Hello everyone ! You are probably wondering what “Jujutsu Kaisen” is, well to answer that, I am going to share this article into several categories so that you have a minimum of confusion because there are things to say!
This article is guaranteed without spoilers, I will not talk about events related to the current manga, so don't panic. I'll save that for another article. Here we go !
- The beginning
- Synopsis
- Characters
- My opinion on the series
" The beginning "
Jujutsu Kaisen or “Witchcraft Combat” in French is a shōnen manga by Gege Akutami, pre-published in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since March 2018 and published by the publisher Shūeisha in bound volumes. The French version is published by Ki-oon.
An animated series adaptation produced by the MAPPA studio is broadcast between October 2020 and March 2021. The prequel manga Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is also adapted into an animated film in December 2021. A second season is broadcast from July to December 2023. A third season is announced for around 2025 by the MAPPA studio.
Jujutsu Kaisen is the best-selling manga in Japan for fiscal years 2021 and 2022, and the series' total circulation stands at 70 million copies as of August 2022. The first season of the anime earns the title "d 'Anime of the Year' at Crunchyroll's Anime Awards 2021 on February 20, 2021.
Jujutsu Kaisen is written and drawn by mangaka Gege Akutami. A four-chapter prologue titled "Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School" was published in Jump GIGA magazine between April and July 2017, before being published in a hardcover volume under the title Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in December 2018. The series began pre-publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump on March 5, 2018.
“Synopsis”
The plot of Jujutsu Kaisen takes place in a world where occult energy exists, it materializes by demons called Scourges, created from the negative emotions of Humans. These are invisible to human eyes except for a handful of people. These people capable of interacting with the Scourges, of controlling their emotions and therefore their occult energy are called Exorcists. The job of an exorcist consists of eliminating the Scourges and thus protecting non-exorcist humans from them because we can only defeat the scourges by using occult energy (fire with fire). But this is not without risks, because the plagues can be very powerful.
Yūji Itadori, an average high school student with superhuman strength and member of the spiritualism club, one day finds in his high school's weather shelter a relic (object imbued with occult energy) of rank S (highest rank of power of the flails) protected by a seal. Sasaki and Iguchi, his friends from the club, stay at school in the evening to inspect the relic while Yūji is at the hospital where his grandfather has just died. The relic they found is one of the 20 fingers of Ryōmen Sukuna, the most powerful of the scourges. Thus, by freeing the finger from the seal, Sasaki and Iguchi are attacked by numerous plagues. Yūji, learning of the latter's existence, returns to high school as quickly as possible in the company of an exorcist to save his friends from the clutches of the scourges. During a confrontation against one of them, he decides to ingest the relic to become more powerful and thus save his friends.
By swallowing this relic, Ryōmen Sukuna takes possession of Yūji's body, but this is only short-lived because the latter surprisingly manages to regain control over Sukuna. The exorcists initially decide to sentence Yūji to death, in order to ward off the threat that is Sukuna, but thanks to the intervention of the most powerful of the exorcists, Satoru Gojo, they finally decide to use Yūji as a receptacle for Sukuna and to kill him the day he has swallowed all his fingers. Indeed, this is the only way to eliminate Sukuna once and for all.
From there, an adventure begins that will lead Yūji to become a powerful exorcist to save innocents from an undignified death and to eliminate the scourges of this world to preserve humanity.
SO ? Intriguing isn’t it! Let's continue with the main characters of the series.
" Characters "
The protagonists :
Yuji Itadori
Species: Human
Date of birth: March 20, 2003
Astrological sign: Pisces
Age: 15 years old
Place of birth: Miyagi
Male gender
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 80 kg
Fate: None
Occupation: High school student then exorcist.
He is the main protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen. He was initially a second grade student at Sugisawa High School. However, after ingesting one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers while he was on death's door, Yuji became the recipient of the King of Plagues. He is then put to death by the exorcists but obtains a reprieve only on one condition: find and ingest all of Sukuna's fingers and once he has accomplished his mission, Yuji will be executed. As a result, Yuji joins the Tokyo exorcism school under the tutelage of Satoru Gojo and becomes the classmate of Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki.
Megumi Fushiguro
Species: Human
Date of birth: December 22, 2002
Astrological sign: Capricorn
Age: 15 years old
Place of birth: Saitama
Male gender
Height: 175cm
Weight: 60 kg
Spell: Ten Shadows Technique
Occupation: High school student then exorcist
He is a second year student at the Tokyo Exorcism School with Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki. He is none other than the son of Toji Fushiguro, a former member of the Zenin clan turned hitman, and is the younger brother by marriage of Tsumiki Fushiguro. After her father and Tsumiki's mother left leaving their respective children alone, Megumi was placed under the guardianship of Satoru Gojo to the detriment of the Zenin clan. It was from this moment in his life that he decided to embrace the life of an exorcist.
Nobara Kugisaki.
Human race
Date of birth: August 7, 2002
Astrological sign: Leo
Age: 16 years old
Place of birth: Tohoku
Gender: Female
Height: 160cm
Spell: Voodoo Technique
Occupation: High school student then exorcist
Originally from the countryside, Nobara lands in Tokyo in order to escape her lifestyle and find her childhood friend, Saori. She is a second grade student at the Tokyo Exorcism School with Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro.
Satoru Gojo
Species: Human
Date of birth: December 7, 1989
Astrological sign: Sagittarius
Age: 29 years old
Male gender
Height: 190cm
Spell: Power of the Infinite
Occupation: Exorcist, teacher & leader of the Gojo clan.
He is an S-class exorcist, known as the strongest among them, teaching at the Tokyo Exorcism School and is in charge of the second graders. He is the main teacher of Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki. He was also a former classmate of Suguru Geto and Shoko Ieiri at the exorcism school and a former student of Masamichi Yaga the current principal of the school.
