Jujutsu Kaisen 0 will prove the future of anime. Set before the start of the popular Jujutsu Kaisen anime series, the prequel movie premiered in Japan in December 2021. At the time of writing, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 has no international release date, but how well it's eventually received worldwide will confirm what lies ahead for anime films.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 follows the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School students who are second years when the main anime's protagonist, Yuji Itadori, joins the school. In this prequel film, however, they're still first years with a lot to learn; especially the main character, Yuta Okkotsu, who is abroad in America during Jujutsu Kaisen season 1. Despite not yet being featured in the anime series, the movie fleshes out Yuta's backstory as well as his relationships with other sorcerers, most notably the powerful Satoru Gojo. Focusing the film on a character the anime audiences currently know or care little about could be a huge risk, but if the prequel performs well anyway, it will say a lot about anime's future.
Anime films are steadily growing in worldwide success, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0's reception will either help cement or break that trend. While the movies created for beloved anime series such as Evangelion and Demon Slayer were must-see's for those invested in the respective franchises — one was the technical ending of that story, and the other was a direct continuation of season 1 — the Jujutsu Kaisen movie is a prequel that takes place before Yuji Itadori gained powers or even joined the show's school, and has no effect on the central plot. Viewers aren't obligated to see Jujutsu Kaisen 0 with the same urgency as some other anime films, meaning if it does well, it's a solid confirmation that anime movies will consistently succeed regardless of how “important” they are in terms of storylines.
The bigger key to an anime film's success seems to be the size of its franchise. So long as the franchise is popular enough, its movies are likely to do well internationally. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train shattered expectations with its record-breaking release worldwide, and long-lasting anime franchises such as Dragon Ball and One Piece have multiple movies in lists featuring the highest-grossing anime films of all time. While these movies' relevance to their franchises' larger stories undoubtedly played a role in their success, the anime's wide-reaching fame had a lot to do with it as well. Since Jujutsu Kaisen has quickly become one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 60 million copies in circulation as of December 2021, its prequel movie should be well received when it is finally released worldwide.
Jujutsu Kaisen's prequel movie can prove that an anime film does not need to directly affect the main story in order to prosper. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is currently one of the biggest movies in Japan with one of the country's highest box office openings after Demon Slayer. If the movie does similarly well around the world, it will pave the way for the continued growth of anime films.
