Jujutsu Kaisen is Basically Naruto with Monsters

Jujutsu Kaisen is the breakout hit of this anime season–and really, that’s no surprise. After all, it’s basically just Naruto with a different coat of paint.

2002’s Naruto is the story of a team of young mercenary ninjas that take on various jobs and eventually find themselves battling against a group of ninjas seeking to upturn the world order. 2020’s Jujutsu Kaisen is about a team of young shamans that take on various jobs and eventually find themselves battling a group of monsters seeking to upturn the world order.

Image source: 『呪術廻戦』アニメ公式 on Twitter.

The main character in both series has an evil entity sealed within his body that is constantly trying to take over. In life-or-death battles, he is tempted to let the monster take control–even though doing so could mean not only losing control of his body but also letting the evil entity loose on an unsuspecting world.

Image source: 『呪術廻戦』アニメ公式 on Twitter.

Both anime also feature a main team of three teens. The group consists of two boys and one girl. One boy (the main character) is a dummy and has trouble with even the most basic techniques at first. The other boy is quiet and brooding but not as aloof as he first seems. The girl is pretty but thinks a bit too highly of herself and has a hot temper.

The three attend a school that teaches them to use their special powers–mostly through a mix of individualized training and going off on real-world (often life-threatening) missions to put their skills to practical use.

Image source: 『呪術廻戦』アニメ公式 on Twitter.

They are mentored by a man with spiky white hair who appears to be silly and light-hearted but is actually quite powerful. Moreover, this mentor uses a piece of cloth to cover up one (Naruto) or both (Jujutsu Kaisen) of his eyes. He only uncovers his eye(s) when performing immensely powerful techniques.

Of course, the three teens and their mentor are not the only characters in the show. The school also contains other students with special powers. Each has his or her own personal quirks and a unique way of fighting. The school also has a rival school—and the two schools have an intermural fighting tournament where the students are pit against each other.

Image source: 『呪術廻戦』アニメ公式 on Twitter.

Now, of course, Naruto and Jujutsu Kaisen have tons of differences. They take place in completely different settings and are centered around entirely different concepts. All the above is an overly-generalized, tongue-in-cheek look at the many ways they are similar.

And of course they are. They are aimed at the same “shōnen” demographic. Heck, they even run in the same magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump. In a very real way, Jujutsu Kaisen is trying to capture the same audience that loved Naruto by using many of the same tropes in slightly different ways.

Image source: 『呪術廻戦』アニメ公式 on Twitter.

That in no way makes Jujutsu Kaisen bad. Rather, it gives fans of Naruto more of what they love in a new package. And for people like me who notice all the common tropes, it becomes a fun little game to point them all out.

Jujutsu Kaisen can be seen on Crunchyroll.

Top image copyright: ©岸本斉史　スコット／集英社・テレビ東京・ぴえろ and ©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員会.