The anime " Jujutsu Kaisen " is based on the popular manga by Akutami Gege that was serialized in "Weekly Gege Akutami " (Shueisha). A roundtable discussion was held with Junya Enoki , who plays Yuji Itadori , Nobunaga Shimazaki Asami Seto Asami, who plays Nobara Kugisaki , and Subaru Kimura, who plays Todo Aoi, in which they spoke about their thoughts on the series, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary since its broadcast began.
--The Jujutsu Kaisen anime celebrated its 5th anniversary this October. What are your thoughts on the Jujutsu Kaisen anime?
Shimazaki: For me, "Jujutsu Kaisen" is a work that I have felt a connection with from the very beginning. Enoki-kun, who is the same age as me, plays the main character, Itadori, and I play Mahito, a character who is somewhat of a counterpart to Itadori. I felt a strange connection in the fact that we were able to play these characters together. Also, in my own career, I believe that thanks to Mahito, my horizons as an actor have broadened. I have received so much from this work, so I would like to continue to give back to it.
Kimura: There aren't many opportunities to play a character that constantly changes over a five-year period, so I find it extremely rewarding. However, there are long gaps between recordings, so I grow as a person and my environment changes during that time. Still, I want viewers to see the same character grow, so I sometimes look back at the previous series and confirm, "I think I played him like this." Then I think, "How could I do it now?" That process is also very enjoyable. Also, "Jujutsu Kaisen" is a work that changed the way people around me saw me. After playing Todo, I was given two more shirtless roles.
Enoki: People started to see me that way (laughs).
Kimura: "When you think of shirtless, muscular guys, you think of Kimura" (laughs). Toudou suffered a serious injury in the Shibuya Incident, so I'm looking forward to seeing what condition he'll be in when he appears again.
Seto: Ever since I auditioned, Nobara was a role I had really wanted to play. Until then, I had never played a character with such a rough way of speaking and harsh lines. As an actor, I came across this role at a time when I wanted to break away from my previous image, so I was very happy when I was cast. Also, from the beginning, I had thought of the Shibuya Incident as a hurdle for Nobara, so now that I've overcome that, I feel like I've accomplished everything I could.
--I'd like everyone to look back on the second half of the Shibuya Incident. Itadori and Kugisaki were fighting Mahito in different locations, but Mahito's plan led Kugisaki to head to the location where Itadori was fighting.
Enoki: That was the part where all three of us were able to record together. It was a scene with a series of spectacular moments, and I think it was one that readers of the original manga had high expectations for, so it was an episode that put a lot of pressure on me as an actor. But the two of them really helped me with that part that was a high hurdle, so I was very grateful for that.
Shimazaki: Thank you very much. But this episode really depends on Seto. It's a bit of an understatement to say it was full of spirit, but I really felt a very strong feeling. I felt the same thing from Tsuda (Kenjiro) at the end of Nanami's life, but Mahito's role is to snatch a little something away from Nanami and Kugisaki, who have given it their all. So it wasn't about how I wanted to do it, I just felt like, "I'll be rude at the end."
Seto: As was the case with the three of us during the recording session, there was always a high level of tension during the "Shibuya Incident" recording. I was determined to do my best, but there were times when I couldn't quite get the emotion I wanted to convey in a single line to fit the tempo of the video, so we had to do multiple retakes. However, I enjoyed agonizing over those things as I created the scene, so it wasn't too difficult. Also, at the end, Nobara says "It wasn't bad" while looking at Itadori's face. When I read that scene in the original manga, I thought a lot about whether that was out of kindness or some other emotion. I kept thinking about it, thinking about it over and over again: if she wanted to avoid hurting Itadori and leave a deep impression, she probably wouldn't look him in the eye, or maybe she looked him in the eye because she thought it was her last time. I don't think you necessarily have to find the answer, but it's more interesting to consider various possibilities when acting.
"Jujutsu Kaisen" is a manga that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) from March 2018 to September 2024. The story follows high school student Yuji Itadori, who is thrown into a world of battles over curses after a powerful "cursed object" is unsealed. The comic series has sold over 100 million copies in total.
The first season of the TV anime aired from October 2020 to March 2021, and the second season, "Kaigyoku/Gyokusetsu/ Shibuya Incident," aired from July to December 2023. The third season, "Culling Game Part 1," will be broadcast nationwide simultaneously on the MBS/TBS anime block "Super Animeism TURBO" every Thursday at 12:26 a.m. starting January 8, 2026.
