(CR) Jujutsu Kaisen

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Decel

Took me a while to simmer the information, but Gojo paid Mei Mei to promote his students to first grade, no?

Mei Mei didn't recommend any of the students he's currently teaching though...

Originally Posted by Proto

I get the feeling that this series has a lot of flair but not enough substance. The battles are cool, the animation is top notch and the power system is entertaining... but we are lacking a lot of meat in the story, a lot of connective tissue in the narrative that allows us to care for either the characters or the antagionists beyond the cool battles. Really this series reminds me a lot of Bleach if you were to give it to a top production studio, and I mean that in the worst possible way.

I'd say this series has a lot of substance, it's just low key.. I'm pretty invested in the series ideas about how closed off communities can have warped power structures and how that effects the people living in them, for example.

[Proto]

I'd say this series has a lot of substance, it's just low key.. I'm pretty invested in the series ideas about how closed off communities can have warped power structures and how that effects the people living in them, for example.

The world building itself is promising, I'll give you that. The initial part where Yuuji had the proverbial damocles sword over his head has been a constant source of foreboding, which does lend a measure of suspense to the narrative... but it stops at that. We do know a bit about the 3 top noble families, we got the members of the Kansai school to thank for that because their characters seem to be going to be treated as a convenient world exposition tool.

I guess that's the point that has been nagging at me. The author has spent quite a bit of time using the characters to show us the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, but I care very little about the characters themselves beyond their use as narrative tools. Maybe it is just the storytelling device that has Jujutsu Kaisen has abused (very focused on telling rather than showing: we get a character midfight, we get a flashback with exposition that is mostly narrated, then we come back to the present where the battle is happening). This is efficient in showing a point and conveying information but is not effective as a way of making you empathize with the character). The pathos is not earned, so you end up just nodding along and wanting to move on (exhibit A: Mechamaru)

Overall... this is very personal but the series is lacking heart. It doesn't have to be anything out of this world but damnit if I cared about Naruto's plight when they showed us how low he had to go before he had to rise again. Kekkaishi had the bond of Yukine and Yoshimaru to carry the show. Inuyasha had the main group character dynamics to carry it even if the Naraku thing felt like a dead horse after a while. In contrast when you think of Bleach you think... cool fights and a mess of a script.

For an example of another shounen that is world building and battle heavy that I think does it right, I refer to World Trigger. The series spends a lot of time just getting into the intricacies of the different weapons, strategies, and factions within factions, but the series compensates for it by just going all in and being very detailed about it in a way I think is interesting. By getting into the nitty gritty details of each battle and just being one of the best shounen I remember seeing where it comes to just battle choreography. When they explain the enemies it goes down to explaining their political situation back home that led them to their current actions. When we get that a character has a past that he is bound by we actually see it reflected in his personality, but even then we can see that the character is deeper than what the narrative requries from him. There is a lot to chew in here.

In comparison... Jujutsu Kaisen feels much more like meringue rather than meat. Fluffy but unfulfilling. There is promise, but the narrative has not delivered.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Proto

I guess that's the point that has been nagging at me. The author has spent quite a bit of time using the characters to show us the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, but I care very little about the characters themselves beyond their use as narrative tools. Maybe it is just the storytelling device that has Jujutsu Kaisen has abused (very focused on telling rather than showing: we get a character midfight, we get a flashback with exposition that is mostly narrated, then we come back to the present where the battle is happening). This is efficient in showing a point and conveying information but is not effective as a way of making you empathize with the character). The pathos is not earned, so you end up just nodding along and wanting to move on (exhibit A: Mechamaru)

That's fair enough. I can say there are some arcs incoming that I believe would change your opinion.

In contrast when you think of Bleach you think... cool fights and a mess of a script.

When I think of Bleach, I think of Ichigo and Rukia's friendship

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Proto

I get the feeling that this series has a lot of flair but not enough substance.

I have the same opinion. When asked to identify a show that fit this Twitter meme

I immediately replied with Jujutsu Kaisen.

