Jujutsu Kaisen: New Yuta Manga to be Released Alongside Prequel Movie

Yuta Okkotsu will take the spotlight once again in a new Jujutsu Kaisen one-shot manga.

As reported by Weekly Shonen Jump News - Unofficial, series creator Gege Akutami has crafted a new standalone story focused on Yuta Okkotsu, the sword-wielding Curse user who is also the protagonist of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 prequel manga and movie. The new one-shot chapter will be released in Weekly Shonen Jump, and it will also reportedly be included in a special booklet given out to Japanese theater-goers who see the new prequel movie. The booklet will also include commentary from Akutami and the staff of the film.

Yuta was the protagonist in Jujutsu Kaisen 0,  a manga that was created by Akutami and originally published under the title "Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School." Set before Yuji Itadori is introduced to the world of Curses and sorcerers, the story instead focuses on Yuta, a young man who is haunted by the spirit of his departed childhood sweetheart, Rika. The short miniseries was published about a year before the main Jujutsu Kaisen manga series made its debut, and introduced many of the characters, such as Satoru Gojo and the villainous Suguru Geto, that would also appear in Akutami's later series. After JJK proved to be a hit, the prequel story was retroactively renamed to reflect its position in the series' timeline.

The movie adaptation of the prequel will be released in Japan on Dec. 24.  The film will be directed by Sunghoo Park, who directed the first season of the series' anime adaptation.  Park recently revealed that he originally wanted to begin the anime series with Yuta's origins, but ultimately decided that it would be better to begin with Yuji's story. Details about the movie's international release have yet to be announced.

Jujutsu Kaisen is Weekly Shonen Jump's latest smash hit. The series premiered in 2018 and recently announced that it will have 60 million copies in circulation by the end of the year, already surpassing the sales numbers of older series such as Inuyasha, Haikyuu!! and My Hero Academia. Despite taking a two-month hiatus over the summer, the series was also Japan's best-selling manga series of the year, moving over 30 million units in the region. Akutami's creation is well on its way to becoming only the 19th manga series ever to surpass a circulation of 100 million copies, joining the ranks of fellow Shonen Jump hits such as One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Naruto.

Source: Twitter