A slick, emotionally direct supernatural action prequel with standout animation, strong creature design, and a surprisingly tender core about grief, attachment, and learning to let go. It works best if you want high-energy spectacle with a darker romantic tragedy underneath.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Animation · Action
Fri · 1h 45m
Director: Sunghoo Park
Starring: Megumi Ogata, Kana Hanazawa, Yuichi Nakamura
Overview
Yuta Okkotsu is a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a curse and won't leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the curse that haunts him?
Director
Sunghoo Park
Cast
Megumi Ogata, Kana Hanazawa, Yuichi Nakamura
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, emotionally direct supernatural action prequel with standout animation, strong creature design, and a surprisingly tender core about grief, attachment, and learning to let go. It works best if you want high-energy spectacle with a darker romantic tragedy underneath.
Best for
fans of fast-paced shonen battles
viewers who like stylish supernatural worldbuilding
people drawn to tragic backstories and emotional stakes
anime audiences who want a polished theatrical entry point
Skip if
you want a self-contained story with no franchise context
you prefer grounded or realistic action
you dislike fanservice-adjacent character worship and heightened melodrama
you need deep character resolution over setup for a larger series
Overview
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a confident, crowd-pleasing anime feature that knows exactly how to sell its strengths: fluid action, sharp visual contrast, and a central curse story with real emotional bite. It’s built around Yuta’s loneliness and fear, but it never forgets to deliver the kind of explosive supernatural set pieces that make the franchise so easy to root for on the big screen.
Worth noting
What gives the film extra lift is the tragic undercurrent running through its world of exorcists and curses. The movie is at its most effective when it treats attachment as both a wound and a weapon, turning grief into something monstrous without losing sight of the human need behind it.
Bottom line
It can feel like a prelude to a larger saga, and some supporting characters are more memorable as forces of style than as fully developed people. But the animation is consistently polished, the fights are inventive, and the emotional premise lands cleanly enough to make this one of the more accessible modern shonen anime films for newcomers and fans alike.
Top Letterboxd reviews
isa (5★) · 14649 likes
none of this would’ve happened if gojo and geto had just kissed
geraldho (5★) · 7482 likes
chad womaniser yuta vs based virgin geto
kate (4★) · 6136 likes
gojo had a shiny spot animated onto his lips for this entire movie. you know what that means? whore.
renny (5★) · 4375 likes
nanami didn’t have to steal the show like that
CosmonautMarkie (3.5★) · 3509 likes
Every time I watch JJK I am reminded of how mid Demon Slayer is
Themes
grief, attachment, curse lore, found family, coming of age, trauma, supernatural combat, romantic tragedy