Seriously, this isn’t a new situation.
Summary:
- Many shounen series become worse when they get to the end of the story.
- This is the case for both classics and modern series.
- Fans expected Jujutsu Kaisen to become worse in its later arcs.
It’s understandable why fans are unhappy about the recent developments in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. After all, tons of characters are dying, and it feels that there’s no reason to care at this point.
Yes, it’s sad to see a once incredibly beloved manga losing all its fans. However, it wouldn’t be the first time. In fact, this seems to be a general trend for battle shounen series — in most of them, the last arcs are widely disliked.
Even Classics Have Disliked Last Arcs
Perhaps the most infamous example of this is Naruto. The Fourth Shinobi World War arc has perhaps been the most hated part of Naruto.
It was inconceivably long, the villains were replaced with other villains too often, the power levels spiked too much, and many of the plot twists made no sense. The anime, with its filler and slow pacing, made it even worse.
Another member of the Big Three, Bleach, also suffered from a subpar last arc. The Thousand-Year Blood War arc in the manga was too complex, and the art deteriorated greatly due to mangaka’s health problems. The end was incredibly abrupt, too. At least the anime seems to be fixing these problems.
Newer Shounen Series Suffer From That as Well
It’s not like this is exclusive to classic shounen series, either. From recent years, My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) comes to mind. While the current arc — which is the last — isn’t bad per se, it’s definitely been going on for way too long.
Another example that many fans brought up is Attack on Titan. While not a battle shounen, it’s still a shounen manga — and its last arc and especially the finale are infamous among fans. It feels like it’s hard to make an ending that will satisfy fans, and Jujutsu Kaisen is a victim of that.
Fans Expected This Kind of Development
It’s understandable why that’s the case. Oftentimes, battle shounen manga introduce so many characters, plot points and worldbuilding elements that it can be hard to tie them together in the last arc.
No matter what happens, something will make the fans upset — be it too many character deaths or too many unresolved plot points.
As such, many actually expected Jujutsu Kaisen to lose its popularity way before the current arc. In fact, people have been calling Gege out for killing too many characters since the Shibuya Incident arc — which is quite early into the manga.