Jujutsu Kaisen (TV Series) Ryomen Sukuna (2020) User Reviews

Memorable introduction!

[and_mikkelsen · 9/10 · 28 June 2023]

This still remains as a good first episode of the show! Its not mindblowing but still has some things going for it!

The episode does a great job of introducing us to some of the elements of the show as well as the overall premise concerning curses which appears to be the main threat of the show, much like demons, ghouls, Titans, devils etc!

This episode perfectly balances comedic elements with thrills, tension and some great action! The episode also shows that the show is not affraid to go darker at times with some haunting imagery!

The grandpa also became a major figure in his short appearence! Simple yet effective pep talk that shapes our main character!

It will only get better from here!

I can only recommend to check this out!

good pilot episode

[Andreus3000 · 8/10 · 19 February 2021]

This episode reminds me bleach,because they have similar elements, like protagonists ,who is teenager and have unknown big abilities and potential,also shinigami is similar. in the begging i dont like cursed creatures,but there are plot lines ,which would be developed. many questions,cliffihanger ending ,interesting plot

A typically befuddling first episode, but with glimmers of promise

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 20 October 2023]

First episodes of anime series often throw me. They seem to start in the thick of it every time, giving very little away, and with smug, knowing in-jokes that you can't understand because you aren't in.

This first episode of "Jujutsu Kasen" is no exception. Here's what I got from it: there's a kid who is (surprise surprise) a high school student who is a member of his school's "occult research club". He and his friends, a boy and an immediately arresting, spunky little bespectacled girl, mess around with a Ouija board and have the club's existence threatened by people who don't take their activities seriously.

The boy (Yuuji Itadori?) is also visiting his grandfather in hospital, and his grandfather stresses that he go to his club, making that more important than anything else. Why is that so important to the grandfather?

There's another student whose name I haven't mentioned yet who seems to actually live the paranormal/occult life rather than study it like Yuuji. The two meet, there is something about curses being monsters caused by negative emotions and schools having talismans to protect them, they get attacked by monsters, and Yuuji eats the talisman, turning into a monster himself. Why did he eat it? Was that to protect himself?

I'm a little intrigued by this show. I don't watch much anime but I always want to get into it more. I was recommended this a bunch of times when I asked for dark, mature type anime, because that's the kind I like. I was hoping there wouldn't be any silly mood ruining humour in the show, but unfortunately, there is. I'm going to keep reviewing each episode and hopefully it'll win me over. Right now, it seems like it could go either way.

Underwhelming Introduction

[conqueringruler-36323 · 4/10 · 2 October 2023]

One of the things that most anime or even just television shows as a whole tend to do right is the pilot episode, so there's plenty to compare to on how to structure a first episode. It's hard to order my complaints for this episode chronologically, so I'll just kind of order them into categories.

There's various moments that really test the audience's suspension of disbelief, and some of them really suck. The worst offender is how the protagonist is inhumanly strong, easily beating a world record weight throw as a skinny teen, yet for some reason nobody finds this odd? Same with how he runs 50 meters in 2 seconds, and everyone around just accepts it as being normal. It's a very strange choice for the author to make. There's also the fact that curses are somehow not publicly known, yet so obvious, and how the curse hunter guy publicly tells the protagonist about them despite not even knowing anything about him, but I'm assuming that one will be cleared up in a later episode.

Even bigger of a complaint though is how flat every character is, and even their interactions are. The grandfather, for example, dies after saying 2 paragraphs of speech (not counting the very beginning where he mutters a few words). Then 7 minutes later the protagonist has a flashback to something inspirational he just said, as if he didn't die literally moments before. Even at his death, the moment in the episode that should have had the strongest character interactions, there was still nothing. He just died and the protagonist was like "It just hasn't hit me yet" then the show moved on. Why not just have him give the speech, but stay in bedrest for a few more episodes and then die so the audience actually has a reason to care about his death? And all the other characters are personality-less so far, but given it's the first episode that makes sense.