Memories, Mayhem and Morality in Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie

Title: Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie

Original Release Date: 24th December 2021 (Japan)

Director: Sunghoo Park

Starring: Megumi Ogata, Kana Hanazawa, Mikako Komatsu, Kōki Uchiyama, Tomokazu Seki, Yuichi Nakamura and Takahiro Sakurai.

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Currently Showing in Cinemas

I think we all knew this film was going to be good because it is Mappa. But this is quite frankly a masterpiece. This was perfect in every aspect. The voice acting, the plot, the soundtrack, and especially the animation. I think this is the first film in a while where I have not been tempted to check the time because the film captures your attention from start to finish. If you’re going to watch this film, make it now. You won’t regret it and it will live in your mind for 1000 years, (that's if, you’re as old as Sukuna) *minor plot spoilers*

Plot Synopsis

This film is set before the events of the main anime and manga. We are introduced to Yuta Okkotsu, a haunted high schooler. His childhood sweetheart Rika died in a traffic accident.

This is not the last Yuta sees her though. In fact, Rika manifests as a monstrous and immensely powerful entity who goes to all means to protect him. Yuta is unable to protect the mayhem that follows after her rampage. Gojo Satoru plans for Yuta to enrol at Jujutsu High School so he can utilise Rika’s spirit as a means for good. Alongside his classmates Maki and Toge, Yuta starts to find his purpose in the world and begins to realise that the dangers of this world surpass what he previously imagined.

Review

With a highly reputable film studio like Mappa that has titles such as Attack on Titan and Banana Fish under its belt, everyone was expecting the animation to be nothing short of perfect. And in the case of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the film quite frankly raises the standard of anime in cinema. The film flows fluidly on the big screen and the skilled frame-by-frame animation is portrayed seamlessly when characters are in action-packed scenes. A particular scene that stood out to me is when Gojo and Miguel are fighting, apart from obvious reasons (side-eyes). In the film, we see up-close shots of the two characters fighting and we can actually see how each fighting style is different through the subtle difference between how the characters are animated.

Additionally, the film is still able to maintain the dark and horror-like tone of the film but we can actually see the characters. Dark cinematography doesn't always mean a dark film, something that live-action cinema evidently struggles to understand. Mappa masterfully uses primary colours like bright blue and red to portray the various cursed techniques but despite this, the dark atmosphere of the film remains constant. Furthermore, there is a multitude of beautiful, almost ethereal shots that usually appear when a character is reflecting. We see this when characters such as Gojo and Yuta are reflecting on the people they love(d) like Geto and Rika.

We feel at ease in these moments as the beautiful OST (composed by Hiroaki Tsutsumi) makes us enthralled in these emotions like the characters. However, the masterful structure of the film keeps us on the edge of our seats and we are reminded of the horror of the present day with the contrasting, sombre and intense OST.

The film maintains a consistent tone throughout. Despite the horrific elements that arise from the different cursed techniques, the film still has comedic elements that we know so well from the anime and manga. I personally think this adds to the film’s rewatchability as I appreciate when a film is able to evoke multiple emotions from me.

This was achieved by characters like Yuta and Gojo but even the side characters. Mappa clearly knows how to use humor while maintaining the urgency of the film (yes, I am looking at you Marvel).

Yet another aspect that was outstanding was the voice acting. As I mentioned before, the film was proportionate in humor, horror, and comedy. This translates to the incredible voice acting of the overall cast. For me, a reason why anime stands out more than live-action is because of that. It is incredibly hard to convey a multitude of emotions and mannerisms when you cannot see the face of the speaker.

We must also remember that these talents behind the voices of our beloved characters had to do this during the peak of that thing that was going on and it is still flawless. Yuichi Nakamura, who we are familiar with from the anime (Gojo’s voice actor), exquisitely had such control over the pitch and tone of his voice, making his energy infectious and I could feel the character’s emotions radiate from the screen. Even though the character didn't say more than 8 words in the film, a special mention to Kōki Uchiyama (Toge’s voice actor) is due.

However, the actors that stood out the most were Takahiro Sakurai (Geto’s voice actor) and Megumi Ogata (Yuta’s voice actor). When the two were on screen together you could hear the clash of their moral ideals through not only their dialogue but their pure voice. That is not to say that the actors didn’t own their scenes individually, both of their individual performances just made their final confrontation more cathartic.

Throughout the film, we see different views of morality and humanity interplay through our characters. In Geto we see his cynical view of morality and humanity, he sees humans and their gifts they are “too weak to grasp” as entities, he is more worthy of. I think this was done well but I believe it could have been done more subtly. He literally calls people “monkeys” like he is a witch but maybe it was supposed to come off as comedic. I feel as though it undermined the menacing nature of his character. These ideals are contrasted by Gojo but I would like to discuss Yuta.

This is essentially Yuta’s film. We learn more about Yuta through his memories and his journey of love. He starts the film hating himself but as he meets people that treat him with kindness and dignity he learns to love himself and embrace things. Through embracing and accepting Rika’s presence and even sacrificing himself to it to protect the people he loves, only then does he realise the true extent of Rika’s spirit giving the film a cyclical structure and a sense of poetic justice. We also see this through Gojo’s arc with Geto and how that ends in the film.

I thought this film was amazing, there was total silence within the cinema because of how enthralling the experience was! Definitely watch the film in cinemas, you won’t regret it!

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