WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0, now in theaters.
Few things are more important in a story than its protagonist. As the vessel guiding the audience through the world and the center of it, this character can make or break a story. They need to be relatable to the viewer and compelling in order to make people care about their adventures. Shonen anime typically achieve this by having protagonists who are, in some way, underdogs. Deku from My Hero Academia was born without powers in a world where they're the norm and Naruto starts his story as the orphan hated by his community.
Whether it's because it's what the fans expect or a genuine love of the trope, audiences of shonen anime want a protagonist who they can root for, even against the worst odds. Jujutsu Kaisen now has two protagonists in its roster: Itadori Yuji from the series proper and Okkotsu Yuta from the new movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Both boys adhere to this trend, but they go about it in different ways. However, they're each other's opposites in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Which one is the better protagonist for the series they inhabit?
The most notable differences between the two are their personalities and power levels. While Yuji struggles to control his cursed energy, he's on par with the rest of the cast in terms of power level and social standing. He's confident and can make friends with most people, while also being physically gifted enough to hold his own in a fight from the beginning of his story. Yuta, meanwhile, is passive and awkward. He finds it difficult to connect with others, yet he has immense power because of his connection to Rika.
These disparities lead to completely different story arcs. Yuji has a goal from the beginning of his story: he wants to ensure that people only die when their time naturally comes. He takes this desire and uses it as the reason to be Sukuna's vessel. If he succeeds in containing all of this powerful monster and ending his reign, then countless strangers will be saved an untimely death. Yuji knows why he's at Jujutsu High and what he wants to do while he's there, but he has to become strong enough to achieve his goals. His growth as a character comes from improving his sorcery abilities and reinforcing his cause.
Yuta's growth throughout the movie was internal. The story began with him admitting to wanting to end his own life but being unable to go through with it. Instead, he thought becoming a recluse would be the best decision so that nobody else is harmed by the curse that is Rika. Yuta is all but dragged to Jujutsu High and enrolled there, only coming along because Gojo Satoru told him that he'll be lonely. Yes, he improves his fighting abilities and takes part in plenty of fights. However, these are not his standout scenes. Yuta's most memorable moment is when he realized that he has things that he wanted to live for. He wanted to stay with the friends he's made at Jujutsu High, and he wanted to break Rika's curse, but no turnaround is greater than the boy who once wanted to die deciding that he wants to live.
When mangaka Gege Akutami was given the chance to extend Jujutsu Kaisen beyond this short story, they needed a character who would take their world in a whole new direction. With this in mind, had Yuta remained the protagonist and Jujutsu Kaisen the series became an extended version of the one-shot, he could have become annoying. Not only for fans who read the one shot and may have wound up reading the same story with more filler but for those new to the series as well. The steady growth of Yuta throughout four chapters of manga or a movie could have become stunted in a longer format, making him a consistently weak lead in a series known for its action.
In this way, Yuji is the perfect protagonist for shonen battle anime like Jujutsu Kaisen. His character type hearkens back to the best of classics like Dragon Ball Z because he's built for adrenaline-filled fight scenes. Yuji will go past his limit when the moment calls for it. He'll finally perfect the move he's been working on in previous episodes and mesh well with any ally. Yuta will fight and pull through all the same, but he'll only do so when backed into a corner.
That said, Yuta is a compelling character who garnered the love of many movie-goers, some of whom now prefer Yuta to Yuji. Yuta has his own appeal, and it's to the anime fans who like more complex characters and internal conflicts.
