Gege Akutami Explains How Bleach And Naruto Shaped Jujutsu Kaisen's First Chapter

The mangaka reveals how Tite Kubo’s Bleach and Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto influenced the first chapter of Jujutsu Kaisen.

By Levin Plassery

Published on Jul 12, 2024 | 07:52 PM IST | 141.7K

Naruto, Yuji Itatdori, Ichigo [PC - Crunchyroll]

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How did Bleach and Naruto influence Jujutsu Kaisen?
Gege Akutami’s beginings

Gege Akutami is best known for his manga, Jujutsu Kaisen, which without a doubt is one of the most popular franchises of all time. At a special exhibition for the series in Japan, the mangaka provided some insight into what went into the development of Jujutsu Kaisen.

The manga was first serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga in March 2018. Jujutsu Kaisen is a sequel to the mangaka’s Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School, which was serialized in 2017. The latter was titled Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in December 2018.

As of January 2024, more than 90 million copies of the manga are in circulation. With multiple brand deals and accolades to its name, the manga rose to fame and Gege Akutami became well-known in the anime world.

How did Bleach and Naruto influence Jujutsu Kaisen?

In the special exhibition held at Shibuya, Gege Akutami revealed how Bleach and Naruto inspired him to write the first chapter of Jujutsu Kaisen. Here’s what the mangaka had to say [translation by X (formerly Twitter) user - @soukatsu]

Jujutsu Kaisen [PC - Crunchyroll]

"In Naruto, it's the relationship between the main character Naruto Uzumaki and the Nine-Tailed Fox," said the Jujutsu Kaisen series creator "For Itadori, it's Sukuna and for Okkotsu, it's Rika.” explaining how the characters are tied to powers that are bigger than them, but in their control.

When it comes to the Bleach side of the manga, things are slightly different. "For Bleach, it's the story framework. The protagonist Ichigo becomes a shinigami of his own volition after getting swept up in an unexpected incident. I was really conscious of the 'of his own will' aspect in Jujutsu Kaisen when Itadori gets the cursed object."

The only difference between the three is that Naruto was born as a host to the beast, considering how his father, and the then Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze sealed the Nine-Tails in his son. At the same time, Ichigo and Yuji’s willful actions led to their course of events.

Gege Akutami’s beginings

Gege Akutami began his work as a mangaka by mimicking his friend, before actually taking it seriously as a profession. In 2014, Akutami began working as an assistant to Yasuhiro Kanō in Kiss x Death. After that he worked on Kamishiro Sōsa, No.9, and Nikai Bongai Barabarjura, all of which were one-shot chapters.

In 2017, Akutami published Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School, which served as a prologue to his next work, Jujutsu Kaisen.

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