In a recent exhibition dedicated to The Akumatami and your workJujutsu Kaisen“, the author revealed a curious fact about the creation of the popular series: Megumi Fushiguro was initially conceived as the protagonist in an early draft of the story.. During a Q&A session held at the exhibition, Akutami explained that the series was originally titled “Sousen” and Fushiguro, who at the time was called Megumi Wanibuchiwould be the main character.

In the first concept, Fushiguro was a 16 year old boy whoAfter finishing high school, decided to go straight to work instead of attending college. This decision was made to spending more time at home with his sister Tsumiki, who was blind and sick. However, this first project failed to protect serializationleading Akutami to reconsider and restructure the story to better suit the shonen magazine's audience.

• «Scholarships and so on… Given your intellect, you could easily be admitted through a recommendation».
• «I'll pass. I don't like debt. Plus, I'll be helping a company I know from spring onwards.».
• «However, it is difficult in times of emergency if there is no educational background. How to say… I think you should aim higher».
• «I'm not interested. I want to stay home more from now on.».

Akutami noted that Fushiguro's character was a little hardenedwhile Yuji Itadori, current protagonist of “Jujutsu Kaisen”, had a softer personality and easier for readers to identify withThis led Akutami to switch roles, making Itadori the main protagonist and relegating Fushiguro to a supporting role.

In the Q&A session, Akutami explained:

• «Since Sousen wasn't chosen at the serialization meeting, I decided to start over and create something that would actually fit into a men's magazine. As a character, Fushiguro is quite hardened, but Itadori is able to react to things in a softer way, so I switched the two».

This change turned out to be a wise decision, since “Jujutsu Kaisen”became a global phenomenon, attracting millions of fans with its combination of action, supernatural elements, and deeply developed characters. Akutami’s revelation adds an extra layer of understanding into the creative process behind the series and how small decisions can have a big impact on the success of a project.

Source: @f9x00 on Twitter