Some of the best mangaka out there, including the creator of Jujutsu Kaisen, Gege Akutami, were inspired by the talented creators who came before them and paved the way. Many of them can recall a specific experience, often in their childhood, of reading an enthralling series and falling in love with the manga art form. These moments sparked their own inspiration, spurring them on to later create series of their own.

Gege Akutami had one such experience in his youth that went on to change the trajectory of his life entirely by inadvertently inspiring him to create one of the best shonen series of all time. In an interview with Bleach. He discovered Bleach through his older brother's Weekly Shonen Jump issues when he was a child and became obsessed with Tite Kubo's acclaimed series. Reading Bleach not only introduced him to the concept of manga, but taught him how wonderful it can be.

Bleach Was The First Manga That Jujutsu Kaisen’s Creator Was Blown Away By

Akutami Incorporated Various Aspects of Kubo’s Work, Including Supernatural Elements, Into Jujutsu Kaisen

Gege explained later in the interview that a friend in elementary school motivated him to begin creating his own art. Once he discovered his ion for drawing, he combined that with the inspiration he received through reading Bleach, in order to finally produce Jujutsu Kaisen years later.

While it's true that Jujutsu Kaisen's manga inspirations are broad, Akutami has been a true Bleach superfan for years, even itting in the interview that he wrote a full book of poems related to Bleach, titled Kumo no Kyojin, as a ion project. Akutami cited many different aspects of the series that he enjoyed, such as the use of Buddhist mythology and the series' incantations.

Bleach, written by Tite Kubo, is not only a phenomenal and action-packed series in its own right. Bleach served as a catalyst for other mangaka to incorporate similar magic and otherworldly elements into their own series. Akutami was definitely influenced by these aspects of Bleach, praising Kubo's incantations and ability to "depict scary things in a genuinely scary way," in particular. Frightening scenes and characters, evil spirits, and magical attacks that take down opponents are present in both Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Bleach’s Influence Is All Over Jujutsu Kaisen, If You Know Where To Look

From Fighting Styles to the Protagonists’ Ages, the Similarities Between the Two Series Are Abundantly Clear

One of the largest and most prominent resemblances between the two series is, of course, the inclusion of the supernatural. The idea of a soul reaper is quite similar to that of a jujutsu sorcerer, since they both use otherworldly powers to destroy evil creatures. In Jujutsu Kaisen's case, the threats are cursed spirits, which are born from humans' negative emotions, while in Bleach's case, they are hollows, corrupted human souls that don't cross over correctly to the afterlife. There are some smaller shared details between the two series as well.

Even the protagonists, Jujutsu Kaisen's Yuji Itadori and Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki, are both fifteen years old at the beginning of their respective stories. This fairly youthful age gives both characters the unique perspective of a high school student that will be relatable to teenagers, one of the shonen genres' biggest audiences. Furthermore, the series both occur in urban settings in Japan. The overall plots of Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach also share similarities, since they both follow heroes who fight against evil suèernatural threats using their own unique style of supernatural fighting that has been ed down for generations.

Jujutsu Kaisen Brought New Energy To Shonen Anime, Just Like Bleach Did

Jujutsu Kaisen Is Taking on This Influential Role in the Modern Day

The incorporation of Buddhism into both series was something Kubo and Akutami discussed briefly in the interview. Prominent examples that appear in each manga are the Death Painting Wombs. In Bleach, "those rings that appeared when Tosen used his Bankai" were engraved with the Death Painting Wombs' names, while in Jujutsu Kaisen, Death Painting Wombs take the form of personified curse-human hybrids. This is just one example of an area in which Akutami took a page out of Kubo's book and subtly paid homage to the shonen series he grew up adoring throughout both his childhood and teenage years.

Bleach was a standout series of its time, not only excelling on its own but causing countless other mangaka to take note and use the innovative series to influence their own works. In the same way that Bleach had such tremendous influence in the early 2000s on both the anime community and mangakas themselves, Jujutsu Kaisen has taken that role in the new generation.

Jujutsu Kaisen is the most popular shonen of the modern age, with breathtaking battles, impeccable character design, and an adaptation with stellar animation that have earned it a place in anime history that will last long after the series concludes. Both series also have a "cool" factor that helped them transition into mainstream culture, influencing fashion, music, and more.

Many Talented Mangaka Pay Homage to the Series They Love Through Their Works

Akutami Showed His Love and Respect for Kubo’s Work

Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen are two of the best-selling manga of all-time, and their anime series did very well too. Similarly to how so many new series are influenced by Bleach's themes, fighting styles, and quality writing that still resonates, new series will likely begin to crop up that are inspired by Akutami's masterpiece that has taken the world by storm these past few years.

Source: Edomonogatari, Gege Akutami x Tite Kubo Special Talk