JUJUTSU KAISEN 0

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionJujutsu Kaisen
MANGA ActionJujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Toritsu Jujutsu Koutou Senmon Gakkou

REVIEWS

• 

  liliphobic

  87/100
  It’s a shame it was only an hour and forty-five minutes, but they made every moment matter.

  SPOILER-FREE

  For starters, this movie is very watchable as a newbie to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. It was adapted from the prequel to the primary series, so while it doesn’t flesh out the world as well as the main series does, you can watch it without any prior knowledge of the world and still understand it just fine.

  Now, onto the review.

  ---

  Jujutsu Kaisen 0 had stunning animation, incredible music, and amazing characters. It’s a shame it was only an hour and forty-five minutes, but they made every moment matter.

  I thought the characters were great. I loved the look into the second-years from the main series when they were first-years, and of course I loved Yuuta. His development and relationship with Rika was clever and unique, and I enjoyed how the ending of the movie worked out for them. I also liked the further exploration of Inumaki’s character in how he related and reacted to Yuuta. The development here really builds the deeper you get into the story as a whole. Also, Maki was mega-hot in this movie.

  The animation was amazing. I can’t think of any particular scenes that made me think oh, clearly the budget went somewhere else, although the shots of Gojo’s eyes did make me think this. this is where the budget went. The fight scenes were animated incredibly as well. Of course you can’t compare it to the quality of ufotable, but MAPPA really did do a great job with the animation. The CGI was good, the fighting was good, the curses and characters were good. No complaints here from me.

  And then the music! Great music. King Gnu makes banger music. The OST was fantastic too. The right song played in the right moment, and the music really complemented what was going on during the movie.

  Then, of course, there’s the plot itself. Honestly I don't have much to say where the story is concerned (well, not without spoilers, anyways). I wouldn’t call it anything incredible, but it’s far from being a trash plot. I like how it works into the main story, and the concept as a whole was very interesting and enjoyable. It definitely got me wanting to get back into Jujutsu Kaisen.

  The anime original scenes were very enjoyable too. After recently rereading the manga, I can confirm that there were very few anime-only scenes; they added some extra pizzazz to the fights of course, and they also gave cameos to characters from season 1 that didn't appear in the manga. There is an additional end credits scene that was not included in the manga, but I think that's about it.

  As for some other negatives, I did think the pacing was a little off, but not so much that I didn't enjoy the movie. The manga (a mere four chapters and ~200 pages) had some poor pacing, and this movie was a very faithful adaptation. However, even if it was anime original, I do think that an extra thirty minutes or so could’ve made the movie just that much better. It really felt like a short movie, especially in comparison to recent American movies that have been closer to three hours.

  ---

  Overall, this was a great movie. I’m not quite as awed as I was after leaving the theater from the Mugen Train movie, but it’s certainly better than any My Hero Academia movie they’ve made so far. Many individual aspects I found amazing, like the characters, animation, music, and story, despite the pacing feeling a little off in a few places. But, even though the fights were amazing, it simply wasn’t as enjoyable for me as season 1 was. However, I do think it’s fair if you liked the movie more; it was a very solid movie with several incredible aspects. The big-screen experience is one you won't want to miss for this movie. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is definitely worth the watch, regardless of how much you already know about the series.

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• 

  Atef

  85/100
  As a diehard Jujutsu Kaisen fan, I couldn't help but feel like it could've been better.

  This review will contain spoilers of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. But just to put it out there, this movie can be watched without having seen the main series since it is a prequel. Although they don't explain how cursed energy works so you're gonna have to leave that to your imagination until you watch the first season.

