JJK Season 1 Characters

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 aired on MBS and TBS from October 3, 2020 to March 27, 2021, 24 episodes in total. MAPPA animated it, Sunghoo Park directed it, and Hiroshi Seko wrote the scripts. It adapts roughly the first 63 chapters of the manga, ending with the Death Painting brothers before the story moves on to the Shibuya build-up.

Almost every JJK character you'll hear about debuts here. Of the 153 characters in our database, more than a third first appear in Season 1, which is why this page has the biggest gallery of the season guides.

Introduction (episodes 1–3)

The first episode, "Ryomen Sukuna", gives us Yuji Itadori, his grandfather Wasuke, Megumi Fushiguro and, once Yuji swallows the finger, Sukuna himself. Satoru Gojo arrives right after with that blindfold and terrible bedside manner. Episode 2 brings us to Tokyo Jujutsu High and Principal Masamichi Yaga. Episode 3 is where Nobara Kugisaki is properly introduced, completing the first-year trio.

The Fearsome Womb (episodes 4–5)

The detention centre mission is the show's first real gut punch. It's short, but it's where the first-years learn that a special grade curse is a different thing entirely, and where Sukuna and Megumi have their first unsettling conversation.

Mahito and Junpei (episodes 6–13)

This is the run that hooked a lot of viewers. Kento Nanami becomes Yuji's mentor, and the disaster curses step into the open: Jogo attacks Gojo, while Mahito befriends a lonely, bullied teenager named Junpei Yoshino. If you've watched it, you know how that ends. Episode 12, "To You, Someday", is the one nobody forgets.

The Kyoto Goodwill Event (episodes 14–21)

The exchange event introduces the Kyoto school in one go. Aoi Todo, who asks every opponent what type of woman they like, becomes Yuji's self-declared best friend mid-fight. The rest of the Kyoto team is Noritoshi Kamo, Momo Nishimiya, Mai Zenin, Kasumi Miwa and Mechamaru, with Utahime Iori and Principal Gakuganji in charge. Hanami crashes the event, and episode 19 ("Black Flash") is where Yuji and Todo take it on together. The second-years Maki, Inumaki and Panda get their first proper showcases here as well.

The Death Paintings (episodes 22–24)

The final arc sends Yuji and Nobara after Eso and Kechizu, two of the Death Painting brothers. It's a quieter, nastier ending than a lot of people expected, and it sets up their older brother Choso, who becomes a key figure in Season 2. The finale, episode 24, is titled "Accomplices".

Season 1 has a lot of strong debuts, but three stand out for us.

Nanami walks in as a tired ex-salaryman who clocks out on time and says so, and leaves as the adult every viewer trusts most. Season 1 builds him up so carefully that his later arc in Shibuya hits like a truck.

Todo is pure chaos, and the show is better for it. His introduction looks like a joke, but the Hanami fight turns him into one of the most fun characters in the entire series.

Junpei has maybe four episodes and still matters more than characters with ten times the screen time. He's the reason Yuji's hatred of Mahito feels earned.

Some very popular JJK characters don't appear in Season 1 at all, or only in a brief cameo. Yuta Okkotsu is mentioned but saves his debut for the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. Toji Fushiguro, Mei Mei, Yuki Tsukumo and teenage Gojo and Geto all wait for Season 2. And the Culling Game players, Hakari, Higuruma, Kashimo and the rest, don't arrive until Season 3.

If you're trying to find a character and they're not in the gallery below, check the Season 2 characters page or the JJK 0 characters page.

The first opening, "Kaikai Kitan" by Eve, is still the song most people associate with the series. The second opening, used from episode 14, is "Vivid Vice" by Who-ya Extended. Tadashi Hiramatsu designed the characters for the anime, which is why Season 1's look is slightly softer than the sharper style Season 2 moved towards.

From episode 3 onwards each episode also ends with a short gag segment called "Juju Sanpo" ("Jujutsu Stroll"), showing the characters' daily lives. They're easy to skip and worth watching anyway. Seeing Todo and the Kyoto students in casual scenes makes the Goodwill Event funnier.

A few Season 1 characters look minor and turn out to matter enormously.

Choso only appears briefly at the very end, but he becomes one of the most important characters of the Shibuya arc. Mai Zenin is introduced as a mean-spirited rival to Maki, and her relationship with her twin becomes one of the saddest threads in the manga. Mechamaru seems like comic relief in a robot suit until his real situation comes out. Even Kasumi Miwa, who spends the Goodwill Event as the self-described weakest member of Kyoto's team, gets a moment much later that fans still bring up.

That's one of the best things about rewatching Season 1. Almost every throwaway introduction is setting something up.

In the US, Season 1 streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese with subtitles and with the English dub. If you're coming in fresh, start at episode 1 and don't skip the first two. They feel like setup, but they establish Yuji's promise to his grandfather, which the rest of the series keeps returning to. Then watch the JJK 0 movie before moving on to Season 2.

The Fearsome Womb. In episode 5, Sukuna takes over Yuji's body, rips out his heart and dares Megumi to fight him. Yuji dies and is revived after making a deal with Sukuna that he can't remember. It looks like a shocking one-off. The terms of that deal turn out to matter enormously much later.

Junpei's mother. Junpei's story only goes the way it does because a cursed object is left in his home, and his mother Nagi is killed. It's the clearest early example of how Mahito works: he doesn't just fight, he arranges suffering.

The Kyoto plot. During the Goodwill Event, Gakuganji wants Yuji dead, and a group of curse users break in to steal Sukuna's fingers and other cursed objects from Jujutsu High's storage. That theft feeds straight into Season 2.

Choso's introduction. The Death Painting arc ends with Choso feeling the deaths of his brothers. Season 1 gives him a few seconds of screen time, and that's enough to make his Season 2 entrance land.

Season 1 introduces a big cast and lets most of them win. Season 2 takes that cast into Shibuya and doesn't. If Season 1 is about meeting the JJK characters and learning what they can do, Season 2 is about what it costs them. That's why we recommend watching them in order. The Season 1 characters you learn to like are the ones Season 2 puts at risk.