Mangaka Gege Akutami sensei may have created one of the best manga projects ever, i.e. Jujutsu Kaisen, but fans don’t have the best reviews for them personally. If anything, out of all the mangaka in the industry who have helmed multiple fan-favorite masterpieces, they would perhaps consider Akutami the least serious one.
However, Mangaka Eiichiro Oda sensei’s opinion on this entire matter tends to differ to a massive extent. In fact, to say that the first impression that the mastermind behind the super-popular One Piece manga had of the JJK writer is quite literally the exact opposite of what fans believed them to be wouldn’t be an understatement!
Eiichiro Oda Has The Most Unexpected Reviews On Gege Akutami
At the 26th Tezuka Osamu Award ceremony, the writers of two of the most pleasing manga projects of all time, One Piece and JJK, were present as jurors. There, the duo had the pleasure of meeting each other for the first time.
Soon after their first meeting, Mangaka Oda sensei added a comment on the 27th issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine’s comment panel, sharing his first impression of the JJK creator. As shared by One Piece Wiki, he wrote:
“I talked properly with Akutami-san for the first time at the Tezuka Prize selection committee. A respectable person! A person of character!!
手塚賞審査会で芥見さんと初めてしっかり話した。ちゃんとした人！人格者!”
[Note: Other translations of this same quote include, “While on the Tezuka Prize jury, I had a full conversation with Gege Akutami for the first time in my life. What a serious and very noble person!” where Oda sensei called Akutami sensei “serious” and “noble” (via @JJKMyaa | X).]
Judging from his comment, Eiichiro Oda sensei seems like he was widely intrigued, and was all praise and admiration for his Mangaka peer. However, at the same time, this is exactly what confused fans to the core for reasons one too many.
First of all, no one truly knows who Gege Akutami sensei is as they have never shown their face in public, and all they truly know them from are their interviews and the famously distinctive one-eyed cat signature symbol they have associated themselves with.
In fact, the JJK creator does not, in any way, appear to fans as either a “serious” or a “noble” person, as can be derived from all the messages and interviews they have ever given. If anything, their mysterious identity has further confused fans about what to think of them.
Thus, because of this stark contrast between the mangaka’s public image that fans are well acquainted with and the image portrayed by Oda sensei, fans couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the Jujutsu Kaisen Mangaka than what the eyes could see.
Fans Had Some of the Most Hilarious Reactions to Eiichiro Oda’s Remarks
After becoming aware of the thoughts the One Piece creator had of the JJK creator, a lot of fans were under the hilarious impression that perhaps Oda sensei may either be joking or he may have definitely met the wrong person.
Meanwhile, some others took a dig at Akutami sensei, claiming if they truly are that “noble” and “serious”, then perhaps they should start acting like it while drafting the final arc of the fan-favorite Yuji Itadori-starrer manga.
Taking to X, here’s how they’ve been reacting to it all:
Noble?? Gege Akutami?? pic.twitter.com/Ee2JJ0xSck
— KaiyoBreeze ☀️ (Yuta Glazer 🍚) (@KaiyoBreeze) March 16, 2024
Noble? is he member of Shueisha's founder family? Minamoto? Taira? Fujiwara? Gojo? or else?
— Stickman Watch Anime V.1 (Team-伏宿虎乙棘脹釘梅) (@StickWatchAni1) March 15, 2024
is he sure he even met akutami?????
— marie ackles (@chanieismyhero) March 16, 2024
But didn’t others say he acted like gojo irl?
— zerual (@zerual01) March 16, 2024
Gege putting up an act for Oda lmao
— Vaz™ (@VazThe1st) March 16, 2024
Gege gotta absorb some of that goat essence and clutch this last arc up
— Qua 🌊🇸🇸🇵🇸 (@quafinessegod) March 16, 2024
serious?? 😀
— ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚melek˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ (@shitshfiris) June 1, 2023
“Serious person” now, I can’t imagine that. pic.twitter.com/voGbgKmkpH
— 𝕹 𝖆 𝖙 (@nataguirre96) June 1, 2023
Well, for what it’s worth, all of these fan reactions further prove one point: Gege Akutami sensei needs to do a better job at their public appearances and not just with fellow Mangakas!
