Gege Akutami Elaborates On The Influence Of Bleach & Naruto On Jujutsu Kaisen

It is no secret that Gege Akutami has taken a leaf out of both Bleach and Naruto for his work Jujutsu Kaisen – be it the inspiration behind Gojo or even the creation of a trio featuring Itadori, Megumi & Nobara.

However, the author has elaborated more on the influence on Bleach and Naruto in Jujutsu Kaisen. This information came to light in a Q&A catalog that was handed out as a part of the Jujutsu Kaisen Exhibition held at Shibuya in July 2024.

According to Akutami, the dynamic between Naruto Uzumaki and the Nine-Tailed Fox Kurama in Naruto served as a model for the relationships between Itadori Yuji and Sukuna, as well as Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto in JJK.

Both these characters house a demon inside them, and the inspiration was drawn from Naruto – which made the trope mainstream and ultra-popular.

However, Akutami decided to move away from the reconciliation that had happened between Naruto and Kurama when it came to Jujutsu Kaisen.

He did make Okkotsu reconcile with Rika Orimoto by the end of JJK 0, however, the author opted for a more antagonistic portrayal of Sukuna, making sure that his ideals don’t align with that of Itadori.

Akutami also cited Bleach as a significant influence, particularly in terms of the conscious choice that Ichigo took to become a soul reaper (shinigami).

Despite being thrust into an unexpected situation involving Rukia, Ichigo chose to become a shinigami by his own volition. Akutami consciously used this theme as a blueprint when he made Itadori ingest Sukuna’s finger.

Check out Akutami’s entire answer below (translation credits: Soukatsu on Twitter):

In Naruto, it’s the relationship between the main character Uzumaki Naruto and the Nine Tailed Fox (Kurama). For Itadori, it’s Sukuna and for Okkotsu, it’s Rika. In Volume 0, the story ended in reconciliation like in Naruto, but I thought Jujutsu Kaisen needed a different approach, so I tried to portray Sukuna as someone completely incompatible [with Itadori]. For Bleach, it’s the story framework. The protagonist Ichigo becomes a shinigami of his own volition after getting swept up in an unexpected incident. I was really conscious of the “of his own will” aspect in Jujutsu Kaisen when Itadori ingests the cursed object.

The Q&A’s from the exhibition also revealed that Akutami had initially planned on making Megumi the protagonist in the original draft of Jujutsu Kaisen.

However, the idea got rejected which led to him choosing Itadori, despite the possibility of him making the story bland, as the main character of the series.

In Akutami’s mind, Fushiguro’s character was already set in stone, thanks to him being the protagonist in the original draft. So when it came to the new draft, Akutami added some elements from Rukia’s role as a senpai and competent professional into the character.

According to the author, this was because Fushiguro needed a different approach to justice than Ichigo. And this was quite evident from Fushiguro’s character in Jujutsu Kaisen, who was the exact opposite of Itadori when it came to their ideals.

This was highlighted well enough in the fearsome womb arc.

At his core, Fushiguro hasn’t changed but, in contrast to Sousen, Kaisen was inspired by the first chapter of Bleach, and I felt that Fushiguro needed a different approach to justice compared to Ichigo, so I added that and other elements similar to Rukia’s position as a senpai and competent professional.

Jujutsu Kaisen manga, which began serializing in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 2018.

As of July 2024, the chapters of the manga have been collected into 27 tankobon volumes, with over 90 million copies in circulation.

Source: Jujutsu Kaisen exhibition via Soukatsu