This season of anime has a lot of top tier works in it. Some may say that it is the best season of anime in the history of anime. But one, in particular, caught my attention, that one being the anime adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen.

This show was adapted from the manga by the same name, written by Gege Akutami. While the author has not made very many manga that are as well known as Jujutsu Kaisen, this particular manga did so well in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, that it got an anime adaptation.

For those that are not familiar with Weekly Shonen Jump, it is a weekly magazine that prints some of the most popular Shonen manga stories. Shonen manga is a term used for manga targeting a male audience, but anyone can enjoy these serials. Shonen Jump started many manga series, and some even continue to be published in the magazine today. Some examples of manga that started in Shonen Jump would be Naruto, YuGiOh, Gintama, Dragon Ball, and many more. Some that are currently serializing in the magazine would be Dr. Stone, Black Clover, Hunter x Hunter, and the never-ending One Piece.

Jujutsu Kaisen has been serializing since March of 2018. Needless to say, the manga is quite popular and deserved an anime adaptation. It could even be said that the Jujutsu Kaisen is a legendary manga, providing amazing art and a thrilling storyline.

Jujutsu Kaisen is based in Japan, similar to many other series. However, in this world, every living being gives off energy referred to as “curse energy”, which is caused by the negative emotions that naturally exist in the body. Since normal people can’t control this energy, it gets released from their bodies and creates curses.

Jujutsu Sorcerers can control the curse energy flowing within them, and the higher ranking sorcerers and curses can use Cursed Techniques, which are usually unique to the user or the user’s family.

The story follows Yuji Itadori, an unnaturally fit high school student. He avoids the track club, despite his uncanny talent for the sport, and instead joins the Occult Research Club. Here he learns about the supernatural for the first time, however, not believing that it is real. Yuji visits his dying grandfather every day in the hospital, and, while on his deathbed, the grandfather tells Yuji to “always help people” and “die surrounded by people”. These words of wisdom came from the grandfather’s regrets in his own lifetime, not wishing for Yuji to have the same regrets.

Yuji is then confronted by Megumi Fushiguro, a Jujutsu Sorcerer that informs Yuji of a high-grade cursed object that he supposedly found. Yuji informs Megumi that he gave the object to his friends in the Occult Club. Meanwhile, the friends unseal the talisman on the cursed object, attracting curses to the school, since the curses gain power by consuming the curse energy of sorcerers and such objects. Not able to defeat the curses, since only a curse can exercise a curse, Yuji swallows the cursed object, the rotted finger of Ryomen Sukuna, the “King of Curses”. This turns Yuji into Sukuna’s host body. Due to Sukuna’s raw curse energy, all sorcerers are required to exercise him (and therefore Yuji) ASAP. However, Yuji is still able to (mostly) keep control of his body. After seeing this, Satoru Gojo, Megumi’s teacher, decides to take Yuji back to the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School to devise a plan with his superiors. The plan focuses on postponing Yuji’s death sentence until he consumes all of Sukuna’s power (stored within his 20 fingers), so they can defeat the King of Curses once and for all.

Normally, the anime adaptation of manga is not as well made as to the original manga itself. However, Jujutsu Kaisen has gotten what is widely referred to as a legendary adaptation. Fitting for a legendary manga like this one.

The studio making this adaptation is none other than MAPPA. A studio that is known for amazing adaptations such as Kakegurui, Dorohedoro, and Attack on Titan: The Final Season. Jujutsu Kaisen shows, once again, what MAPPA is capable of, showing incredible work that has far surpassed some other anime studios.

The art style of the anime is on a different level than some of the other shows airing this season, and the animation itself is close to flawless. This, combined with the original soundtrack, makes it a much more enthralling experience than just reading the manga. While I was watching it, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

While the anime is not perfect, it has factors that could let it compete with the best Shonen anime of all time. Even in the first few episodes, the story and character development have gone beyond my expectations. However, it is clear that this is only the beginning of an amazing show, that from what I’ve seen, can only get better as time goes on.