Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Top 10 Moments

If you’re a massive anime fan like me, you’ve probably either heard of or are seeing the new Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie that just released in the US. I was there, in IMAX, crying at how beautiful the animation was, and it seriously blew me away. That being said, I’ve got ten amazing moments from the movie that I need to talk about, because I almost ascended to the heavens for each of them. If you haven’t seen it already, spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen the anime, I have a bit of a review here for your reading pleasure. But for now, let’s get into it.

Also, I’ll preface this now, these are just my personal opinions for what got me excited the most. I don’t believe in the whole “this is the definitive best moments” type of list. You like what you like, and hopefully my top 10 gets you hyped as well.

10. Mei Mei kicking ass

Mei Mei is really cool to me. I love her design, and she got an awesome fight sequence in this movie that really showed off her skills. She wields a super amazing looking axe, and she used it to cut through curses with a smile on her face. There were plenty of characters from the show that got some extra time to shine in the movie, and Mei Mei’s was a standout.

9. Yuta’s intro to the other students

When Maki, Inumaki, and Panda meet Yuta for the first time, I almost jumped out of my seat. It was the first moment of the film where the animation totally took me away. It gave you a real sense for how much power Yuta actually has. The way the three students picked up on Yuta’s immense curse energy immediately shifted the tone. Then, just as quick, it shifts to a comedic tone with poor Yuta completely clueless about why everyone is so on edge. He’s so sweet; I just love Yuta so much. I think my favorite part of this whole scene is how they balance the serious tone with the comedy. It made you hold your breath and then laugh out loud.

8. Seeing the Kyoto Jujutsu High students

In the show, we follow our three main characters at Tokyo Jujutsu High. The Kyoto students come in later in the anime, but they get some time in the movie as well. It was a fun surprise. I was so happy to see my favorite Kyoto students, like Miwa and Todo. Todo in particular had an incredible intro. He’s always a great character to see. He shows up like an immensely powerful maniac, and then he’ll turn around and talk about how his favorite idol is on tv at eight so he has to hurry the fight along. Each of them has such distinct personalities that it always makes for a fun time to see the Kyoto students together. Also, we got to see Miwa show off a bit of her own powers, which I loved more than anything.

7. Rika coming out for the first time

Oh boy. Let me tell you, Rika’s screeching in IMAX is both terrifying and awesome. She’s an insanely badass curse with a wicked amount of power. When she truly emerges for the first time to save Maki and two missing students, it almost blew out my eardrums. Rika is brutal with how she takes apart the massive curse that’s taken over the elementary school. She doesn’t show up for most of the movie, but when she does, they’re sure to let you know how strong she really is.

6. Gojo almost kills Geto

I haven’t read the manga for Jujutsu Kaisen, so finding out that Gojo and Geto were best friends was a huge deal to me. Even more so, I was floored at the scene of Geto walking away through the crowd as Gojo contemplated killing him. When he couldn’t do it, I saw it as one of the most important moments for Gojo’s character. He’s often the laid back, super cool and funny teacher that everyone loves, so seeing this moment of doubt was big. It opens the door for even more emotional moments for Gojo that we don’t typically see from him. It felt like seeing through a front he puts up, and I really loved that scene.

5. Yuta and Maki have a moment

When Yuta and Maki are by themselves while the other sorcerers are out fighting, the two share a sweet moment that had me feeling emotional. For all her mental and physical strength, it's devastating that Maki's family considers her a failure. Her desire to prove them wrong is admirable and makes her easy to root for. Yuta’s unwavering support of her goals clearly had such an impact on her. He thinks the world of her, and it’s something she’s not used to. I liked seeing Maki taken off guard by Yuta’s kindness. It showed how sweet he is and how guarded she keeps her feelings. They’re both fun characters, and their emotional connection was a nice touch.

4. Gojo vs Miguel

Oh boy. The animators have a favorite, and that favorite is Gojo. Side note: shoutout to Gojo's very pretty eyes, they have a monopoly on MAPPA's budget. Any scene with him has absolute god tier animation, and this was no exception. Miguel was on the defensive the whole time. Gojo was fighting like he knew we were watching him and he just wanted to show off. He's so unbelievably overpowered. His speed and his curse techniques are a feast to look at. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

3. Yuta vs. Geto

Yuta! I love Yuta! Him and Rika working together to fight Geto was thrilling. The animation was amazing and the music was insane. The moment when Yuta landed a punch to Geto had me almost jumping out of my chair. It was also nice to see Geto’s strength, as he didn’t get any real intense fighting scenes in the show yet. It sets up the kind of threat he’ll be going forward, and it showed just how much potential Yuta will have in the future as well.

2. Anything Inumaki

Speaking of times when the animator went hard, we have to bring up Inumaki. I like Inumaki a lot. He’s so quiet and relaxed all the time, and it offsets perfectly with any time he unleashes his cursed technique. He completely took over the screen with one word, whether it be “explode” or “plummet” or anything in between. The build up to him unleashing his powers always gave a satisfying pay-off. The sound design for his power, along with the animation of the sound waves coming from his mouth make for jaw-dropping action.

1. Nanami. Just Nanami

Listen to me. Listen to me…I almost blacked out seeing Nanami step in to fight. He’s my favorite character in Jujutsu Kaisen, and I wasn’t sure if he would get much time in this film. He didn’t have a big part, but still. Oh. My. Goodness. This man showed up, told everyone, “Stand back, I’m here and this show is about me now”, and HE ABSOLUTELY WENT OFF! THE ANIMATION! THE POWER! This was the moment when my jaw actually hit the floor. Nanami had maybe twenty seconds or so of screen time in this scene, but he kicked ass and took names. I’ll be replaying this scene in my head forever, thank you very much.

There you have it. It was hard picking just ten moments to focus on. I honestly enjoyed every bit of this movie. If you haven’t had a chance to see Jujutsu Kaisen 0 yet, I definitely can’t recommend it enough.