Jujutsu Kaisen Mangaka Gege Akutami Reveals His Love For Marvel Movies

The characters in a manga will often overshadow their creators. This is especially true for mangaka who create works like Jujutsu Kaisen.

The manga uses horror infused themes to create a world that will grab would-be readers. Its realism and emphasis on military power also makes it unique. Unlike some other WSJ series, it pulls no punches when it comes to violence and horror.

Spider-Man

Gege Akutami is a popular mangaka that has worked on several series, including Jujutsu Kaisen and Burn the Witch. The latter was a hit that saw its anime adaptation air in 2020 and now is one of Shueisha's most popular Shounen series.

Akutami is a classically trained artist and takes inspiration from many different mangaka. He looks up to Yusuke Murata for Eyeshield 21, Tite Kubo for Bleach, and Masashi Kishimoto for Naruto. He also cites American horror movies as a major influence.

Gege is a fan of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies and was excited to learn that Alfred Molina would be reprising his role as Dr. Otto Octavius in Doctor Strange. This has him eager to see the film and is confident that fans will enjoy it too. MAPPA is doing the translation for the series and is working closely with Akutami to make sure that the adaptation stays true to the original manga.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange, the multiverse-breaking magical sorcerer, has been a star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since he first entered it in 2016. Since then, Benedict Cumbermagic has brought his magic to such sagas as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: Infinity War.

The mangaka, who is known to use he/him pronouns in their author comments, has always been a big fan of Sam Raimi’s work and when Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness came out in theaters, Gege Akutami made sure to see it.

In 2021’s Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the protagonist Yuta Okkotsu shares many similarities to the film’s Doctor Strange in that both have a powerful Special Grade Cursed Spirit that clings to them and threatens to violently attack those who would harm him. Yuta, voiced by Megumi Ogata in the Japanese version and Kayleigh McKee in the English adaptation of the series, also has to deal with inner beings that have different personalities. Akutami was able to relate to this aspect of the film and was pleased with it.

Avengers: Endgame

In the past, Jujutsu Kaisen mangaka Gege Akutami has been quite open about his love for Marvel movies. This is particularly true of the latest installment, Avengers: Endgame.

In many ways, Endgame had a lot on its shoulders. Not only did it have to be an excellent movie on its own, but it also had to answer the questions left behind by Infinity War.

The ending was everything that fans could've hoped for and more. Seeing Steve Rogers finally get his moment to slam that mighty hammer down on Thanos was more than anyone could've asked for.

Even though Endgame was a fantastic superhero movie, it did rely on the same kind of spectacle that makes Marvel films so great. And that's okay, because that's what made it so special. Art tends to overshadow its creators, so it's not surprising that most people don't know who Gege Akutami is. That's fine, though, because it suits his character Yuta just perfectly.

Avengers: Infinity War

Jujutsu Kaisen mangaka Gege Akutami is a fan of Marvel movies. The darkly action series blends macabre violence and horror infused themes to create a world of Jujutsu sorcerers that would be right at home in the MCU. Akutami recently shared his love for the movie in an author comment in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

He pointed out that the storyline in Infinity War is very similar to his own work with its protagonists possessing extraordinary, untamed power. In addition, he compared Yuta Okkotsu to the Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist Itadori, both of whom have grotesque Special Grade Cursed Spirits that cling to them and attack anyone who threatens their master.

He also noted that Sukuna’s binding vow to Itadori allowed him control over her body, but it came with heavy restrictions. He also pointed out that the MCU has been built on the principle of “leave no man, woman or child behind.” This could be a hint at how the Russo brothers’ Infinity War will end with Shuri, Nebula and Rocket all disappearing, as well as Tony Stark’s eulogy for his fallen comrades.

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