Jujutsu Kaisen Anime Review 80/100

Recently it feels like there’s a Shonen Jump series in every season. From last years Kimetsu no Yaiba and Haikyu to Dr. STONE S2 this season and even My Hero Academia S5 coming up. Everywhere you go its Jump, Jump, Jump. Sometimes a man wants a break. Oh what’s that? A new cornerstone of Weekly Shonen Jump got an anime adaptation you say? Kohei Horikoshi of My Hero Academia called it the next pillar of the magazine? And Keiichiro Watanabe is animating for it?! Well count me in! Originally created by Gege Akutami, produced by MAPPA and directed by Seong-Hu Park who also recently The God of Highschool, ladies and gentleman I present to you: *Jujutsu Kaisen, the next big thing. So without further ado, lets jump into it.

Visuals

First things first, lets talk about what we can see, the art and animation. And visually? Jujutsu Kaisen is pretty good. The actual art style is pretty standard as far as I’m concerned. It doesn’t do much interesting with character or world designs. Aside from the occasional heavy shading or exaggerated face to drive home an emotional scene Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t change it up much. What it does do though is execute that standard style to a very high degree. I’m not even talking about animation yet, though we will get to that. Rather Jujutsu Kaisen makes good use of lighting, proportions and detail to make the characters stand out. It knows when to go heavy on the detail for striking stills and when to hold back for easier animation. It’s not perfect, you’ll get weird proportions here or there, but for the most part it works.

In fact I would say there are only 2 areas where Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t excel, the first being the composite. Multiple times in the season Director Seong-Hu Park gets to ambitious with his environments and multiple times they look like shit. Whether it be an underground sewer system or lush forest, you need to take your time on the composite. It’s not like the animation is bad in these either! Animators like Hironori Tanaka and Yuuki Yamashita do their best with what they are given. But when stuck integrating MS Paint water splashes or dense forests into their shots, its hard not to feel bad for what it does to their cuts. For all that I rag on the CGI environments though they aren’t all bad. It’s only the most egregious, most obvious, that catch my ire with the rest being unobtrusive and doing their job fine.

And as for the second area? Well I admit this may be more of a personal bugbear than anything. But I simply can’t stand Park and his sweeping camera angles. It’s as if the man is allergic to still shots or hasn’t heard of the 180 degree rule. And I understand that it’s weird to have this problem when most anime might as well be power point presentations. However there is such a thing as to much and I think Seong-Hu Park has found it. Following characters uncomfortably close, flying through the middle of a conflict and flipping which side characters are on, etc. It’s not that it’s technically bad, the animation tries its best to keep up and does a good job. It’s that more often than not it makes it difficult to tell what is happening. Making scenes way more complex than they really need to be.

You know where Jujutsu Kaisen does excel though? That’s right its time to talk FIGHT SCEEEEEENES. From Vercreek to Keiichiro Watanabe, Jujutsu Kaisen has a plethora of well animated action. If adrenaline and punching is what you are looking for in a show then Jujutsu Kaisen has you covered. Of course we all know animation goes beyond just fight scenes. Whether it be stunning effects work by Yoshihide Ideue, great character movement by Kouki Fujimoto or HANDS by Hironori Tanaka, Jujutsu Kaisen looks great. What I’m trying to say here is: When not held down by shitty composites or the ever present march of time, Jujutsu Kaisen looks pretty damn good. So ignoring story, narrative characters and all that extra crap that surely no one cares about, you’ll probably have a good time.

Narrative

Moving on we come to the setting and story. At its core the setting isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. Highschool for magically gifted students? Check. Modern day Japan with a mystical side that most can’t see? Check. Curses, spirits and the afterlife? Check. Whether it be Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, Noragami or anything in between, the core setting isn’t what I would call unique. Where Jujutsu Kaisen manages to set itself apart though is in its tone. It may not be the first Shonen to go down this route but it’s certainly the darkest I can think off. These curses, these spirits, they don’t mess around. If the average person is caught they will die and most likely in excruciating pain. It’s in this way that Jujutsu Kaisen carves its niche, centered around death, grief and its effects on people. It’s here that we find our story.

The main thrust of Jujutsu Kaisen’s narrative is of grief, loss and moving forward. There’s an overarching meta story about finding 20 McGuffins as well but that isn’t very important. Rather the real meat of the show comes from the ones holding those McGuffins and their reasons for conflict. Thus enter our lead Itadori Yuji. Spurred on by the words and death of his Grandfather, along with being possessed by the King of Curses Sukuna, Itadori becomes a jujutsu sorcerer for one reason: To save people. And while this may sound like a standard Shonen Protagonist MO, because it is, Jujutsu Kaisen does a good job of using its arcs to question it. Asking Itadori why he wants to save people. Confronting what it means to die and how it effects those who are left behind. Exploring and working him through his grief. And for the most part, it works.

