Yuta Okkotsu
Yuta Okkotsu is the protagonist of Gege Akutami's manga Jujutsu Kaisen 0, originally known as Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School. He is a teenager who is surrounded and helped by the Cursed Spirit of Rika Orimoto, his childhood friend who died six years before the story and is cursed because both of them promised to get married when they grow up. During his teenage years, Yuta meets Satoru Gojo, a Jujutsu Sorcerer under whose guidance he joined Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School to control Rika's Curse. Yuta also appears in the sequel Jujutsu Kaisen as an experienced warrior.
Akutami created Yuta alongside Rika before the creation of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 as a duo who work together. He compared Yuta with the Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist Yuji Itadori, whose roles in the narratives are similar due to having to deal with inner beings with different personalities. In the 2021 animated film adaptation of the manga, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Yuta is voiced by Megumi Ogata in the Japanese version and Kayleigh McKee in the English version. Ogata's role was picked by Akutami himself, finding her ideal for the part, while McKee felt pressure over her work because of her lack of experience when the film was dubbed.
Yuta was met with a positive response. Some critics found him more appealing than the protagonist Yuji Itadori due to their different powers and backstories. His appearance in Jujutsu Kaisen also surprised critics due to his changed traits. Additionally, Yuta has been a popular character within the series, appearing in marketing and polls. Ogata's and McKee's performances of Yuta also drew positive responses in the media.
Creation
Manga author Gege Akutami said Yuta and Rika were created as "a combo" for the story before he envisioned the manga's publication. The name Okkotsu sounded appealing to the author while Yuta was given for his kanji's meaning; "One With Many Friends", which the mangaka also liked. Akutami never intended Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School to be serialized as Yuta's character arc was the sole focus of this short series. As a result, when Jujutsu Kaisen was created, Akutami created a new character, Yuji Itadori, for the leading role while Yuta became supporting. Similarities between Yuta and Itadori include their introduction to jujutsu, tragedy, naivety and having faced death. Despite their similarities, the two have been noted to "carry themselves very differently ... Itadori is outgoing, where Yuta is more reserved".Yuta and Rika remained in the same form as in the final product. The concept of the story was creating sorcerers who would be able to stop Yuta and Rika from killing others. Instead of Satoru Gojo, the character meant to recruit Yuta was Maki. Yuta's relatives were meant to be included into the story, most notably his sister who would be taken by Rika over jealousy. Although several changes were made for the official version, Akutami believes it should have kept the original concept. Yamanaka was interested by the storyboard and talked to other members from Shueisha about it. However, Akutami was stressed about expectations. In crafting the ideal protagonist, Akutami wanted Yuta to avoid being like himself. The first scene of Yuta being interrogated was influenced by the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion which often uses a group known as SEELE that communicates with Gendo Ikari. Akutami included Michizane Sugawara, a famous figure in Japanese history, as an ancestor of Yuta and Gojo as a tribute to the former editor Yamanaka. Akutami recounts that a scene where Yuta comforts his friend Maki surprised his editor Katayama; Katayama commented that Yuta understood Maki's feelings in their interactions. Akutami revised this scene in the storyboard following his editor's praise.
In retrospect, Akutami found the early design of Yuta too similar to that of fellow Jujutsu Sorcerer Megumi Fushiguro in the main series, thinking this they might confuse readers. As a result, Akutami changed Yuta's look for the main series. For the series, Akutami teased readers with the possibility Yuta might have been romantically involved with another woman since Rika's death. Yuta's unique white uniform was made to reference problematic students, and still wears this white uniform at the end of the manga. Nevertheless, Akutami planned that once Yuta would return in Jujutsu Kaisen, he would once again wear a white uniform in hopes older readers would remember him. When Akutami's father started reading his manga, the manga author started wondering he based on Yuta on his father or Megumi's father, Toji.
Sunghoo Park, who directed the first season of the series' anime adaptation and prequel film, originally wanted to cover Yuta's story in the anime's first few episodes but later decided to against it. In the original format, Park would dedicate the series' first three episodes to develop Yuji Itadori and then replace him with Okkotsu but the idea was scrapped. Although Yuta is not present in the anime's first season, he was given a brief cameo in the second introduction sequence, which was created months before the studio MAPPA confirmed the production of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 film.
Park said that while Yuta and Rika are the main focus of the film, he still wanted to explore more on his relationship with the supporting cast. Sunghoo Park cast Yuta's voice actor; Ogata's job surprised them because Yuta is a young male being voiced by a woman. In regards to the film's theme song King Gnu's "Ichizu/Sakayume, the lyrics places focus on the relationship between Yuta and Rika. Following the film's release, Park's favorite fight sequence is when Yuta calls Rika to Geto in terms of animation.
