Jujutsu Kaisen has an excellent plot with great characters that provide the ultimate experience to the fans. But its creator, Gege Akutami, is infamous for killing off characters randomly. They do not care whether the character is a fan favorite, if it helps in the progression of their story, they kill the character. Kugisaki Nobara, Satoru Gojo, Nanami Kento, etc., have all fallen prey to their writings.
However, the killing spree was not entirely Akutami’s idea. They were inspired by one of the Big Three of anime. Bleach was the one who inspired Gege Akutami to give early retirement to their characters. Even though Bleach was full of blood and slashes, it was not until the second half that Tite Kubo opted to kill off his characters.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Infamous Deaths Were Inspired From Bleach
With the Shibuya Incident arc, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 saw countless deaths. Unfortunately, it was just the start, as the anime will have more deaths in the upcoming seasons. The manga readers are familiar with it and have learned to read it without having a favorite character. It is similar to George R. R. Martin killing everyone at the end of The Game of Thrones. But only a few know that Gege Akutami earned the infamous title of killing their characters after getting inspired by Bleach.
During an interview with Tite Kubo, they said,
“Bleach taught me a lot about when to retire characters and how to make use of them until their time is up. The Arrancar arc, in particular, involved a huge cast, and even though some characters weren’t around for very long, you got to learn the bare essentials of who they were before they left.”
From the Arrancar arc, Tite Kubo began the killing spree. Multiple arrancars were killed in bloodied battles with the Shinigami. Since then, there has been no stopping the killing spree. Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War went ahead and began killing characters within the first few episodes. The arc has more than 35 characters killed, and pretty much a reason why Gege Akutami is so inspired by one of the Big Three of anime.
Jujutsu Kaisen Is Yet to Animate The Culling Games
After the Shibuya Incident arc, Jujutsu Kaisen would animate the Culling Games arc. It has been announced that the arc will be featured in season three. The fans are quite excited for the third season since it will feature several new characters, including several centuries-old Jujutsu sorcerers. Jujutsu Kaisen season will feature more deaths than anyone can imagine. If MAPPA religiously follows the manga, then there might be death in every alternate episode.
Like Bleach, Jujutsu Kaisen is also considered a part of the modern generation Big Three. So, it might be fair to say that it is successful in getting inspired by Bleach. The only difference is that Tite Kubo would think twice before killing his protagonist, and Gege Akutami would not. Even though the Jujutsu Kaisen creator is infamous for killing off characters, they make sure to give the characters their moments and impart aura to the audience.
Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen are available on Viz Media.
