Jujutsu Kaisen Executive Explains Why First Movie Was Risky
Jujutsu Kaisen fans were surprised when it was revealed that following the anime's first season the franchise would be releasing a new movie, and one of the executives behind it all has opened up about just how risky of a move this really was for the anime's studio. The debut feature film for the franchise took on Gege Akutami's original prequel series, and hit theaters across Japan less than a year after the first season came to an end. This was another surprising decision that had fans wondering what to expect, and those behind the movie did have some initial worry about releasing a movie without many of the characters from the anime.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie introduced fans to a new main character, and while it had some characters from the main series, there was some initial hesitation about following up the successful anime with such a major detour. But as Studio MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka explained, while there was some risk involved with releasing a new movie without many of the threads from the 20 plus episode first season, the team at the studio wer confident that the prequel had enough of a standalone story to succeed regardless.
Speaking with Anime News Network about the risk of following up Jujutsu Kaisen's anime with a new movie focused on the prequel, Studio MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka explained, "...there might have been a risk. Because if you look at it from the perspective of them finishing two cours of the series—and then going into a film that doesn't have the characters that people are familiar with—there might have been a risk." But then explained that the prequel story had a strong enough story to push through, "But when we saw the 0 story, it was such a powerful story by itself. We were pretty confident that the fans were going to enjoy it by itself."
It might have been high risk, but it was also very much a high reward with tons of success not only in Japan, but around the world. If you're curious about how the movie turned out, you can find ComicBook.com's review of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 here. But what did you think of Jujutsu Kaisen's big movie? Was it a proper follow up to the anime's first season? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!