Casting
Gege Akutami cast Megumi Ogata as Yuta's Japanese voice, following Park's advice and other staff members. The manga author claimed that the voice he envisioned was "neutral, soft, and kind, and there is also a big emotional swing and head". Ogata further said Yuta is one of the most relatable characters she has ever found due to the parallels she found when comparing his lonely childhood with hers and how both became sociable people. Additionally, she also found Yuta relatable because he continues suffering pain and overcomes his internal struggles.Ogata had to interact with the director Park to get a better understanding of Yuta as a character. When the film premiered, Ogata said she was satisfied with her work and looked forward to future projects. Fellow voice actors Yuichi Nakamura and Takahiro Sakurai felt that the feeling of "synchronization" is great in regards to Ogata's performance as Yuta. When asked about Ogata, Hanazawa commented through her work; she managed to feel Yuta's love through her partner's work, making the character loveable. In response to that, Ogata praised Hanazawa's work as Rika. In retrospect, Ogata said voicing Yuta was a difficult work due to social distancing protocols. Upon returning to voice Yuta in the film Execution, Ogata noticed vven though it was to fake Itadori's death, he still had to stop his heart, so it was Yuta's turn to calmly think about how to kill him. He had a monologue saying, "He's fast," and Ogata thought he was fighting while analyzing his opponent, so he was trying to figure out Itadori's fighting style and looking for an opening. She noticed that several of the characters used in Jujutsu Kaisen have a tendency to monologue their fighting strategy and Yuta became one.
In the English dub, Yuta is voiced by Kayleigh McKee. McKee expressed satisfaction over being selected for Yuta's voice, calling the work "amazing, challenging, and so fun". McKee related to Yuta's lonely life and eventual growth, which helped her find the pitch required to voice the character. She also found Yuta's story similar to a coming-of-age story due to his need to learn to control Rika while making friends. McKee, who was new to voice work, had fun doing fight scenes because her character makes several types of sounds, especially because of Yuta's troubling experiences. McKee found the moments where Yuta calms down and makes touch with Rika as the most important for her because they show how kind he can be. Yuta's leading role in the film made McKee nervous because she never had such a big role in her career.
In an upcoming play that tells the story of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Yuta will be portrayed by Yuki Ogoe. According to AmeBlo, Yuta was a more fitting role for Ogoe than his previous work Kurapika from Hunter × Hunter due to their different haircolor and school uniform, fitting for Akutami's opinion of how Yuta should be portrayed.
Characterization and themes
According to the website , Yuta is the main focus of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, whose narrative primarily focuses on his growth since Rika's death. Similarly, Polygon said the narrative's theme is Yuta's need to accept the death of Rika. Meanwhile, Anime News Network saw Yuta as an emotionally ambiguous character because of the way he deals with his feelings for Rika after her death. Park considers Yuta to be a straightforward teenager whose loneliness is caused by being chased by Rika's curse. While making the film, Megumi Ogata surprised Park by giving Yuta a sensitive characterization. The actress describes Yuta as an attractive character because he becomes stronger when interacting with others. Komatsu noted while at first Yuta appears to be weak, Ogata's performance helps give the character a stronger impression. Rika's curse is also considered the idea of how Yuta can use a major power for a great good. The film expands upon Yuta's personal weaknesses, which are a result of an illness and his rejection of his surroundings. Yuta realizes he and his peers are both accepted through their interactions with one another. Yuta's reluctance to accept Rika's death parallels Yuji Itadori's need to accept his grandfather's death.In the series' beginning, Yuta finds salvation in Satoru Gojo, who guides him in controlling Rika in Jujutsu High and avoiding isolation. The Mary Sue said Yuta's growth makes him appealing because he stops wanting to kill himself and starts appreciating his life. Yuta's hero's journey advances through his physical growth, as Maki training him to stand alone allows his change into a hero. Despite his early passivity, Yuta shows a more aggressive personality when his friends are wounded by Suguru Geto, especially when the scene is animated. Fighting Geto and confronting Rika's curse allows Yuta to accept death and recover from the trauma of losing her. McKee was moved by Yuta's motivational speech about being cherished by his classmates and noted a major change of expression towards the climax in his fight against Geto.
Satisfied with her role, McKee considered Yuta to have become more mature. Cullture agreed with McKee in regards to how Yuta is portrayed as a more composed teenager who in one year when compared with his original persona. He is noted to keep trust in his mentor Gojo. Additionally, Yuta is noted to share close connections with his former partners, mostly Maki, despite his absence. However, Cullture noted that there was no romance between them despite the tease made by Panda and Akutami himself.