Considered the sole power of the Gojo clan, he is the current head of his family and one of the descendants of one of the greatest exorcists and vengeful spirits of Japan, Sugawara no Michizane - along with Yuta Okkotsu, another of these students. He is the heir to the Power of Infinity and the Sixth Eye.
Kento Nanami
Species: Human
Date of birth: July 3, 1990
Astrological sign: Cancer
Age: 28 years old
Male gender
Height: 184cm
Spell: Division by Ten Spell
Occupation: Employee (Formerly) & Exorcist.
He is a Class 1 exorcist and a former student of the Tokyo Exorcism School. After finishing his studies, Kento first stopped working as an exorcist to become an employee in a company and then finally returned to his former profession a few years later. He subsequently became, through Satoru Gojo, one of Yuji Itadori's mentors.
The main antagonists:
Ryomen Sukuna
Species: Human then Relic
Age: +1000 years
Male gender
Spell: Nameless
Occupation: Master of Plagues (formerly) King of Plagues.
Also known as the indisputable King of Plagues and Master of Poisons or even the Fallen Angel for some, Sukuna was a human more than 1000 years ago who became a demon with two faces and four arms. During the golden age of exorcism, a large number of practitioners joined forces to challenge and defeat it. His body became a powerful relic and, preserved by his adipocira, it crossed the ages. In the present, Sukuna incarnated into Yuji Itadori because the latter ate one of his cursed fingers containing his fragmented power.
Suguru Geto
Species: Human
Date of birth: February 3, 1990
Astrological sign: Aquarius
Age: 27 years old
Male gender
Height: 185cm
Spell: Spirit Manipulation
Occupation: Exorcist (formerly) master of plagues, guru.
He is a major character in Jujutsu Kaisen and the main antagonist of the prequel series, Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo School of Exorcism. He was one of the four S-class exorcists of the current era and is also a former classmate of Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri at the Tokyo Exorcism School and a former student of Masamichi Yaga.
After he felt that helping non-exorcists was no longer a viable option following various events, Suguru's ideals radically changed and he left the exorcism institute after massacring around a hundred civilians. in a single night including his parents. He then became a master of plagues pursuing the goal of creating a world without non-exorcists. Over the years, Suguru formed a veritable sect - built on the remains of the Astral Cult - and surrounded himself with powerful masters of scourges. He is also the main instigator of the Plague Parade, a terrorist attack which occurred in the cities of Shinjuku and Kyoto.
Mahito
Species: Scourge
Spell: Absolute Alteration
Occupation: Scourge
It is an S-class scourge born from humans' hatred of their fellow humans. He is the leader of a group of scourges consisting of himself, Jogo, Hanami and Dagon. Their goal is to eradicate humans so that the plagues can take their place.
Toji Fushiguro
Species: Human
Date of birth: December 31
Astrological sign: Capricorn
Male gender
Fate: None
Innate Oath: Physical Endurance
Born Toji Zenin, is a former member of the Zenin clan, turned hitman known as the Exorcist Killer. He notably worked for the Astral Cult. He is the father of Megumi Fushiguro, and is also a former enemy of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. Toji is also the main antagonist of the Hidden Treasure/Premature Death arc.
“My opinion on the series”
First of all, you should know that my desire to read Jujutsu Kaisen did not come by chance. Although friends told me only good things about it, there had to be a trigger. And this trigger is none other than the character of Satoru Gojo! Eh yes ! Its design immediately caught my attention and I immediately wanted to find out who this famous character was that everyone was talking about. Even today this character is still popular with fans and I include myself in that too! Over time he is still one of my favorite characters, his zany character mixed with his general complexity makes him one of the most popular characters in all manga combined.
What can we say about the work once it has begun? Well, I was immediately hooked! Gojo is also one of the first characters we see on screen, which helped me a lot to get hooked on the sequel but not only that…
Indeed, the main story, much darker than a classic shonen, intrigued me as the episodes progressed. The protagonists are endearing although very similar to their colleagues from other mangas. At least that's what we think at first: "Here's a second Naruto...". So not at all! It is true that the beginning plunges us into a universe that is certainly more occult and terrifying, but we quickly realize that Jujutsu Kaisen has its own universe and its own colorful characters!
The humor, the fights, the OSTs, the themes covered, are rich and fascinating, a real treat for me. I, who was looking to rediscover emotions after the epic end of Attack on Titan, immersed myself in this occult universe which directly invested me emotionally. Don't panic, there will be no manga spoilers here! But those who know, you will be able to understand where I am coming from.
Let's talk a little about my feelings towards the main characters. I said earlier that Satoru Gojo was the character who pushed me to read the manga. But since then, it has lost its favorite place in my heart, yes! Another character replaced him, one of the main antagonists: Ryoumen Sukuna. Yes, I have a weakness for bad guys...I can't help it! Whether it's his character design, his goal, his complexity, I like everything about him! Although he takes great pleasure in making our protagonist Yuji Itadori suffer.
Speaking of the hero, what is he worth? In all honesty, I wasn't expecting much, especially at the beginning of the work, it's just a poor high school student who finds himself involved in this crazy adventure. He is rather a victim of his own history, but has an iron will to surpass himself. So far he seems like an ordinary hero possessed by an uncontrollable force. But that would be a bad judgement... Yuji is not a banal and uninteresting character, quite the contrary. We will have to wait for the Shibuya arc but especially the sequel to discover its full potential. Of course I will let you discover it with season 3 for those who only watch the anime. Be patient !
I will talk more about the different seasons and the manga in other articles, stay tuned!
Thank you all for your attention, see you next time for other articles on Jujutsu Kaisen Era !
Nice article :)