How Did They Do It?

How does a brand new anime, without a complete season, walk away with 10 award nominations? That's what I've been wondering too...

Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the six nominees for 'Anime of the Year' in this year's Anime Awards, hosted by Crunchyroll. It is also the one I have projected to win, but how did they do it? It is currently still airing it's first season, and it's risky business nominating an incomplete show- after all, what if the fans hate the ending? Strong start, sloppy finish is a fear, but with high risk comes high reward and I think that this show just might deliver that.

We know one thing for sure, it has indeed had a strong start. It gained popularity almost immediately and not for nothing. The art, score, story- even it's opening and ending sequences- have all been great. Something else to consider, which I don't usually discuss in too much detail during my reviews, is the pacing of the show. The speed of this show is unique to me because most animes nowadays only fall into two categories when it comes to their pacing: 1) they're in it for the long haul and 2) one shot and done. You see, category one in almost all shonen: they are creating a brand that they want to outlive others, so their pacing is slow and more drawn out. This gives them the ability to maximize their content output. Category two is more common in shojo and other heart breakers like coming-of-age stories and dramas. Jujutsu Kaisen falls pretty perfectly in the middle, hence it's uniqueness. Granted, I'm saying all of this before season one is even complete, but it is clear to me that this will be more than one season long. That said, it won't be a one shot, but it is going fast enough that I don't think they will draw this out past three or four seasons.

As I stated in my review of the Anime Award nominees, none of those nominated were shonen this year. That is extremely rare, and honestly took my breath away, since shonen has been hogging the anime stage since its rise to popularity in America. I point this out again because of the nominees, Jujutsu Kaisen was the closest one to being a shonen, but it is not. It took all the good qualities of a shonen anime (amazing fight scenes and a strong lead character with a moral goal that drives him) and left behind the unspoken rules of the shonen genre (single fight scenes should span over multiple episodes; space out the side characters introductions; don't breach get too deep into the main story in the first season; yadda yadda). They have moved forward with a steady drumming pace, and that substance is what I think is drawing people in.

We also have to consider that this anime is another adaptation; Originally being a manga must have built it a fanbase that followed it over to its animated form. And ooof, what a fanbase it must be! As of this month, there are over 20 million copies of the manga in circulation. Now this is where I have to eat my words from the previous few paragraphs...the manga is considered shonen and has won awards already, including a shonen category. Forgive me, but I'll only munch on some of my words rather than eat the whole plate, because though the manga is considered shonen, they've done a good job of making the anime feel otherwise. And if you really want to insist it must be shonen well, then I think that must mean we are ushering in a new era of shonen that I would gladly welcome. The manga itself has ranked high on many must read lists and is still ongoing. This fact might be the only flaw in my "three to four season" prediction. However, I am not dismayed yet because they are only on volume 16, which is still shorter than the Fruits Basket series, which will have its own completed anime series with a total of three seasons. Very different feels, I know, but same concept when looking at manga-to-anime conversions. This is not taking into account that I don't know how closely the anime actually even follows the manga for Jujutsu Kaisen, but gives me hope.

All this to say, Jujutsu Kaisen has done an amazing job of setting itself up for success. It has kicked off its debut with a bang, and I am confident we will see them taking home multiple awards come February. If you like a good mix of dark fantasy and kick-butt fight scenes, make sure to check it out- I doubt you'll be disappointed.

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Thank you so much for joining me for this in-depth look at one of our nominees for Anime of the Year. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is one of my favorite times of year: getting to explore new content and see what it is everyone else has been watching. This year has brought so many fun animes into the spotlight and I am loving it. I hope you are having a good week, and if not, today is a great turning point! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and I will see you back Sunday for The Mess. Until then, stay safe, stay nerdy, and stay messy otaku.