  __As a diehard Jujutsu Kaisen fan, I couldn't help but feel like it could've been better. __ For starters, I had read the JJK 0 Manga it was based off of as soon as season 1 ended. I became so enamored with the series and the story the Gege Akutami had written. He has the shounen formula refined to a tee, so efficient in his storytelling, so calculated in his script-writing. The characters were so captivating and delightful, the power system so complex and intricate. Paired with MAPPA's efforts, this series had everything I was looking for and more. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was written prior to the main story, and you can feel as you read it that Akutami was still trying to find his rhythm of storytelling. Elements of the story were rushed and some characters felt one-dimensional (Rika). It still hadn't found its footing just yet but there were some glimpses of greatness. So when they announced that the movie was getting adapted. I was excited, I wanted to see them refine the prequel story and fix some of the glaring pacing issues it had. And it's so disheartening to say, but I feel like MAPPA weren't able to achieve that. Getting the good points out the way, the production quality of this movie is nuts. The art is absolutely stellar, the textures and after-effects were outstanding, to the point that it was jarring to switch to the comedic gag style. The lighting and background art was magnificent. I had originally doubted the casting of Megumi Ogata but she absolutely proved me wrong. I hope she can continue doing the same for the scarier aspects of Yuta that come up later in the series. The anime original fight scenes that were added were my favorite part of the movie, with Nanami's black flash record and Gojo and Miguel's fight looking out of this world. For me, Maki and Inumaki absolutely stole the show as well, they were both such a treat to watch. The little cameo of Todo was exciting, and the special grade curse he was about to fight looked incredibly cool but I can't help but feel disappointed that they didn't show them actually brawling it out. Ultimately Todo's appearance was just for fanservice purposes and nothing else. Moving onto the issues, first, and most importantly, the pacing of this movie was incredibly rapid. It had followed the manga pretty religiously, including its problems. Yuta and Rika's relationship was speedran through, making the choice of having their flashbacks scattered instead of played chronologically. I disagree with this decision, the flashback should've played continuously at the start of this movie, and they should've given us an additional 20/30 minutes at the start to let their relationship breathe more. Then Rika's death would've had a far bigger impact on us than the method they went with. To me, the soundtrack this time around wasn't up to par for the series, I was hoping for some memorable orchestral numbers but instead got some generic soundtracks with no memorability. I still listen to the main soundtrack when I read the manga, and that includes some very unique music I'm still a fan of even a year after release. It wasn't bad by any means, I was just hoping for something a little more exciting. A little complaint I wanted to include was that they made the revelation that Gojo and Yuta were actually related into a gag, this plot point is actually coincidentally unfolding in the manga right now so it should've been handled with a little more seriousness in my opinion. Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely, especially for people who love this series. But don't expect much in terms of plot, just let the spectacle play out and enjoy the fights displayed.
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• 

  Horsie

  86/100
  [Spoiler Free] Go goujou go.

  The Good

  Jujutsu Kaisen 0 covers many of the checkboxes for a great movie.

  The plot is solid and engaging. Not outstanding, but no major issues. I'm definitely invested in the main character, possibly more than Itadori. It's an absolute treat to see the side characters from the main TV show in action again, and I mean it, because nearly all of them reappear in the movie. The animation is fantastic, and cursed energy is always cool to see. There is plenty of action to let the animation shine throughout the movie. The music is great and enhances the experience. Not in a way that I'll be downloading the soundtrack to my playlist, but it worked perfectly to increase the impact each scene had.

  Something I really like is that some side characters receive more attention, and as a result you find out more about their past and personality that wasn't told in the main show.

  The Bad

  It's easier to write about what I would have wanted instead of what I already got.

  Although the movie is entirely built upon the main character's backstory, it is painfully neglected. In fact, if you've seen it, the movie's trailer doesn't recap his backstory - it's pretty much what you get when you watch the actual movie. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, I wouldn't recommend doing so. It cheapens the already weak backstory by spoiling it ahead of time. Towards the end of the movie I actually felt somewhat emotional - so if they had just put in an extra 10 minutes towards the backstory, which wouldn't hurt at all for a 1 hour 45 minute film, it could have been phenomenal.

  On top of this, I wish the flashbacks to the backstory were presented in partially unique and overlapping pieces - not a repeat of the same scene each time. I can understand why it was done, because it works just fine under TV show pacing, just not in a movie where the last time I've seen the flashback is at most 10 minutes ago. This also leads into the next point.

  My other gripe is that Jujutsu Kaisen 0 doesn't utilize much of the advantages of a movie format. It doesn't feel like a movie - it feels like the back-to-back episodes of a slightly short TV show arc. To be completely honest I can't exactly explain at the moment why it feels this way, but I suspect part of the reason is the pacing, and a weaker central theme. A recent example of another shounen action movie that, in my opinion, was able to successfully adapt to a movie format and utilize its advantages, would be Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train.

  Conclusion

  All in all, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a great experience, and highly recommended. The quality and content is on par with the main show, so if you liked that, you'll love the movie too. If you haven't seen the main show yet, I would recommend watching it first, as the movie leaves out quite a few details and assumes you already understand concepts explained in the show. If you haven't seen any of the trailers yet, keep it that way. Finally, there's a post-credits scene that apparently sets up season 2 and 3, don't miss it!

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