funny antagonist with a larger than life personality that finally comes into its own in the film. You can really see why Curses and other wizards are drawn to him and how his cheerful demeanor while attempting to commit atrocities would infuriate the main characters in the film.

This leads to a great fight between him and Yuta. With the camera movement trying to reproduce the feel of a full-sized character moving at lightning speed against Geto’s gigantic curses – including a blob kaijus of fat demon babies – Yuta’s sudden rage adds to the fight and adds a whole other level to experience. But that’s to be expected with fight scenes overseen by director Sunghoo Park, which you may recall The god of high school Anime series and their spectacular battles. It’s more than enough to keep JujutsuHeads satisfied during the film’s 105-minute runtime.

Image: MAPPA / Toho Ltd.

But newbies will make the most of it Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The prequel is basically the essence of Jujutsu Kaisen Trimmed to the most accessible elements, which is not surprising as the film is based on a manga that actually precedes it Jujutsu Kaisen Comic. First published as Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School In the 2017 edition of Jump GIGA, this stand-alone short series on curses and jujutsu wizards was supposed to end after just four chapters. But it soon gained enough popularity for Gege Akutami to expand its premise and the world he only hinted at in the original comic, eventually culminating in the creation of Yuji Itadori and the story that took the world by storm.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is very simple and focuses primarily on Yuta, his teacher Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto and the second graders of Tokyo Jujutsu High School who fans from the TV series know: Maki Zenin, Toge Inumaki and Panda. Most of them are given sufficient explanation to allow absolute beginners to follow the story and possibly convince them to dive into the deep waters of the anime later. For the less familiar Jujutsu Kaisen deals with the fact that Yuji tries to make a “real death” possible for people. However, in order to first determine what a real death is, the anime spends a lot of time figuring out what a real death is Life means. Through the characters from Kento Nanami, the show explores the value of helping others through money, while Maki’s story arc is the story of swimming against the current and the comfort of being part of a group / family and doing your own thing. Even the cursed wombs from the last episode of the TV series are exploring the “right” way of life, as the characters are actually touching examples of the importance of family.

There are traces of this subject in the film; one can interpret Yuta’s bow as a lesson about letting go and moving on. His decisions around Rika are moving, but the anime series goes much deeper into its philosophical messages. But that’s okay, because the simplicity makes the film fun more, gently lead new fans to the TV show. And any medium that manages to bring more people to a show that redefines shōnen anime is definitely doing something right.

So whether you follow Jujutsu Kaisen For years or just hearing about it for the first time, stop by Jujutsu Kaisen 0 if you ever get the chance. It’s the kind of rare film that has something (great) for everyone.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is now available in Japan. The film does not currently have a US release date.