To commemorate the release of the official guidebook for the "Kaitama/Gyoku Ori" and "Shibuya Incident" chapters of the second season of the anime "Jujutsu Kaisen," which is based on the popular manga by Akutami Gege that is currently being serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), "TV Anime 'Jujutsu Kaisen' Kaitama/Gyoku Ori/Shibuya Incident Official Guidebook" (Shueisha) on October 4th, a portion of the recorded interview has been made public.
In the conversation between Director Goshozono Shota and Producer Seshita Keisuke, the behind-the-scenes of the production is discussed.
Director Goshozono revealed, "I had my own theme for 'Kaitama: Tamaori' - how to interpret the reasons for Geto's fall into darkness and his actions and incorporate them into the anime. So I thought about that theme thoroughly while creating the film. As a result, I came to the interpretation that Geto's actions of killing non-sorcerers and creating a world of sorcerers only were not something he did on his own, but that Geto's own stress piled up on top of the mountain of stress that the sorcerer world had been building up for a long time, until he finally broke through and took action. I created 'Kaitama: Tamaori' with this interpretation as its axis. Also, it's hard to put into words, but it's also an aspect of being made as a 'youth idol movie' of Gojo and Geto. I thought it was important to emphasize that both of them are cool and attractive." Director Goshozono said he feels that "one of the charms of Jujutsu Kaisen is that it betrays expectations in a good way." He added, "For example, in "Kaitama/Gamaori," the story goes from a bright and fun coming-of-age movie with Gojo and Geto to a rift when Riko dies and Gojo and Geto fall out. That's the biggest betrayal in the story. So until we got to that big betrayal, I was conscious of going all out and creating the emotional contrast by making it the complete opposite of a bright and fun coming-of-age movie."
Producer Seshita said that in "Kaitama/Gamaori," he was conscious of "making Gojo and Geto look cool," and added, "The animation is important to make the characters appealing, but the colors and darkness of the screen are also important. So I was conscious of keeping the visuals of the entire screen appealing." Regarding the visuals, he said, "I understood Goshozono's image and instilled that image in the staff, so we made various adjustments at the production stage of the first PV. After all, it's easiest to share an image by creating a video. We took a lot of time to do it properly."
In a roundtable discussion about "Shibuya Incident" with the "first-years" cast, Enoki Junya who plays Itadori Yuji, Uchida Yuuma who plays Fushiguro Megumi, and Seto Asami who plays Kugisaki Nobara, they talked about the changes in the characters between the first and second seasons.
Enoki said, "At the beginning of the first season, Itadori still felt like a student, and he didn't have much experience of losing someone he knew, but halfway through, Junpei was killed and he was easily taken advantage of by the cursed spirits, so I think that made Itadori's resolve to fight more firmly. This is what happened in the Shibuya Incident, so I think the change is that he went into the second season with the resolve to live as a sorcerer."
Seto said, "In the first season, I think that Nobara's dream of becoming a sorcerer was just a way for her to get to Tokyo. I think she herself was more interested in going to Tokyo than she was interested in being a sorcerer. In the second season, I think they really explored why she hated the countryside... She came to Tokyo, became a sorcerer, and met Itadori and Fushiguro. At first, she thought, 'Who are these guys?' But as they fought together and went through various situations, I think she started to see them as 'comrades.'" Uchida said, "From the beginning, Fushiguro has always been someone who puts his will forward at important times. It was the same when he asked Gojo to save Itadori, and that part of him has never changed, but... he's someone who gives very low priority to himself. If he thinks it's better, he'll do it even if he doesn't have to be protected. In season 2, he used Makora without considering himself, and I think that was the best plan for him. The only thing that has changed is that in season 1, he was able to think, "Winning by dying and winning even if you die are different," and I think that's a pretty big thing. It's not that dying is the end, but rather that he has become able to choose with a strong will that it's better to do it. However, during the Shibuya Incident, it felt like he was really thinking about it all the time, so in that sense, rather than growing or changing in some way, it felt like he was thinking even more than he was in season 1."
The official guidebook is B5 size, 204 pages, and costs 1,980 yen.
"Jujutsu Kaisen" has been serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" since 2018. The story is about a high school student, Yuji Itadori, who is thrown into a world of battles over curses after a powerful "cursed object" is unsealed. The original manga will end with the 44th issue of the magazine on September 30th, bringing an end to the approximately six and a half years of serialization. The total number of copies of the series, including the digital version of the comics, has exceeded 90 million.
The first season of the TV anime aired from October 2020 to March 2021, and the second season from July to December 2023. The movie version of "Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie", a prequel to the first season, was released in December 2021 and was a huge hit, earning approximately 13.75 billion yen in domestic box office revenue and approximately 26.5 billion yen in worldwide box office revenue. There is also talk of a sequel to the second season, "Death Resurrection". A compilation of the second season, "Kaitama and Tamaori," will be produced and released in theaters in 2025.