No spoilers yet but the first cour of Jujutsu Kaisen’s is fantastic. The villains are compelling, the battles are gorgeous and they way it connects each arc to Itadori’s story works well. If I was judging the story on the first 13 episodes alone it would be a home run. However there is an arc, a tournament arc of all things, mid way through that drops the ball. Here the themes of grief and coping take a back seat to standard Shonen action. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty good action. But it feels like an excuse for more fights rather than a continuation of the previous arc. It introduces a lot of new characters, the story starts to get bogged down in jujutsu politics and across the board its a bit of a stumble. Luckily Jujutsu Kaisen manages to end the last arc on a strong note.

All in all I would say Jujutsu Kaisen’s narrative holds up. The broad strokes aren’t anything you haven’t seen before but the emotions and tone they are presented in are unique for the genre. And aside from a small misstep with what feels like an underdeveloped tournament arc each of the stories stand strong. Of course with how Jujutsu Kaisen is structured your mileage may very. These arcs are heavily reliant on you being connected and engaged with the characters. For you to feel grief when Itadori feels grief. To feel relieved when Gojo or appears or joy when Toudou does literally anything, etc. If you just want rad fights, you’ll get that. I just think you’ll be missing out if that’s all you get.

Characters

This brings us to the characters, of varying quality. But as far as the main cast goes? I approve! Unlike other shows airing this season such as Dr. STONE, this isn’t a one man show. Itadori, Nobara, Toudou, Fushiguro, Gojo, each of them manages to stand on their own, though for some it takes a bit of time. Starting with Itadori he is in most ways your standard Shonen protagonist. He smiles often, laughs loudly and always responds when push comes to shove. You’ve seen it a hundred times before and odds are you’re going to see it moving forward. However while Itadori isn’t the most unique character on the roster the way his emotions are portrayed help him stand on his own. He’s allowed to be sad, he’s allowed to grieve, to be irritable and more than a smiling face. And that goes a long way in my book.

Following Itadori we have the rest of the main cast Fushiguro, Nobara and Gojo. Fushiguro is your straight man in Itadori’s double act. He rarely shows much emotion, preferring to keep it bottled up internally and deal with him. Jujutsu Kaisen does a decent job showing how unhealthy that is however and giving him room to vent. Letting Fushiguro show who he is beneath that stoic exterior. Nobara meanwhile is the tough as nails genki girl who can crush a watermelon with her thighs. So help me god. Sadly she doesn’t get much room to shine this season, acting primarily as a support character. By the end of the second cour though Jujutsu Kaisen has her standing as equals with the boys. A rare commodity in most Shonen, I know. And as for Gojo? We need more room for Gojo.

Gojo fits into the wise and overpowered mentor role, teaching us and Itadori about the world of curses. As far as characters go he’s a good time. Standing head and shoulders above the rest of the cast in terms of power the guy never has much need to be serious. As such his antics lead to some of the funniest skits in the show while his power leads to some of the hypest. Also he’s hot as fuck. And the rest of the cast? Well outside the villains, they’re generally pretty dull. There are some exceptions such as Nanami who makes for a good temporary mentor, or Toudou who is the single best thing in the entire tournament arc. But by and large your love and attention is going to land on one of these 6 characters. The rest falling by the wayside.

As for the villains? Well all the ones with names are pretty great! There are some monster of the week curses that don’t bear talking about but core of Mahito, Jogo and Hanami carry the conflict well. Mahito in particular strikes a special cord. He is the antithesis to Itadori, everything wrong and brutal about mankind, and it shows in every facet of his being. From his creepy design and unnerving mannerisms to his abilities and sadistic personality. Mahito is the perfect foil to Itadori and I couldn’t help but be dragged in by his presence. Factor in the great voice work of -Nobunaga Shimazaki- as well and you have a strong contender for Best Antagonist of 2021.

OST/Sound Design

Finally we come to the OST and let me tell you, this was a pain to prepare for. Turns out it doesn’t release until April 21st so I’m stuck here making up track names and trawling through footage to listen to music. So with that disclaimer about this section out of the way I ask you give me a bit of leeway in how I talk about it. Cool? Cool.

