It has been a week since the first season of Jujustu Kaisen came to a close. If you missed out on this action packed Shōnen anime this winter you need to stop what you’re doing and go watch it. Seriously, go add it to your queue.
You may be thinking okay sounds great, so what’s it about. To you I will say, the title says it all! Now I am not a native Japanese speaker so I looked up the translation of the title just for you. According to the article “What Does Jujutsu Kaisen Mean?” by AnimeHunch Team, it literally translates to “sorcery fight.” Actually if you type in “kaisen” into Google translate it spits out “seafood,” which is pretty funny for when you meet a certain character later on. Or we can just say the anime is about “magic seafood.”
Okay cool so what are we fighting? Now I really don’t want to give too much away. I think the best way to watch this anime is to dive in headfirst but you’re here for answers so I’ll give you just a tiny bit. The sorcery of this world comes from cursed energy. What does that mean? It means that this is a dark and supernatural anime and our sorcerers will be fighting curses. And that is all I will give you.
What makes this anime memorable?
Characters:
The cast of characters is amazing. Each individual has their own strength and uniqueness that makes them fun to watch. We may not know everything about them but not a single one is boring.
They’re powerful. Since it’s an anime about sorcerers, yes they have “magic”. In order to be a jujutsu sorcerer you must be able to mainpulate cursed energy. That energy manifests in different ways and it’s not always obvious what someone’s power truly is.
The villains are truly villains. I mentioned before they’re fighting curses. These curses come in many shapes and forms. They are not human. They’re what give the anime a horror feel at times. Not to deter you if that it’s not your thing, it’s just worth noting that sometimes things could get a little scary.
Animation:
The fights are beautifully choreographed. Studio MAPPA animated fast-paced, intense, supernatural fights that look so fluid. It is captivating to watch. I mean overall the animation of the season is just outstanding. I have not personally read the manga yet but I’ve seen a big moment panel side-by-side with the moment from the anime and it’s translated almost identically. When the source material is good, a good studio is just going to elevate it and MAPPA did just that.
The Story:
It may be heavily focused on fights (see translation above) but there is plenty of meat to the story besides that. Immediately you’re thrown into the middle of the plot. You’re in a world where they assume you already know the rules. The mysteries of this world are slowly revealed to you alongside our main character, Itadori Yuji. Personally that’s how I want world building to be. Just drop me in and we can figure it out as we go. That way we can get to the action right away.
You never have all the pieces at one time and it’s intriguing to see each new detail about the world of jujutsu sorcerers revealed. I will say, I have never been so surprised by a show, of any kind/genre, in a long time I was by this one.
Opening and Ending Songs
Now let’s talk about that opening sequence. If you’ve been following the blog you know what a fan I am of good openers. Both cours knocked it out of the park with the opening and ending songs.
Below is the first opening and ending for Jujustsu Kaisen. What strikes me about the opener is that it gives you a lot of information without revealing why any of it is important. It doesn’t follow the pattern a lot of openers do where you can get a sense of everything that is going to happen in the next ten to twelve episodes. Also it’s super catchy.
If you’ve read my “Top 5 Anime Endings of 2020“ then you’ll recognize the ending. It’s just pure fun. The art style is different and the song itself is jazzy and upbeat. I will admit I listened to this song on repeat for days after watching the first episode.
Convinced?
All in all this is one of the best new anime I’ve watched since Demon Slayer came out in 2019. What’s so great about this anime is that it’s constantly moving forward. There is hardly any downtime. We’re thrown from fight to fight, situation after situation and it’s exhilarating.
While there are plenty of lighthearted moments this is a dark anime. It’s only fair to warn you, there are monsters and there is real danger. Jujutsu Kaisen has an edge to it that I haven’t seen in a while. If you’re looking for some action, some mystery, just something different then you should definitely give it a try.
