As we enter into the spooky season, what better time is there to start an intense series about curses, demons and magic? Starting in 2018, author Gege Akutami first began to publish the dark fantasy manga in the popular Japanese magazine, Shōnen Jump. Jujutsu Kaisen follows the life of young protagonist Yuji Itadori, a regular high school boy who is suddenly thrust into the world of sorcerers and curses when his friends unknowingly find a talisman and release the bound spirit of the thousand-year-old king of curses, Ryomen Sukuna. 

Throughout the series, young Itadori is brought into Tokyo Jujutsu High to train under special grade sorcerers, Gojo Satoru and Nanami Kento, and fellow classmates, Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki. As the story progresses, many different forms of opponents come to face the sorcerers, ranging from curses, assassins and even other sorcerers that have turned against the jujutsu world. Some most notable foes in the series are Geto Suguru, Toji Fushiguro and even Ryomen Sukuna as he slowly gains more and more power while inhabiting Itadori’s body. 

Now, to break down some more interesting aspects of the series, an iconic part of Jujutsu Kaisen are the techniques that various characters in the series use, the most famous one being that of Gojo Satoru, a technique called infinity. This technique is used by the sorcerer deemed to be the “world’s strongest.” In this technique, he creates a barrier around him where there is an infinite amount of space divided an infinite number of times, causing any approaching object or opponent to slow down and never reach him. 

Another famous technique is that of fellow high schooler, Megumi Fushiguro, one of Itadori’s closest friends and fellow first-year at Tokyo Jujutsu High. Megumi’s technique is known as the ten shadows technique, a specialty passed down through a clan of sorcerers that uses the shadows around them to create beings known as shikigami to help them in fights against curses. You may think, “What exactly is a curse?” Well, the best way to describe them is a physical manifestation of the fears and hates of humankind, born in their own dimensions and classified by their level of intensity. They are then paired with a sorcerer of equal power to take them down.

Though I mainly have been talking about the manga, Jujutsu Kaisen has also been animated into a show by MAPPA in 2020 and is available for streaming on platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu and Netflix. Also, for those of you that hate to wait for the next part of a series to come out or being left on a cliffhanger, the final season of Jujutsu Kaisen is currently being animated, and the final chapter of the manga has been released as of Sept. 30. 

Jujutsu Kaisen packs a punch and has a thrilling storyline, making it a great anime and manga series for anyone wanting to break into the world of Japanese pop culture.