Gege Akutami has brazenly acknowledged that each Bleach and Naruto influenced him in his work Jujutsu Kaisen, notably within the design of characters and dynamics comparable to Gojo and the trio of Itadori, Megumi, and Nobara.
In a Q&A catalog distributed on the Jujutsu Kaisen exhibition in Shibuya in July 2024, Akutami elaborated on how these collection impressed his personal collection. He defined that the connection between Naruto Uzumaki and the 9-Tailed Fox Kurama in Naruto served as a mannequin for the connections between Itadori Yuji and Sukuna, and Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Each units of characters harbor a demon inside them, drawing on the favored trope that Naruto helped mainstream. Nonetheless, Akutami deviated from the reconciliation that Naruto and Kurama noticed. Whereas Okkotsu reconciles with Rika on the finish of JJK 0, Sukuna stays an antagonistic drive whose beliefs don’t align with Itadori’s.
Bleach additionally had a significant affect on Jujutsu Kaisen, most notably by Ichigo’s aware determination to grow to be a soul reaper (shinigami) after encountering Rukia. Akutami mirrored this theme when he had Itadori swallow Sukuna’s finger, a aware alternative made amidst surprising circumstances.
The exhibition’s Q&A additionally revealed that Akutami initially deliberate to make Megumi the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen. Nonetheless, this concept was rejected, main him to decide on Itadori as the primary character, regardless of issues that the story may grow to be boring.
Fushiguro’s character, initially supposed to be the primary protagonist, was well-defined early on. Within the new model, Akutami integrated parts of Rukia’s function as a senior and competent skilled into Megumi’s character. Akutami needed Fushiguro to have a special method to justice than Ichigo, which is clear in Fushiguro’s contrasting beliefs in comparison with Itadori’s, notably emphasised within the terrifying Womb arc.
