Gege's original plan for Jujutsu Kaisen shows the happy life Megumi could have had

Modified Jul 16, 2024 13:00 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen Exhibition 2024 is taking place in Tokyo from July 6 to August 27, 2024, and it has been the talk of the town since it started. The exhibition featured Gege Akutami, who answered fans' burning questions regarding his magnum opus.

Gege Akutami has been open about his work, declaring Ryomen Sukuna a perfect antagonist and revealing the inspirations behind some of his characters. He is not holding back on answering the spiciest questions from his fans.

However, his most recent revelation could be the biggest one yet—the start of his most influential work. He shared that the initial draft of Jujutsu Kaisen was titled Jujutsu Sousen. During the exhibition, the author shared the first chapter of this draft with fans, which featured another protagonist who had an entirely different story, but some aspects of this initial draft were still the same.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

Gege Akutami reveals the initial draft for Jujutsu Kaisen

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During the Jujutsu Kaisen Exhibition, Gege Akutami revealed the first draft he submitted to Weekly Shounen Jump (WSJ). This draft was titled Jujutsu Sousen, which roughly translates to 'Sorcery War' (similar to the original title Jujutsu Kaisen, which translates to 'Sorcery Fight').

Unfortunately, this draft was rejected by the WSJ editors, but the reason behind it is unknown. The reason could be related to how its plotline was more 'seinen' rather than 'shounen.' So, the author took back and did some tweaking to his manga, creating Jujutsu Kaisen, one of the best Shounen and most popular manga series.

Megumi as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Jujutsu Sousen featured Fushigoro Megumi as its central protagonist, rather than Itadori Yuji. Moreover, Tsumiki, Megumi's sister, was present with his brother, but she soon fell prey to disease, just like what happened in the current series.

Additionally, Megumi was featured as the host of Ryomen Sukuna, and the initial draft started with the Culling Game arc, which is one of the key arcs of the current series that will be featured in the anime adaptation's third season. But more importantly, Megumi had a happy life to start with because he had his family, his sister, with him.

Jujutsu Sousen overview

Tsumiki as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

After graduating from middle school, Megumi planned on getting a job and even rejected a scholarship to go to high school. The reason behind this was that he wanted to take care of his sister, Tsumiki, who was not only blind but also had a mysterious disease.

One day, during a hospital visit, Fushigoro Megumi encountered Itadori Yuji, whose grandfather had just passed away (similar to the current series). At first, Megumi avoided interaction with him, but after Tsumiki encouraged him, Itadori and Megumi became friends.

Ryomen Sukuna as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

A girl, who was possessed by a cursed spirit, was running amok in the hospital, and to catch her, Gojo Satoru and Ichiji were dispatched (in the current series, Gojo Satoru was on another mission when a cursed spirit appeared). Megumi encountered this possessed girl and fell to the ground. Suddenly, he started hearing a voice inside his head.

This was the disease (most probably Sukuna), similar to the one Tsumiki had, and it revealed to Megumi how the Culling Games were about to start (in the current state, Sukuna was manifested inside Itadori after the latter ate one of his cursed fingers). The disease took over Megumi's body and killed the girl, who was possessed by another cursed spirit.

Gojo Satoru as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Itadori also arrived in time, but the disease warned him to stay away. Fortunately, Gojo Satoru appeared and restrained Megumi's head. The disease began to berate Gojo Satoru, but the sorcerer claimed that he was the stronger one, so no one could harm him (pretty similar to the current series).

Some more characters were restraining some other cursed spirits in other parts of the hospital. There was a character with Judge's gravel (Higurama) and a character with pointy hair (Kashimo), a sorcerer wearing glasses and a suit (Kento Nanami). Goho then took all three of them, Megumi, Fushigoro, and Tsumiki, to the Jujutsu headquarters, where he told them about the Culling Games.

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Edited by Shubham Soni