MAPPA has done a pretty solid job adapting Jujutsu Kaisen for the screen so far. However, fans do have some issues, and one of them is an inconsistency from the manga that’s split the fandom.
Jujutsu Kaisen is firmly established as one of the best anime going right now. It’s become so mainstream, Megan Thee Stallion cosplayed a Jujutsu Kaisen character right before the anime show swept the Crunchyroll anime awards.
But all that adoration shouldn’t come at the cost of highlighting problems, and Jujutsu Kaisen has a few. Certain scenes haven’t had the polish fans expect, occasionally leading to newer versions on home media.
But in other cases, the issues stem from MAPPA’s adaptation misfiring on a beat from Gege Akutami’s manga, and a particular moment reopened that can of worms recently.
Jujutsu Kaisen anime broke canon from the manga
A Jujutsu Kaisen fan points out that in the anime, Toji manages to block a move from Gojo using the Inverted Spear of Heaven, a special weapon that negates any cursed energy. It’s a cool scene, but not what happens in the manga, where Toji just withstands Gojo’s assault outright in order to defend his cursed spirit.
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The moment is definitely executed differently, but just how different is open to interpretation. “The visuals might actually account for this when the blade had to ‘puncture’ Gojo’s barrier to stab him,” says one commenter. “The knife cuts techniques like it does flesh but that wouldn’t apply here.”
The debate turns to what we actually see. “Does the manga show he tanked it? It shows red being fired and then Toji against the wall. You don’t see where he was hit,” says another user.
This wrinkle leads to others being mentioned, to demonstrate the anime is a different animal to the manga. “The final episode of the series has a news crew killed by one of the curses fake Geto unleashed, just before the camera guy dies he catches the curse on camera and people watching at home are shocked to see it, just before a curse bursts through their wall and kills them too,” reads one comment. “But both the anime and manga established that a cursed spirit won’t show up on a normal camera.”
Adaptations always lead to changes that don’t work for everyone. What’s important is capturing the spirit of the source material, and Jujutsu Kaisen achieves that for sure. If you’d like to go deeper on the show, check out our guide to all 12 major deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2.
