Heyo!
I wanna preface this blog that if you have read Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 0 AND have read some of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series, there isn't much that will be spoiled to you since the content of the movie is the same as the manga. However, for those who have only watched the anime TV series, there may or may not be spoilers for you. Heed the warning.
I also won't be posting links for leaks of the movie. That goes against my morals and is against the law, literally. Piracy is a crime.
I did try to lessen the spoilers but there are just some points that can't be talked about without spoiling.
百鬼夜行の幕開け | "The start of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons"
Since the announcement of the movie at the last episode of the anime series in March 2021, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (JJK 0) has been undoubtedly the most anticipated anime movie of 2021.
I wasn't expecting myself to be this eager to watch and to be hyped up about the movie. Sure, after watching the anime TV series, I immediately bought Volume 0, which is also where the movie was based, titled "Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical College".
The volume was definitely a page-turner and I didn't know I was holding my breath when reading until I finished it. The first thing I thought after reading was that the movie would be super bomb if they really follow the manga. (As you know, many anime movie production staff just go left from the plotlines and end up angering the fans.)
That was March and I quite regret reading the volume that early. For 9 months, I was super giddy and couldn't wait to watch the movie. As the days approach December 24, the hype for the movie ballooned and all anime Twitter could talk about was Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. Collabs are popping left and right and even an adult parody film of JJK was under the works (I know, super random LOL). I also wanna say that JJK promotional staff really did great in promoting JJK 0 movie.
Character stands at the mall. Photo by me
The Plot
I'm torn between if I should describe the plot they are selling or the plot that I am conceiving.
It is not about Yuuta and Rika. No, it definitely is not.
Well, if you read the manga, it is about Yuuta and his childhood friend, Rika, who he promised marriage to at a young age and ends up cursing when she dies in an accident. But if you dig deeper and squint harder, there is also Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru's story. It's a common understanding between SatoSugu fans that the relationship between these two cannot be contained in the word "special". Their relationship goes beyond their soul.
Geto Suguru, also a special grade sorcerer, is Gojo Satoru's best friend and his classmate during their time at the JujuTech. Geto Suguru is a very righteous man and sticks firmly to what he believes is right. That virtue and his current position as someone who exorcises curses to protect humans really tore him apart. He basically went crazy that he ended up murdering a whole village to save 2 curse user twin girls from the villagers who locked those girls in a cell because they are essentially scared of what they are capable of.
Because of this, Geto was expelled from JujuTech, is marked as a criminal by the Jujutsu society higher-ups, and must be executed once discovered. Gojo was assigned as Geto's executioner but he was not able to kill him. Perhaps Geto has a point in his reason that is why he wasn't able to execute him. He could easily kill him but he couldn't. This scene is what we SatoSugu fans dub as the "KFC break up" since, in the manga, they did this scene with KFC in the background.
10 years go by and we arrive at the current time of the movie, Gojo becomes the "strongest" sorcerer, and Geto becomes the "worst" curse user. Two best friends of the same caliber but on different paths.
Going back to the actual plot, Rika becomes a special grade vengeful curse spirit and harms everyone that hurts Yuuta. Rika is so powerful that Geto, whose curse technique is collecting and consuming curse spirits, wants Rika for himself so he can stop collecting curse spirits here and there. To do this, he waged war with JujuTech saying he and his group of curse users will conduct the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, releasing a huge number of cursed spirits in Shinjuku and Kyoto simultaneously.
The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons happens in Shinjuku and Kyoto but Geto comes to JujuTech where Yuuta is since he was not stationed in the stated 2 cities. Geto fights Yuuta to the death so he can finally claim Rika but it ends up with him kicking the bucket. At the end of their fight, Gojo arrived at the scene seeing a wounded Geto. He was finally able to fulfill his duty by executing his one and only best friend.
Yuuta was able to exorcise Rika's curse but the "curse of Geto", or so I call it, is the fuel that keeps the current manga running (*wink wink).
