Jujutsu Kaisen Vol 1 Chapter 1 review

 By Mark Rodriguez

Seems this is one of the newest anime making the rounds, and from the looks of it the characters look pretty cool. Seeing the main character with a mouth on his hand gave me that 'Parasyte' vibe (another series I intend to review) so I got curious enough to check it out. Let's take a look. 

Chapter 1- Ryomen Sukuna

The chapter opens with Report June 2018 in the Sugigawa Municipal High School #3 Sedai City, Miyagi Prefecture. We see someone being sent to investigate a thermometer shed for a 'Special Grade Cursed Item'. The shed is empty and the person threatens to punch the person who sent him for wasting his time.

At the school in the Occult Research Club, Yuji Itadori, Iguchi and Sasaki ask the spirits which animal is weaker than their student council president. They run their fingers through the occult board and the answer is a fish, which makes the crew laugh. Just then the student council president rushes in and Yuji says he really is a worm. The president doesn't take too kindly to the joke but tells them they haven't submitted any activity reports. He says the school doesn't have a place for clubs like that.

The President says the room will be used as the changing room for the women's track and field, and tells them to get out. Yuji says he shouldn't mess with the Occult Research Club. Iguchi says there's new paranormal activity tied to the school. He asks if he knows about the rugby field that's being closed off. The president says there's been a lot of players getting sick lately, some even hospitalized. Iguchi asks if that isn't strange, considering they're all tough rugby players. Just before they got sick, they claimed to have heard strange noises and voices.

Sasaki brings out a 30-year old newspaper saying that a construction worker went seeing missing and was last seen at the school. He was in debt and the loan sharks were after him, which means his body is buried under the rugby field. Their theory is that the commotion is being caused by his lingering spirit. The president says this was actually caused by ticks which shot down their whole theory. He also states that Itadori is a member of the Track and Field Club, which means the Occult Research Club doesn't meet its three member minimum. Iguchi and Sasaki glare at Itadori, and he insists that he did put 'Occult Research Club' in the application. The class president says that he rewrote it. 

Later on, the Track and Field Coach Takagi says he wants Itadori on his team so he can take over the country. Itadori says that he'll never join them. The coach decides to have a contest. If Itadori wins, he'll leave him alone but if the coach wins, Itadori must join the Track and Field Team. Itadori gladly accepts the challenge.

Meanwhile the mysterious guy from earlier is inspecting the rugby field. He wonders if there's a dead body buried under it. He wonders if it has anything to do with the cursed object he was looking for. Since it's a Grade A Cursed Object, its presence feels like it's right next to him and far away at the same time. He wondered if he should have closed off the school and check everywhere once the people are out.

Back to Itadori, the coach has decided that the contest will be shot put. The coach throws the shot put fourteen meters, which impresses the students. Iguchi, Sasaki and the rest of the students talk about Itadori and the rumors regarding him winning the Ninja Warrior contest and having the nickname 'The Tiger of West Junior High'. Itadori doesn't know how to throw the shot put and asks Coach Takagi if he can just throw it how he wants. The coach says it's ok, thinking he's won the contest since he had a sprinter take on a test of strength. Itadori surprises everyone by throwing it over 30 meters.

Iguchi says even though Itadori's nickname was Tiger, it should be Gorilla. Sasaki comments that he threw it like a baseball pitch. They ask Itadori why he would stay at the Occult Research Club if he seems better suited for some sort of sports club. Itadori says he has his reasons and has to be home by five. Itadori says Iguchi and Sasaki are too scared to go into haunted areas without him, and the Occult Research Club is growing on him.

The mysterious guy saw the events unfold and is surprised Itadori threw the shot put so far without being cursed and using natural ability. Itadori realizes it's half past four and takes off, running past the guy. The guy senses energy from the cursed object off of Itadori but can't catch up to him since he also runs like a track star. 

Itadori goes to visit his grandfather who's terminally ill in the hospital but trying to go out in style. He tells Itadori that since he's strong, he should help people. He tells him not to expect gratitude, but help people regardless. He tells him to make sure when it's his time to go, to be surrounded by people and not end up like him. Itadori's grandfather dies soon afterwards.

Later on Itadori signs the paperwork to get his grandfather cremated. Just then the mysterious man shows up behind him and calls him by name. The man, Megumi Fushiguro from Jujutsu High, tells him there's little time and he should hand over the cursed object immediately. He shows Itadori a picture of it from his phone and he recognizes it. Itadori doesn't mind handing it over, but since his school club has taken a liking to it, he at least wants an explanation. 

Fushiguro explains that the number of missing people and unexplained deaths increases 10,000 annually and it's due to curses. He says places where people gather like schools and hospitals are susceptible to negative energy. The more people dwell on pain, shame, humiliation and such, the more the areas are receptive of negative energy. Cursed objects are usually found in these places, and the item Itadori found is a talisman. Itadori asks if talismans are a good thing. Fushiguro explains that the more evil is placed on a cursed object, the more it deflects other curses. However as the years go on, the seal weakens and the talisman changes shape. It now starts to attract and feed on other curses. He demands he hand over the cursed object and Itadori tosses it to him saying he already said he didn't care. 

Fushiguro catches the box and realizes it's empty. He's shocked to discover he's been tracking the cursed energy lingering in the box and asks where its contents are. Itadori says the Occult Research Club has it. Fushiguro asks where they live and Itadori remembers something. He said they mentioned they're going to remove the seal at school that night. Fushiguro warns that if they do that, they'll die.