Then let me start off by saying that Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Alisa Okehazama and Yoshimasa Terui did a pretty good job. That’s no surprise from Tsutsumi at least. The man was involved in the OST for both seasons of Dr. STONE which had an incredible soundtrack. Meanwhile Terui was last heard in anime working on the OP’s for Houseki no Kuni and Hi Score Girl so seeing him here was a surprise. And as for newcomer Okehazama? Jujutsu Kaisen appears to be her first work on a full OST, only previously doing some insert songs for God of High School. What a way to start a career huh?

As for specific songs this is where it gets difficult. As I said the OST isn’t officially out and that leaves me with a very small example size. Of course I could talk about Gojo’s “Hollow Purple” and how it mixes modern electronic with what I believe are traditional koto strings. Or we we could talk about “Domain Expansion” with its sweeping violin’s, orchestral choir and heavy rock guitar. Mixing the 3 in such a way to give us an action packed yet dark battle theme. But because of my inability to source legitimate versions of this OST makes this difficult as even these are but covers. So suffice to say you are just going to have to take my word on this.

Exploring Grief

This brings me to the personal portion of this review where I talk about what resonated with me. There’s no set structure here, no judgement, this section doesn’t even effect the final score. It exists purely so that you can understand a bit of what I was looking for in Jujutsu Kaisen. If you don’t care, feel free to skip. But if you want some context for this review then read on! And fair warning, there will be spoilers. (Click here to reveal)

So I’ve talked about it a few times before in this review but the way Jujutsu Kaisen handles grief is my favorite aspect of the show. This theme is introduced early on in episode 1 as Itadori’s grandfather passes away and Jujutsu Kaisen immediately sets itself apart in how it handles this. In most Shonen there would be comical tears, exaggerated faces, rain and sorrowful music. But here Itadori processes his grief in silence, as if he was going through the 7 stages. He has no one to talk to, no outlet for his emotions. He can only think back on his grandfathers words as he processes what they mean. So it makes sense that these very words are what drive him towards jujutsu in the first place. The effects of his death don’t stop there however.

Soon afterword’s Itadori is confronted with the selfishness of his ideals, of his desire to save. He isn’t doing it for some noble reason but rather to assuage the guilt and pain in his heart. The confrontation with the Principle challenging him to find a real reason to save people. How if he only does what others ask then when faced with his end he will come to curse them for putting him on this path. After this we come to what I see as the final nail in the coffin for Itadori’s naïve Shonen world view. With the conflict at the prison Itadori is shown how weak his drive really is. Forced to choose between his own life and Fushiguro’s, Itadori finally finds his answer. He doesn’t want to save just for the sake of saving. Instead he saves because he understands the pain those who survive go through.

From this point forward Itadori’s journey through grief is largely complete and so Jujutsu Kaisen shifts focus to a new character, Junpei. Where Itadori had a relatively healthy journey, Junpei’s is anything but. He provides us a different, more cynical look at what grief can do to a person and the importance of support structures. Where Itadori ended up with Gojo, Nobara and Fushiguro, Junpei has Mahito who isn’t prone to support… anything. It’s a nice look at what could have happened. Also showing how much Itadori has matured and is better able to process his grief this time.

It’s because of this thematic focus, the maturity with which Jujutsu Kaisen tackles it, that I dislike the tournament arc. It feels like an excuse for some fights rather than any kind of meaningful conversation. And the worst part is it could have easily been fixed. Had Jujutsu Kaisen used its time to focus on Nobara and Fushiguro in place of the Kyoto side-characters it could have worked well. Show us how they process grief. Show us their anger at Itadori for lying about being dead, their joy that he has returned and the uncomfortable war between those emotions. Instead they accept him back as if nothing had happened aside from a few jokes when it could have been the arcs central conflict. Nobara does get a small moment with Itadori in the finale, and thats nice, but its to little to late for me.

Conclusion

So all in all, when everything is said and done, tl;dr how good is Jujutsu Kaisen? And the answer is… I had a blast. There’s a lot I could, and do, nitpick in this review. The composite often looks ugly, the tournament arc felt underdeveloped, Nobara was a damsel in distress for most of the show, yadda yadda. But when I boil my enjoyment of Jujutsu Kaisen down to a single yes/no question the answer is always yes. The fights were great, Itadori, Gojo and Toudou were a laugh riot, Nobara is hot and when it really wants to the darkness of Jujutsu Kaisen is suffocating. I understand now where Horikoshi was coming from when he called it the next pillar of Shonen Jump and I have to agree. Jujutsu Kaisen has a bright future ahead of it and I can’t wait for me.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the review! Leave me a comment here or on my personal blog, whichever you care for. Not happy with the score? Feel free to hit me up to chat about, I’m always down to talk. See you next season!