Jujutsu Kaisen's compelling shonen universe is bigger and better than ever with each new anime episode or chapter of author Gege Akutami's original manga, and the new Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie expanded on this franchise's lore, combat system and characters even more. Not only was the villain Geto Suguru deepened, but so was the Jujutsu Kaisen world as a whole.
The anime's first season firmly established the Tokyo and Kyoto schools as signification locations in the world of sorcery, and at one point in Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the powerful Gojo Satoru mentioned a third sorcery school: the Ainu school. This has intriguing implications for future adventures in the franchise in terms of its characters, combat system and real-world representation.
The Possibility Of Ainu Characters In Jujutsu Kaisen
The Jujutsu Kaisen movie modestly expanded the world of curses and sorcery with an in-depth exploration of how Geto Suguru rose to power, as well as showcasing a handful of Geto's movie-exclusive followers and some exploration of how Inumaki Toge's unique sorcery works. Most of all, Satoru Gojo mentioned the existence of the Ainu sorcery school in addition to the Tokyo and Kyoto schools, upping the total of known sorcery schools to three. In Jujutsu Kaisen 0, only students and staff of the Tokyo and Kyoto schools were seen, such as Zenin Maki and Todo Aoi, but the mere mention of the Ainu school helps expand the lore greatly and promises some fascinating new developments in the future.
For the most part, the Tokyo and Kyoto schools are modeled after modern Japan, with school uniforms, traditional Japanese architecture and a three-grade system for students, making these schools familiar and intuitive for Japanese fans. By contrast, it's likely that the not-yet-seen Ainu sorcery school will be modeled after additional Ainu culture, from the architecture of its campus to the uniforms of its students, and possibly even their sorcery style and the language they speak.
The Ainu people are indigenous to Hokkaido and parts of Russia, being an ethnic minority in modern Japan, and they only make token appearances in most anime and manga. It's possible that future seasons of Jujutsu Kaisen will do something similar, adding a unique indigenous flavor to how sorcery is done. The Ainu school's sorcery and combat style could be based on traditional Ainu beliefs and their hunting skills, either in function, aesthetics or both. That could greatly enrich Jujutsu Kaisen's already stellar combat system while adding some welcome representation to the story.
How Jujutsu Kaisen Can Join The Trend Of Representation In Anime
While it's true that representation of various communities and identities still has a way to go in the world of anime and manga, remarkable strides have been made in the 21st century, and that sets an excellent precedent for Jujutsu Kaisen to follow, especially if the anime follows up on its hint of an Ainu school of sorcery. For the most part, Japan is a mono-ethnic nation, with around 98% of all citizens being Japanese, but there is also the indigenous Ainu culture in Hokkaido, and they made recent appearances in anime such as Shaman King's remake and the Golden Kamuy historical anime series.
Shaman King, for example, features the Ainu character Horokeru Usui, whose appearance and fighting style reflect his authentic Ainu heritage, and if that series can pull off a tasteful representation of the Ainu, similar shonen series such as Jujutsu Kaisen can do the same and explore how sorcery is done up north in Hokkaido. It's possible that someday, the friendly Yuji will find himself fighting alongside an indigenous sorcerer who can show him a whole new world of cursed combat.
This could fit the more general trend of improved representation in the broader world of anime, with a variety of modern series handling representation more carefully and meaningfully than ever before, from My Hero Academia's multiple trans characters to Haikyuu!!'s Aran Ojiro and much more. More than ever, anime is a global phenomenon, even if it originates almost entirely in Japan, and that makes the fanbase highly diverse in many ways.
The world of anime stands a lot to gain when it acknowledges the rich diversity in its fanbase by representing underrepresented or marginalized groups, and Jujutsu Kaisen may look to its northernmost prefecture for some much-needed representation right at home. It's time for the Ainu to make their grand debut in Jujutsu Kaisen's magical world.
