Kayleigh McKee and Anairis Quiñones on Playing Monsters, Creepy Kids, and All the Wild Character Dynamics in ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’

I recently got the chance to chat with Kayleigh McKee and Anairis Quiñones about Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The two, who have worked together on other projects before, are the film’s main protagonists, Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto. McKee and Quiñones are newcomers to the franchise, as most of the cast is of characters we’ve already met in the anime. In the case of Yuta, he’s known throughout the series, but the film is the first time fans will get to see him in action.

Since Jujutsu Kaisen is an anime series that dabbles in horror and, frankly, crushing the peaceful scenario it presents to you, their story isn’t exactly the “ride off into the sunset” you’d expect when you see them as children who promise to get married when they grow up. Rika dies in a brutal traffic accident, then proceeds to ignore any kind of “til death do us part” mentally by becoming a curse that sticks close to Yuta.

What’s really interesting about the movie is that as tragic and unsettling as this is, the dynamic between Yuta and Rika is actually pretty inspiring. As I said in my review, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a hauntingly beautiful look at how we deal with grief. Yuta is consumed by it to the point of not wanting to live anymore, which leads him to work toward finding a reason to stay alive.

Playing characters who go through so many emotions is quite the task, especially since one is still, mentally, a child. McKee and Quiñones work brilliantly together to tell a story that starts out pretty hopeless, only to develop into an exciting thrill ride as Yuta begins to find strength in himself, his new friends, and Rika herself.

You can see our full conversation here:

(Image: JUJUTSU KAISEN ZERO The Movie Project/Gege Akutami/Shueisha/Toho Animation)

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