100% Jujutsu Kaisen This Episode! -Renegade Animation #55
On a dark and funny episode of Renegade Animation, Captain Kaye and The Animation Guru discuss MAPPA's Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the #1 movie in Japan last year and the #2nd movie here in the states last weekend, and the shounen series it's a prequel to!
JUJUTSU KAISAN
“If you like shows with an irreverent sense of humor but with dark, almost nightmare fuel imagery, and badass action scenes, then you should watch this immediately! This still has the tropes of your usual shounen anime but through a far more refined lens. It helps that all these characters are likeable, even the ones you wouldn’t expect to be so, the action is incredibly well choreographed, and the curses and monsters-of-the-week are so well designed!
Even half-way though, it establishes pretty much the whole ensemble, so you have a good idea of who these characters are and their motivations.
Honestly, I don’t really have a lot to complain about, other than, I would like to see more from these characters and learn more about how the curse world works and a little more backstory on Sukuna and why he is as revered and feared as he is.
Other than that, the show is just rock-solid. Had I seen this when I was younger, around the time of those classic shounen series, this would easily be an all time favorite.”-Captain Kaye
JUJUTSU KAISEN 0: The Movie
“Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Gege Akutami. Directed by Sunghoo Park from a screenplay written by Hiroshi Seko, the film follows Yuta Okkotsu, a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a curse and won’t leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the curse that haunts him? Fun fact about the original source material: it wasn't mean to be serialized. However, after the launch of Jujutsu Kaisen, the manga was retrofitted into becoming a prequel, and the film adaptation makes that pretty obvious. On the one hand, that makes this movie the perfect entry point for newcomers who haven't seen the anime but don't want to feel left out of the discussion. The dialogue might get a touched bogged down by exposition, but at least it serves the purpose of introducing audiences to the world of Jujutsu sorcery, the various curses, and the weapons used to exercise them. Some people's mileage may vary when it comes to the protagonist. Yuta is an acquired taste, and while I wasn't a fan of his whining towards the beginning of the film, I ultimately LOVED his arc. This is both a love story, and one about coping with the loss of a loved one, with a very satisfying pay off. The problems I have with this movie are nothing major, at best just a pair of nitpicks. There are moments in which the pacing felt a little too episodic for a feature film, especially during the first half. As for the animation, at any other studio this would be top shelf. However, Mappa (despite allegedly undesirable working conditions) usually delivers this quality level on television weekly, so by comparison there's not too much of a different when translated onto the big screen. That doesn't mean it's bad, in fact it's the third act climax that delivers exactly what one pays to see with these anime franchise films. The other positives I have are the same ones I've had for the entire first season of the anime. I love these characters, I love the juxtaposition of dark, borderline nightmare fuel imagery with an absurd sense of humor, and I love the wildly creative action choreography. If you're already a diehard Jujutsu Kaisen fan, then I don't have to sell you on the film. But if you're a newbie and what I described sounds appealing to you, then please check seek this out as soon as you can. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is now playing in theaters, both in the English dub and the original Japanese w/English subtitles.”- Captain Kaye
