Jujutsu Kaisen is the brand new highly anticipated anime that everyone can’t seem to get enough of. The manga is known to be one of the best manga currently being serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.
From Normal To Paranormal
Jujutsu Kaisen takes place in a world filled with demons, exorcists, other occult entities. In the first episode, we are introduced to Yuji Itadori, a simple, calm, and carefree high school student who just wants to enjoy his high school life. We see him do just that in the first episode as he socializes with the Occult Club members and casually break Olympic records against his high school track coach due to his unbelievable, yet apparently natural strength.
Looming around Yuji in the episode is Megumi Fushiguro, a student of the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College who is on a mission to seek out a high-grade cursed charm talisman, which is a decaying wrapped finger that houses a powerful curse called Ryoumen Sukuna.
While trying to enjoy normal high school life, Yuji also has to worry about his sick, cranky grandfather in the hospital who doesn’t seem to enjoy his company or that of others. Sadly, we don’t see much else of the old man as after giving Yuji two solid pieces of advice “always help people” and “die surrounded by people”, he quickly passes away in perhaps the most casual death in an anime I’ve ever seen. Afterward, things quickly begin spiraling out of control as it turns out the Occult Club has gotten their hands on the aforementioned cursed talisman and unleashes a slew of demons in the school. After Fushiguro confronts Yuji about the talisman, they both realize the situation and quickly rush towards the school.
Another Hero is Born
Yuji is determined to avoid the cruel and unnecessary death of his friends as after witnessing his grandfather’s last moments, he believes everyone deserves a proper death. So he quickly plunges face-first towards danger as he tries to heed his grandfather’s advice of helping people. He manages to save the day by consuming the finger and harnessing the power of Sakuna, thereby sealing his fate as a target among the exorcists of the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College.
Albeit at a rushed pace, the first episode does an adequate job of introducing some of the lead characters and the central premise. The part of the episode that caught my attention the most was the pristine quality-level of animation as expected from Studio Mappa. The character designs, while nothing special, are highly faithful to the manga, and the demons’ designs in the episode stand out more than that of the characters as it succeeds in giving the anime the supernatural vibe it deserves.
Jujutsu Kaisen Final Thoughts
While not much happens in the first episode, it exhibited both a calm start and a rushed finish introducing the characters earlier on and then presenting the challenge/ future motivations typical of much Shonen anime this season. Nevertheless, the ending did a good job of creating high expectations for subsequent episodes, and I, for one, hope it lives up to its incredible hype behind it and does justice to its stellar original adaptation.
If you haven’t seen the first episode of Jujutsu Kaisen, it’s available to stream right now on Crunchyroll.
Have you seen the first episode of Jujutsu Kaisen? What anime are you watching this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
