Now here I was thinking I’d figured these anime shows out. They have seasons, with episode arcs, much like a TV show, right? Wrong! They also sometimes have films which come out in between seasons which introduce us to more characters, and other stories. In this case, we’re returning to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen!
‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ is a prequel film, which introduces us to Yuta Okkotsu, a young man who has been followed by a cursed spirit, Rika, since he was a young child. Rika was Yuta’s childhood friend, who died in a freak accident, but became this cursed spirit and has protected Yuta since then. Naturally, the people of influence in the jujutsu world see Yuta as a massive threat, and arrange for him to be executed. Enter, everyone’s favourite teacher, Satoru Gojo, who takes Yuta under his wing, telling him that he will join Jujutsu High School and learn to break the curse that has haunted him all these years. Yuta then meets his fellow first years, Maki Zen’in, Toge Inumaki and Panda. These three are initially skeptical of Yuta, given the presence of Rika in his life, however, slowly begin to train with him. Gojo sends Maki and Yuta on their first mission together, and despite his initial fear, Yuta is able to make a deal with Rika to destroy the curse that has been haunting a local school. Gojo is impressed, and tells Yuta that he may be able to harness some of Rika’s power and infuse it into a weapon so that he, himself, can fight curses as well. Just as we see the camaraderie between the first years begin to build, a new threat identifies itself. Suguru Geto is a formidable jujutsu sorcerer who has the ability to absorb curses and use them against his enemies and he has Yuta in his sights. Can he convince Yuta to join his cause? And just what is he planning?
The perks of having seen the first season already was that in my mind, the tapestry of this world had already been created. I was looking forward to that tapestry expanding, and the film really does that. We are introduced to Yuta Okkotsu, a character that is mentioned by name only in the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen and he’s such a different protagonist to Yuji Itadori. In the beginning he’s this shy and scared kid, but his resilience and desire to grow makes him a very likeable character. By the time I’d finished watching, I’d mentally changed my Top 10 characters because Yuta needed to be in that list. But luckily it’s not all new faces. Satoru Gojo is there, with his usual tricks, but we get to see more nuances in his character. Since this is a prequel, we know Yuta’s classmates well, since they are second years in the first season of the show. I have to say, I like Maki and Panda, but Inumaki is such an OP but sweet character, and I liked how the film gave him some good screen time too. We can’t speak about the film without addressing our villain. Suguru Geto is a mysterious jujutsu sorcerer who is way more talkative that I expected. Although his squad are relatively forgettable, he oozes this charisma that almost makes you want to like him. What I wanted to know was what his connection to Gojo is, because the two of them seem to know each other pretty well. I’ve been told I need to watch the second season in order to find out. In a way, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ is far more palatable than the first season as the groundwork has already been laid out. Gone are the questions about curses and techniques and why Panda is able to do what he does. In a way, I think that really solidified the enjoyment I got from watching this film!
The perks of having a film is that the story isn’t as long or complicated, and ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ has excellent pacing so you’re never really bored. One could argue that the downside to that is that it’s only the length of about 4 or 5 episodes. The animation style was subtly different and I honestly thought it was a bit of an upgrade. Although I didn’t pay much attention to it, the music in some of the scenes was also pretty good. I realize that I’m saying a lot of what Jujutsu Kaisen fans have been expressing for a long time, but this story really is very good, and our introduction to Yuta now has me very excited for when I see him next. Perhaps I need to speed through the second season?
Rating:
Story: ★★★½
Character Development: ★★★★½
Animation and Visual Style: ★★★★
World Building: ★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★½