Product Info

Studio

MAPPA

Director

Seong-Hu Park

Genre

Action, Animation, Fantasy

Rated

PG-13

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Mar 18, 2022

Film Length

1hr 45min

Purchase From

Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the animated prequel to the popular anime/manga series Jujutsu Kaisen, is an entertaining film. Even if viewers have little knowledge of the series or of Japanese mythology, they will still enjoy watching this fight against curses (evil spirits). Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is well worth your time.

The Curse is a Blessing

Meet Yuta Okkotsu, a timid, bullied 16-year-old who’s “cursed” by the spirit of his childhood friend, Rika. Since childhood, Rika and Yuta have created a special, romantic bond, even promising marriage when they grow older. Unfortunately, a car accident took Rika’s life away. Now, she haunts Yuta but also protects him as a powerful curse that takes the form of a monstrous creature. It’s unknown through the majority of the film how Rika became such a powerful curse. However, this curse’s power has drawn the attention of those who want to use it to help mankind and those who want to wipe mankind out.

While figuring out the path to take and how to harness his curse, Yuta attends Jujutsu High. This school specializes in the knowledge to understand and use curses, turning them into a blessing that unleashes superhuman powers. Attending the school helps its students become Jujutsu sorcerers, so they can eliminate curses that affect mankind.

The film does a great job pacing itself with its story. Kaisen 0 focuses more on Yuta and how he grows from a timid, bullied teenager to a confident and resolute Jujutsu fighter. Seeing how Yuta grows from each mission he takes on within the first half of the film is brought to fruition at the climax of the film’s biggest battle. Fans will have a new favorite anime character by the end.

Fans of Jujutsu Kaisen will recognize Yuta’s classmates in their slightly younger years. Each one with their own unique personality and technique is fun to watch. Seeing them work with Yuta makes it all the more entertaining and comical. Viewers will also see more of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, two of the most powerful Jujutsu fighters in the series. New fans will also find more insight into Sato’s plot against Gojo and Jujutsu High.

Having little to no knowledge of the Jujutsu Kaisen series does make some plot scenes difficult to grasp, though. However, that doesn’t mean the film isn’t watchable to newcomers. It explains just enough about curses and Jujutsu High, and understanding that is enough to get through the film’s storyline and see the direction it’s taking.

On the flip side, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is required viewing for series fans. While many anime films are created as spin-offs that don’t twine into the main series (SPOILERS for those who have not read the manga up to this point), Jujutsu Kaisen 0 doesn’t fall into that category. The main series does dip into the prequel and bring back the movie’s protagonist, so make sure to watch it. END SPOILERS

Fight Like It’s Your Last

Unlike previous shonen-style films such as My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, the film doesn’t offer a lot of happy, joyful moments. The film is pretty dark with curses and sorcerers killing each other. It isn’t suited for a younger audience.

MAPPA studio, a well-recognized animation company in Japan, is behind the film’s animation. Their animation quality is top-notch, creating excellent scenes whether they are simplistic landscapes or in the heat of battle. MAPPA also worked on the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen, so they are fully aware of its art style and flow. Their work in the anime series has brought them lots of positive attention.

What makes the studio famous are their battle scenes, and they’re great in Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The studio uses paint-like strokes during up-close encounters in battle to add a unique flavor that’s rarely seen in other films. Special effects used when curses emerge from thin air and for fast-paced martial art moves are beautifully illustrated. Battle scenes are storyboarded very well. Their use of camera angles and depth, along with smooth transitions between scenes, makes the film fun to watch.

The film’s storyline and scenes closely match the original manga. It’s a great relief for those who’ve read the film’s source material. What’s better is that the animation quality enhances the original, thanks to MAPPA’s animators.

Cursed Sounds

Both the English dubbed and original Japanese voice actors do great work. Rika’s voice in both languages perform the part well. In fact, the English voice (Anairis Quiñones) actually feels and sounds more demonic. Yuta’s works well, too, though in the heat of battle, his English voiceover (Kayleigh McKee) doesn’t seem to have enough oomph to it. Gojo (Yuichi Nakamura) also sounds more energetic and comical in the Japanese voiceover compared to the English performance (Kaiji Tang). That said, both languages have moments where the voices are a little too soft to hear, and this is where subtitles come in handy.

Some dialogue between the English dubbed and the original Japanese have different scripts. While it doesn’t take away from the overall impact of the film, it does help add more details to a scene. For example, when Gojo introduces Yuta’s classmate, Panda, no description about Panda’s background is revealed. In the Japanese version, Yuta explains in a great moment that that’s the most important detail needed in regards to Panda. In the English dub, the dialogue is changed to “Why am I even here?” It doesn’t make sense why it was altered since the original Japanese script works so well and serves a purpose.

As for the rest of the oddities, the audio tracks are louder than normal and needed to be turned down a few notches for heavy action scenes and then turned up again for the film’s dialogue. Unfortunately, that’s a movie industry problem in general. More specific to this film, the vocal tracks are weirdly fast-paced during the film’s climax battle.

There’s far more audio goodness here. The soundtrack adds more demonic vibes into the film beyond the voice acting. Scenes when Riku or evil curses emerge have low, deep and heavy tracks. There are also a handful of tracks that are fast paced and add more energy to these scenes. However, not everything is energetic and demonic. During Yuta’s training there’s a comical scene with Panda that’ll loosen the tension.

During the opening credits, about four minutes in, the vocal track by Toft Willingham, Chez, and Jessica Gelinas feels like it was inspired by the Kingdom Hearts series. It’s slow at first, but the pace picks up as viewers watch Yuta preparing to go to his new school. It’s a calm introduction to what’s about to unfold.

The film’s ending theme, Sakayume by King Gnu, is a pleasant track to end the film. It starts off at a slow pace, then picks up to be an upbeat track and keeps it at a steady beat. The guitar tracks are energetic and vocal tracks flow throughout the song. Afterwards, another track by King Gnu, Ichizu,  plays, but it’s much faster paced and more energetic. Good stuff!

The Final Curse

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a must-watch for existing fans and a great introduction to the series for newcomers. Its top-notch animation and characters make it an anime film not to be missed. Grab your cursed weapon and prepare for an all-out battle.

An early screening access was provided for this review.