The Evolution of Art in Jujutsu Kaisen

[00:00:00]Jiujitsu Kaizen is one of the most popular series to release over the past eight years. From having endearing characters, a high octane fights, a dark supernatural story, a compelling power system, and a stellar anime adaptation, it had all the necessities that was deserving of it, capturing the masses and becoming a worldwide hit. But what about when it comes to the art presented in the manga? Gagege Akutami's art style has had its fair share of praise as well as criticism across the years, depending on who you ask. Some of these opinions change over time. Just like how Gay's art gradually goes through its own unique set of alterations during its six-year run, and because of this evolution that takes place, more and more differentiating stances on his art are continuously formed. In order to assess where such strong notions come from, we've got to look back on the journey of Gage's art through Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen. For me, there are three main stages of drastic change to his art that I would like to focus on. And because I'll be going through right up to the end of Gage's current art style, this of course means there'll be spoilers ahead for the entirety of the Jiujutsu Kaizen manga. So, please be aware. If you also happen to enjoy what I talk about today, then please do hit the subscribe button, click the notification bell, and give the video a like. Only takes a second and it helps me out a lot. And with that being said, we can't start this analysis from volume 1. But instead, we're going to take it back to volume zero.

[00:01:20]Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen Zero presents to us the most stark contrast in style compared to what we see later down the road for Gagege's art journey. Yet, it's also the birthplace of stylistic traits he leans into and develops upon. For starters, this is a much softer approach to his work that we'll ever see from him.

[00:01:36]Character heads are wider with more roundness to them, and that in turn affects other parts of the body. Ears and eyes are the biggest standouts when it comes to enlargement in size, while hands and legs appear a lot more plumper. Though granted, throughout these first four chapters, we do see Gagege go back and forth on how he wants to draw certain sections of the body, like with hands, as we'll jump from sausage fingers to sharp rectangular shapes. It's clear he's trying to find the right balance of both as we figure out which design trait he decides to foster a few chapters later. And especially once the main Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen series launches, but as of right now, everything just feels more on the softer side due to Gage's lineup being very clean and smooth. He makes sure the shapes of these characters are as identifiable as can be as his immaculate control with his heavy black line weight really helps to further launch his art more to the forefront against the contrast of white pages. It all feels very tidy which is funny to say considering how such a word would be the furthest thing to cool Gay's art in the future. He doesn't over complicate things as even wrinkles on clothing and hair strands are kept either minimal or drawn as strong clear shapes. He keeps the structure of everything intact and not wanting to lose control over the foundation he's built upon. This brings me to two aspects of this art style that I feel doesn't reach the heights Gay is attempting to obtain. And keep in mind, I'm only saying this because I have future context of the absolute best level Gay pushes himself to further down the line. Because of how bold and clean he draws for this specific time period is, which in turn creates a softer atmosphere, the more intense looking shots of these first few chapters don't fully tap into that level of intimidation Gay is trying to pull off.

[00:03:12]To me, it feels obvious that he's on the cusp of hitting that bullseye. But because his art style has been fairly controlled up to this point, he slightly misses that mark to create a lasting impact due to possibly being afraid to push out of his comfort zone and be a tad bit more chaotic with the visuals he's presenting. But again, a lot of this is due to the art style he's locked himself into for now. I think probably the most notable example of this for me is this panel of Ghetto. Due to Gage drawing faces with a wide simple structure where there's plenty of space, when he attempts to make them compact with more detail to show off an intense emotion, it just feels like two different styles are conflicting, which in turn makes the final product a bit awkward. There's just a bit of a disconnect going on between the expression and how everything surrounding it is drawn. These problems don't last for too long. However, as it's shown in later panels that Gagegeay is able to successfully lean more into that chaotic nature he wants to bring to this series, it starts to now become our glimpse into the type of art style we know JJK to be. Line art has become less smooth and has in a sense been freed from what could have been considered a restraint holding back the potential Gay always wanted his art to reach. In my opinion, the art style shown in JJK Zero just doesn't suit the type of story and visuals he wants to do. Leaving behind this softer, rounder approach to pursue a more jagged and all-around harsher look was probably the most natural next evolution for him to take. Especially if Gage is clearly showing interest in leaning towards rougher action set pieces and intense visual imagery. With that being said, let's take a look at that next step.

