Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie was released today in theaters across Japan, and every fan who has watched it has been singing its praises.
The movie stunned the audience with incredible animation and great execution. Additionally, as director Sunghoo Park had hinted at before, some extra scenes were added to make the movie more interesting to the manga readers.
[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 MOVIE]
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 surprises fans with Sakayume, additional flashbacks, and added scenes
Director Park Sunghoo had tweeted earlier this month that there would be a surprise for those fans who had already read the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga. He had released an illustration earlier today as well.
Many fans had speculated that the movie would include Nanami’s Black Flash or Aoi Todo defeating the special grade curse for which he is famous. One of these speculations seems to have come true, but that is not all that Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie had in store for unsuspecting fans.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The ending theme song
As was announced earlier this month, the intro to Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie is called “Ichizu” or “The Only Way”, which is also the theme song of the movie, performed by King Gnu.
Earlier today it was announced that King Gnu has also performed the ending theme song, “Sakayume” or “Contradictory Dream.” Both of these songs will be available on the CD that will be launched on December 29.
Booklet for Jujutsu Kaisen 0.5
Theaters across Japan are distributing 5 million copies of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0.5 booklet to the audience on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The booklet contains the 9-page extra story drawn by Akutami Gege, Q & A with the mangaka, storyboards and rejected drawings of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 volume. The 9-page extra story was published earlier with the Jujutsu Kaisen manga to promote the movie.
Kusakabe’s voice actor
Atsuya Kusakabe is the Grade-1 sorcerer in charge of the second-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High. He has a minor speaking role to play in Jujutsu Kaisen 0, but a major role to play in the Shibuya arc, which will likely be animated in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2.
Since the voice actor for this role was not announced, fans did not expect a renowned name to play this character. However, they were pleasantly surprised when Shinichiro Miki was revealed as Kusakabe’s voice.
Miki is well known for playing Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kisuke Urahara in Bleach, Knov in Hunter X Hunter, and Sir Nighteye in My Hero Academia.
Kento Nanami
Speaking of Grade-1 sorcerers, the greatest surprise in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie was the appearance of Kento Nanami and his 4 back-to-back uses of Black Flash.
Nanami never appeared in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga. It was only later in Jujutsu Kaisen manga that he was revealed to have experienced Black Flash during the "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons", which was the battle at the crux of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. Fans had speculated that Nanami might appear in the movie, and it seemed to have come true.
Flashback of Gojo and Getou’s past
While manga-readers are aware of the relationship between Satoru Gojo and Suguru Getou, it is only hinted at in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga.
However, in order to make the movie more interesting for manga-readers and to give the anime-only audience a better idea of what is going on, some scenes from the Hidden Inventory arc seem to have been added to Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. They give viewers a glimpse of the shared past between these two characters.
Final Thoughts
While international fans can only wait for any news on the worldwide release date of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, these hidden treats only serve to make fans more eager.
Japanese fans have only sung praises of MAPPA, director Park, and the voice cast. With these added aspects, it becomes harder to wait for the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie.