Beginning serialization in 2018 in Weekly Shonen Jump, Jujutsu Kaisen, which translates literally to "Sorcery Fight," has quickly become one of the magazine's rising stars. Written and illustrated by Gege Akutami, the supernatural series currently has around 2.5 million volumes in print circulation around the world, and topped Japanese book retailers' list of manga recommendations in February of this year.
Now, with an anime adaptation on the way from Toho and print releases beginning this month in English from Viz Media, Jujutsu Kaisen has "Next Big Thing" stamped all over it for international audiences -- though you'd be forgiven for not having heard of it until now.
For those that might want to get ahead of the curve, here's what you need to know about the series that combines body horror with teen sorcerers and split personalities.
The new kid on the shonen block stars Yuuji Itadori, an abnormally athletic high-school student who has more interest in the school's occult club than he does in joining the track and field team. At the start of the story, Yuuji loses his primary caregiver: his grandfather. With his teen ward at his hospital bedside, the elderly man imparts some words of wisdom that go on to have a profound influence on Yuuji. First he instructs him to always try and help others and second he advises to "die surrounded by a crowd." In other words, live a good life and you'll earn a good death.
The former recommendation comes into play almost immediately when Yuuji meets a young sorcerer called Megumi Fushiguro who can summon animal spirits from his shadow to his aid. He warns Yuuji that a weird, rotten finger that his occult club members have possession of is actually a cursed talisman and it is now acting as a beacon for all Curses in the area to gather at the school.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, "Curses" are the monsters that sorcerers -- the heroes -- do battle with. Taking the form of hideous animalistic, insect-like or even humanoid creatures, Curses are the physical manifestations of people's negative emotions, though only a tiny percentage of the population are able to see them -- the percentage that has the potential to become sorcerers.
At Yuuji's school, his friends come under attack by a powerful Curse and, though Fushiguro instructs him to run away, Yuuji remembers his grandfather's words and decides to stay and help. He also makes the irrational decision to give himself a power-up by eating the cursed finger, inheriting the dark power that dwells within it. The severed digit belongs to a powerful and ancient demon called Sakuna whose persona instantly consumes Yuuji. However, much to Fushiguro's surprise, Yuuji has the willpower to subdue the bloodthirsty beast.
His newfound ability is the very definition of a gift and a curse; With it, Yuuji is taken under the wing of Fushiguro's blindfolded tutor, Satoro Gojou, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Magical Technical College where he'll not only be trained as a jujutsu sorcerer, but tasked with collecting and eating the rest of Sakuna's fingers, which are strewn all over the place. He'll be able to use his accumulating power to stop other Curses but will also be edging closer and closer to the chopping block himself, as the sorcerers plan on axing both him and Sakuna in one fell swoop once the job is done.
Though the idea of two minds in one body is nothing new for comic book fans, the dynamic between the downtrodden but heroically-intentioned Yuuji and the murderous, otherworldly Sakuna is instantly reminiscent of Marvel's Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote. Yuuji and Sakuna communicate inside Yuuji's head while the inner monster lurks beneath his skin unleashing itself in horrific displays of violence (though the comparison that the Akutami openly uses in the manga is to DC's Two-Face).
Sakuna is also just as eager for Yuuji to complete his mission as the wannabe sorcerer is -- although for more nefarious, power-grabbing reasons, of course. That means that, much like Venom, the demon is always salivating for Yuuji to put more things in their shared mouth and grow stronger. Visually, the two terrifying creatures aren't too dissimilar, either. Though Sakuna isn't as malleable as the gloopy Marvel symbiote, his true form has an extra set of arms and is known as the "Double-Faced Specter."
For manga and anime fans, Jujutsu Kaisen is similar in its premise to Bleach for the transformative nature of its central hero and the selectively invisible monsters, as well as Blue Exorcist -- along with the added magical school component -- and Tokyo Ghoul, with which it also shares a propensity for not shying away from supernatural ultra-violence. All of this makes for a darkly enjoyable action series that's sure to be one to watch out for in 2020.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available now in English from Viz Media.