Perhaps not a one-shot, but still.
Summary:
- Jujutsu Kaisen fans feel that many deaths in the series don’t do justice to the characters’ storylines.
- It becomes harder and harder to care about the plot.
- Some fans feel that Gege is better at writing shorter manga.
Recently, many Jujutsu Kaisen manga readers have been complaining about the current arc. It’s understandable, really: it’s been nothing but pain and suffering, for both the readers and the characters. As such, many wonder what could have been done to avoid such an experience.
While many agree that the issues stem from Gege Akutami’s unusual writing style, that still doesn’t make things better. Some fans, however, think that the current arc would be far more palatable if Jujutsu Kaisen was much shorter than it currently is.
There are way too many deaths in the series
One of the main issues with so many character deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen is that many of them are seemingly pointless. Characters die in brutal and unexpected ways, and we don’t really get to see their stories concluded properly.
At this point, most of the interesting characters are already dead — and the remaining ones aren’t as interesting.
Many fans complained that among the remaining characters, there are practically none that they truly care about at this point. That’s because they’re not as well-written as the ones who’ve already died — and Jujutsu Kaisen wasn’t known for its amazing character writing in the first place.
Even Sukuna, while definitely a terrifying and memorable villain, isn’t that interesting as a character.
Why it would have worked better as a short manga
Jujutsu Kaisen is very fast-paced and relies on introducing many characters and promptly killing them off. In the long run, it gets harder and harder to care about anything that happens in it.
The worldbuilding, however, remains confusing to some, and the only thing that is really fleshed out is the power system.
While these criticisms are usually less relevant for shorter series, Jujutsu Kaisen has been running for over 250 chapters. As such, fans start noticing the problems more and more, as they become more prominent in the later parts of the story.
At this point, many wish the manga wasn’t as long as it already is — with some even saying Gege is much better at writing shorter manga.
A commonly brought up example for the last argument is Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School — later expanded and adapted as Jujutsu Kaisen 0. While it is connected to the main series, it tells a fully complete story and doesn’t suffer from the same issues.
Yes, it might be too short for the tastes of some fans, but at least it doesn’t feel pointless to read.