Jujutsu Kaisen is part of shonen’s dark trilogy, and most anime fans have at least heard of it. However, the author of JJK, Gege Akutami, is quite mysterious.
By now most people have heard of Jujutsu Kaisen, but they may not be familiar with the series’ creator, Gege Akutami. However, that seems to have been intentional, because Gege is very tight-lipped about his personal life.
Jujutsu Kaisen has sold over 80 million copies and is the best-selling manga of 2022, outpacing both One Piece and Spy x Family to take the top spot. Despite that unprecedented success, Gege Akutami didn’t embrace the fame that came with it, choosing instead to avoid the limelight entirely. Because of Gege’s enigmatic personality, details about his personal life are scarce, making some of the revealed facts about the inspiration behind his work all the more intriguing.
Gege Akutami is strongly inspired by Bleach
Gege’s favorite manga as a child was Bleach, a series that he had to sneak into his brother’s room to read when he was in 4th grade. Since then, Tite Kubo has been a huge inspiration for their work. , and that is evident in Gege’s art style and their own manga themes.
Like Bleach, Gege’s stories also talk more about spiritual concepts and are darker in tone than most other shonen series. In a joint interview with Kubo, Akutami even revealed that they wrote a book of Bleach-inspired poetry in high school, to which Kubo replied, “I’ll have to see this.”
Yuji and Fushigoro are based on Naruto and Sasuke
Bleach isn’t the only shonen series Gege draws inspiration from. Obviously, the two characters Yuji and Fushigoro are both inspired by the famous ninja pair Naruto and Sasuke.
Gege gave Yuji the signature red scarf to match Naruto’s collared coat, and Fushigoro’s overall appearance and attitude are very similar to Sasuke’s. However, Gege has stated that Yuji and Fushigoro don’t fight as much as Naruto and Sasuke because that’s not their personality.
Gege released four short works before Jujutsu Kaisen
Before Jujutsu Kaisen became famous, Gege established himself as a manga artist by releasing several volumes of short stories. These volumes include one volume of Nikai Bongai Barabarjura, one volume of Kamishiro Sosa, and two volumes of No 9. Interestingly, all three are related to some form of spirit or spiritual entity. , with Barabarjura focusing on giant Kaiju monsters.
Considering that the concept of cursed souls is so prevalent in the Jujutsu Kaisen, the fact that Gege always writes about spirits shouldn’t be too surprising. The looks and even the costumes of many of Gege’s early characters are very clearly the premises for what will shape the characters appearing in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Gege tries not to focus too much on the female character’s sexual aspect in his work
Gege’s portrayal of female characters is often praised by fans, and this is not without reason. Gege intentionally made Nobara less sexually suggestive than many other manga heroines and also purposely made her lines more relatable to the hero than to the heroine.
According to Gege, he didn’t draw his character too sexy out of concern that the reader’s parents might be watching. This simple reason is not only endearing, but it also shows that Gege has a close family relationship and respect for the readers’ parents, which even shows how they approach specific details. in his art.
Gege Akutami is not the author’s real name
An anonymous author, Gege Akutami is not his real name but a pseudonym he used when drawing this hugely popular manga. According to Akutami, their initial choice would have been “Dokudami Milk”, but he changed his mind.
A mangaka who chooses to hide his true identity is not necessarily a rare occurrence, but it is perhaps surprising that Gege has managed to remain anonymous, given the popularity of Jujutsu Kaisen. Even if fans never know Gege’s real name, they can at least rest assured that they will never have to call the beloved Jujutsu Kaisen author “Dukudami Milk”.
