Jujutsu Kaisen has reached the peak of popularity, and there are hardly any anime that come close to it. It is going through a crucial phase, with the King of Curses becoming more potent. Multiple Jujutsu sorcerers have come and gone, but none were strong enough to end Ryomen Sukuna’s terror. The fans are hoping to see Yuji Itadori get a power-up soon.
Jujutsu Kaisen has often made headlines with positive as well as negative reasons. While the positive reasons are mainly related to the anime and manga, the negative reasons are caused by the mangaka. But recently, several people have been lashing out at the anime after they swept away the awards at the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
Award Ceremonies Are Losing Their Credibility
Anime fans were eagerly waiting for the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards on March 2, 2024. They wanted to see their favourite anime bag awards at the prestigious ceremony. Several celebrities, like Megan Thee Stallion, LiSA, Iman Vellani, etc., made their way to the stage to present the awards. However, the results seem to have disappointed the fans, and they believe that the award ceremonies are losing their credibility.
Jujutsu Kaisen won 11 awards out of the 13 nominations. It was a great achievement for the franchise, but there were several other anime that could have won the Anime of the Year award. One of the most deserving anime was Vinland Saga. It has one of the best plots, and everything was top-notch. Everyone was shocked to see that it did not win a single award.
More than an anime, Jujutsu Kaisen has become a publicity stunt for the anime and manga industry. Due to its immense popularity, providing it with more awards will create a greater audience. Even though Vinland Saga was probably the best anime, awarding it would not have been great since it lacks Jujutsu Kaisen’s fan-following.
It is best to say that fame won over quality. This has been going on for some time now, and it is becoming more prominent in recent years. Oshi no Ko is absolutely a gem of an anime, yet no one seemed to be bothered about it. A neutral fan would choose Vinland Saga any day over Gege Akutami’s magnum opus. The Crunchyroll Anime Awards have two different methods of voting system.
First, a panel of judges selects the nominees, and then the same panel, along with the fans cast their votes. But there seems to be a bias on the judges’ decision since most of the categories had the same few anime. It looked as if the nominees were not selected based on their performance but on their popularity and the size of their fanbase. Doing it will attract more people and increase the popularity of the award ceremony. At the end of the day, it is nothing but a corporate sector.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Popularity Covered For Its Lack of Quality
Jujutsu Kaisen may have won multiple awards, but it was only due to its popularity. There was no sign of quality when compared to a masterpiece like Vinland Saga. The MAPPA controversy massively affected Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, and the animation was far from perfect. On the other hand, Vinland Saga’s animation felt like it was done by Vincent Van Gogh. Apart from that, there was One Piece’s animation of Luffy vs. Kaido, which broke the internet.
The Hidden Inventory arc and the Shibuya Incident arc were indeed some of the best adaptations of the manga, but there were better candidates. Chainsaw Man’s opening theme song, KICK BACK by Kenshi Yonezu, received a gold certificate from the Recording Industry Association of America. It is the first time any artist from Japan has been awarded with it. Even after a record-breaking song, Jujutsu Kaisen’s Where Our Blue Is by Tatsuya Kitani won the award.
Awards are given to the best among all. But the PR agencies have completely changed its meaning. More popularity means a better chance of winning awards. By that logic, Monster would not even get a nomination if it was released today. Everyone wants to make profits, but not by prioritizing quantity over quality.
No one knows what the future holds. If this continues, MAPPA could do a basic animation, and Jujutsu Kaisen would still win all the awards. There should not be any biases when it comes to such prestigious ceremonies. Gege Akutami can be biased towards his characters, but a jury cannot be biased just to increase the popularity. It leaves a worse impression on the future generation.