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Jujutsu Kaisen‘s new movie comes to North America in July, putting the series’ most special quality on the big screen. The mouthful proper name of the film―Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death – The Movie―isn’t shy about giving the game away. The compilation film won’t bring anything new to fans of the anime: it’s a recap of the “Hidden Inventory / Premature Death” arc.
That isn’t to say that fans don’t have a reason to be excited. The backstory arc works well as a standalone. Beyond that, it can provide a provocative jumping-off point to those who haven’t yet watched the anime. Whether one is new to the franchise or just celebrating their favorite series at the cinema for once, the film’s focus on Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto’s relationship will show off Jujutsu Kaisen‘s most valuable asset (and it probably isn’t what you’re thinking).
The New Jujutsu Kaisen Movie Covers Gojo and Geto’s Origins
For the uninitiated: the “Hidden Inventory / Premature Death” arc dives deep into the circumstances of Gojo and Geto’s friendship, and it also explains the trajectory of each as sorcerers. Gojo and Geto are both prodigal students at Jujutsu High; Gojo is haughty and full of himself, with little direct concern for the stated mission of sorcerers in protecting humanity, while Geto is greatly concerned with the moral dimension of sorcery.
Their early dynamics are explored as they first grate one another, then come around to each other. Over the course of an escort mission, the two grow close with a non-sorcerer who is meant to be sacrificed in order to strengthen Master Tengen’s barrier. The mission goes awry in the end because of fan-favorite non-sorcerer Toji Fushigoro‘s intervention; the escorted non-sorcerer, well, prematurely dies. Both Geto and Gojo have their commitments deeply challenged.
Gojo, on one hand, is humiliated in battle, which makes him reconsider his sense of superiority. Meanwhile, Geto is devastated by the circumstances of their escortee’s death, which make him doubt the motivations of the non-sorcerers that sorcerers are sworn to protect if they’ll kill one another over something as transient as money. (Geto is also motivated by the fact that sorcerers toil thanklessly against the curses non-sorcerers proliferate through their lack of control over cursed energy.)
Through his stubborn egoism, Gojo grows stronger and becomes firmer than ever in his commitment to protecting non-sorcerers; Geto, on the other hand, becomes militantly opposed to non-sorcerers, dedicated to creating a world where only sorcerers exist.
Gojo and Geto Establish Themes That Dominate Jujutsu Kaisen
What Jujutsu Kaisen illustrates better than any other shonen, and which is abundantly clear in the arbitrary circumstances of Gojo and Geto’s respective ideological shifts, is a sense of contingency. Gojo doesn’t become humanity’s strongest, most steadfast protector out of a sense of nobility, but out of a sense of humiliation after a chance encounter. On the other hand, it’s precisely the transformation of Geto’s moralism through the death of a non-sorcerer he cared about that leads him to be a “villain” ardently against non-sorcerers.
Chance and contingency are everywhere in Jujutsu Kaisenstarting with Yuji’s own unpredictable consumption of a cursed finger and ending with the chance appearance of a certain character who turns the tides entirely in the series’ final battle. While it’s possible to read that sense of chance and contingency into any series out there, Jujutsu Kaisen pushes it to the forefront, and the upcoming “Hidden Inventory / Premature Death” film will highlight that in a neat little package.
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Jujutsu Kaisen Remains One Of Shonen’s Few Truly Ambiguous Stories, and That’s What Makes It Great
A badge of pride modern stories like to wear is “moral ambiguity”. Unfortunately, as seasoned RPG veterans know, there’s a wide gulf between a story where what’s “immoral” sometimes makes sense and a story where the difference between morality and immorality becomes, well, arbitrary―and therefore ambiguous.
In Jujutsu Kaisen‘s case, its dedication to chance and contingency as storytelling pillars makes every character deeply compelling. Even thoroughly detestable characters like Mahito are understandable once you grasp the soup of motivations and circumstances that led to his birth and that guide his viewpoint.
Those linger behind the surface in most shonen, but Jujutsu Kaisen teases them out for you just enough that they’re almost impossible not to think about. This emotional intelligence is arguably traceable to Narutowhich placed a tremendous emphasis on humanizing its characters. The difference between the pair, though, is that Naruto humanizes in a way that’s still idealistic and at times condescending; Jujutsu Kaisen is so insistent on its story of willpower and circumstance that it couldn’t condescend to its most wart-covered characters if it wanted to.
What makes the “Hidden Inventory / Premature Death” arc incredible comes down to the fluidity with which it shows the way actual people’s ideologies change. By attaching you to Gojo and Geto as a pair, when tragedy leads to divergent ideologies and (eventually) their separation, you feel it in your own heart. Then the human urge to investigate that feeling comes about, and you can’t hate anybody for how things played out.
At the heart of Jujutsu Kaisen is a call for understanding most other series couldn’t dream of―at least without dangerously equating empathy to support. That’s why every character is miles deep, even when their backstories are barely filled out; that’s why, with everyone fighting by the skin of their teeth for a fully believable (if sometimes utterly abominable) goal, the series enraptures viewers like few others can.
