Last December, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was released in Japan, the film based on the manga by Gege Akutami, and which corresponds to a prequel to the popular anime Jujutsu Kaisen. Few months have passed and finally this week the film will arrive in Latin America, allowing fans of this region to learn a little more about the past of some of the characters in the series. Jujutsu Kaisen 0, was announced once the first season of the anime ended in March 2021, and like the series it is produced by MAPPA.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was written by Gege Akutami prior to Jujutsu Kaisen. This very fact is one of the factors that makes this movie so good, and it is that unlike other productions, whether you have seen Jujutsu Kaisen or have no idea about it, it works in an excellent way, and that is that the story can be enjoyed both as an individual product with closure in itself, as well as part of a larger story, opening in this way to the possibility of being enjoyed by people who have not seen the anime.
As I already mentioned, the story that this film presents is based on the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga, which, given its success, gave Gege Akutami the possibility of performing Jujutsu Kaisen, so from its base, one can already expect a good story. This film adapts in a good way the facts of the manga, delivering an excellent combination of emotional moments with action-packed fights, all while following a good pace of development in its plot.
The plot, although it serves as a prequel to Jujutsu Kaisen, does not transport us much time in the past, since its events take place only one year before the events that occurred in the anime, when Maki, Panda and Toge were in the first year. . The story in this way follows Yuta Okkotsu, a student who after a series of tragic events in his childhood finds himself cursed, being followed by a powerful special class curse -the most powerful- that corresponds to his deceased childhood friend Rika. . This curse doesn’t let anyone bother Yuta, with which he is even capable of attacking his classmates. For this, he is sentenced to death, however with the help of Gojo Satoru, he ends up joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College, in a beginning that broadly speaking is very similar to that of Yuji Itadori in the anime.
Although the circumstances are similar for both protagonists, they could not be more different, since while in Itadori we have an outgoing character with great sports ability, in Yuta we find a shy character, who suffers from bullying, and without great abilities. physical, that little by little through training, he begins to accept his reality and become a great sorcerer. This duality of characters with similar histories works perfectly, and gives another perspective to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Upon entering school, Yuta meets his classmates, Toge Inumaki, Maki Zenin and Panda, with whom he gradually begins to form a friendly relationship despite initially being reluctant to interact with him given Rika’s curse. . In this sense, it should be mentioned that the plot knows how to develop Yuta’s time at the academy in a good way, since despite having a limited time, they manage to advance in a good way from their beginnings without knowing anything about sorcery and curses, until they already have some skill in combat and knowledge of curses. Following the same line, the film combines in a good way the action that one would expect from Jujutsu Kaisen with moments of humor, and plot development, not being overly burdened by any of these aspects, and delivering a combination that can be enjoyed from the beginning. finally
It should be mentioned that the story, along with following Yuta, also allows us to learn a little more about Suguru Geto, and the motivations of this villain who is the main person responsible for the events that occur during the first season of the series.
Although the work is a great adaptation of the manga, maintaining the vast majority of the facts, it does present some changes in relation to the original work, changes that are understood given the premiere of the anime and the popularity it reached. This is how the main differences come at the time of the central battle, which in the manga is little portrayed, being able to see only a little of the combat that Gojo Satoru sustains. In this film, They decided to go a little further by animating several confrontations, which are carried out by different characters that appeared throughout the first season of the anime.
This is how we can see Nanami, Ino, Mei Mei, or even the Kyoto students in action, each one with their outstanding moment to show their powers. This decision makes a lot of sense if you take into account that when Gege Akutami made this prequel he hadn’t written Jujutsu Kaisen yet, so most likely he hadn’t even thought about many of these characters, and now that he has a advanced story it seems logical to include them in combat.
One of the elements for which the Jujutsu Kaisen series stood out was for its animation, and that is that Mappa in recent years has done an excellent animation job with the different series he is working on, in the case of this film it is no different, Whether in moments of action or humor, the animation accompanies the work in a great way, especially when it comes to visual effects for the different powers shown by the characters, which look better than ever. Similarly, the series is accompanied by an excellent soundtrack, which fits perfectly to each of the moments presented by the film.
As expected, the plot is closely linked to the story presented by the anime, and while in the manga both stories are already connected, this has not yet happened in the anime, probably in the third season the moment will happen. Although there is still some time left for this, the series already provided some clues to this conjunction of stories, and this time the film does the same, anticipating what will come later in the anime.
In conclusion…
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is an excellent movie with an excellent story and moment of action that will leave all fans satisfied. Without a doubt its greatest aspect is that it is a movie that works either as a follower of the anime and the story created by Gege Akutami, or as someone completely new who has no idea about Jujutsu Kaisen.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 will be released on March 24 in theaters in Latin America.