What does “Jujutsu Kaisen” mean? The Significance of “Kaisen” by Akutami Gege

Jujutsu Kaisen is a super popular Japanese manga series by Akutami Gege. The title’s official English translation is “Sorcery Fight” or “JJK” which unfortunately does not truly convey the deeper meaning of what “Jujutsu Kaisen” means in Japanese. Find out the true meaning of “Jujutsu Kaisen” in this article. 

Header Image : ©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員会

First Published : 2023/03/14
Updated : 2023/06/30

Table of Contents

1. What does “Jujutsu Kaisen” mean? 
2. The Deeper Meaning of “Jujutsu Kaisen”
3. Season 2 Anime Announced! What makes Jujutsu Kaisen so great? 
4. To Close, Other Anime to Watch if you Love Jujutsu Kaisen

What does “Jujutsu Kaisen” mean?

• Jujutsu (呪術) means “sorcery” or “magic”. 

In Jujutsu Kaisen, the sorcery or magic used is in the form of cursed energy from negative emotions like anger and grief that is wielded by sorcerers called “jujutsu-shi 呪術師)”. Jujutsu-shi also means “shaman” or “witch doctor”. 

But what about Kaisen? Kaisen (廻戦), not kaisen (海鮮) for seafood. 

Kaisen (廻戦) is not an actual Japanese word, it is a made up word by manga artist Akutami Gege to create a title that matches the meaning of the story, and therefore cannot be properly defined. What we can do is to break down Kaisen into its respective kanji.

• 戦 (sen) means “battle”, “war”, or “fight”. Also Kanji of the Year in 2022. 

• 廻 (kai) from 「廻る (mawaru)」 means “turn”, “revolve”, or “to go round and round”. It also carries the nuance of “eternal” from the word「輪廻 (rinne)」that means “samsara” aka the cycle of death and rebirth in Hinduism. 

Putting them together, Kaisen means「戦が廻る sen ga mawaru」that can be translated to “revolving battle”, “eternal battle”, or “repeated battle. 

In conclusion, Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦) means “the eternal battle of curses”.

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The Deeper Meaning of “Jujutsu Kaisen”

We’ve established that Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦) means “the eternal battle of curses” above. But what theories or evidence from the anime or manga support this? After all, manga artist Akutami Gege himself said that the title was chosen to fit the story. Let’s have a look. 

Yuuji’s Unending Battle Against Curses 

In the Shibuya Incident Arc, chapter 132 of the manga, Yuuji says to the cornered Mahito, 

「きっと俺は大きな......何かの歯車の一つにすぎないんだと思う」
「錆び付くまで呪いを殺し続ける」
「それがこの戦いの俺の役割なんだ」

In the grand scheme of things… I am probably nothing more than a gear
But I’ll keep killing (exorcizing) curses until I rust over
That is my role in this battle

“My role is a gear that keeps fighting curses” is what Yuuji thinks of himself, and carries the weight of an “unending battle against curses”. 

The Unbreakable “Chain of Curses” 

©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員会

Cursed spirits, or curses, are formed by the culmination of negative emotions from humans. Therefore, as long as humans exist, negative emotions like grief, fear, anger, suffering, sadness, etc. will naturally occur, and so curses and the battle against them will never end.

Additionally, there is also the “Chain of Curses” to consider. As the saying goes, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. For example, A curses B to death, C who is close to B kills A as revenge, and A becomes a vengeful cursed spirit after dying and kills C. As you can see, the “Chain of Curses” formed by cycles of revenge can only be described as an eternal battle of curses. 

Season 2 Anime Announced! - What makes Jujutsu Kaisen so great? 

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 will begin broadcast in Japan on July 6, 2023!!

After a successful first season and spin-off movie, Jujustu Kaisen will be returning on July 6, 2023 with Season 2 ! Watch the trailer to hype yourself up for it! 

Are you excited yet? Season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen focused on Yuuji - the first arc, when he becomes caught up in the Jujutsu world, and in the second arc, his training to become a strong Jujutsu user.

In Season 2, the anime will focus on Gojou Satoru and his younger years leading up to the events of Season 1. With Gojou Satoru being one of THE most popular characters in the series, fans are no doubt excited to see more of him and discover his past. 

What makes Jujutsu Kaisen so great?

©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員会

“Why is Jujutsu Kaisen so popular an anime?” those who haven’t watched or read may wonder. Well here are 3 reasons why Jujutsu Kaisen is so good and why you should start watching. 

The Theme of “Curses” is Relatable 

What is a “curse”? The first thing to come to mind is scary black magic and hexes that bring harm or danger to someone. That’s hardly relatable. In Jujutsu Kaisen, curses are not just mojo, but can be occurrences close to us like someone’s final words or a promise with someone. 

For example, on his deathbed, Yuuji’s grandfather tells Yuuji to become a person that helps others, which Yuuji promises to do. And true to his promise, Yuuji has always gone above and beyond to help others but yet neglects himself. Yaga describes this promise as a curse, and that if Yuuji wants to fight curses just because of this promise, then he would eventually end up blaming his grandfather when is killed by a curse. And this, making promises and sacrificing oneself to fulfill that promise only to regret and end up disliking someone for it is quite relatable for some people. 

