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What makes Jujutsu Kaisen such a good anime that it surpasses Kimetsu no Yaiba?
Among those who follow anime regularly, scouring season after season for quality works, there are few who would dare to say that Jujutsu Kaisen isn’t the state of the art when it comes to shounen anime.
Day after day, surpassing the sales figures of great anime of the same genre, both old and new, Jujutsu Kaisen is very reminiscent of Kimetsu no Yaiba, but with one difference: Jujutsu Kaisen is good.
We usually use the expression “state of the art” to refer to the most up-to-date and efficient technology or knowledge we have on a given subject, and I, Marcos, am giving this title in the category of shounen anime to Jujutsu Kaisen.
I’ll prove this in the course of the post, so hold your horses before talking about Shingeki no Kyojin or even our much-loved Hunter x Hunter with its iconic fights and extremely well-crafted universe.
An anime where the characters are constantly developing
Something that is very impressive and brings the anime closer to those who follow it is the fact that the characters are constantly developing. There isn’t a single second when the characters aren’t growing and overcoming their limits.
Despite this, the work doesn’t fall into the nonsensical cliché of many shounens where the protagonist overcomes everything and everyone. Proof of this was the attack on Jujutsu College, which was only effectively prevented because Gojou Satoru showed a little more of his skills and solved everything.
Even Gojou sensei, who has clearly reached the highest levels of skill in Jujutsu Kaisen to the point of being feared by all curses, still finds room to develop as a teacher through his students.
The best soundtrack in anime history
I’m not sure how many otaku pay attention to anime soundtracks, but Jujutsu Kaisen is certainly worth appreciating. It’s been a while since an anime has made me shiver or get so involved in a fight simply because of the music.
A clear example of this is Todou and Itadori’s fight against Hanami, which involves every inch of our body with a combination that is both intense and simple, making it fit perfectly with the fighting style presented.
The work does not suffer from the crisis of exaggerated protagonism
Something that always turns me off about shounens is the fact that the protagonist always solves everything, like in Dragon Ball for example: if we exclude the Android Saga, most of the problems were solved by Goku, something I don’t like as much.
Jujutsu has a more current approach, which is similar to Hunter x Hunter in the sense that the main character is constantly developing, but there are still many others who are more powerful and solve problems in the meantime.
As fast as Itadori Yuuji’s development is going, it’s backed up by the fact that he’s highly skilled, a Sukuna host and still training under the supervision of the most powerful Jujutsu wizard in existence.
A universe so cohesive that it reminds me of Hunter x Hunter
While we’re on the subject of Hunter x Hunter, I couldn’t fail to point out how close the two works are, both for their extremely cohesive and well-constructed universes and for their courage in breaking with the status quo of the anime of their time.
This closeness became very clear to me when Nanami fought and let the following phrase slip: “if you reveal your spell to the opponent it becomes much more powerful”. It may sound silly, but it’s noticeable in every battle how both the Jujutsu wizards and the curse masters explain how their abilities work to amplify their power.
The characters are also similar on some level, the protagonists who, despite not being as powerful, still show an absurdly high potential for evolution, as well as the supporting characters.
It’s possible to know who won a battle and why
That’s one of the things that also delights me, being able to understand the outcome of a battle on a logical level. That’s the main reason why I love anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and Hunter x Hunter while hating Kimetsu no Yaiba and Nanatsu no Taizai .
We’ve moved on from the days when characters could simply fight each other for 10 episodes and then draw a power from beyond and win the battle.
The best shounen today
I believe that all these points make Jujutsu Kaisen the best shounen of 2021, and perhaps of the next few years to come, unless Boku no Hero far exceeds expectations.
If I had to go out on a limb, I’d say that Shingeki no Kyojin is on a similar level, but the way in which the mysteries of the world are being revealed is well below expectations, it seems that the work was better when the mysteries were still mysteries.
But as everything here is signed in my name, this is just the opinion of someone who has been watching anime since he was 10 years old and may differ greatly from reality.
What do I recommend watching after Jujutsu Kaisen?
Here are some anime that you’re sure to enjoy watching after you’ve finished Jujutsu Kaisen.
- Hunter x Hunter
- Akame ga Kill
- Shingeki no Kyojin
- Boku no Hero
If you’ve already watched all of these, don’t be sad, as I’ll soon be doing a more detailed post with tips on what to watch next.
We’ll leave it at that
My brief rant praising this work of art ends here, and so do you. Pousada Nerd has lots of things for you to enjoy! Then comment, follow and read the related posts.
Check out the manga to find out the unexpected continuation of the story!
Affectionately
Marcos Mariano