[00:04:44]Despite saying Gage's art style begins to go through a transformation for the better, it's not like it's leaving behind every single element that was present in volume zero. For example, characters are still drawn rather clean with an emphasis on creating strong character shapes which are presented through the posing. And while I don't think the quote unquote messiness that we know Gage's art for hasn't exactly come to fruition just yet, there are a ton of early signs of such a style being born by how he draws smear lines for character actions as they create the perfect illusion of feeling like a quick force of power being unleashed in a single movement. However, because his art still has some of that minimalistic detail to keep things simple, while also not having as strong as line depth anymore that I previously praised about, it in turn does make some of the action be hard to read on first glance because of how it clashes with the white on the page. Due to the thin line weight for characters all being the same, certain scenes end up losing a bit of impact because of how washed out things tend to feel. For me, this is the weakest side of Gagegeay's messier art due to the drawings bleeding together where I feel like adding in screen tones would go a long way to help bring certain elements to the forefront to stand out. Though, as I said, the foundation is there. It's just slowly being built upon. An example is how Gage has definitely become accepting with adding more detail through shading. Whether it's to show the wrinkles on clothes or to portray shadows wrapping around a cursed spirit to give it more of an intense look. This type of shading has become an iconic part of Gage style as it helps his art come off as grittier, which helps for the type of dark, violent story he proceeds to dive deeper with. A favorite of mine is how he applies this type of shading to his character's hands. It assists in producing quite literally a stronger, firmer final result in comparison to how clean they looked in volume zero. Due to the hands and fingers being drawn in a rather blocky rectangular look. Appearance-wise, they naturally convey a tougher tone than if they were round and smooth instead. They feel sharp and heavy as the shadows only help further communicate this by making them appear harsher and slightly unrefined. And this is all a perfect fit for JJK considering this series is filled with brutally wild combat scenes where majority of the time characters are just throwing raw hands. They're drawn like they're made to box. And that's exactly the type of brutal honesty these hands are conveying.

[00:06:55]Speaking of having that straightedge look, which again not only helps with creating strong silhouette suitable for some fun dynamic posing, but as well as altogether making the characters feel hardened and battle ready. It sets the stage for a manga that's filled with all kinds of monsters. This is the standard that's set. It's also no surprise that Yoshihiro Togashi's HunterX Hunter has had a massive influence over Gagege's work, especially when it comes to his art. While I do think Togashi's work overall is a lot more rounded, cleaner, and detailed in most instances, elements such as wrinkles on clothing, muscle details, and shading feel very akin to what we're used to seeing in Gagege's art. While he most definitely makes this style his own, it's very clear to see where he got this foundation from and continue to build upon it in his own unique way. Skipping ahead to the Shabuya arc is where I believe Gage's art flourishes at a consistent rate from start to end, pulling off some of the most visually impressive work he's ever penned up to this point. This is where Gigay starts to be more expressive with his line depth due to his art being a lot more scratchy, which creates a striking bonus to its craft, especially through the thicker blobs of his penstrokes that make it feel as if the artwork is so intense that is bubbling up, rising from the page. And to be fair, there are examples of this in the previous arcs, but because of how Shabuya is filled with back-to-back fights, I believe this is the arc that allowed him to truly show off how intense his penmanship can be. And while we're speaking about fights, I want to discuss how Gagege handles his choreography as it's probably one of the most divisive aspects about his work.