Meanwhile Iguchi and Sasaki remove the seal and were surprised to see the cursed object is a severed human finger. They wonder if the finger is real as a portal with monsters in it opens up above them. Itadori and Fushiguro rush towards the school. Fushiguro explains normally an uncursed person wouldn't be able to remove the seal, but the seal is so old by now it might as well be regular paper. Itadori hopes this guy isn't just crazy. He suddenly feels a huge pressure coming from the school. He says even though he only knew the students for a few months he still wants to help. Fushiguro tells him to stay behind.

At the school, Sasaki is hiding from the monsters that are now walking around the school. She sees Iguchi who now has a creature attached to the top part of his face. Fushiguro runs into a creature and summons Divine Dogs to eat them. Itadori is outside, wondering why he's shaking. He wonders if he's afraid of death and wonders if his grandfather was too. He felt he cried over his grandfather because he was sad but not afraid. He wonders what's the difference between his grandfather's death and his own death he will be running towards. His grandfather's words run through his mind, to help people. 

Fushiguro uses his dogs to devour the beasts and get past them, and he finds a large monster about to eat Sasaki. Itadori ponders that his grandfather was stubborn and short tempered. He was the only one that went to visit him. He remembers him telling him to not end up like him. Itadori suddenly jumps through the window, despite the fact they're on the fourth floor, and kicks the monster back. He grabs onto Sasaki and Iguchi and pulls them out of the monster.

Fushiguro kills the beast and says he did a good job. Itadori asks him what the dogs are that he sees eating up the curses. Fushiguro says they're his Shikigami. He says normally people can't see curses except when they're facing death or in places like the school. Itadori says people die, but if they have to, he wants them to go out in the best way possible (he means peacefully, rather than being killed). Itadori finds the severed finger. Fushiguro says it's part of the special project Ryomen Sukuna. Just then the ceiling forms into a hand above Itadori and Sasaki. Fushiguro shoves them both back as the ceiling collapses. 

A giant curse grabs onto Fushiguro and slams him into a wall. The Shikigami start to fade away. The curse tosses Fushiguro through the wall, knocking him out of the school and onto the neighboring rooftop. The monster leaps after him. Fushiguro is injured and can't think straight, realizing his incantations have vanished. Just then Itadori leaps in and punches the monster from behind. Fushiguro says he told him to stay away, but Itadori says he has quite the curse himself. Itadori dodges an attack from the monster and lands a strong kick against it. The monster smacks Itadori into the ground, making him land near Fushiguro.

Fushiguro explains that it doesn't matter how strong Itadori is, only a curse can dispel another curse. He tells him to run as he's the only one that can carry Iguchi and Sasaki off to safety. He says someone without cursed energy will just get in the way. Itadori asks why the monster is targeting the finger. Fushiguro explains that the monster wants to eat it so it can gain even stronger cursed energy. Itadori says there is a way to save everyone, and proceeds to eat the cursed finger despite Fushiguro's warnings. He says he'll die since a special grade cursed object is basically poison. 

The monster goes in to attack and Itadori destroys it with a single swipe of his own demonic looking hand. Itadori is now covered in strange markings and is possessed by Ryomen Sukuna. Fushiguro says the curse has now incarnated. The cursed Itadori says it's no fun killing cursed flesh, he wants to go after women and children. As he realizes the new age he has found himself in, he says it will be a massacre. 

Suddenly Itadori grabs his own throat, the human still able to control his body. The curse is surprised he can still move. Itadori says it's his body and tells him to give it back. Itadori realizes he can suppress this cursed being. Just then Fushiguro gets ready to attack. He says he is no longer human, and under Jujutsu regulations, he will exorcise the cursed item known as Yuji Itadori.

My thoughts- 

Pretty good beginning. I have to say Itadori getting new powers as soon as he ate the finger just in time to destroy the monster with a single move.... reminds me a lot of when Ichigo impaled himself with Rukia's sword and instantly got Shinigami powers just in time to destroy a monster with a single move. Similarly, him eating the cursed finger to get powers reminds me a bit of Deku eating All Might's hair to get powers.

Comparisons aside, it's still a decent introduction to the story and what sorts of things we'll be dealing with in this series. Itadori will be facing all sorts of walking curses as well as dealing with the new cursed powers he gave himself. The art style is cool, there's good action shots, and the monsters have all sorts of weird and creepy designs that would make you horrified if you ever seen one of them in person. I am curious if there's any folklore behind some of them. One of the monsters in particular kept walking around asking what time it was, so I wonder if there's a ghost story behind that.

It's still early to know the characters properly, and Itadori's grandpa died rather quickly without us getting to know him better. I haven't seen the anime version so I'm not sure if there were extra filler scenes or whatnot. That grandfather death scene was a mix between played for laughs and played straight. The most we know, he was a jerk that nobody liked, so no one went to visit him in his final days. He makes a good point, when our times comes, none of us wants to go out alone. We would love to have loved ones around us in our final days, or at least know there will be people that will miss us. From the little we've seen of Itadori, it doesn't seem like he had many friends beyond Iguchi and Sasaki from the Occult Research Club, so maybe he was headed towards a similar path? Maybe not because he's a jerk, he doesn't seem the type, maybe he's just kinda antisocial.

The biggest mystery we'll have to see going forward is what is the source of Itadori's superhuman strength. He's been shown to run extremely fast, leap high distances and throw some very powerful punches and kicks. On top of that he's powerful enough to suppress the curse within him, where I assume any other human would have either dropped dead or been completely under Ryomen's control.

We'll see where the story goes. One thing's for sure, once Yuji Itadori ate that cursed finger... he went on a road where he will never get back from.