It was a story of the two sides of the same coin. I have realized that internally, Geto and Yuuta are somewhat birds of the same feather. Geto would have been in a different circumstance if he had the same people and influence around him. Although, Gojo wouldn't realize to become a teacher and train a new generation of strong sorcerers without his KFC break up with Geto.
My favorite scenes of my favorite characters
Panda
Panda has more spotlight in the movie than he had in the anime TV series. I loved him even more. The scene that I like of him the most, except the fight scenes, was when he was talking about Inumaki to Yuuta. He tried to make Yuuta understand that Inumaki is just misunderstood due to his curse speech technique and that doesn't mean he is not approachable. Before Yuuta fought Geto, Panda was the first to fight him. Just imagine a panda and a monk fighting each other. I'd say that's quite a scene! Also, Panda turns into Gorilla-oniichan but you didn't read that LOL.
Ieiri Shoko
Shoko had just a short scene time in this movie but she conveyed so much emotion compared to the manga. How she despised Geto for the terror he has caused.
Nanami Kento
Nanami appearing in the movie was not unexpected since Gege-sensei, the author has stated that Nanami's blackflash occurred during the Night Parade. But boy, oh boy, the Nanami simps would praise the gods for his very much needed appearance (despite his current state in the manga).
His presence was a breath of fresh air and him doing a blackflash, just give me feels I couldn't contain. Personally, I am a full pledge Gojo simp but Nanami is one fine glass of tall water. I'm thirsty and I need a drink.
Getou Suguru
Oookay, so maybe I am not just a Gojo simp. I've always been interested in Geto in the anime series. But he was such a character in the shadows (and let's be honest, Gojo and his glossy lips were taking the spotlight). This movie and the manga made me understand Geto more as a character and I just fall in love.
My favorite scene of him is when he was so ecstatic when fighting with Yuuta saying "What I have always wanted is right before my eyes" (That being creating a world with no non-sorcerers and only sorcerers thriving). His unhinged laugh is so addicting.
Gojou Satoru
Oh boy. How do I keep this short? Without this man, this story isn't even going anywhere. Let's just come to the concensus that this man is one of the most, if not the most important character of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Aside from his glossy lips throughout the movie, my favorite scene of this his when he was fighting with Miguel. He was worried about Yuuta so he wanted to keep the fight short but Miguel was such a good opponent that he had difficulty keeping him at bay and that pisses him the hell off. This is one of the moments we see Gojo having emotions other than being his goofy, idiot self.
SatoSugu scene
This is a bonus because I just love Satoru and Suguru almost equally now. I literally skipped a beat when Geto showed up at JujuTech (albeit to wage war) and called out Gojo's name in a sing-song like he didn't disappear for 10 years.
In the latter part, I almost sobbed in the theater when Gojo was about to execute Geto. They had a little heart to heart for the last time and there was a flashback of their time as students at JujuTech (which was part of Gojo's Past Arc). It was so hard to hold back my tears but I powered through since I wanna savor every moment of the movie.
Two huge animation companies teaming up
I stayed until the end as an otaku should and really read through the credits despite my bladder screaming to me for release. As many of you know, MAPPA is the main animation studio for JJK 0 but they had an army of animation studios, big and small in their ranks to create this beautiful masterpiece, and let's claim in here now, the best anime movie of 2021. But I was pleasantly surprised that Production I.G was part of the production team. Production I.G is a long-standing, huge animation studio. They are known for Psycho Pass, Ghost in the Shell, Moriarty the Patriot, Kimi ni Todoke, Noblesse, and assisted in Attack on Titan (Wit Studio is under Production I.G), to state a few.
My impression of Production I.G was they make good CG animation. Watching JJK 0 movie, I instantly noticed the darker tone in the aesthetic of the movie which reminded me of Attack on Titan. So knowing that Production I.G was part of the production, I was satisfied with it all. Both huge animation studios teaming up for JJK 0 movie gave me a whole new experience than the anime TV series.
