Warning: Contains spoilers for the final arc of Jujutsu Kaisen.since the first years, Jujutsu Kaisen was considered one of the most revolutionary shōnen Manga in recent memory. Between its fast pacing and how it typically avoids the biggest clichés of its demographic, it was seen as a breath of fresh air by those who had grown tired of being repetitive. shōnen Stories, and Jujutsu Kaisen “Not like others shōnen Manga” became his biggest selling point.
However, that reputation is highly exaggerated. While it would do a disservice to Jujutsu Kaisen‘s quality to mark it as a complete cliché, between its pacing and how the world building and cast are handled, especially Yuji, Jujutsu Kaisen largely kept to the same practices that have become typical of shōnen Manga Much more often than people give it credit for. Jujutsu Kaisen was never as revolutionary as it was made out to be, and it all came to a head with everything that happened in Jujutsu Kaisens finale.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s characters are never treated better than the average shoun manga
Jujutsu Kaisen wasted most of his cast
The first area where Jujutsu Kaisen What ultimately fails to break the mold is how it treats its characters. For starters, a common criticism of shōnen Manga tend not to focus much on anyone outside of the main characters, and sure enough, Jujutsu Kaisen Often failed to give anyone in its supporting cast much in the way of screen time or development. In the final arc, most of the cast have little involvement in the story beyond occasional exposition and a few action scenes, and many of them are much much much shallower than they should be.
about the letters, Jujutsu KaisenThe female cast often gets the worst treatment of anyone. While Mackie is consistently the subject of great writing and development, The majority of Jujutsu Kaisens female characters got very little attention Compared to the male characters, with Yuki and Yorozu dying in their first fight after years of building, Hana is constantly overpowered despite being a high-ranking sorcerer, and Miwa very unceremoniously loses her ability to fight. Jujutsu Kaisen Was once praised for its handling of its female figure, but as time went on, it became just as bad as its contemporaries, if not worse.
Of all the female characters in Jujutsu Kaisenbut, Nobara was undoubtedly treated the worst. Not only did she receive much less development than Yuji and Megumi, but after the story spent years never making it clear whether she was dead or alive, Nobara’s return to Jujutsu Kaisen It was only at the end of the story, which, naturally, had no time for anything significant to do with her. Navarra was, unfortunately, another example of a shōnen The female protagonist of manga is overshadowed by the male protagonist, and this has always been one of the biggest controversies in history.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s hero is not as groundbreaking as people think
Is Yuji really the best shonen manga protagonist?
Another specific area in which Jujutsu Kaisen It’s not very groundbreaking with its protagonist, Yuji. The most common style of writing for a shōnen Manga protagonist is to make them a kind-hearted and somewhat dimwitted young boy who fights primarily in close combat. Yuji embodied all the most essential characteristics of a shōnen Manga protagonist Since the beginning of Jujutsu Kaisen. It wasn’t until the final arc that Yuji started using new techniques and tactics, but he still defaulted to punching and kicking, which is much more normal than one might expect, given his reputation.
Jujutsu Kaisens final arc also highlights how Yuji is not too far away from the typical shōnen Main character. While Yuji is often said to be a deconstruction of shōnen protagonist, Jujutsu KaisenThe last arc has Yuji relying on sheer will power and, arguably, the power of friendship to defeat TsukunaTwo of the most defining elements of a Shawn Protagonist. The deconstructive elements of Yuji’s character are typically attributed to the dark and dramatic writing around him, but these elements are not inherently deconstructive, so that argument ultimately falls flat.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s pacing & worldbuilding always hold it back
The biggest problems with Jujutsu Kaisen’s writing
The greatest overlap Jujutsu Kaisen Has with others shōnen Manga, however, excels in its pacing and worldbuilding. While Jujutsu KaisenS fast pacing was initially seen as a strength of his writing, it gradually became a problem because it prevented character arcs from fully developing and made story beats move too quickly to hit as effectively as possible. Pacing issues that negatively impact writing is a common criticism of shōnen Manga that Jujutsu Kaisen Unable to avoidAnd this was especially noticeable in the finale with it ending in a way that did very little to stop the lingering plot threads.
Jujutsu KaisenIts pacing issues also go directly into the problems with its world building. Shun Manga often fail to properly flesh out their worlds due to poor pacing and prioritizing the plot, fights and characters, and sure enough, Jujutsu Kaisen Very famously did little to fully develop its world-building from start to finish. Elements like Sukuna’s backstory, the inner workings of jujutsu society, and how the larger world reacts to everything in the later arcs were always poorly addressed, and it made Jujutsu Kaisen Feel like another story that prioritized fights over everything more often than not.
Why Jujutsu Kaisen is great, despite not being groundbreaking
You should still read Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen is far less groundbreaking than its reputation would suggest, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great series. For starters, even if the fighting tends to get more focus than the character or narrative writing, Jujutsu KaisenIts action scenes are some of the best of any shōnen Series of the last yearsWith the manga always having creative choreography and artwork, and the anime making that look even better with each episode. There are few stories with as great action as Jujutsu KaisenAnd to some extent, it’s worth getting invested in just for that.
While a lot of the overlap Jujutsu Kaisen Has with shōnen Manga is to the detriment of its storytelling, this is not always the case, as between the action scenes, the dramatic writing, and how engaging the characters can be as individuals and in groups, Jujutsu Kaisen Almost always plays in the best aspects of shōnen Manga to be just as fun to read as other storiesIf not more. Even if the Jujutsu Kaisen Manga isn’t groundbreaking, it’s become one of the biggest anime franchises in the world for a reason, and it’s still plenty worth reading or watching.