[00:08:21]Many argue it can be hard to follow the structure Gagege has laid out that he wants you to follow. Due to his art already being on the fairly messy side, and I mean that with love, some readers tend to get lost in the flow of combat, arguing it to be too chaotic to tell what exactly is going on. And while I can understand this sentiment to some degree, as not every fight will be presented perfectly, I honestly just don't agree with this statement. I think Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen has some of the best choreography I've ever seen in modern-day shownen. From the staging of characters, layout of the panels, and presentation of the art, it's very clear Gigay has taken a lot of consideration into not only making these battles as exciting as can be, but most importantly to make them digestible for your own enjoyment. This page from the Yuguji versus Choso fight is one of my favorite examples of how Gage has a perfect grasp of creating a natural flow between action set pieces. We first follow the clear wide motion line created by Yuji's foot down the page of him pushing Choso's hand out of the way. But due to this new motion line created in the middle, our eyes immediately get directed towards that sudden breakoff to follow that fresh path as we discover it's Yugji slamming his hand onto the ground to change the position of his body. Once again, we're then directed to look up in a slight curved motion due to the speed lines from Yuji's other hand and head mapping out a direction for us to follow. Despite the original purpose of these lines indicating that these body parts are moving down, yet this is all very intentional and well placaced from Gagege because we're not supposed to follow the start and end of every movement. This is a fast-paced battle, and so to further emphasize this, it makes sense that we only manage to see actions either halfway through or when they're about to hit their climax, as it's like we're just barely keeping up ourselves. A perfect example of this is the very next action Gay wants you to pursue on this page. Following the previous speed lines, our eyes are led up to another motion line, similar to the very first action we tracked, but this time it's already in the middle of being catapulted to the right due to coming in from the left of the panel as we're just in time to see the final delivery. I briefly mentioned how Gage had crafted Yuji's action motions to follow a curved flow. As now it's time to fully complete that circular motion.

[00:10:23]Due to us now understanding that Yuji's movements are leading us back round, we know the direction his foot is going to take, which is of course back down to Choso. Thanks to the very first motion line, we once again follow its direction down. And because of the big overlapping action line that crosses over from the bottom panel, we immediately know we're supposed to pursue this at last. Leading us to the final impact of all this buildup. Making a simple maneuver feel more important and heavy thanks to such a well-crafted ladder of motions is a testament to the careful planning Gay takes with his choreography and page layouts. To me, this is Gage Akutami's work at his absolute best. And that seems to be a fairly common statement despite some individuals not always agreeing. This is how I ended up growing more fond of Gigi's work. Because characters are already drawn in this rough style, it allows them to transition perfectly into combat without feeling too much of that whiplash. It's like you're already prepared for the next stage of style Gigi's art is about to head towards. In fact, it's when he leans into being more stylish and exaggerated with his work in general is where his art shines the brightest. I truly believe Gigi's art style was born to move. It was made to be flashy and always on the go, as it's where he gains his rhythm for producing some breathtaking pieces of art. And that's not to say scenes that don't involve combat or dramatic posing are bad. While I do believe his art is typically at its quote unquote weakest when characters are just standing around not looking too interesting, it's really a minimal price to pay in exchange for the action set pieces we get spoiled with moments later. And again, I think this style is perfect for Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen because of how scratchy the line art can be. It in a way reinforces the sense of how these characters are barely holding themselves together in this dark twisted world as there's an awareness of some type of vulnerability being held within them for their emotions to spill out at any second. The best example of this for me is during Shabuya where Yuji's character is quite literally collapsing right before our very eyes as those pentup emotions he had been carrying had finally reached its breaking point resulting in him being a complete and utter mess. As I've emphasized over and over again, Gagegeay is at his absolute best when it comes to truly demonstrating how much freedom his characters have in terms of expressing themselves. Whether that be through the action, animated reactions, or dynamic presentation. While I do believe Gage keeps this upright to the end of the series, his art does continue to go through some changes towards later sections, as some would argue it's for the better, while others say it was for the worst. [music] If you didn't like Jiu-Jitsu Cousins art before, then most likely you definitely wouldn't be warming up to it during this final stretch. To phrase it as simply as possible, the characters go through a change in design where they're drawn to be a lot more bulkier, especially in the face, neck, and torso. Faces no longer feel as triangular with how sharp they used to be, as they're now much more broader due to the wideness of the chin.

[00:13:07]This also applies to the shoulders, which in turn creates a larger torso.

[00:13:12]For example, here we have a panel from chapter 264 of a flashback with Gojo inside Jo's domain. Now, if we go back to this part in the story the chapter is referencing, which is chapter 15, we can see the differences almost immediately.

