At a recent exhibition dedicated to Gege Akutami and his work “Jujutsu Kaisen“, the author revealed a curious fact about the creation of the popular series: Megumi Fushiguro was initially conceived as the protagonist in an early draft of the story.. During a Q&A session shown at the exhibit, Akutami explained that the series was originally titled “Sousen” and Fushiguro, who at that time was called Megumi Wanibuchiwas going to be the main character.
In the first concept, Fushiguro was a 16-year-old boy whoafter graduating from high school, decided to go straight to work instead of attending college. This decision was made in order to be able to spend more time at home with his sister Tsumikiwho was blind and sick. However, this first draft failed to secure serializationwhich led Akutami to reconsider and restructure the story to better fit a shonen magazine audience.
- «Scholarships and such… Given your intellect, you could easily be admitted through a recommendation».
- «I’ll pass. I don’t like debt. Besides, I’ll be helping a company I know starting in the spring.».
- «However, it is difficult at the time of emergencies if there is no educational background. How to put it… I think you should aim higher.».
- «I’m not interested. I want to be at home for longer periods of time from now on.».
Akutami observed that Fushiguro’s character was somewhat hardenedwhile Yuji Itadori, the current protagonist of “Jujutsu Kaisen,” possessed a softer personality and easier for readers to identify withThis led to Akutami swapping roles, making Itadori the main protagonist and relegating Fushiguro to a supporting role.
In the Q&A session, Akutami explained:
- «When Sousen wasn’t chosen at the serialization meeting, I decided to start over and create something that really fit a boys’ magazine. As a character, Fushiguro is quite hardened, but Itadori is able to react to things in a gentler way, so I swapped the two.».
This change turned out to be a wise decision, as “Jujutsu Kaisen” has become a global phenomenon, attracting millions of fans with its combination of action, supernatural elements, and deeply developed characters. The revelation of Akutami adds an additional layer of understanding about the creative process behind the series and how small decisions can have a big impact on the success of a project.
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