“Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo” is better than the OG manga series

When Jujutsu KaisenThe manga finally ended in 2024, the feeling was less bittersweet than pure relief. Gege Akutami’s megapopular shonen juggernaut certainly delivered a spectacle with its battles, but its story was thin. At worst, IHis fights could be frustrating and difficult to analyze, whether it was poor health trying to keep up with the rigorous weekly schedule of shonen crunch or his labyrinthine power system that had to be explained with such exhaustive mid-fight exposition that he rivaled. Bleach.

So when Jujutsu Kaisen moduleits sequel series, debuted shortly after, I braced myself for a Boruto-a continuation of style which would only double these defects. However, after catching up – curiosity finally took over – I can admit Module is not only surprisingly solid but, dare I say, better than its predecessor precisely because it avoids the criticisms that weighed down the original.

From the jump, Jujutsu Kaisen Module—written by Akutami and illustrated by Yuji Iwasaki, takes a bold step that few shonen sequels have taken: it sets itself years apart from its predecessor and embraces the reality that the era of old heroes is over, paving the way for a new generation. Of course, nostalgia lingers in the nods, cameosand a nod to the past. But these gestures never overshadow the new actors with the hollow “what if they were adults now?” with much fanfare, most Shonen series sequels rank in.

While Jujutsu Kaisen appropriateuntil the end, it always felt like it was building its power system as it went, never taking the training wheels off with explanations and shock deaths (ardently leaked/spoiled online by fans) who have never sounded deeper than their archetypes in a cool fighting manga, Module actually sets the direction of the series from the start and lets its story take center stage. And then there is the paradigm shift in its premise, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos adding aliens to the narrative gumbo of the cursed spirit-fighting series.

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(via Jujutsu Kaisen mod) pic.twitter.com/psypZUNji2

– Shonen Jump (@shonenjump) September 8, 2025

Set 68 years after the Slaughter game, in 2086, Module sees Japan at a precarious crossroads where a humanoid alien race called Simurians have arrived on Earth as refugees from a distant world, wielding a power system strikingly similar to jujutsu sorcery. The manga’s central tension so far lies in whether coexistence or conflict between wizards and Simurians will define Earth’s future.

The early chapters trace a fragile tightrope as Japan – functioning as Earth’s de facto alien representative, thanks to its supernatural wizards – seeks to understand the wandering aliens and determine whether it is possible to foster prosperity without provoking hostility. Meanwhile, the Simurians themselves struggle to rebuild their lives after years of subjugation to brutal colonization.

At the heart of this tale are the Yuka Tsuguri Okkotsu sorcerer siblings, joined by their simurian ally, Maru. For JJK fans, Yuka channels Yuta’s gentle essence with a more playful touch; Tsuguri mixes the courage of Maki Zen’in (best character; arguing with a wall) with the composure of Megumi; and Maru plays an alien version of Yuji Itadori’s golden retriever exuberance. They make a compelling trio as they venture into a supernatural back-to-basics battle from the week that went down early. JJK so much fun to read week after week before the series returns to the intergalactic elephant in the room that seems planned instead of improvised week after week. And at the top of this complex is a miraculously brilliant combo of Akutami and Iwasaki, whose past works would have made such a story impossible to pull off without highlighting the past pitfalls of both creators.

Cipher Academy is so steeped in Japanese puns that it just broke the official translation, I’m impressed pic.twitter.com/qAo9ZHGPp9

– Rukasu (@RukasuMHA) February 12, 2023

As stated previously, when Module was first announced, I was quite worried about the consistency of the series given the pedigree of its creators. As I waxed poetic about advanced stage Jujutsu Kaisen enough, Yuji Iwasaki’s previous work—Crypto Academya death game series once considered almost untranslatable, suggested a potential for even greater opacity. On paper, their duo seemed destined to be even more impossible to analyze. Yet the collaboration proved otherwise, embodying what Chainsaw man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto often wished for himself: the freedom to focus on the writing while another artist takes care of the visuals, allowing each creator to fully leverage their strengths.

The result is a really awesome team that is also really awesome to read. Iwasaki’s panels are clean, readable, and brimming with personality, never drowning the reader in infodumps, while Akutami’s world-building and character dynamics unfold without the threat of spiraling out of control. Together, their return to the sandbox of JJKThe world returns to basics even as the premise expands into alien territory – and in doing so, they coalesce into something of unexpected depth. With a series that has a narrative structure to support the emotional catharsis and hype of its fight, Module Akutami and Iwasaki cooking at the peak of their powers in a way that doesn’t seem as canned or forced as many manga series that continue the hype of their predecessors often do.

Failing to agree, humans and Simurans reach a dangerous point of no return.

Read Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, Ch. 13 in Shonen Jump for free! https://t.co/fVTvWf9rcg pic.twitter.com/PlxXCR4O1p

– Shonen Jump (@shonenjump) November 30, 2025

In the manga’s first 20 chapters so far, its characters are deeply written, with my favorite being Yuka and her unlikely bond with Maru. Trigun-an evil brother, Cross; all the callbacks to the original series are less flashy for cheap fanservice pops and more in service of writing a deeper narrative that is basically an immigrant tale with all the angst that comes with it, wrapped in shonen packaging. There are real tensions and frictions in Module this isn’t limited to its fights, which are virtually non-existent – a move that only adds to their pomp. The story feels carefully crafted rather than an afterthought to transport you to the next overly complicated fight. Like wrestling, it’s always cool to see a guy get screwed over doing gymnastic somersaults, but unless there’s a story they’re about to break their neck for for people’s entertainment, it’s just tasteless. Module comes off as quite the opposite, and I’m glad my ideas about the series were proven wrong.

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