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‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ Gets New Teaser, North American Release Date

The prequel to the acclaimed anime series will explore the history of a high school for sorcerers, and the cursed energy of its strange students.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the much-anticipated prequel to Gege Akutami’s acclaimed dark fantasy manga series, Jujutsu Kaisen, now has a North American release date.

Crunchyroll announced that both subtitled and English-dubbed versions of the forthcoming feature will hit their first batch of western theaters March 18, 2022. The film is being distributed in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand by Crunchyroll in association with Funimation and in additional European countries by Crunchyroll and Wakanim; as of now, the film is set for release in over 1,500 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. Dates for release the U.K. and other western territories have yet to be disclosed.

A brand-new teaser trailer for the film accompanied the announcement. The 40-second spot ominously alludes to “The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons” -- a terrorist attack that will be unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Kyoto and Shinjuku at sunset on December 24. We’re also introduced to Rika Orimoto, a cursed spirit who haunts her boyfriend, Yuta Okkotsu, after dying tragically in a car crash. 

In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, a curse is a demonic spirit created by negative emotion. Yuta’s mentor, a sorcerer named Satoru Gojo, works to break Rika’s curse as it haunts him in his everyday life. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 explores the series’ lore by delving into the history of the Tokyo Jujutsu High School -- a special academy devoted to developing jujutsu sorcerers, where Satoru enrolls Yuta so he can learn to control his cursed energy.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is animated by MAPPA and directed by series vet Sunghoo Park and written by Hiroshi Seko. Voice actor Megumi Ogata stars as Yuta, and is joined by cast members Kana Hanazawa, Mikako Komatsu, Koki Uchiyama, Tomokazu Seki, Yuichi Nakamura, and Takahiro Sakurai.

In a nod to the date of The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, the film debuted in theaters in Japan on December 24, 2021. It went on to garner a Japan Academy Film Prize nomination for the Animation of the Year, alongside Belle, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, and Sing a Bit of Harmony. The winner in that category will be announced during the ceremony’s broadcast on March 11.

You can also listen to the official soundtrack here.

Watch the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 teaser below:

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Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'