[00:13:26]Granted, these are both different angles, but it doesn't mean that there hasn't been a change in approach when it comes to design philosophy over time.

[00:13:32]Gojo's body is very clearly a lot more bigger in shape, where previously he was seen to be a lot more slender. as the next panel down shows a perfect side-by-side example of the change in art direction. Faces used to be smaller and sharper, but have now widened due to the jaw lines being broadened as we get bigger, more noticeable size chins.

[00:13:50]While I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with this look, for me personally, it does lose a bit of that charm that I appreciated from Gage's earlier art. The characters having such blocky faces isn't really appealing to me, as it just doesn't have too much going for it besides giving the characters a more mature look. While I don't hate it, I don't particularly feel strongly about it either. And unfortunately, I do feel as if expressions suffer a bit due to this change in facial structure, too, as they just feel too stiff and awkward looking for my liking. Again, this isn't an issue that happens all the time, as I think Sukuna especially continues to show a great sense of emotion radiating off from his face. However, an element of Gagegeay's art that I feel does get a bit too off the rails for my liking is when it comes to him implementing details onto the characters. Throughout the final arc, I feel as if he leaned too heavily into the bad habit of drawing a bunch of scattered lines for the wrinkles of clothes and muscles. My problem with this is that they feel like they're too randomly placed and don't have a sense of natural flow or correlation to them, especially in line weight, as it tends to all blend together and feel a bit too messy. I think what's also unfortunate is that it ends up making these areas feel more flat, which shouldn't be the case since the reason details like these are added in to begin with is to add more depth to the designs where you can clearly grasp an understanding of the weight being portrayed in the image. This to me is by far my biggest gripe with Gay's approach to his art at this point in the story.

[00:15:13]But what about his presentation for the fights in general? While I do believe his battles are still enjoyable to read due to carrying that sense of strong kinetic energy with how dynamic the action set pieces are while maintaining good flow in choreography and panel usage, I can't help but feel at times a slight lack of weight behind certain attacks due to the change in Gage's approach to line depth. We've lost a bit of that strong line work and weight to the characters that helped them feel bold and solid, which worked handinhand with the rough style he was going for.

[00:15:41]That's not to say it's gone completely, but it just feels more washed out and not as focused and precise as before.

[00:15:47]And because in this section, Gagege draws with rougher thin lines that don't carry much depth to them, everything begins to feel slightly too messy for my liking, especially during the action. At times, it just doesn't pack that much heaviness as I would like it to carry.

[00:16:00]Like, the weight of their attack isn't really all that present. I think it's also because of how thin the lines on characters are. they tend to blend in a bit too much into the flurry of speed lines behind them. This is especially the case in the final arc due to how long of a non-stop battle it is. And to reiterate, I don't think Gage's art is bad. More so, I know these are problems he can easily avoid because they weren't present in what came before. I don't have a doubt in my mind that a strong reason for this slight decline in art presentation is due to the grueling demand schedule of Weekly Shonen Jump, which is unfortunately just one case of many. There were multiple times throughout this arc where pages would be published in the rough draft. While some chapters had to be split up in two parts due to Gage being too sick to finish the whole thing. Of course, he has gone back to finish these chapters as intended.

[00:16:49]But it really sucks how it's come to this to begin with where we simply can't see his best work first and foremost.

[00:16:55]Instead, we're watching him trying to keep up the pace, feeling as frantic as this all-out war against Sukuna. Gagege was clearly fighting his own battles throughout Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen's run. So, I don't want it to come across like I don't think his art isn't worth praising here, despite the issues I have with it.

[00:17:11]There's a bunch of stellar looking art here despite Gage's worsening health, which is not only a testament to how skilled of an artist he is, but also how much he truly cares for this craft. Love it or hate it, Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen's art is one of the more unique styles of artwork to come out from Weekly Shonen Jump. And whatever Gage decides to pursue next in the future, I can only hope he's allowed to let his art skills truly flourish with no demanding restraints, as it would be a shame to lose those strong attributes he carries as an artist. In the meantime, all we can do is appreciate what he's given us with Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen as we wait to see what's next.