English Dub Review: Jujutsu Kaisen – Hidden Inventory/Premature Death: The Movie

The Jujutsu Kaisen anime is still on break since the conclusion of the second season and Shibuya Incident arc, with no clear timeframe on when we’ll continue with the story. But in the meantime, since the release of the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 did so well, the decision was made to do a reedit of the first few episodes of the second season, which encompass the story arc that takes place even before the events of 0. Before Yuji or Yuta were aware of their sorcerer abilities, Sotaru Gojo enjoyed his regular school life with his longtime friend and future enemy Suguru Geto, a duo of prodigy Jujutsu sorcerers with bright paths ahead. The two are tasked with protecting a particularly important girl for a specific ritual before rivaling religious groups can target her, as well as fighting off a powerful mercenary even stronger than both of them. These five episodes, reedited into a movie, chronicle a major turning point for both the friendship and futures of these two important figures in the JJK story, as one fully unlocks his potential and great power, while another descends into darkness that will consume everyone around him, inevitably ending in tragedy.

As this is mostly already released material (aside from a small bit at the end to fully emphasis the sad ending), those seeing this movie are more than likely to have already seen it in some form, whether in manga form as it was originally released, or in the five episode arc of the anime. And as a prequel, it’s also inherently dependent on previous knowledge of its source material, unlike JJK 0 that was written first before the manga. So, basically the audience for this movie are pretty much just going to be existing JJK fans and friends of theirs they can drag to see it. But that’s not to say this isn’t a solid story on its own, even if it gets rather dark. In fact, it’s probably the darkest the JJK anime has gotten so far. Yeah, the Shibuya arc got violent and brutal for damn sure, mainly thanks to the cursed spirits slaughtering crowds of people and utterly demolishing city blocks, but Hidden Inventory somehow ends up showing more depraved characters and obstacles, even as things happen in broad bright daylight. Gojo, being a main character in the main story, is the one most will gravitate towards, but as much as we can disagree with Geto’s sorcerer supremacist mindset, seeing what happens here makes it hard not to understand as it forms.

Again, this is not going to be new for people who are already fans of the show, but they, like me, are unlikely to care. JJK, at least in terms of what’s been animated thus far, has been an exceptional story, and the Hidden Inventory arc is a step above even that. On top of that, it’s another chance to see JJK’s gorgeous animation on the big screen, so I would recommend you not pass that opportunity up. The content itself is basically the same, aside from, again, a little bit at the beginning and end, but it’s good content nonetheless. And since we still have no idea when we’ll even be getting more of the anime, it’s a good chance to reacquaint yourself with it by starting from the chronological beginning. Heck, you can do what I’m doing and jump from this right into the 0 movie and kick off a whole ass rewatch of both seasons! Or maybe take your time and cry about the loss of such a great bromance. Whatever you do, you’ve got a whole life ahead of you. Unlike Geto.