Jujutsu Kaisen will be the latest franchise to join Universal Studios' growing list of cool promotions and attractions that will probably never make their way outside of Japan.
The official Twitter account for Universal Studios Japan announced that attractions themed after Gege Akutami's smash-hit shonen anime and manga are coming to the theme park. Details about the collaboration remain scarce, but the announcement tweet teases "Appearing in front of you with an impossible sense of reality, experience the fierce battle between [Yuji] Itadori and the Curses!," suggesting that there may be some kind of Jujutsu Kaisen-themed virtual reality experience of some kind. According to the park's website, the collaboration will begin on Sept. 16, 2022 and will run until July 2, 2023.
It's no surprise that Universal would pick Jujutsu Kaisen as the subject of its next anime collaboration. Since it was created by author and artist Gege Akutami in 2017, the series has rapidly grown into one of Japan's biggest entertainment franchises of the last decade and is already one of the best-selling manga of all time, with over 65 million copies in circulation. An anime adaptation, produced by studio MAPPA (Attack on Titan: The Final Season, Chainsaw Man) completed its first season in early 2021, which was followed up by the release of the movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 at the end of the year. The prequel movie was similarly successful, becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film of 2021 and one of the most commercially successful anime movies of all time.
Universal Studios Japan has previously partnered with a number of popular anime franchises, including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, Attack on Titan and Sailor Moon, to create unique attractions for the theme park, though sadly, none of these rides, live shows and virtual reality experiences have ever made their way outside of the country. Thankfully, however, the theme park company's partnership with Japanese gaming giant Nintendo will spread worldwide, as the two company's Super Nintendo World park will expand to Universal Studios locations around the world, including locations in the United States. The mostly Super Mario-themed attractions are set to open at the park's Hollywood location in early 2023.
Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen manga is available in English from VIZ Media. The first season of the anime is available for streaming on Crunchyroll. A second season of the show has been confirmed to be in production and is currently scheduled to premiere in 2023.
Source: Twitter, Universal Studios Japan