Reviews

Jujutsu Kaisen T13 - Edition collector by Gege Akutami

Only show reviews with written explanations

yarnessa's review against another edition

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5.0

Shits going doooowwwnnn this one stressed me out the most so far

laurenpilled's review against another edition

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4.0

*prolonged screaming*

fauxvais's review against another edition

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4.0

This will be a combined review of the first through thirteenth volumes.

Jujutsu Kaisen follows Itadori Yuji, a boy with unusually athletic capabilities who is sucked into the world of curses and jujutsu sorcerers on account of swallowing the finger of a very powerful curse: Sukuna. Taking such a course of action initially marks him for death, as reviving Sukuna could prove to be catastrophic, but some jujutsu sorcerers find value in postponing Yuji's death until he has swallowed all twenty of Sukuna's fingers, as by then eradicating Yuji would mean eradicating Sukuna, too.

TW's: body horror.
REP: Black SC and disabled SC.

PROS:
- The framework and structure of cursed energy and its users. Admittedly, the first twenty or so chapters feature a lot of info-dumping, and it can be kind of overwhelming to take in. But once you digest it a bit, the way jujutsu sorcerers operate is actually pretty well defined, and I like the amount of detail that goes into each character's specific cursed techniques of choice. The limits that are defined also make sense, and while Yuji does sometimes overcome the seemingly impossible, I think it's still defined within reasonable terms given that he is the vessel of the most powerful curse imaginable.
- The individual ideologies of mentor figures. In reading shounen manga, I've noticed that plenty centered on teenagers tend to put more emphasis on highlighting the growing ideologies of these teenagers while those of the adults are either outright lambasted or disregarded. I like that in contrast, Jujutsu Kaisen instead focuses on portraying how mentor figures can shape their students for the better and give them confidence and some semblance of peace in the midst of this horrific work that they're tasked to do. Gojo and Nanami's characters in particular really intrigued me with regards to this aspect.
- The moral dilemmas presented! When complementing Yuji's initial mindset towards exorcism with the eventual backstories of characters like Getou and Toji, Jujutsu Kaisen sets up a really interesting question with regards to how people determine the inherent worth of human life depending on the circumstances. It's true that there's potential for the focus on this moral dilemma to ultimately fade, as so many moral dilemmas presented in shounen oft do, but I have some hope! It's an interesting take I haven't seen addressed like this before.

CONS:
- The pacing. I would say that the pacing is only really nightmarish for the first twenty or so chapters, what with it moving so quickly from one event and lore establishment to the next. As for the rest of the manga, plot wise the pacing is much more drawn out now, but I do sometimes find it crazy that we're supposed to feel like this group of jujutsu sorcerers are really close with each other when it's hardly been a few months since the start of the manga. I do understand the special circumstances of Yuji's existence kind of necessitate that everyone gravitate towards him, but it can nonetheless feel a bit jarring at times.
- Female characters feeling like pawns. I think that with some shounen manga, there is this idea that so long as a woman is classically strong and not interested in boys, it sets her up to be a good character. But the thing is, she still needs motivations, personal agency, an arc that exists for herself, etc. And as a whole, that's not something I really see with any of the girls in Jujutsu Kaisen. They're all really neat and present potential given their backstories, but it's like they don't exist to have their own, dedicated arc as of yet. I see a lot of potential with Maki, in particular, and I hope her advancement through the grades of sorcery is a larger focus in the future.
- Getou? This is something that concerns the latest released chapters, so it's an opinion that could change in the future depending on what information is revealed to us.

Spoiler

I don't quite understand the worth in Getou not being the "real" Getou, rather the soul of someone else using his dead body as a vessel. It feels a bit reminiscent of Junpei potentially being set up as a serious foil to Yuji and his ideology, only for him to be killed within the first twenty chapters. I imagine we may get more backstory on how Gojo killed Getou and why, and how their paths actually diverged after the failed attempt to transfer Tengen to a new vessel, but it's up in the air as of yet and has left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. On top of it, I don't feel any sort of investment in Getou's old subordinates or their desire to avenge him. It all just feels like a very sudden, "gotcha!" kind of development, and since we don't know more at the moment, I'm a bit annoyed by it.

FINAL RATING: 3.75