Updated on April 4, 2:19 p.m. (GMT+8): Improved relevancy.
The Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie got anime fans incredibly excited.
A prequel story about curses and love, it features a different protagonist from Jujutsu Kaisen season one.
Set a year before Yuji Itadori’s timeline, we follow the footsteps of Yuta Okkotsu in his first year at the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School.
Running at just over one and a half hours, the movie is a complete adaptation of the four-chapter mini series Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 0 by mangaka Gege Akutami, promising top notch 3D and 2D animation from MAPPA, an invigorating soundtrack, and dialogue delivered by some of the best voice actors in the industry.
Domestically, the animated film was a big hit in Japan, grossing US$91M at the domestic box office in 2021.
If you’ve watched this animated masterpiece, and like us, still can’t get over some of its incredible scenes, take a moment to indulge in our curated list of best quotes from Jujutsu Kaisen 0 that continue to inspire us every day.
Warning: Major spoilers if you have yet to watch Jujutsu Kaisen 0 the movie or read Volume 0 of the manga, and minor spoilers if you haven’t watched Jujutsu Kaisen season one.
List of best quotes from Jujutsu Kaisen 0
“Won’t it get lonely all by yourself?” –Satoru Gojo
The opening scene of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie mirrors the opening of Jujutsu Kaisen season one, except it’s not Yuji Itadori in the chair, but rather, Yuta Okkotsu.
After a short flashback, we quickly learn that a young 16-year-old Yuta had attempted to commit suicide because he’s unable to control the curse attached to him, who has been attacking others on his behalf even though he never intended to cause any harm.
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Across him stands Satoru Gojo, who invites him to start afresh at the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School. After Yuta rejects him, Gojo replies, “Won’t it get lonely all by yourself?”.
It’s a poignant moment not just for Yuta, but Gojo as well, because beyond his surface humor, strength, and aloofness, lies a caring heart. He acknowledges that we’re all human, and we’re not meant to live alone.
“I want to have a connection with someone. I want to be needed by someone. I want the confidence to feel like it’s okay to live.” –Yuta Okkotsu
As a teacher, Gojo is clearly not afraid to throw his students into the deep end. The very first mission saw Yuta and fellow first year Maki Zenin head into an elementary school where two children had gone missing. After conveying that their goal is to exorcise the curse and save the children, Gojo leaves them inside the veil and waits outside.
Of course, things never go according to plan in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. The duo gets swallowed up by the curse, and ends up in the belly of the beast with the two missing children. Without resistance to curses, Maki and the kids start to falter.
Yuta, despite being curse resistant, couldn’t decide what to do in such a dire situation. Crawling in fear, he let his emotions get the better of him.
Frustrated by his cowardice, Maki lashes out at him, shouting, “Why did you come to the magical technical school? What do you want to do?! What do you want?! What do you want to achieve?!”
After sorting out his thoughts, Yuta replies with renewed determination. “I want to have a connection with someone,” he said. “I want to be needed by someone. I want the confidence to feel like it’s okay to live.”
This scene is a stark contrast to the opening scene where he wanted to kill himself. Clearly, Gojo’s words had an effect on him, for, in the heat of the moment, Yuta finally admits that he indeed does want to live, despite carrying the curse of Rika.
“Love is the most twisted curse of all.” –Satoru Gojo
The first time I read this line in the manga, I couldn’t help but pause.
“Gojo? What does he know of love?” I wondered.
At the hospital after the elementary school incident, Yuta had a conversation with his teacher. Looking back on his past with Rika, he absentmindedly said out loud that it’s possible she didn’t curse him, but rather, that he cursed her.
Gojo then replies, “This is just a personal theory but… perhaps love is the most twisted curse of all.”
It’s an interesting quote coming from someone like Satoru Gojo, who keeps everyone at arm’s length. Only later on in the story do we realize how much he treasures his best friend, Suguru Geto, despite all that had happened.
“Twisted” in this case, could refer to his refusal to kill Geto when he had the chance to in the past even though he knew that he would end up destroying more lives than Gojo can save — all because of the love he harbors for his best friend.
“It’s unforgivable to steal their youth away from kids, no matter who they are.” –Satoru Gojo
The school’s senior management was not happy that special grade curse spirit Rika Orimoto made an appearance during Yuta’s first mission. Gojo was entrusted to prevent this situation from happening, and took full responsibility, openly rebelling against the council.
On his way out, he complained out loud to himself, “What a bunch of tasteless old men. I don’t want to become like that. It’s unforgivable to steal their youth away from kids, no matter who they are.”
The next significant point in the story where Gojo openly rebukes the council is in season one after Yuji Itadori died, when he realized that the council manipulated circumstances at the juvenile detention center. Speaking to assistant director Kiyotaka Ijichi at the morgue, Gojo suddenly suggested that they kill all the higher ups.
For a brief moment, the audience gets a peek into just how deep Gojo’s detest for the council runs.
Even though the students sometimes question his conduct as a teacher, his heart is in the right place. He recognizes that the only way to change the system is to raise youths with the right values, for they are the future.
“I’ll give you my future, heart, and body… I love you Rika… This is pure love.” –Yuta Okkotsu
An important aspect of Jujutsu Kaisen 0’s story is the evolving relationship between Yuta and Rika, even though she’s no longer human.
In the beginning, Yuta wanted to destroy the curse by killing himself, failing which, he’d hide away from the world.
In the end, during the final battle, he gave in to it. In a good way, of course.
Portrayed as a wailing monster, Rika seemed like an uncontrollable force that tortured Yuta, a true “curse” in all senses of the word. With the help of Gojo, the school, and his classmates, Yuta was eventually able to communicate with her, channel his energy, and work alongside his curse instead of against it.
In a last ditch attempt to save Maki, Panda, and Inumaki from Geto, he was more than willing to sacrifice himself to Rika in exchange for her unlimited power. The quote “I’ll give you my future, heart, and body… I love you Rika…” is more often heard at a wedding than on a battlefield.
He even seals his vow with a kiss on the mouth of the hideous looking curse, which is… commendable.
True love knows no bounds, I guess.
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READ MORE: Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie review: Animation and voice acting at its finest
