Jujutsu Kaisen is a 2020 television anime series based on Gege Akutami’s manga series of the same name. The series was produced by studio MAPPA, and the staff credits include director Sunghoo Park, screenplay writer Hiroshi Seko, character designer Tadashi Hiramatsu and music composed by Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Yoshimasa Terui, and Alisa Okehazama. The season was first broadcast in Japan on October 2020.
Background:
“A boy fights… for “the right death.”
Hardship, regret, shame: the negative feelings that humans feel become Curses that lurk in our everyday lives. The Curses run rampant throughout the world, capable of leading people to terrible misfortune and even death. What’s more, the Curses can only be exorcised by another Curse.
Yuji Itadori is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a classmate who has been attacked by Curses, he eats the finger of the Double-Faced Specter, taking the Curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with the Double-Faced Specter. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Satoru Gojo, Itadori is admitted to the Tokyo Jujutsu High School, an organization that fights the Curses… and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a Curse to exorcise a Curse, a life from which he could never turn back.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, June 2022.
While Demon Slayer has become one of Shonen Jump’s biggest IPs in recent years, mostly thanks to Ufotable’s adaptation, Jujutsu Kaisen also managed to receive an increase of attention due to MAPPA’s very well done anime adaptation. Personally I didn’t think I would enjoy the series as I never understood the overall story concept, but I gave the anime a shot and it took a couple of episodes before I got really hooked with what was on offer.
Jujutsu Kaisen‘s animation is really good and the characters and voice work are also well done. I am well aware of MAPPA’s working conditions, so I hope that the future seasons doesn’t put too much pressure on the team, especially considering they already have major projects like Attack on Titan‘s final few episodes as well as CHAINSAW MAN incoming.
Crunchyroll acquired the streaming rights for the series and also picked up home video at the same time. Jujutsu Kaisen managed to get dubbed during simulcast, but it has yet to be released on home video in North America. The reason why is because Crunchyroll made an agreement with Viz Media to release a small portion of their titles, and one of those is Jujutsu Kaisen.
Meanwhile in the UK, Anime Limited was able to license the series which I did not expect, but it was likely because the series was not handled by Funimation in North America which probably made it easier for the UK distributor to acquire it, similar to In/Spectre.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Jujutsu Kaisen received a pretty solid treatment from Anime Limited, especially considering they are releasing the series sooner than the US are. That said there is no outer box with this release to house both parts, which could appear with the release of the show’s second half.
The package is presented as a rigid box with an digipack to house the discs as well as the show’s original soundtrack CD. Also included with the set is a 40-page booklet and 8 art cards. The booklet features a couple of interviews from the voice actors, a brief episode synopsis and some illustration artwork.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £69.99 (the higher SRP is due to the show’s original soundtrack being included with the set). A standard Blu-ray was also released on the same day as the set.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and digipack packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- Original Soundtrack CD
- 40-page booklet
- 8 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 30th May 2022
The collector’s edition Part 1 release for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 contains the first 12 episodes across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by VDMS. Viz Media has yet to release the series on Blu-ray as I mentioned earlier, but their reputation has gone way downhill with their authored discs falling below standards on the quality control. Therefore Anime Limited made their own with VDMS, similarly to In/Spectre. The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Studiopolis English dub commissioned by Crunchyroll.
The white subtitles (which also use the same font and translation as the Crunchyroll streams) are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Clean Opening “Kaikai Kitan” – Episode 1, 3, 6 & 9 versions
- Clean Ending “LOST IN PARADISE”
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Part 1 is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications. A cheaper UK standard edition Blu-ray is available to order on Amazon UK.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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