By Jessica Caso and Neil Sharma

Guest Contributor and Editor-in-Chief

What if curses came alive and developed sinister goals of their own for deciding the future of Earth? That is the focus of the new hit anime Jujutsu Kaisen (in English, Sorcery Fight), based on the weekly Shounen Jump manga of the same name by Gege Akutami that began in 2018. As the pandemic continues into 2021, more and more people are getting onto the anime hype train. It even has viral meme on Tik Tok using audio from episode 15 ("MY BEST FRIEND!")

Jujutsu Kaisen is one of many titles getting attention in online communities right now and understandably so. It has even garnered an enviable 8.79 on MyAnimeList. Some possible winning attributes are the lovable main character in Yuji Itadori and the alluring yet mysterious teacher, Satoru Gojo. The art and animation are also stunning along with a solid soundtrack and opening/ending sequences. The plot is often touted as a reliable manga adaptation along with unique interpretations of popular shounen tropes.

The plot begins innocently enough, following Yuji at his high school as a popular yet quirky jock who goes to the occult despite being a star member of the track and field team. The first episode then transitions to a whirlwind of high-stakes events as the other members of the occult club stumble upon a real cursed object that threatens their lives. Yuji tries to come to their rescue after a spontaneous meet up with Megumi Fushiguro, who tells him that curses are very real and can come alive and kill humans. The battle to save his friends leads Yuji to swallow the cursed object, a finger from King of Curses, Sukuna Ryoumen. By swallowing the finger and gaining abilities, Yuji follows the typical shounen trope of sudden powers, but the trope is subverted nicely by but having the enemy literally be sentient inside the main character, which is a unique touch in the show. My favorite touch is that Sukuna manifests himself by creating mouths at random on Yuji’s face or hands! Such a unique detail!

Since Yuji is now a threat to humanity by harboring Sukuna inside of him he is whisked away to be a jujutsu sorcerer at Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College, with the threat of possible execution constantly looming over him now that he is a vessel for Sukuna. This start is extremely strong for a new anime that rivals past anime such as One Piece and Bleach. In fact, the more you watch Jujutsu Kaisen the influences of past shows become clearer. However, conceptually this show is unique because of the elements of Japanese religious and cultural beliefs at its core.

The main villains are intriguing characters that juxtaposed nicely to the mysterious antagonism of Sukuna, living within Yuji. The goals of the band of main villains, Mahito, Geto, Hanami, and Jogo, are incredibly tropey- very á la Pinky and the Brain in that they are trying to take over the human world and recreate in it their cursed image. Their character designs are unique (Jogo has a volcano for a head and Hanami has tree branches for eyes!) and even the traps that they set for the protagonists defy expectations. *spoiler warning* For example, when the villains attacked the inter-school competition but were really trying to steal rare, cursed objects. The underlying plot of what Sukuna’s goals are also keeps watchers invested because of his mysterious pact made with Yuji early in the show and his unwillingness to join the band of villains.

Despite these many positives, there are some details that are not quite worth the hype. The pacing seems rushed, such as the reveal of Gojo’s powers very early in the series and a later attack on the school by an organization of powerful curses. I have not had time to read the manga, so I cannot speak to fact that this pacing might be original to the story, but as an anime veteran, it has the pacing of a show that has only been licensed for one season by the studio. (A season 2 has been promised, but the pacing definitely doesn’t reflect that it was always in the plans.) Additionally, the plot, however strongly it started, had become formulaic over twenty episodes in. It feels similar to this: the main characters are assigned a mission about one curse, big-bad villains interfere in the mission, they are temporarily defeated/ retreat, main characters have training arc or other fluff episode/ sequence, and then repeat. So many shounen tropes here!!! As a long-time anime viewer, it’s frustrating to see a show with such a strong start fall into such a predictable pattern. Due to the pattern, even the beautifully animated fight scenes cannot save some episodes.

There is also the issue of how women are written in the show. Japan is notorious for gender inequality issues and they are often highlighted in media. Jujutsu Kaisen, being written by a man, is no different. Although his attempts at writing women are more successful than say, Tite Kubo of Bleach, his female characters all seem to have the same personality: strong and fierce but lacking literally anything beyond that. It could be because the anime has yet to go into backstories for several of the women, but I think it’s the writing. One positive aspect of the women of Jujutsu Kaisen is that the writing of them does seem to get more flushed out over time, by the end of the season Nobara Kugisaki is finally starting to come alive as a character (but why did this take over 20 episodes!!).

In conclusion, Jujutsu Kaisen is definitely worth a watch and would be a good starter anime for those wanting to get their feet wet in the genre. For anime veterans such as myself, it’s a satisfying mix of expected cliches and defied tropes. It has everything that a shounen series needs, a lovable main character, a mysterious (and sexy) mentor figure, compelling (yet predictable) villains, and memorable side characters. Check it out on Crunchyroll when you can!