I realise I have been writing a few first impressions posts as of late, and today I'm writing yet another with my return to an anime that I started way back in October but just never got around to continuing, mostly due to watching a lot of other things around that time and then deciding to travel that very month. Holiday chaos removed all of my free time, too. But now things are settling down, I have to say I have really missed being able to just sit and watch things and just relax with hobbies. Jujutsu Kaisen is an anime I have heard a lot about, being yet another Mappa show that has managed to gain popularity and stand out in a sea of literal trash entries that put an embarrassing mark on the animation world. I wrote recently that I want to love anime, I want to watch it more and enjoy it, but it's so, so hard to find good shows. This revisiting of Jujutsu Kaisen has felt incredibly refreshing, and it's surprising how quickly it managed to hook me in. What's more surprising is how its animation quality is actually good, not following the typical reliance on rotoscoping and computer generated effects; something far too many animation studios are relying on in efforts to cut down costs and throw out endless attempts at hits. Personally, I blame companies like Netflix for this, with their high cash burn capabilities that smaller studios can't really keep up with. As well as their evil hands that grab at anything and reduce its quality.
The truth is, I didn't actually expect to like Jujutsu Kaisen. Mappa in recent years has started to leave a foul taste in the mouth, almost making me avoid them entirely. I mean, Chainsaw Man's style was completely disgusting. I couldn't finish it. This led me to feel that perhaps their works had just grown far from my interests, and that the rest of the industry was following in that direction. Jujutsu Kaisen feels a lot like older anime shows though, not the real old ones from the years before 2000, but the industry around a decade ago, where the animation styles were still a bit different, and stories felt original and engaging. With characters that were creatively made, memorable. I had some thoughts of that first season of One Punch Man, which too went south with its second season and then sort of just disappeared for good. I felt that this may suffer the same fate, though I'm curious as to whether it will going into the second season. Right now, I'm about halfway through season one and still very much enjoying it.
This first impressions post may contain a few brief spoilers, though generally I avoid them given I myself am still relatively early in with the show. That said, this is still a little warning!
In a similar style to many shonen type anime shows, Jujutsu Kaisen starts off with your regular teenager that doesn't hold much promise, but is pulled into a world far greater than he could ever imagine with the consumption of a demon's finger, which places a cursed spirit inside him, allowing him to harness the power of a demon while maintaining his own humanity, a bit of a rare occurrence given his ability to control it. With this, the two become an insanely strong force that put a lot of the rest to shame. Becoming placed in a school for such individuals to increase their powers and control them better, while working to combat a lot of the malicious spirits that hold intent to harm humanity. This means that this anime is actually very action focused, and it shows with each episode. It seems there's rarely an episode focused purely on character development without some really awesome action scene to show for it, growth alongside cool visuals that are full of fun compositions, colours, and scenes.
In character design, they're pretty good. With some similarities to characters from shows like Naruto (a teacher that has a blindfold and relatively spiked hair, for example). And the cursed spirits have designs that are pretty cool, each with interesting abilities that makes for some really fun action scenes. Around episode eight, there was a fight scene that really showed what the show was capable of, perhaps the largest set of animation skills and coolness yet displayed. But fortunately it doesn't feel like there's a ton of build-up in this show like a shonen would have, not a plethora of teasing and leading up to something that then just takes far too long to get over with. I really like how its done, not too much teasing, but some followed by the climax. And it makes you want more. Providing snippets of the world and how different spirits are in the process. It even reminded me a little of some 2010s shows like Parasyte and Inuyashiki (both I recommend, though you've probably either seen or heard of them already).
I like the character of Itadori, being your typical teenager that doesn't seem capable of saving the world, but definitely has the idiocy and immaturity to pull off something dangerous. His humour seems in sometimes due to this, alongside references to pop culture here and there, usually fantasy films or other anime shows. Even some animated The Lord of the Rings manages to find its way into a television screen during an episode. I think the character design for this protagonist works since he's capable of a lot but doesn't really show it, nor does he really know it yet. Allowing for room for exploration and growth to harness those skills a bit more. And the designs go into the spirits too, where they also have interesting designs that clearly show some inspiration from bigger shows like Dragon Ball. Different colours and alien typed designs appear. It makes all the villains actually memorable and not just instant-death foes that don't hold much interest or weight for the viewer. Instead you're likely to actually miss them. Which shows another aspect of the show: the development of humanity alongside spirits. The philosophical aspects.
And here I want to talk a bit about the aforementioned actions scenes: they are good! I really like the ways in which they use different compositions, stretched drawing perspectives to exaggerate movement, letting us look up at the characters to increase the idea of their strengths. And the large amount of explosions that are animated very well. Again, very little reliance on rotoscoping or computer generated effects; that isn't to say that the show doesn't use them. It does. But it hides them well with different textures, blending them in well so that it doesn't look obvious. A lot of the time you won't even really notice them. Even in the fast-paced action scenes it all looks very fluid and natural, no sudden 3D effects popping in and out. I'm surprised at Mappa for this, it's something I feel they had given up on in recent years. But again, I'm worried about that second season. Times have changed and this first season has been out for a few years now.
But I'll definitely be sticking around to watch the rest and find out. This show is really good, and I can see why it managed to gain such large interest from people. It truly deserves it and stands out so much with how boring the rest of the industry can be. It seems as if this show is made by people that truly cared about the art and creating something good. It shows for now. I also really recommend it. Perhaps you're like me and tired of the typical anime setting and romance tropes; instead wanting some action and fun monster designs to enjoy. The first season has 23 episodes in it, so it'll be taking up a lot of your time, though it's an easy show to binge in my opinion. I don't want to put it down!
Oh, and that ending sequence is really creative. Digital drawings of the characters all being expressive, dancing around, very limited use of colour. For once I don't feel like immediately skipping and ending sequence to immediately jump into the next episode. This one feels like something artists can enjoy and learn from.
I am glad that I saw this review of yours, I love anime so I am definitely going to watch Jujutsu Kaisen.
I still don't understand why this series has become so famous. It has bored me at certain points of its seasons, except for the last 3 chapters of each one with the fight scenes and action raising the level but the plot for me is very talkative and contains minimal action.
I don't think you're going to like the animation in the second season, it's a bit of a downer because of the exploitation of the workers. Even if they want to use the excuse that it's to make the fights more fluid.