‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ Non-Spoiler Review – What Happens When A Curse Is Used For Good

The long-awaited North American release has come, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is finally here. Based on the prequel manga of the latter name, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, by Gege Akutami. Riding high off of the massive success of the first season of its anime series this last year, the movie will be getting released on March 18th in theaters.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is directed by Sunghoo Park, and animated by MAPPA, and will be released in dubs and subs for select showings around North America.

There will be no spoilers in this review, as the title of the article suggests.

Plot Synopsis

According to Crunchyroll, the official plot synopsis for Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is as follows.

When they were children, Rika Orimoto was killed in a traffic accident right before the eyes of her close friend, Yuta Okkotsu.

“It’s a promise. When we both grow up, we’ll get married.”

Rika became an apparition, and Yuta longed for his own death after suffering under her curse,but the greatest Jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, welcomed him into Jujutsu High.

There Yuta meets his classmates, Maki Zen’in, Toge Inumaki, and Panda, and finally finds his own determination

“I want the confidence to say it’s okay that I’m alive!”

“While I’m at Jujutsu High, I’ll break Rika-chan’s curse.”

Meanwhile, the vile curse user, Suguru Geto, who was expelled from the school for massacring ordinary people, appears before Yuta and the others.

“This coming December 24th, we shall carry out the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.”

While Geto advocates for creating a paradise for only jujutsu sorcerers, he unleashes a thousand curses upon Shinjuku and Kyoto to exterminate all non-sorcerers.

Will Yuta be able to stop Geto in the end?

And what will happen to breaking Rika’s curse…?

Crunchyroll

A Staple of Shonen

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was released December 24th to Japanese audiences, quickly shooting up to a Top 5 highest-grossing movie in Japan, rivaling Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. The latter manga began releasing back on July 4th, 2018. A couple of years later, it got a full-fledged anime series that skyrocketed it to the mainstream and became a top-tier shonen. This, of course, precedented a movie, and what a more perfect choice than to make one of the prequel manga that is a must-needed part of the story!

Gege Akutami has crafted a top 10 shonen of all time with Jujutsu Kaisen, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 only further cements him as one of the best manga creators to ever put a pen to paper.

Newcomers are Here to Stay

Since this is a prequel, this is a perfect movie for newcomers to join the action-packed world of Jujutsu Kaisen. The story begins around a year before the anime series starts, setting up and giving context to a lot of references and subtle nods to events mentioned in the series.

Now, that’s not to say it’s completely barren of new characters and items to love, it’s full of it. For new viewers who have not seen the show, you need not worry. The movie does not require you to have seen the show one bit. Of course, it helps, and you will see slight connections and pick up on some things for extra fun. Although, overall, the film is a perfect place to jump in before Season 2 begins this upcoming year. (Hopefully.)

Overall Thoughts

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a very strong movie. It’s one of the best anime adaptations in recent years that will stick with me for a long time just as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has. Following on the strength of the animation, music, and storytelling the main series has, it hit all the right spots.

Jujutsu Kaisen was praised for its great animation, thanks to MAPPA, who at the moment of writing this has an absurd amount of anime on their plate to do. This includes Attack on Titan Season 4, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, the very much anticipated Chainsaw Man, and that doesn’t even include unannounced projects they surely have in store. Due credit to the studio, because with that workload, their animation still shines through in this feature-length movie.

In addition to the animation, the cast just works as well as it did with the series. With returning voice actors coming back from the show to reprise their roles, and new ones joining the fray, the tides are turning in the voice acting medium thanks to the strong-willed cast of anime and specifically this movie alike.

I watched the subbed version of the movie, but the cast list for both versions are is as follows.

• Yuta Okkotsu – Kayleigh McKee (English), Megumi Ogata (Japanese)
• Rika Orimoto – Anairis Quiñones (English), Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) 
• Maki Zen’in- Allegra Clark (English), Mikako Komatsu (Japanese) 
• Toge Inumaki – Xander Mobus (English), Koki Uchiyama (Japanese)
• Panda  – Matthew David Rudd (English), Tomokazu Seki (Japanese) 
• Satoru Gojo –  Kaiji Tang (English), Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese)
• Suguru Geto –  Lex Lang (English), Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese) 

For me, the strongest standout was Yuichi Nakamura as Gojo. Nakamura is a well-known voice actor in the anime world, portraying Jin Yuuichi in World Trigger Season 3 and most notably for Star Wars fans, he played the character Dan in the episode of Star Wars Visions, titled “The Elder”. The quirkiness 90 percent of the time and badass the other 10 percent is exactly what makes Nakamura perfect for Gojo in the series and this movie. Nakamura’s acting as the character is one of my favorite in years, with his voice being able to change from silly to serious in a split second.

The score of the film holds up to the series as well. With Jujutsu Kaisen taking notes from rock and roll, using it to its advantage in key moments, the movie does the same. With the darker tone of the universe, a heavy bass rip is needed when you need to kill a curse, you know? The soundtrack of the movie is equal to the series, only wishing I could hear more of it than what the runtime gives me.

With a majority of the soundtrack being done by the legend Hiroaki Tsutsumi, and the great Alisa Okehazama, the music is not without guest appearances from some bands as well. Most popularly known, King Gnu does the main theme for the movie. King Gnu is a very popular band in Japan, so to get ahold of them for the movie’s theme is another showing that Mappa did not come to play around with this movie.

Is Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Worth the Wait?

Being announced almost a full year ago on March 26th, the wait is over and you all can see the movie soon. But was it worth the hype? Yes. This movie will meet your expectations of what you would want out of a Jujutsu Kaisen movie. Curses? Check. Curse fights? Check. Gojo being Gojo? Check and check.

Delving deep into Yuta’s trauma, while also holding strong on what makes anime so great, the film is a top-tier movie that is destined to be remembered in the anime community. MAPPA has another hit on their hands, and it is only a matter of time before they’re called up to do another Jujutsu Kaisen movie, and then another, and another.

If you want to see more of the series, go see the movie in theaters before the run is over. With Japan knocking it out of the park, North America needs to do the same to show support for these ventures.

P.S Stay after the credits… (Wink, wink.)

I’m giving this film a great 9 out of 10.

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