It’s canon and important to the story.
Summary:
- Some fans skip Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie.
- It’s vital to the story and actually canon.
- You shouldn’t start with it, though.
Between the first and the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen, a movie was released, titled Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Since it’s a prequel movie that focuses on a different main character, many viewers decided to skip it. After all, if it’s a prequel released after Season 1, surely the events of it will be explained regardless, right?
It turns out that it’s not so simple. While the movie is (very technically) skippable, watching it helps with understanding Season 2 better, as well as generally enhances your experience — you really shouldn’t skip it.
It’s Important to the Plot
The Hidden Inventory Arc, which is, chronologically, the earliest part of the series, is told as a series of flashbacks in Season 2. While it happens even before the movie, the movie helps the viewer understand what it builds up towards. Without it, the Hidden Inventory Arc might be shallow and somewhat confusing.
Later in Season 2 (and in further, unadapted arcs), plot points and elements from the movie will reappear more and more. If you don’t watch it, it’s unclear who Yuta is, for example — and he actually appears in the second half of S2.
Later in the manga, it’s even more important — even if you somehow get through the second season without watching the movie and losing some amount of context, knowledge from it will be absolutely crucial in later arcs.
It’s Canon, but You Should Watch the Series First
Besides, the movie is worth watching just for the fact that it’s actually canon. It’s a prequel to the series, also written by Akutami Gege — and it’s an expansion of his earlier manga, Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical School. While that manga was canceled, a sequel was eventually launched, and that sequel is Jujutsu Kaisen.
It’s just interesting to see where Jujutsu Kaisen came from. The movie adds a lot of things to the original manga, but the script is written by Gege — it’s not like it’s anime-original. Many fans still believe he likes Yuta more than he likes Yuji, since Yuta was originally his protagonist for the setting.
Interestingly enough, it’s not recommended to start with the movie. Yes, it’s a prequel — it happens before Season 1 — but it also isn’t a good starting point. The movie already assumes you know things about the world, which are only explained to you in the TV series. It’s still worth watching immediately after the first season, though.