Why We Love Brutal Shonen Like Jujutsu Kaisen And Chainsaw Man
Then there is Itadori Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen. He loves tall women with big butts - that’s his preference. Now, instead of using this as a cheap gimmick, the show delivered something truly amazing with the entire Itadori and Todo dynamic.
Two guys bonding over their taste in women?
Simply brilliant.
Now, Chainsaw Man is generally considered to be the most unusual of all the Modern Day Shonen, but Jujutsu Kaisen’s thematic and layered storytelling isn’t far behind either.
The World Building and the Power System are so well thought out, it just makes sense, Well, sometimes it also doesn’t.
Take Gojo’s Infinity for example. It is confusing at first, but once you think about it for sometime and connect the dots, you begin to see the entire story differently.
Also, I don’t see many people talking about this, but the action choreography in Jujutsu Kaisen demands some major respect. Both Fujimoto and Gege don’t care about pandering to the usual Shonen fans, they want to tell the story the way they want after all.
Now guys, please note that I’m not saying all of this as a disrespect to traditional Battle Shonen. Heck, Demon Slayer also qualifies as a traditional Battle Shonen. It’s just that Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man show us a different path that Shonen anime can take.
One thing I’d admit is how it’s genuinely refreshing to see the female characters actually getting respect and attention.
Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man both have one hell of a cast. I mean, when was the last time you saw a female villain like Makima be the Big Bad of the story?
The points don’t end here though.
Since the authors don’t care about pandering to the fans, they also don’t think twice about killing your favorite characters. This is what keeps you at the edge of your seats. This is what has been missing from traditional battle shonen.
I’m looking at you “One Piece.”
The fakeouts may please the immature audience for the time being, but they ultimately take the stakes away from the story. What’s fun about that?
And it’s not like the characters are getting just because either. All the deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man were just the story taking its natural course.
There is a clear lack of focus on the protagonist when it comes to the greater context of the story, Itadori is handed Ls after Ls, but we still see him as an incredible protagonist.
Which, he obviously, is.
Something interesting about Jujutsu Kaisen is that the ones who end up with plot convenience are usually villains. The author always just keeps making things harder for our protagonists, isn’t he?
The villains are not dumb. They aren’t laidback enough to let the main characters go either.
They are ruthless and just like how they are supposed to be. And more importantly, they grow and evolve.
It’s this sense of danger, this excitement, this unpredictability that makes us love Brutal Shonen like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
Unlike Luffy or Naruto or Deku, the main characters of Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man didn’t start off with some grandiose dream or worthy goal. No, they were ordinary people.
In Yuji’s case, he was living an ordinary life.
In Denji’s case, his life was hell on earth, he even had to sell one of his nuts to clear his dad’s debt. Think about that.
That’s why, Yuji simply took his grandpa’s advice to help people while Denji was even more true to himself, he knew that all he wants is some good food to eat and a girl he can cuddle with.
These dreams are nothing in comparison to becoming the Pirate King.
But they are much more relatable.
I love Luffy just as much as any other hardcore One Piece fan, but for many he’s too bright to relate to. See what I’m getting at?
Between interpersonal relationships, female characters done right, some actually refreshing comedy, and a clear lack of formulaic gimmicks, both Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man tell their stories.
And those stories don’t just keep us on the edge of our seats, the main characters are also relatable, even though their circumstances may very well be despair incarnate.
Hell’s Paradise is another similar anime I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
It is the most recent of them to get an anime adaptation and conveniently, it is also being done by MAPPA. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, but it is still worth watching and worth reading.
Overall, Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, along with Demon Slayer, defined the current generation of Battle Shonen, but what’s next?
What kind of Battle Shonen can we expect from the future?
That’s the question.
With the way things are, Kaiju No. 8 and Undead Unluck are next in line to receive anime adaptations.
Hopefully, Dandadan too.
That’s another Brutal Shonen and it’s the same kind as Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
So there you have it folks, these were some of my thoughts on why we love brutal shonen like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
I’m sure we'll see many more interesting and unusual shows in this upcoming decade.
After all, the new generation always surpasses the old.
Isn’t that right, Naruto?