My country hasn't exactly been notable for screening anime movies in theaters. Spirited Away was, as far as my knowledge goes, the latest one we got, and that was nearly two decades ago. This makes the sudden appearance of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 all the more surprising. As sad as missing out on Kimi no Na wa and Koe no Katachi might have been, we're now off to a much more promising future for Japanese movies in the region.
But enough with the localization - let's get to the movie itself.
Volume number 0 of JJK was turned into roughly 100 minutes worth of content. I'm no expert on movie adaptations, but with how some TV series adaptations go (case in point: Erased adapting the entirety of its first volume in one episode), the final product must be the result of adding numerous original scenes to the manga chapters. Fortunately enough, there is no one scene within the entire spectacle that felt out of place, which does tend to happen with some other "filler" content.
As expected of Mappa, the animation, especially throughout fight scenes, is ineffably stellar, and accompanied by a soundtrack that will keep you pumped all the way through. Whether the staff working on it all was offered sleep or money is, unfortunately, unbeknownst to me.
JJK characters always appeared likable to me, and the newly introduced members of the cast are no exception to this rule. What I enjoyed a bit less this time around was the comedy, which, to me, felt slightly excessive at times (though less so than in most other shounen series). I do, however, appreciate how some characters we had already known from the main series (Gojou, Maki and Toge come to mind) were given more depth.
The horroresque vibe of the franchise is as strong as ever with this arc, with even the first couple scenes presenting us with our new temporary protagonist, Okkotsu Yuuta, struggling to find a way to keep his actions from exacerbating his current situation. As it turns out, nothing goes right once your childhood friend turns into a curse after death.
Other than the quickly established main plotline, the viewers are presented with a training arc, a whole lot of action, the big, final fight... you know, the classics.
After all is said and done, and an epilogue is all it takes for the movie to finish on a high note... the end credits appear. It would be far from fair to claim the film has failed to tie up its loose ends - the problems we were presented with at the beginning were resolved okay. And yet, I couldn't help but think there should have been more to it, like there is a Jujutsu Kaisen 0.5 movie in sight, which I am sure there is not. I needed naught, but a climax - seems like it was too high of an order at the end of the day.
Overall, it was a very solid movie. Not as gripping and bizarre as the main show, but very well-made and, without a doubt, entertaining. As a prequel to the series, it can serve as a proper starting point for newcomers, as each character and event is presented anew (we do, ultimately, have two different protagonists, and each of them needs to understand their position somehow). I enjoyed the experience just as much while having previous knowledge of the world (the exposition dumps were perfectly bearable). It may not be the best thing you will have seen this year, but hey, it's still pretty good!
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