Another example I can think of is Inumaki’s cursed speech skill. To avoid accidentally cursing others with his words, Inumaki developed a unique speech pattern that consists of only onigiri fillings. At Inumaki’s first appearance in the anime, I could not help but think his cursed speech was a metaphor for how we need to be careful of what we say as our words can hurt (curse) others. 

All the Qualities of a Good Shounen Anime and More 

Jujutsu Kaisen has all the characteristics of a typical shounen anime. There’s the strong bonds of friendship between the main characters, a protagonist with a kind heart and never-give-up attitude, and cool fighting action scenes, especially when the strongest sorcerer Satoru Gojou goes all out. 

Watching Jujutsu Kaisen, there is also a sense of familiarity, which is not surprising since Akutami Gege was inspired by other popular series. It can be said that Jujutsu Kaisen is the result of inspiration from other shounen series to form an original story line. The teacher and trio from Naruto, the aspects of life, death and after death from BLEACH, and the manipulation of cursed energy like Hunter X Hunter and Naruto. 

Unique and Well Written Characters

Jujutsu Kaisen’s cast consists of a wide range of characters. Not just their character designs, their personalities, powers and abilities are all completely different from each other. Many of the characters can be described as peculiar - not an insult, but a compliment. The mystery of each character’s backstory is also something fans look forward very much to. 

Though each character is special in their own way, here are some characters that stand out in particular:

• Inumaki Toge : A cursed speech user who only speaks in onigiri fillings language. Cool markings on his face and tongue that are usually concealed. 

• Gojo Satoru : The strongest jujutsu-shi in the world, and one of the coolest characters in the anime world since his appearance.

• Kugisaki Nobara : Tough girl Nobara with a unique weapon of hammer and nails. Her power is super cool, especially when she launches her nails. The contrast of beautiful elegant flowers appearing like tattoos on her skin.

• Zennin Maki : A jujutsu-shi that is not a sorcerer, she needs special glasses to be able to see curses. 

• Panda : A man in a suit? No! Panda is a real panda. Actually not really, Panda is one of Yaga’s Cursed Corpse panda dolls that he raised to become a sorcerer.

To Close, Other Anime to Watch if you Love Jujutsu Kaisen

So, we’ve answered the question about “what Jujutsu Kaisen means?”, it means “the eternal battle of curses”. Does that mean Yuuji, friends and the jujutsu-shi are fighting a losing battle? Will killing Sukuna, and Yuuji in the process, end the unbreaking chain of curses? Or is there a need for Sukuna’s existence? Questions that can only be answered when the manga is completed. 

In the meantime, here are our recommendations for other anime to watch if you love Jujutsu Kaisen.

BLEACH 

A great inspiration to Akutami Gege. BLEACH follows the story of highschool teenager Kurosaki Ichigo, who gains the power of a Shinigami (soul reaper) and must use it to protect his friends and family from Hollows (corrupted spirits who do not make it to the Spirit World). 

HUNTER x HUNTER

Also an inspiration to Jujutsu Kaisen’s creator, many fans of Twitter mentioned they can feel the influence of HUNTER x HUNTER in Jujutsu Kaisen. HUNTER X HUNTER tells the story of a young boy named Gon Freecs who after finding out his father who he thought was dead is still alive decided to become a hunter and uncover the truth about his family. 

The similarity between HUNTER X HUNTER and Jujutsu Kaisen is the manipulation of energies - Nen by Nen users in HUNTER X HUNTER, and Cursed Energy in Jujutsu Kaisen. 

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)

Demon Slayer is a popular anime and manga series that rose to fame around the same time as Jujutsu Kaisen. Demon Slayer is about young protagonist Kamado Tanjiro who becomes a demon slayer to save his sister who has turned into a demon. Just like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer has a great line of unique and well-written characters. The premise of negative emotions is also quite similar, as demons are overwhelmed by their negative emotions until they are exterminated. The best thing is that the Demon Slayer manga series is completed so you do not have to wait to find out how it ends. 

Naruto and Naruto Shippuden

The long-running anime and manga series Naruto follows the story of Uzumaki Naruto, a young ninja who dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of his village. Naruto, along with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, are part of Team 7 whose teacher in charge is Hatake Kakashi. 

A 3 student team and a supervising teacher, that sounds like Jujutsu Kaisen’s Yuuji, Megumi and Nobara team and Gojou Satoru! Additionally, the resemblance between Kakashi-sensei and Gojou-sensei is uncanny! Both have silver hair, and cover their eyes. Their playful personalities and sometimes serious side is also similar. 

Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) and Tokyo Ghoul

Blue Exorcist tells the story of a Okumura Rin who discovers he, and his twin Yukio, are the sons of Satan. Gaining a demonic body, Rin must now become an exorcist to fight against demons, protect humanity, and avenge his father. Tokyo Ghoul, on the other hand, is about ordinary university student Kaneki Ken who becomes a half-ghoul after being attacked by one and has to learn to navigate his new life while hiding his new identity from humans and resisting the temptation of human flesh. 

Both anime touch on the supernatural, fighting against evil, and character growth. More importantly, just like Jujutsu Kaisen, the protagonist is thrust into a new world, and new body, and has to learn, grown, and adapt to new changes.