TV Anime, “Jujutsu Kaisen”, Blows Up in Japan

The anime Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦), which airs only on the web-based television platform called dTV in Japan, has achieved the #1 ranking in terms of monthly viewership for the past four consecutive months from December 2020 through March 2021. This is a significant achievement because, by capturing so many viewers, Jujutsu Kaisen edged out global sensation, Kimetsu-no-Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) which is known as Demon Slayer outside of Japan.

What kind of anime/manga is Jujutsu Kaisen?

Categorized as adventure fiction, dark fantasy, and occult fiction, Jujutsu Kaisen made its debut as a Japanese manga which has been published by Weekly Shonen Jump since March 2018. As of March 2021, the series covers 15 tankobun (短構文) volumes.

Yuji Itadori battling curses in *Jujutsu Kaisen*, Image Sourced from dAnime Store

The series is a sequel to a four-chapter monthly series called Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School. Shueisha, the Japanese publisher of Jujutsu Kaisen, released this series via Jump GIGA between April and July 2017. It was later re-released as Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in December 2018.

As of April 2021, the Jujutsu Kaisen manga had over 45 million copies in circulation.

Jujutsu Kaisen has since been adapted into an anime television series. 24 episodes have aired in Japan from October 2020 to March 2021.

What is the story?

Jujutsu Kaisen is about an athletic high school student from Sendai named Yuji Itadori (虎杖悠仁). To pursue his archrivals, Yuji becomes a member of a secret organization of jujutsu sorcerers called the Occult Research Club. Incidentally, Jujutsu (呪術) means “sorcery” in Japanese. The term kaisen (廻戦) means “recurring warfare.”

The characters Satoru Gojo, Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki, Image Sourced from Takumi-Art-Tumblr

Yuji must navigate among a race of spirits called “curses” who are intent on destroying human beings by tapping into their cursed energy which emanates from negative thinking. Yuji becomes the host of a powerful sorcerer named Ryomen Sukuna (両面宿儺) by swallowing one of his fingers. Yuji is now on a quest to swallow the rest of Sukuna’s fingers to kill him off completely.

Who is the author?

Jujitsu Kaisen is written and illustrated by camera-shy Gege Akutami (芥見下々). This name is, in fact, a pen name. The author’s real name and gender are unknown, but there is rampant speculation about these topics.

We do know that Akutami was, supposedly, born in 1992 in Iwate- in Japan’s Tohoku Region- and moved to Sendai at around age 10. Akutami’s first published work was Kamishiro Sosa (神代捜査), a one-shot chapter that Jump Next! released in 2014. The author went on to win the 11^th Gold Future Cup contest for aspiring manga illustrators.

Japanese comedian Kendo Kobayashi is a big fan of Jujutsu Kaisen, Image Sourced from JapaneseClass

More recently, Jujutsu Kaisen became the 2020 grand prize winner on the popular manga variety show, Mando Kobayashi, which is hosted by Japanese comedian Kendo Kobayashi. Kobayashi interviewed Akutami on his show but the author appeared in a disguise.

Jujutsu Kaisen also received a nomination for this year’s annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (手塚治虫文化賞).

Where can you find it?

You can follow Jujutsu Kaisen in English. Since December 2019, the series has been licensed to Viz Media for distribution in English throughout North America.

Yuji’s girlfriend, Yuko Ozawa, Image Sourced from Shumikatsu

Shueisha also publishes the series in English via Manga Plus which is available globally except in Japan, China, and South Korea- all of which have separate sites.

Fan Reaction

Despite, or due to, the mysterious nature of Akutami’s background, you would think that fans would be suspicious. In any case, Akutami has managed to gain legions of fans both in Japan and around the world.

Masatoshi Kurita stresses the importance of being authentic and natural by tweeting, “What the author of Jujutsu Kaisen, Gege Akutami, keeps in mind when drawing manga is that it is critical not to strive (needlessly) to attempt to capture the sense of one’s own generation. This approach ‘stretches your spine.’”

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『呪術廻戦』の作者・芥見下々先生が、漫画を描くときに心がけていることは、

「自分と同世代にセンスいいと思われようとしないこと」。

背筋の伸びる言葉だな。。 pic.twitter.com/JxaG9qrsds
— 栗田雅俊 (@kurita_ma) April 27, 2021

Jujutsu Kaisen also inspires cosplay. Kuro recently tweeted, “I took a piggyback ride! I love Jujutsu Kaisen / Conan / Fifth Personality!　 I would be happy if I had a connection with someone who likes the same work.”

便乗してみた！
呪術廻戦/コナン/第五人格等が大好きです〜！同じ作品好きな方とご縁があれば嬉しいです😊
♥・rt両方巡らせて頂きます💕#折角のGWなので相互さんの相互さんもし宜しければこの機会に是非繋がりませんか pic.twitter.com/pLWODCNSYE
— クロ (@k_kuro66) May 3, 2021

Akutami has recently announced that the ending of the series has been planned but there are still many critical details left to be determined. Thus, it seems as though Jujutsu Kaisen is likely to continue for at least another two to three more years.

Link to Japanese Source: https://s.animeanime.jp/article/2021/04/30/61102.html

Mark Kennedy

Now a self-declared "lifer" foreigner in Japan, Mark is the founder of the Real Gaijin Substack (https://realgaijin.substack.com/welcome). Now based in Oita Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan, Mark is currently self-employed as an independent contractor focused on management and marketing consulting in the healthcare field. He had a long career at an American medical device manufacturer based in Chicago. Mark helped to found and ultimately run its wholly owned subsidiary in Tokyo. He completed a year-long Fulbright grant at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. Mark is also a 1990 graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, U.S.A. where he earned a BA in both History and the Japanese language. During college Mark was an exchange student at both Waseda University and Nichibeikaiwagakuin in Tokyo where he studied intensive Japanese. Mark speaks business level Japanese and intends to remain in Japan indefinitely where he has lived for a total of more than 20 years. He likes to write about his experiences and has been a frequent contributor to the on-line media resource Japan Insider (https://japaninsider.com/) for which he typically writes about business-related issues, the unique culture of Japan, and travel. Mark likes the outdoors and is passionate about hiking, bicycle touring and marine sports—particularly sailing and windsurfing.