From blood and gore to violence and loss of life, Gege Akutami’s manga Jujutsu Kaisen completely captures the essence of a darkish Shonen manga via its visuals and storytelling. Other than bagging the Greatest Anime of the Yr on the 2024 Crunchyroll Awards, the manga gained the Tsutaya Comedian Award in 2019.
Other than that, the creator’s use of mythology and concrete legends within the collection has captivated an enormous fanbase. Along with that, the anime has garnered reputation via its excellent animation and visuals.
Nonetheless, the manga was not presupposed to end up the best way it will definitely did, because the creator’s unique draft differed fully from its unique idea. This additionally included his preliminary plan of putting Megumi because the protagonist which was finally dropped off.
Gege Akutami’s preliminary character conception
Jujutsu Kaisen, written by Gege Akutami highlights the journey of Yuji Itadori, a jujutsu sorcerer who trains beneath Satoru Gojo to harbor his power and become more powerful. After consuming a cursed talisman, i.e. The Demon King Sukuna’s finger, he turns into by the cursed power.
Nonetheless, the creator had a completely different idea whereas engaged on the preliminary character conception, which finally led to the rejection of their first draft. In a Q&A session with Akutami on the Jujutsu Kaisen Exhibition held in July 2024, they revealed the adjustments they made to the protagonist’s character. They quoted:
What defines Itadori’s character and self haven’t modified. I feel having such a simple man like Itadori as the primary character was an enormous change for the story. My concept was to make use of different characters to pave an outlined path and painting a common protagonist. I needed Itadori to be a versatile character.
They modified the character configuration and positioned Megumi as the primary character together with Kugisaki and Itadori as facet characters. A Reddit person @r/Jujutsufolk shared the photographs of the creator’s first draft with the preliminary character designs that have been in the end rejected.
The first chapter draft of JJK that was rejected + Yuji, Gojo, and Megukuna’s designs in “Sousen”
byu/AwakenedDivinePower inJujutsufolk
From firming down the weather of darkness and gore to altering character ideas, the creator tweaked these parts to make their work extra palatable to the readers. This isn’t shocking contemplating how the unique story and concepts of the manga have been so darkish that the editors rejected it.
Other than dropping Megumi as the primary character and altering the character configuration, the creator additionally tweaked Itadori’s persona. This had a huge effect on the story versus his unique draft.
Yuji Itadori’s flexibility as a personality within the collection
Whereas engaged on the character ideas, Akutami wished for the protagonist’s persona to be extra versatile fairly than being versatile. Yuji’s character represents the right mix and stability of goofiness, and liveliness coupled along with his selfless nature. So as to add to that, he’s capable of withstand Sukuna as his vessel through strong will.
Though his versatility lies in being a selfless and decided protagonist, it will make him a bland protagonist because the creator identified. By that logic, Itadori can simply match into any Shonen manga, making him a great, albeit a generic, hero for the collection.
Itadori does get plenty of hate for projecting a side-character power all through the collection regardless of being the protagonist. Nonetheless, his character growth all through the collection alongside along with his flexibility to adapt and develop as a personality make him stand out.
Jujutsu Kaisen is out there for streaming on Crunchyroll.
