Bibliographic Information:
Title: Jujutsu Kaisen
Distributors: Crunchyroll, HBO Max, Netflix
Director: Seong-Hu Park (10 episodes)
Source: Based on the manga by Gege Akutami
Release Date: 2020
Cast: Junya Enoki, Adam McArthur, Yûichi Nakamura
Production Company: MAPPA, TOHO Animation
Interest Level: 13+ (based on the fact that it's advertised as a shounen)
Genre / Format: Action, Fantasy, Horror, Battle Shounen / Anime, Movie, Streaming
Themes: Trauma, Moving On, Death, Identity, Friendship, Supernatural
Awards or Honors: Crunchyroll Anime Award, Anime of the Year, 2021
Logline: "A boy swallows a cursed talisman - the finger of a demon - and becomes cursed himself. He enters a shaman's school to be able to locate the demon's other body parts and thus exorcise himself."
Plot Summary: Itadori is a high school loner going through life in a relaxed pace. Despite having superhuman strength and agility, Itadori avoids sports and instead, chooses to enroll in the small (not school-approved), occult club. He keeps to himself and hurries to the hospital everyday after school to visit his dying grandfather. Before his grandfather passes, he urges Itadori to stop worrying about an old dying man and to go make friends, friends that he can protect so that when he finds himself on his deathbed, he can be surrounded by the warmth of people and their love. Without any time to mourn, Itadori must jump into action to save his occult club friends who accidentally unleash a demon after tampering with a cursed object. Itadori teams up with a Jujutsu sorcerer in order to save his friends. In a desperate attempt to save everyone, Itadori eats the cursed object. While it would normally kill a person, Itadori manages to control the demon inside him after using its strength to protect his friends. Now that Itadori is a host of the powerful demon Sekuna, he must work with the Jujutsu sorcerers to hunt down the other cursed objects in order to destroy the demon inside him.
Creator Background: Gege Akutami was born Feb 26, 1992. They are a manga artists best known for Jujutsu Kaisen and the prequel, Jujustu Kaisen 0: Jujustu High. Their first one-shot, Kamishiro Sōsa, was relased in 2014, published in Jump Next (Jujutsu Kaisen Wiki, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation for Books and Non-Print Items: This series starts off with a lot of action. A lot of information is thrown at the viewer and like many shounen anime, you should give the series a couple of episodes before you judge it too harshly. Twenty minutes is barely enough time to introduce a character, a couple of episodes are needed to flesh out the world of the series. The first episode is effective at capturing Itadori's silly, aloof, yet determined personality. Throughout the series, you will also get to meet Megumi, Gojo, and Nobara Kugisaki -- all completely unique, interesting characters.
Itadori is not a very...active protagonist. This isn't meant as an insult to his character, it's just to mean that he is very reactive to the things around him. This is partly due to his "go-with-the-flow" attitude and due to the fact that he's completely out of his element. Itadori recognizes that he has a lot to learn and he's okay with that because he has complete faith in his abilities. Also, Itadori doesn't need to be the running the show because he's surrounded by other incredibly powerful, influential characters that are making the plot move forward. There are many elements of horror, reminiscent of Bleach; fans of action, battle manga and horror will find Jujutsu Kaisen to be the perfect balance.
Creative Use for a Library Program: Domain Expansion The jujutsu sorcerers of this show have an ability known as Domain Expansion, which essentially allows the user to have full control of their environment. Each sorcerer's Domain Expansion is unique to them, and is often a reflection of their personality. Teens will design their own Domain Expansion and jujutsu sorcerer avatar. This is an exercise in character design and finished products will be shared in the art gallery.
MAPPA Madness Jeopardy A jeopardy style game will be played where each category is a MAPPA property. The winner will get volume one of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Speed-Round Book Talk or Short Book Trailer: Itadori reflects on his life as he sits by the bedside of his dead grandfather. His grandfather's last words: "Don't be like me, alone at his death. Go make friends. And protect them." So when a cursed demon attacks his friends, Itadori rushes in to save them. In the process, he consumes an incredibly powerful cursed object and now, a terrible demon resides within him. Now Itadori's only choice is to help the Jujutsu Kaisen sorcerers track down the rest of the cursed objects so that the demon inside of him can be destroyed.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: This is a battle shounen; this means that most of the series will be comprised of people fighting each other. Other examples of these kinds of shows include Naruto, Bleach and My Hero Academia. All of these series, including Jujutsu Kaisen, will continue to be challenged because of claims that it promotes or glorifies violence. In these cases, I would argue that, like all shounen, the fighting aspect is a stylized, thematic choice. Just like sports movies are about more than just the sport (it's about the individual journey a player takes), battle shounen are about more than the fights. Don't get me wrong, beautifully choreographed fights are enough to fall in love with a series: a fight is an aggressive dance that, when animated with care, is an artform to be appreciated. The fights and the horror imagery are not the point of the show, they are stylized aspects of the journey of growth.
Reason for Inclusion: The main character is a chill guy; he goes with the flow of things and will lay down his life to protect his friends. This go-with-the-flow attitude works in this case because there is always something going on in this world and characters are always fighting off a threat. The rest of the cast is also diverse and we get to know how unique this team really is. MAPPA has been producing amazing popular titles like Yuri on Ice (2016), Attack on Titan (2020) AND the upcoming Chainsaw Man (2022). The prequel film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is also set to be released in Japan on December 24, 2021. Everyone's eyes are on MAPPA!
Enhancements
Official Trailer for season one
Official trailer for Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Movie (released Dec 24, 2021)
Check out this beautiful end-credits sequence for Jujutsu Kaisen featuring the song Lost in Paradise