Following the recent surge of blockbuster anime movies based on anime series, which has been eloquently mirrored in the Japanese box office, the creators of one of the most popular shonen titles, nowadays, could not stay out of the whole game. The “Jujutsu Kaisen” movie is based on the homonymous series, a prequel to the original one, both created by Gege Akutami.
“Jujutsu Kaisen 0” will be released in theatres starting March 18, courtesy of Crunchyroll
The story focuses on a different central character from the series, Yuta Okkotsu, who suffers from a curse from his late girlfriend, Rika, who follows him everywhere, in a rather disturbing coexistence, as the latter has taken a truly horrific form, and is always eager to protect her host, with no care for the consequences. Her actions have led Yuta to be completely isolated, something that changes, though, when he stumbles upon a sorcerer named Satoru Gojo, who has different plans for him, despite the fact that his higher ups are not exactly eager about them. Yuta decides to follow him to his school, in order to learn to control the power of the curse. While there, Yuta learns all about Jujutsu arts and how to fight curses, and after many tribes and tribulations, also manages to make some friends, in the faces of Toge Inumaki, Maki Zenin, and Panda. At the same time, however, Suguru Geto, known as the worst of all curse users, has begun unfolding his own plans that aim to get rid of all non-sorcerers, and has his own group to help him. The showdown is inevitable.
Following essentially the same recipe with the series, which also borrows heavily from “Naruto”, focusing on a charismatic kid that needs to learn how to control his powers, “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” does not exactly reinvent the genre. However, there are a plethora of elements here that truly make the title stand out, both contextual and technical. The first one is the relationship between Yuta and his curse, and particularly the way Rika's love for him continued even after she became a curse, in a rather grotesque love story, particularly in the way the vengeful spirit is eager to become extremely violent in order to protect him, to the point that he has to be particularly careful for her not to kill his friends, or anyone around him for that matter. Furthermore, the twist that eventually appears in their story adds a very welcome dramatic aspect to the movie, which, added to Zenin's story, induces the narrative with additional depth, while increasing the empathy the viewer can feel for the protagonists.
Another great aspect of the movie is the overall drawing, with the various backgrounds being impressive to look at, and with the highest level of detail, but most of all, Tadashi Hiramatsu's character design which finds its apogee in the “myriad” of curses that appear throughout the movie. From the most minor ones, that just show for brief moments, to the protagonist ones, like Rika and the ones Geto uses, their design and coloring is impeccable not to mention rather original in its conception. Combined with another great job in the animation by MAPPA, the film is rather impressive audiovisually, a fact that becomes quite obvious during the various battles, while also justifying the huge success the movie had upon its screening in Japan.
Lastly, the concepts of friendship, some moments of humor mostly deriving from the fact that Inumaki only talks through words referring to fish food, and the whole presence of Panda, add even more entertainment to the anime.
“Jujutsu Kaisen” is an excellent anime film, which continues (prequels I guess) the “legacy” of the franchise in the best way, and a title that will appeal to both fans of the original series and of shonen titles in the style of “Naruto”.