Character stands at the mall. Photo by me
Inumaki's voice actor, Uchiyama stated that he was pretty impressed with the animation for the anime TV series that he thought "is it really okay to be watching such high-quality animation every week? Shouldn't such quality be poured onto a movie?". He was utterly speechless when he knew that a movie for JJK was in the works.
I couldn't agree more but he was very wrong. It's like eating bitter chocolate after eating milk chocolate. It is practically the same but gives you a different experience.
I've watched a lot of anime movies on the big screen and this is not from a place of bias but JJK 0 so far has the most detailed fight scenes I have ever watched. What I want to point out is the fight scene they created for the actual Night Parade of a Hundred Demons on Shinjuku and Kyoto which was not drawn in the manga.
I'm always bummed when anime series turn into movies, especially action-packed shounen anime when the action scenes of the movie become too less action but more theatrics (I'm looking at you, MHA World Series movie) compared to the smooth transition and detailed action scenes of the anime. When all you can see is the outline or silhouette of the character when they are at a certain distance.
Otaku Rambles | My thoughts about the movie
Thoughts with the multiple S.
I have watched this movie 2 times already. The first time was during opening day. I eagerly left work early just to get that first look at the movie. I have never been excited to watch a movie, more even so watch it on the opening day so it seems like there is really a first time for everybody.
When I arrived at the theater, I saw a long waiting line for the merch shop but I didn't bother to line up since my mission that time was to watch the movie. I said to myself that I will not be swayed by overpriced merch. And boy was I so wrong.
The moment I exited the theater, the first thing that I saw was the merch shop. It was just calling me so I had a little shopping spree (The books are not from the merch shop.)
My mini shopping spree after the movie. Photo by me.
And the second time is the day I am writing this. At this point, there is a leak of the whole movie and that itched me to watch it all again.
When I was listening to a radio program dedicated to JJK 0 movie release, there was a fan that sent a letter saying that within the first 3 days of the release, they have watched JJK 0 9 times already. I was impressed by the dedication and I am jealous they have that so much time.
As for my thoughts, there is so much in my head but all that I can manage to say when I first saw the movie was speechless. It took me some weeks to calm myself and write this article but even so, I'm still so giddy while typing.
First of all, it was just a beautiful movie. Everything was so crisp and so worth it to watch. What I wanted to point out was they gave so much spotlight for Gojo and Geto's "relationship" when that part was in another volume. But still, I am living for it. I am just full of feelings even weeks after the release of this movie. After Naruto and Free!, I have never loved a story and bought so much merch as much as I did with JJK. Husbando even got me figures of Nanami and Gojo from the UFO catcher.
Gojo as a character is like a pandora's box. We still have a lot of digging to do to get to know this man and I am patiently waiting for him to be released from the box he is currently on. As I said, he is one of the most, if not the most, important characters in this story and is the key character for the story to move forward. Also, Yuuta is back in the manga and it is interesting to see how he will perform with his kouhai, Yuuji.
In other news, licensure for international release is undergoing. Hong Kong is expecting to release JJK within this year with South Korea and North America are releasing the movie in February 2022. I am very excited for the rest of the world to follow and understand the excitement I am feeling right now.
This movie is about Love and Curses. For Yuuta and Rika. For Satoru and Suguru.
And with that, I'm going to end this article with Gojo-sensei's most iconic line.
Credits
Images with watermarks are from Jujutsu Kaisen Anime Official Twitter.
The rest of the images are mine.
Merch are also purchased with my own money.
!!WARNING!! Piracy is a crime. Do not watch leaks of the movie and only watch it when it is available to you.
That's it for now.
Remember, creativity is contagious. Pass it on.
Let's be nice to each other.
See you on the next one.
I'm crimsonowl, a random otaku in the blockchain, creator of ArtPark CryptoArt Community, an artist-in-progress trying to make a living out of art, an NFT artist-creator, a crypto blogger talking about anime, art, and everything in between.
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