Welcome to the Ending Explained for Jujutse Kaisen 0, a new animated film based on the popular manga series. With the end of popular series like Naruto and Bleach, Shōnen Jump needed more successful series and got them in the best of times. One Piece is still king, but the long-running series is ending, so who are going to be their successors? My Hero Academy, Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen came to play, and while they aren’t as big as the BIG 3, they are successful enough to keep Shōnen Jump in a very healthy state.
The film is produced by Mappa, one of the most successful and hard-working animation studios of the past decade. The film takes place before the beginning of the anime, and before the start of the anime’s second major arc, which we will see next year when the second season arrives on our screens. It introduces a new protagonist, Yuta Okkotsu, and basically gives us his origin story as he becomes a new student at Jujutsu High. The film also gives us new light on the major villain of the anime, which until now was mostly in the background of the show.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Jujutsu Kaisen the anime series. Read at your own risk.
Who Is Yuta Okkotsu?
The character of Yuta Okkotsu and his origin story are the major focus of the film. Yuta was only mentioned previously during the first season of the anime, when Yuji Itadori, the main character of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, arrives at the school and meets the rest of the characters. At that point in the show, Yuta has traveled outside Japan, and he is receiving training from a character named Miguel. Yuta is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the series and basically becomes the second main protagonist as the series goes on. However, before becoming such a powerful hero, he was different.
The movie introduces Yuta during a terrible incident in which bullies are trying to harass him only to end up getting killed by a curse that has been set upon Yuta, a curse that he calls, Rika-chan. It is revealed that when Yuta was a child, he spent a lot of time in hospitals. It was in one of these hospitals where he met Rika, another sick girl. They quickly became friends, and Rika fell in love with Yuta. They promised to marry each other when they grew up. However, Rika dies in front of Yuta during a car accident, and the spirit of the girl becomes attached to it.
Satoru Gojo, one of the most powerful sorcerers ever, and a teacher at Jujutsu High intercedes in favor of Yuta and manages to get him enrolled in the school. Gojo sends Yuta on a mission with several of his new students; Maki Zen’in, Toge Inumaki, and Panda. The trio of friends let Yuta come along, and after a year of training and going on missions with them, Yuta becomes a different person, more confident and happy with who he is. The story even implies that Maki has developed feelings for Yuta, although he is completely clueless about it so far.
During his training at the school, Yuta decides to study and practice until he can free Rika from this curse. It is his theory that it wasn’t the case that Rika put a curse on Yuta, but that Yuta cursed Rika the moment she died. He wished for it to stay so hard that Rika’s spirit did so, but in a twisted and hurtful way.
Who Is Suguru Geto?
The movie introduces the main villain of its story in the figure of Suguru Geto. He is a tall and powerful-looking man who serves as an exorcist for the public. He is shown to be a very powerful curse user, but his intentions are not good at all. Every curse he exorcises from a person, he ends up keeping for himself. His plan involves having a huge number of curses to wreak havoc around the world. His ultimate goal is to kill every human being on the planet that cannot use cursed energy. Leaving only the curse users to rule the world.
Geto notices that Rika is a very powerful curse. So powerful that he thinks that if he gets his hands on Rika he wouldn’t need any more curses to achieve his ultimate goal. Because of it, he starts planning a way to force Yuta to let Rika go out, kill Yuta and keep Rika and its power to himself. He visits Jujutsu High with other curse users that follow him and warns Gojo and the rest of the faculty that on December 24th he will unleash his curse army upon the cities of Tokyo and Kyoto.
The day of the battle finally comes, and the entire faculty has spread to the cities to repel Geto’s attack. However, Geto knows that Yuta will not be allowed to participate in the battle because he is too new, and he goes directly to Jujutsu High to face Yuta, knowing he will probably be alone. He isn’t though and Geto ends up defeating Mika, and later Toge and Panda when Gojo sends them to the school to protect the school. Yuta faces his fears and puts his life on the line so that Rika can give him enough power to kill Geto. Meanwhile, Gojo defeats Geto’s followers in the city.
Yuta unleashes one final attack and defeats Geto. Leaving him without an arm, and losing a ton of blood. Geto tries to escape, but he crosses paths with Gojo, who kills him. It is revealed that in the past, Geto and Gojo were best friends. Having won the battle, Yuta prepares to give his life to Rika as the deal says, but Gojo explains to him that by not feeling any more guilt, he has broken the bond that kept Rika with him. Yuta says goodbye to Rika and prepares to live his new life with his new friends.
In a post-credit scene, we see Yuta having lunch with Miguel, and we see Gojo arriving to take back to Japan as things with the resurrected Geto and his minions are getting quite complicated.
