Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦, rgh.
"Sorcery Battle")[a] is a Japanese manga series
written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It was serialized
in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from March
2018 to September 2024, with its chapters collected in
30 tankōbon volumes. The story follows high school student Yuji Itadori as he
joins a secret organization of Jujutsu Sorcerers to eliminate a powerful Curse
named Ryomen Sukuna, of whom Yuji becomes the host. Jujutsu Kaisen is a
sequel to Akutami's Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School, serialized in
Shueisha's Jump Giga from April to July 2017, later collected in
a tankōbon volume, retroactively titled as Jujutsu Kaisen 0, in December
2018.
Jujutsu Kaisen is licensed for English-language release in North America
by Viz Media, which has published the manga in print since December 2019.
Shueisha publishes the series in English on the Manga Plus online platform.
Two novels, written by Ballad Kitaguni, were published in May 2019 and
January 2020, respectively. An anime television series adaptation produced
by MAPPA aired its first season on MBS from October 2020 to March 2021; a
second season aired from July to December 2023. A sequel covering the
"Culling Game" arc has been announced.
By September 2024, the Jujutsu Kaisen manga had over 100 million copies in
circulation, including related novels, digital versions, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0,
making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
Synopsis
Setting
In Jujutsu Kaisen, all living beings emanate a source of power called Cursed
Energy (呪力, Juryoku), which arises from negative emotions that naturally flow
throughout the body. Ordinary people cannot control or use this flow. As a
result, they continually release Cursed Energy, resulting in the birth of
Curses (呪い, Noroi), a race of advanced spiritual beings whose primary desire
is to bring harm to humanity. These Curses are shown as gruesome
monsters: onryō (vengeful spirit), yūrei (ghosts), and yōkai.
Jujutsu Sorcerers (呪術師, Jujutsushi, lit. "Cursed Technique Masters" or
"Shamans") are people who have the ability to control the flow of Cursed
Energy from their bodies, allowing them to use it, granting them inhuman
abilities, and therefore reducing its release. High-ranking Sorcerers and
Curses can refine this energy and use it to perform Cursed Techniques (呪術
式, Jujutsushiki), which tend to be unique to the user or their family. An
advanced form of a Cursed Technique is a Domain Expansion (領域展開, Ryōiki
Tenkai), with which the users build a pocket dimension of variable size
trapping their target within. Inside the Domain, all of their attacks are
guaranteed to hit and will grow in strength.
Sorcerers are governed by the Jujutsu Society—a secretive, hierarchical
organization whose main purpose is to protect non-sorcerers from curses and
oversee the battle against them in Japan. Its central authority, the Jujutsu
Headquarters, is led by the Jujutsu Commander, appointed by the Prime
Minister based on nominations from the three major sorcerer families: the
Gojo, Zenin, and Kamo clans. it operates educational institutions like Tokyo
and Kyoto Jujutsu High Schools, which train new generations of sorcerers.
These schools are directly controlled by the Jujutsu Headquarters, with
principals appointed based on recommendations from the major clans.
Despite its noble goals, the Jujutsu Society is often criticized by new and old
sorcerer's for its rigid adherence to tradition and the influence of powerful
clans, leading to internal conflicts and questionable decisions.