[Kanon]

Bleach actually had some really memorable characters. Jujutsu Kaisen has Gojo, who is basically Urahara and that's it. No one else stands out.

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I have the same opinion. When asked to identify a show that fit this Twitter meme

I immediately replied with Jujutsu Kaisen.

That's basically just Demons Slayer, yet people can't help but sing it's praise because of animation alone.

I don't see why this is a bad thing, besides, expecting to get the best stuff at the start is pretty asinine, a series has to work itself up to it and earn it. This was just the first season and in my humble opinion it delivered on all accounts where other beloved series in the same season failed.

[Kanon]

Jujutsu Kaisen has 40 million copies in circulation now, I think it was at around 12 million before the anime. For comparison, My Hero Academia currently has 50 million copies in circulation even though it has twice the amount of volumes.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

That's basically just Demons Slayer, yet people can't help but sing it's praise because of animation alone.

I have the same feelings about Demon Slayer. I stopped watching when it was released after Zenitsu and the guy with the boar head appeared because I hated both their characters. I started up again just the other day. We'll see if they improve.

[thundrakkon]

I for one love the set up and the potential for the series. These types of series are shonen and often take time to really build up. For example, I didn't fall in love with One Piece until episode 37. Naruto didn't really get me excited until the middle of Chuunin exams, which was somewhere in the mid 30's or 40's episodes.


Jujutsu Kaisen was only 24 episodes, so it is still in its early phases. I see plenty of character build up and a good premise to a story already. It needs to leave room for even more character development, not to mention that the main character usually don't have their whole character story until the mid or late part of the anime/manga. Heck, One Piece is in the mid 900's episodes, and we still have so much more we need to know about Luffy, the main character. So yeah, it's way too early in a shonen series right now to expect anything.

[Decel]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Mei Mei didn't recommend any of the students he's currently teaching though...

Hmm then I'm mixing the girls up. The girl with Gojo's money wasn't the one with Todo recommending the students to rank 1?

[Proto]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

I for one love the set up and the potential for the series. These types of series are shonen and often take time to really build up. For example, I didn't fall in love with One Piece until episode 37. Naruto didn't really get me excited until the middle of Chuunin exams, which was somewhere in the mid 30's or 40's episodes.


Jujutsu Kaisen was only 24 episodes, so it is still in its early phases. I see plenty of character build up and a good premise to a story already. It needs to leave room for even more character development, not to mention that the main character usually don't have their whole character story until the mid or late part of the anime/manga. Heck, One Piece is in the mid 900's episodes, and we still have so much more we need to know about Luffy, the main character. So yeah, it's way too early in a shonen series right now to expect anything.

Could be. There are certainly series that take a while to find their stride. There are also series like Boku no Hero Academia or Hunter x Hunter that from early on you can tell 'this series got it'. the problem with the series that require a time investment is that you can never tell whether your investment is going to be rewarded or not.

[Tenzen12]

Honestly I don't thihnk there is much difference between those two when it come to character devekopment and world building. If anything I find Yuuji motivation more compeling (and find female characters here more badass which is big plus in my book).

[thundrakkon]

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Originally Posted by Decel

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Mei Mei recommended Zen'in Maki and Panda.


Toudou recommended Fushiguro Megumi, Kugisaki Nobara, and Itadori Yuuji, our main trio first year students.


From my guess, Mei Mei was bribed into recommending Zen'in Maki, who would otherwise, the organization would be pressured to suppress her due to her family's influence against her. I don't think she was bribed to recommend the rest, though.


Another thing to note is that the recommendations were all from Tokyo's school. So are these Kyoto students only supposed to recommend the Tokyo's students, or were they also allowed to recommend Kyoto students, but chose to snub them? If it is the latter, then yeah, there might be even more of a conspiracy going on. If it is the former, then the only conspiracy is with Maki's selection. Todou is obviously going to recommend Yuuji, so that is not a surprise.

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Originally Posted by Proto

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Well, Hunter X Hunter might have been a little earlier, when the were in the middle of their Hunter License exams is where it hooked me, but it was still not right away.


Boku no Hero... uhh... It's a nice series, but it still hasn't hooked me as much as the other shonen series mentioned so far. And we're now 89 episodes in. So yeah, these series can take time.


With Jujutsu, I can tell already that it does have a lot of great potential. The same can be said of Kimetsu no Yaiba.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Jujutsu Kaisen was only 24 episodes, so it is still in its early phases. I see plenty of character build up and a good premise to a story already. It needs to leave room for even more character development, not to mention that the main character usually don't have their whole character story until the mid or late part of the anime/manga. Heck, One Piece is in the mid 900's episodes, and we still have so much more we need to know about Luffy, the main character. So yeah, it's way too early in a shonen series right now to expect anything.

For some context, Jujutsu Kaisen's anime ended at the same point where Sanji was fighting Gin in One Piece, Byakuya just showed up to kidnap Rukia in Bleach and Naruto was still taking the survival portion of the Chuunin exams.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Bleach actually had some really memorable characters. Jujutsu Kaisen has Gojo, who is basically Urahara and that's it. No one else stands out.

Eh, Toudou and Nanami stand out a lot for me.

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Another thing to note is that the recommendations were all from Tokyo's school. So are these Kyoto students only supposed to recommend the Tokyo's students, or were they also allowed to recommend Kyoto students, but chose to snub them?

Mei Mei and Toudou could recommend people for promotion because they are grade 1 sorcerers. They said so themselves.

We haven't seen the Kyoto students other than Toudou do anything impressive enough to warrant promotion.

[Proto]

Well, Hunter X Hunter might have been a little earlier, when the were in the middle of their Hunter License exams is where it hooked me, but it was still not right away.


Boku no Hero... uhh... It's a nice series, but it still hasn't hooked me as much as the other shonen series mentioned so far. And we're now 89 episodes in. So yeah, these series can take time.


With Jujutsu, I can tell already that it does have a lot of great potential. The same can be said of Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Fair enough. we all look for different things in the series we like, and what you may be finding in Jujutsu Kaisen may be what I'm seeing in other series. Different tastes is one of the spices of life.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Eh, Toudou and Nanami stand out a lot for me.

You're right, I do like those two a lot too. Nanami in particular. Went a bit too far trying to defend Bleach

And I guess at this point in time Bleach hadn't introduced its most popular characters either. Jujutsu still has to introduce the third years and there should be a bunch of adult sorcerers out there.

As for the plot, it's what is lacking the most at the moment but as was already said, we're still early in the series. I think the "modern" shounen that had the best start was Naruto. The Zabuza arc is remembered very fondly by almost everyone.

[Decel]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Mei Mei recommended Zen'in Maki and Panda.

Toudou recommended Fushiguro Megumi, Kugisaki Nobara, and Itadori Yuuji, our main trio first year students.

From my guess, Mei Mei was bribed into recommending Zen'in Maki, who would otherwise, the organization would be pressured to suppress her due to her family's influence against her. I don't think she was bribed to recommend the rest, though.

Another thing to note is that the recommendations were all from Tokyo's school. So are these Kyoto students only supposed to recommend the Tokyo's students, or were they also allowed to recommend Kyoto students, but chose to snub them? If it is the latter, then yeah, there might be even more of a conspiracy going on. If it is the former, then the only conspiracy is with Maki's selection. Todou is obviously going to recommend Yuuji, so that is not a surprise.

Ok same perception but different interpretation. To me Mei Mei and Todou both have a total of 5 recommendations, and just shared the presentation. In my view Todou is an incorruptible and will do his own thing, so the only one that can be influenced is Mei Mei.

But yeah I didn't link Gojo's bribe with Maki's situation, which is definitely a probability now that you've mentionned it.

[Tong]

After 2 cours and we still dont know what's the deal with the monk guy? Overall it was pretty good, but I miss a more overarching story structure.

[EroKing]

NSFW

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[Kanon]

When I opened the tag and saw the first three pictures, I wondered what happened to you

The rest made up for them.