One of the elements of Jujutsu KaisenIts appeal to its fan base is its dynamic fight scenes, and none have generated more buzz than Gojo vs Sukuna recently. The artwork of the series shows that its author – Gege Akutami – has a great mastery of how to draw manga and a unique ability to translate what he sees into illustrations on paper. Creating such mesmerizing visuals and shots comes with a lot of challenges as it is not easy to create amazing action sequences that can be easily understood by everyone.
Recently, Akutami shared his approach to creating great and understandable drawings in an interview. According to Akutami, “It is the ability to communicate what is happening in a situation.” You can find the interview in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 44 – partial translation shared by @soukatsu on X (formerly Twitter).
During the interview, Akutami was asked: “what is the difference between beautiful drawings and drawings that are easy to understand?”, to which he responded with an explanation of how a good artist can have difficulty creating create a scene that is both visually interesting and easy to read. According to Akutami, the problem is that there are too many “perspective options” and a lack of “point of view” options available in other media such as photography or video.
Choosing different perspectives is key to the great battles of Jujutsu Kaisen
Akutami’s approach to creating a beautiful and relatable fight scene is fun and eye-opening. He overcomes the limits of paper and ink by bypassing them. Instead, he treats fight scenes like a video by covering all the angles that viewers of the movie or TV show will have access to during the broadcast. As a result, Jujutsu Kaisen’s fight scenes are extremely vivid. Akutami argues that this could happen if artists avoided sticking to just one angle in their drawings. Instead, says Akutami, “to convey a situation clearly in an illustration, you can use three different angles.”
Akutami illustrates his meaning by analyzing a step-by-step, seven-page battle scene from the recent battle between Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna. Akutami divides the fight into “long or wide” angled shots, “medium or medium shots,” and “close-ups.” They show movement without actually moving. He does this by taking advantage of how viewers are used to watching movies and television and their expectations of what makes a good “live-action” action scene. Essentially, Gege Akutami’s approach isn’t much different from how a film or TV director approaches a fight scene.
There are photos that show the warriors in relation to their surroundings, such as trees, buildings, and other nearby landmarks. These angles help viewers understand the area of operation or battle zone. Next are actual scenes of the battle. This is the reality of the scene. Here, viewers will see how the warriors’ kicks, punches and strikes begin and end. Finally, there are close-up shots of the warriors’ eyes or facial expressions. These shots tell the viewer how nervous or confident the opponent is or how much pain they must endure when the opponent lands a successful blow.
It’s no surprise that fans continue to love and appreciate the art, style, and story of Jujutsu Kaisen. Gege Akutami has a unique approach to action scenes that allows him to keep readers captivated while also not leaving them confused about what is happening. The fight between Gojo and Sukuna is a perfect example of this, and it will remain in people’s memories. Jujutsu Kaisenits fans for a very long time.
Source: @soukatsu