What makes this anime stand out from countless shonen titles.
Shonen manga and anime are usually targeted at teenage boys. The literal translation for this word is "boy" or "youth", and the term was used to distinguish series meant for young audiences from the other ones.
Due to its demographic, shonen series used to have some features that would mostly be interesting for teenage boys: an overpowered male main character that overcomes various obstacles, cute girls that are often there just to be pretty or fall in love with the protagonist, a lot of action and little truly meaningful dialog. However, nowadays, anime has become extremely popular around the world and among all types of people, so no wonder this genre has undergone some changes.
So let's see how Jujutsu Kaisen handles these changes and why it is quite different from typical shonens.
We can't deny that Jujutsu Kaisen has a lot of traits that we've mentioned before: it's got a determined protagonist, struggling to become stronger, sorcery and super powers, it's packed with breathtaking action. However, it's not all that the anime can offer.
When speaking about this issue, one of the first things fans mention is the female characters of the series: they're nothing like regular shonen girls. Nobara, Maki, Mei Mei, Mai ー all of these characters are not only pretty for the sake of being pretty, they are well-written and given attention to. Their struggles are important, they can fight just as well as men.
Moreover, there's no forced romance in Jujutsu Kaisen, and female characters are not presented just as a love interest for a boy.
Although having a pretty interesting premise, Jujutsu Kaisen's main plot is quite simple: a regular boy receives immense powers and now he has to learn how to deal with them. However, the subplots and compelling characters is what makes the anime stand out so much. They are not just there for the sake of the main protagonist looking cool or learning new tricks, they all have their story, motivation and depth. When asked about their favorite characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, many fans start with side characters instead of the main ones.
Gege Akutami (the mangaka of Jujutsu Kaisen) does not shy away from killing important characters. Yes, all battle shonen series have deaths but JJK handles it differently.
For example, it took My Hero Academia four seasons to introduce the first major death, while Jujutsu Kaisen is not so benevolent when it comes to its characters. We don't want to spoil anything to you, but manga readers have been having heated and heartbroken debates for quite a long time now.
Even though JJK has pretty much the same outline as many battle shonens, all of the things we mentioned give the series a special uniqueness that distinguishes the show from other typical anime.