[Warning: this article contains spoilers of the manga and may ruin your experience of it so read at your own risk.]
Ever experienced a piece of media so magnificent that it feels like a parallel world? It is so brilliant that it becomes an inseparable part of your life similar to the academic stress you nurture. Now, how would you feel if that world ended one day, and that too at its peak? You’d be devastated, right? Heartbroken, hysterical, and many more emotions would surge through you. This is exactly how every Jujutsu Kaisen fan felt when they bid adieu to the manga on 30th September.
The series was written by Gege Akutami and published as a manga in early 2018 and was later adapted into an anime in Fall 2020. Unlike many anime, Jujutsu Kaisen (or JJK) not only lived up to the audience’s expectations but exceeded them at the time of its release. It currently has 90 million copies in circulation. One copy sells in the range of 500 to 1500 rupees, so frankly, that’s a huge amount of money. The manga also received many awards and even the honour of being included in the “New Big 3”—a phrase that’s often criticized, yet significant. The manga was so marvellous that it was adapted by Studio Mappa -one of the highest-earning studios with some of the best animation standards in the industry.
All anime fans knew Jujutsu Kaisen was popular, but they didn’t realize just how popular. The strength of the fandom was witnessed in full force on 23rd September 2023 - exactly one year and one week before the series ended. It was the day Gojo Satoru died in the manga. Gojo Satoru, the golden boy—blue-eyed, white-haired, tall, and most of all, humorously annoying—was loved by all. So, when he died, the internet was swamped with posts grieving him. Fans even transformed a poster in a subway station into a memorial.
After Gojo’s death, fans started openly discussing the latest manga chapters, which was unconventional and unprecedented. The phrase “Lobotomy Kaisen” began circulating. According to the dictionary, a lobotomy is a type of brain surgery that involves severing the connection between the frontal lobe and other parts of the brain. In a way, fans were telling the world that, after Gojo’s death, they had lost their senses—which was pretty clear.
On one hand, people made edits of the manga that delved into deep, intricate subjects like quantum physics and historical events amusingly and entertainingly, quoting actual lines such as,
“Are you the strongest because you’re Gojo Satoru, or are you Gojo Satoru because you’re the strongest?”
with “Gojo Satoru” replaced by the person in the edit. On the other hand, there were a ton of utterly nonsensical memes, including a trend where characters were romantically paired with Disney princesses—a fan favourite being Sukuna and Cinderella.
All in all, the creativity displayed by editors and fan artists went beyond human capabilities, possibly even surpassing the collective intellect of the entire universe.
This wave of attention garnered by the manga is still prevalent and can be seen even now. It’s very evident that Jujutsu Kaisen is still highly popular by the fact that there are 1000+ posts on the hashtag #jjk273 on X but the manga ended in chapter 272. All this is simply because the fans just aren’t willing to forego their attachment to the weekly routine of posting leaks on Thursdays with a tag of the latest chapter number. Hence, when it was announced that the manga’s nearing its end, everyone and their online personas were shocked. Fans felt that many loose ends were yet to be resolved in the story. When JJK finally ended, the community was divided in its opinions. Some felt that the way it ended was hugely disappointing, while others felt that it was fine as it was. The topic of other controversial endings, like those of Attack on Titan and Naruto, was brought up as well. Though JJK’s ending is mostly excused it was later revealed that Gege had been forced to end the manga by the publishers due to a medical procedure he had to undergo which would have hindered his writing. He kept releasing new characters and titbits of information about the manga after it ended showing his dedication and love for his work. He spoke about things which he wanted to cover but had been restricted by his health.
The opinion of someone who has consumed more than 400 manga and anime but started with Jujutsu Kaisen
I personally harbor a huge affection for Jujutsu Kaisen and a great sense of admiration for its author, Gege Akutami. The series was a perfect blend of all the desirable characteristics from the old shonen anime and that’s what led to its success. I feel that the ending itself wasn’t something horrendous and dishonorable but rather the fans had high expectations. The current plethora of anime fans are very spoiled and have constantly been receiving great endings. They tend to forget that most of them can’t even possibly write something as good as what the authors do and demand more. After all, the mangakas are human as well and what we consume is their creation. They can do whatever they want to with their series. We have the right to criticize a manga but what we don’t have is the right to criticize the author. Many mangakas develop excruciating body pain and other health issues just to serialize their manga. As fans, we should lower expectations. Come on, not every ending has to be a banger.
I love Jujutsu Kaisen’s ending as much as I love the endings of Attack on Titan, 91 Days or Naruto. I do wish that Gege could have had the opportunity to complete it the way he wished but hey, life’s never been a good genie. I say my goodbyes to Jujutsu Kaisen knowing that it has a special place in my heart and wish Gege luck for his future works which I am sure will be a delight to read.
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