Only several months after its Oct. 3 release, the horror anime Jujutsu Kaisen amassed enormous popularity with its amusing humor, incredible animation and somewhat-unique plot concepts.

The show begins with an introduction to 15-year-old Yuji Itadori, but after the death of his beloved grandfather, it soon jumps into the action. Several of Itadori’s classmates find a cursed finger from the evil sorcerer Sukuna, or the King of Curses. Packed with power, the finger draws in a cursed spirit, which characters refer to as curses.

Curses form when potent emotions such as hatred leach from a human as “cursed energy.” Most are unable to see curses, which have a sweet-tooth for humans, so after their creation, curses quickly become lethal; cue jujutsu sorcerers.

Megumi Fushigaro—also 15—comes to exorcise the curse terrorizing Itadori’s classmates, but as the curse begins to best Fushigaro, Itadori makes a seemingly irrational decision: He swallows Sukuna’s finger. The demon Sukuna, whose power is embedded in the finger, possesses Itadori and in a burst of cursed energy, destroys the curse.

Immediately, Sukuna turns his attention elsewhere and begins to plan a massacre of women and children. Luckily sorcerer Gojo Sataro, the most powerful character to date, arrives to diffuse the situation.

The plot unfolds relatively normally compared to other Shonen Jump anime. Itadori discovers the hidden world of Jujutsu sorcerers, makes some new friends, tests his strengths, fights progressively stronger villains and miraculously defeats them.

This may be a drawback for some, but Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t simply swap character names then wash, rinse and repeat the same formulaic story arcs of other shows. The storyline displays intriguing sophistication as it slowly and subtly reveals its characters’ true natures.

This is especially true with Itadori, who divulges his inner workings piece by piece, gradually exposing the seemingly straightforward person as a much more complex character.

He goes from a simple, likeable guy to one who suffers from real emotions like sadness and loneliness, particularly relating to his grandfather’s death. His relatability is a nice touch and successfully draws viewers in.

The distinctive character development isn’t the only highlight of the show. The animation alone is award-worthy.

From the detailed cityscape in the intro to the most intense fights of the show, animators never fail to captivate viewers. Even when blood and body parts fly across after a sorcerer annihilates a curse, it’s almost impossible to disregard the intricacies and beauty of the scene.

The effort put into these scenes is greatly appreciated, and the show’s amazing attention to detail elevates it to an elite status among new-gen anime. So long as creators’ produce this level of excellence, Jujutsu Kaisen’s popularity will continue to skyrocket.