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Jujutsu Kaisen has been one of the most successful and popular anime in recent years, and it is quite easy to see why: great worldbuilding, endearing characters, a lot of lore, and cool action scenes make it one of the most pleasant surprises in the industry in recent times. So when there was an announcement of a film that was going to serve as a prequel, aptly titled Jujutsu Kaisen 0, there were a lot of reasons to be excited.
If you have never seen Jujutsu Kaisen and for some reason, you want to watch this film, we have good news for you: you can watch it without any previous knowledge of the franchise. It is written and structured in a way that explains to you all about the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, how the powers work, how the Curses are created, and so on.
That might be a bit annoying for people that have already seen the anime or read the manga, but it is a necessary step to get new viewers up to speed with what this world is. And they don’t spend too much time on this particular topic either.
The film deals with protagonist Yuta Okkotsu, who has endured a tragic backstory after dealing with the loss of a loved one, his childhood love, Rika. If the series’ protagonist, Yuji Itadori, is a positive, uplifting, and hyperactive main character, Yuta is shy, an introvert, and a deeply traumatized individual that has to deal with a lot of personal issues in his journey to becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
From that perspective, the character of Yuta is a nice change of pace when compared to the main storyline. This is not a dig at Itadori, but rather an emphasis on offering something different when it comes to the main characters, and the tragic nature of Yuta makes for a very interesting view. I know it’s not the same, but I compare it a bit to Anakin Skywalker’s story in the Star Wars prequel: a fundamentally good person that goes down in a dark park due to his own traumas and the events that end up consuming him.
I’m not going to spoil you too much about the actual events that go down in the movie because I want you to see it and that is due to the fact that this is a really good story. It is fun, it is dynamic and it maintains the core value of the manga and the anime, which are the strong, endearing characters and those emotional moments that are only emphasized by the sheer brutality of the action scenes.
The film also features the main Jujutsu Sorcerer that works as a teacher, Satoru Gojo, and three of his students that are already shown in the main storyline: Maki Zenin, Toge Inumaki, and Panda. Even if you don’t know anything about them, they are presented in a way that feels organic and natural, so they don’t stand out in any negative manner.
Perhaps the thing that has the most attention from Jujutsu Kaisen fans watching this film is to finally see the main bad guy, Suguru Geto, in action. And like I said before, I’m not going to spoil much, but he certainly delivers the good and you end up wanting more from him.
Speaking of that, the animation is just as good as the anime, if not better due to films usually having bigger budgets to work with. It is dynamic, filled with cool action scenes, and definitely is a visual spectacle for the viewer.
Overall, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 lives up to the hype and manages to stick the landing in the best possible way. Yuta’s storyline is a lot darker than what we have seen in the anime so far and it is a very emotional story about having to let go of the past and the loss he has endured. It’s a very good film and deserves the recognition it has gotten.
