Released earlier this year, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was a big hit with critics and fans alike, not to mention that it was a box office success. While the movie isn’t entirely original as it’s based on a prequel manga series, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 has a significant amount of anime-only content.
The film has a length of 105 minutes, but only around 30 minutes of that was taken straight from the source material. This means over 70 minutes of the movie is original content, as revealed in an interview with the film’s staff.
Recently, Anime News Network was able to interview MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka, scriptwriter Hiroshi Seko, and TOHO producer Hiroaki Mastunati. In the interview, the three shared some interesting insights into the movie’s creation.
When asked about how the movie differed from the manga, Seko shared that the original manga is only one volume, so the movie “would be short 30 minutes in a film adaptation.” This means if the source material was adapted “shot-for-shot,” its length will be only a bit longer than a typical anime episode.
Given this, the team knew that they had to fill up the running time to make it feature-length. Though Seko remarked that the staff did not exactly use “those movie-only scenes as a way to show character growth.”
While Seko didn’t go into too much detail regarding their vision for the anime-only scenes, they likely aimed to expand the fight scenes from the original and add stronger tie-ins to the Jujutsu Kaisen TV anime.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 - Movie Vs Manga
The Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie’s story does not deviate from the original prequel manga (originally entitled Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School), though it does feature expanded and anime-only scenes.
For starters, pretty much all of the action sequences in the movie are longer in the movie compared to the manga. Protagonist Yuka Okkotsu’s acceptance into Jujutsu High School is also extended in the film.
Others that were expanded include Suguru Geto’s scenes, along with the “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” sequence.
As for the anime-original scenes, the movie features appearances by Nanami Kento along with the Kyoto School Students who appeared in the Kyoto Goodwill Event Arc. Yuta and Rika’s first meeting in the hospital is also an anime original as it wasn’t mentioned at all in the manga.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was released in Japanese cinemas back on December 24, 2021. Meanwhile, the film’s US and Canada was on March 18, 2022.
Just a few weeks after release, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 became one of the highest-grossing anime films in the US.
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