In the vast plethora of shonen anime that seem to spawn in perpetuity, the ones that stand out are those that manage to offer something different from the usual recipe. A number of titles that achieve this goal have been released during the latest years, so it is time to check if the latest sensation, which won the “Anime of the Year” at the 2021 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards falls under this category or is just another shonen.
The protagonist of the story is Yuji Itadori, an unnaturally fit high school student living in Sendai with his dying grandfather, who spends his days at the hospital. Although many sport clubs are pursuing his talents, Itadori has chosen to deal solely with the Occult Research Club, which includes only two other members, both because he is enjoying the atmosphere but also because it allows him to leave school early to attend to his grandfather. Inevitably, though, his grandfather dies, but with his last breath, he asks two things from his grandson: to always help people and to die surrounded by people, unlike him, with Itadori taking both at heart.
A bit later, Yuji is confronted by Megumi Fushigoro, a sorcerer who informs him of a high-grade cursed charm talisman at his school that Yuji recently made contact with. His friends at the Occult Club unsealed the talisman, a rotting finger, which attracted Curses to the school, creatures that are brought about through negative emotions and are strengthened by consuming magical powers present in sorcerers or such charms. Unable to defeat the Curses due to his lack of magical powers, Yuji swallows the finger to protect Megumi and his friends and becomes the host of Ryomen Sukuna, a powerful Curse. Due to Sukuna's evil nature, all sorcerers are required to exorcise him (and by extension, Yuji) immediately. However, despite being possessed, Yuji is still able to retain control over his body for the most part. Seeing this, Satoru Gojo, Megumi's teacher, decides to take him to the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School to propose a plan to his superiors: postpone Yuji's death sentence until he consumes all of Sukuna's fingers, allowing them to kill the demon once and for all.
As time passes however, Yuji makes a number of friends among the other Jujutsu magicians, people who control the flow of Cursed Energy in their bodies, allowing them to use it as they please and to reduce its release. At the same time, however, a group of powerful Cursed Spirits headed by Ryomen Sukuma, have other plans for the demon hiding inside Yuji, while a tournament with the Osaka branch of the school reveals that not all “good guys” are so eager to keep the young man alive.
Contextually, the answer to the question in the prologue is a big, fat, “no”. Gege Akutami, the author of the manga series the anime is based upon has mentioned his influences from the creators of “Naruto”, “Bleach” and “One Punch” and the similarities between those could not have been more evident. The alone in the world main character who is inhabited by an evil spirit obviously draws from Naruto, the mentor figure of Satoru Gojo resembles Kakashi a bit too much, the school concept draws from both “Naruto” and “Bleach”, the interschool training that ends up with everybody involved getting attacked by villains is a trope that seems to be in every shonen, while most of the characters share many similarities with others from previous titles. The same applies to the way the story unfolds, with Itadori becoming stronger and stronger with the same happening to his enemies, while the overall concept of the demons and the way they are exorcised looks rather much like “Mob Psycho 100”, also in terms of style of animation. Lastly, the slapstick comedy and particularly the annoyingly absurd changes of the faces and bodies for comedic effect fans of the category seem to like so much, are not missing either.
Some characters offer a somewhat different perspective, with Panda (an actual Panda) and the two twin sisters from the same sorcerer clan, Maki and Mai, being implemented here to make a comment about racism, the place of women in society and the burden of tradition, while the arc of Suguru Geto does the same for bullying. Aoi Todo's character seems to draw from the long line of “physically powerful characters in a world of magicians”, with Kenpachi from “Bleach” and Rock Lee from “Naruto” being some of the most iconic. However, the question he poses to the men he meets, “What kind of woman is your type”, is the source of probably the funniest scene in the series, as Itadori replies, “a woman with a big ass, like Jennifer Lawrence”.
And if contextually, “Jujutsu Kaisen” has nothing much to offer in terms of originality, the same does not apply to the technical aspect, with the title being one of the most visually impressive we have seen during the latest years. The character design by Tadashi Hiramatsu offers a rather impressive combination of the humoristic simplicity of “One Punch Man” regarding the majority of the good guys, while the villains seem to have been inspired by Guillermo Del Toro's work. The drawing in general is impressive, while the added brutality, as witnessed in the occasionally quite violent battles, the fact that the protagonist is swallowing fingers in a cannibalistic concept, and the presence of a number of characters that can only be described as creepy, also work quite well.
The action scenes show the incredible work that has been done by MAPPA studio, with the battles being rather intricate in their detail, while the many rotating sequences are a testament to the level of work in that regard, which also extends to the uncanny movements of the demons.
“Jujutsu Kaisen” offers very little in terms of originality, and it seems that its success is based mostly on impression rather than substance. The work done in the technical aspect, however, compensates to a large degree, while fans of shonen, particularly of a younger age, do not have much not to like here.
