It’s shaping up to be a landmark year for anime. Buoyed by second- and third-generation fans – and powered by Netflix’s global reach – the medium has been firmly nudged into the mainstream in 2025.
Demon Slayer – The Movie: Infinity Castle has already grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide, while Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc recently leapfrogged big-studio offerings such as Regretting You and The Black Phone 2 to claim the top spot at the box office in anglophone territories.
If you’re hoping to surf this anime wave, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, may not be the best place to start. In its lore-dense plot, the powerful curse user Kenjaku initiates a tournament-style battle royale, forcing the heroes Yuji Itadori and Yuta Okkotsu into dire moral and physical conflict as the sorcery wars escalate.
Yuta is tasked with executing Yuji, an emotional twist that lands hard if you know who the hell we’re talking about.
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Based on the hit manga written and illustrated by the trigger-happy Gege Akutami since 2018, Execution wastes no time in doling out heartbreak. Major characters fall within minutes, making Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding look like a church fete. Devoted fans will be prepared for early devastation. Novices will gasp at the scale of brutal death and conflict.
The purpose of Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution is to bridge the catastrophic (TV and streamer) Shibuya Incident arc – a chaotic franchise clash of sorcerers, curses and traitors with apocalyptic consequences – into the next narrative phase.
For long-time fans it’s a kinetic, fantastically violent self-referential spectacle. The direction, by Shouta Goshozono, offers an exceptional marriage of original animation with manga-style speech bubbles and panel effects.
For the uninitiated, the whiplash pacing may be exhilarating. But Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, the much-praised, very self-contained film hitting Irish cinemas in December, might serve as a gentler primer. Either way, the animated future of cinema is very much here.
In cinemas from Friday, November 14th
