Just when I thought we’ve reached the peak, I find another, higher mountain to climb.
Season two of ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ was a delicious serving of action-horror shounen. To me, it felt like a conclusion of the story up to that point. Largely because many of those plot threads ended in a character’s horrific death. Which begged the question: where do we go from here?
The answer: to even greater heights than I could have ever imagined.
Burdened by nightmares of the Shibuya Incident, Itadori Yuji has left Jujutsu High and his friends behind. Together with Choso, his latest unconventionally adopted brother, he hunts down the Cursed Spirits loosed in Japan by Kenjaku. But that comes to an abrupt and painful end when Okkotsu Yuta, another of Gojo Satoru’s students, arrives to execute Yuji under orders of Jujutsu Society’s higher-ups.
Luckily for Yuji, instead of killing him, Yuta brings him back to Jujutsu High to battle Kenjaku’s latest scheme: the Culling Game. A bloody free-for-all in which Sorcerers of the modern age, as well those resurrected from the Heian era, battle to the death for points and glory. With Fushiguro’s comatose sister caught right in the middle. Now it’s up to Yuji and co. to rise the ranks of the Culling Game and defeat Kenjaku once and for all.
If there’s anything I love in a shounen battle anime, it’s a tournament arc. So I was super stoked for the Culling Game. Though it’s less of a tournament and more of a battle royale. Less Street Fighter, more Fortnite. Even so, it makes for a fascinating set piece. The goal is not necessarily to win, but to earn enough points to buy new rules, essentially re-shaping the game in order to escape it.
I just wish the rules were communicated in a less exhausting way. A whole episode is devoted purely to explaining what the Culling Game is and how it works. How do they deliver that information? By standing in a blank white room, talking. And talking. And talking. It is so. Boring.
I’m really not helping the “Jujutsu Kaisen fans can’t read,” allegations, am I?
Aside from the exposition dump, this season is a nearly non-stop thrill ride. In one episode, Maki wipes out her family in an over-the-top love letter to ‘Kill Bill’. In the next, the gang signs up for Fight Club. Not long after that, Yuji is put on trial by depressed Phoenix Wright. Then Fushiguro meets an invincible slapstick comedian and an angel. The pacing is all over the place, but the ride is so exciting I don’t really care!
It certainly helps that the animation is consistently jaw-dropping. Every action scene is bombastic, over-the-top, and exhilarating! Yet it is the smaller, calmer scenes that impressed me.
Take episode seven for example. Near the beginning, there’s another scene of exposition. Whilst the characters talk, they gradually descend a set of stairs. It’s a simple, even dull setpiece. Yet the animators went above and beyond to make it feel cinematic. Rather than static flat shots, the camera lingers behind the characters as they descend, almost like we the viewers are walking with them.
An even better example comes at the end of episode five. It’s a simple scene: Yuji has a conversation with Hakari, a new character he wants to recruit for the Culling Game. Almost the entire scene is framed in one still shot, turning it into a long take straight out of a movie. The effect is furthered by the incredible detail in each character’s movements. It creates this sense that the viewer is peeking in somewhere we don’t belong. This ramps up the tension, which explodes as the negotiations turn violent. Only then do we cut to a new shot, close-ups of both Yuji and Hakari as they get ready to fight. This is better cinematography and editing than I’ve seen from a lot of movies!
The last episode is the best one by far. It is pure shounen action bliss from beginning to end. A three way free-for-all, culminating in one of the most iconic moments from the manga, all beautifully animated from start to finish, complete with an OP drop and a beam struggle! Now that is how you wrap up a season!
Yet that still isn’t my favorite episode. That one goes to Yuji’s encounter with Higuruma, disgruntled lawyer turned deadly Sorcerer. Who bathes fully clothed and fights in a sopping wet suit.
Of all the new characters introduced this season, Higuruma is far and away the most interesting. A defense attorney, he once fought to defend his clients against Japan’s vicious courts, in which 99% of felons are convicted. Brilliant and thorough, he is an exceptional lawyer. But it doesn’t matter; try as he might, the verdict is always guilty.
This takes a costly toll on his mental state. He becomes bitter towards the legal system, his clients, the whole world. In his mind, people were slimy eels, every one of them selfish and dishonest.
Until he meets Yuji. A teenage boy who willingly confesses to mass murder. A horrific crime which he did not commit, yet he feels responsible for all the same. An act of selfless humility that rocks Higuruma to his core. It is a beautiful scene, an emotional punch to the gut that got me misty-eyed.
The music certainly does some heavy lifting. Both in that example, and across the whole season. All the new tracks are absolutely incredible. If a singer starts hitting the la la las, you know you’re in for a great time.
Beyond Higuruma, we have a ton of new characters this season. Most of them bring a ton of strange and creative powers, making for some wild fight scenes. Others, however, are total chump change that get dealt with and forgotten immediately.
These guys are a mixed bag. The majority of them are flat one-note jobbers. Some are more interesting, but haven’t gotten the screentime yet to really shine. Uro is a really cool character; I just wish her entire backstory wasn’t communicated through two paragraphs over a black screen.
But those that do make a splash are very memorable. Hakari and Kirara make a great addition to the Jujutsu High students; I can’t wait to see more of them in season four. Naoya Zen’in is such a detestable piece of shit; watching Maki humble this scum is the most cathartic moment in the whole season.
Also: where the hell did Reggie get a receipt for a whole house? What kind of miraculous housing market does Japan have?!
‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ season three is some of the best shounen anime I’ve ever seen. The team behind this show deserves a pay raise, a vacation, and a complimentary dessert to boot. Cinematic, thrilling, emotional, and often hilarious, this will stand as a gold standard in the genre for years to come.
Which is exactly what I said about season one. And season two. If this momentum keeps up, I’ll probably say it again come time for season four. But now I’m counting my fingers before swallowing them.
That might be the strangest sentence I’ve ever written. It’s as good a note to end on as any, I guess.
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