Hello and welcome back to Anime Rants. I fell behind on writing episode reviews for Fall 2023, so I’m now trying to catch up as the season is drawing to a close. Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 seems like a good place to start. When I last left off, we had covered episodes 12 to 14, or 36 to 38 according to crunchyroll’s cumulative episode count. Let’s continue.
Note: These episode reviews will not feature detailed recaps of events, but only my thoughts on speicific events and characters in each episode.
Episode 15 (39): Fluctuations Part 2
There were several deaths in this eventful episode. We’ll discuss each one. First of all, Toji brutally killed Dagon the cursed spirit. This move was majorly helpful to Nanami and company, and it also means Mahiro has one less special grade spirit to rely on. However, I have a soft spot for the intelligent cursed spirits, finding most of them sympathetic to a certain degree. Therefore, it was sad to see Dagon’s demise. Rest in peace, curse of the sea.
Next, it appears that Jougo insta-killed Nanami and Maki. It took a slight bit more effort, but he also brought down the old man who led the Zenin clan. Assuming all of these characters are truly dead for good, this is a major blow – both to the good guys in the story, and to my personal enjoyment of the show in reality. I couldn’t care less about the old man, but Nanami was great, and Maki was my favorite supporting female character in the show. It’s difficult for me to accept that they’re dead.
I’m not so disappointed that I’ll stop watching the anime, especially not before confirming that there’s no way to bring Maki or Nanami back. However, this does put a damper on my enthusiasm as well as my respect for the characterization in Jujutsu Kaisen. Killing Maki this way feels like “fridging.” That’s honestly not good writing. I hope Maki gets a good send-off in another episode, but even assuming that’s the case, her death will seem cheap and devastatingly underwhelming.
Moving on, the two girls who lovingly served Suguru Geto (Mimiko and Nanako) were both killed by Sukuna. I have always been quite curious about these girls, wishing that they had more screen-time and dialogue. They could have been genuinely interesting characters if only they had been flushed out a bit by the narrative. As it stands, however, they were utterly forgettable, and their deaths were not powerful. This is another sign of poor character writing.
The return of Sukuna was surprising. In retrospect, I should have guessed this would happen, since it’s virtually the only way Yuuji can be revived long-term. But it still felt out of nowhere to me. It could also drastically shorten the length of the story of Jujutsu Kaisen. I had assumed multiple seasons would be spent acquiring different Sukuna fingers, but in a single episode, Yuuji ingested eleven. We’ll have to wait and see how this affects the overall story. In the meantime, the Shibuya arc continues.
Episode 16 (40): Thunderclap
When Megumi managed to fend off a killing stab from Toji and almost strike him, I was impressed. Fighting in close proximity at that moment was also cool because it allowed Toji to recognize the fact that he was battling his own son. I’m not surprised Toji stopped his immediate aggression. It makes sense that, even as a bad father, he would rather not end his only son’s life. Still, I didn’t expect him to basically “off” himself.
I guess Toji decided to keep resting in death rather than be unnaturally alive in someone else’s body. It seemed somewhat out of character for him. Surely, there was a better way to deal with Toji’s return without having him cheaply kill himself without a clear reason. I’m starting to think the second season isn’t as well-written as the first. Then again, I can’t completely dismiss the idea that, in Toji’s moment of clarity, he chose to end himself rather than continue to be an obstacle to his son.
Most of the rest of the episode was spent showing the colorful fight between Sukuna and Jougo. I enjoyed the action, destruction, and chaos. The animation was a bit less detailed than optimal, but it worked for showing such a fast-paced and dynamic fight. I also thought this was important match for two reasons. Firstly, it served to remind the audience that Sukuna is astoundingly powerful. He effortlessly killed a cursed spirit who just wiped out three talented sorcerers minutes earlier.
Secondly, this fight was important for finishing Jougo’s character arc. It gave Jougo a more fulfilling death than he might have had by the hand of a Jujutsu sorcerer. While Jougo didn’t wish for death by any means, he was given the dignity of a match with Sukuna, who he admired. Moreover, Sukuna praised him for being strong. This brought tears to Jougo’s eye even though he was a cursed spirit. He might have been the most vulnerable and “human” of all the curses. I will miss Jougo.
Another interesting element of this episode was the appearance of Suguru’s followers. They were presumably his closest disciples from the cult. Besides Mimiko and Nanako, we saw an adult woman and two adult men. The girls are now dead, but the other three continue to fight for the world Suguru wanted to create. I’m a little happy that someone is trying to carry on his will, since he was my favorite antagonist. Speaking of Suguru’s followers, I liked the big man with the heart tattoo. I hope we get to see him again.
On a final note, I was pleased to see Shoko in a brief scene in the middle of the episode. Not only is she alive and well, but she managed to heal Mr. Ijichi. I thought for sure that man had died after being stabbed. It’s great to know he’s alive, since I always found him to be a kind man with a calming presence. Thank heaven for Shoko’s power!
Episode 17 (41): Thunderclap Part 2
This episode was so intense that I felt exhausted and mildly disturbed when it finally ended. It’s sort of ironic that I stopped watching and disappeared for a month right before something so significant happened in Jujutsu Kaisen. I had no idea things would turn out this insane. No wonder people online write about the Shibuya arc the way they do. Normally, I go over the more boring parts first, but this time, let’s start by discussing the utter destruction of Shibuya.
The chaos was immense. The city was already falling apart with Jougo’s massive volcanic attacks. Then Sukuna’s fight with Mahoraga the Shikigami made it even worse. Incidentally, the battle between those two entities featured amazing music and colorful visual depictions of hellish destruction. Sukuna’s domain then activated and he was able to kill Mahoraga, along with completely leveling the city.
At first, I thought Sukuna literally killed every single person in Shibuya except Yuuji. But I now think that, in actuality, he killed every human in a 200-meter radius. Still, that’s devastating. Other than Yuuji, I’m not sure who of our characters are still alive. Some of them had to be outside the radius. Plus, some of them within the radius may have survived using cursed energy – they aren’t technically normal humans, but sorcerers. Surprisingly, Nanami is seen alive. I’m still not sure about Maki.
Megumi had some very interesting moments in this episode, as the one who summoned Mahoraga. The design for the monster was cool, and its ability to see the techniques of others is fascinating. Megumi’s potential to defeat better opponents using Mahoraga is great. But to be honest, my mind is currently full of thoughts of Yuuji rather than Megumi. So, let’s talk a little about Yuuji’s response after “waking up” from Sukuna’s control.
Yuuji went through several intense emotions in rapid succession: shock, horror, fury, grief, self-loathing, and probably more. If only for a few moments, he wanted to die. He screamed at himself to die while shredding his hands against the pavement. Yuuji snapped out of it fairly quickly, however, realizing something important. If he killed himself or remained frozen, he would only be a murderer. But if he stays alive, takes action, and tries to fight curses, then he might be able to do some good and say he’s more than just a murderer.
I don’t agree that Yuuji is a murderer, but I understand why he feels that way, since Sukuna used his body to commit such atrocities. While I’m glad he shook off the shock quickly, I’m worried that the writing for this show won’t fully flush out Yuuji’s trauma from this event. Shounen protagonists are famously emotionally invincible, but I hope we see Yuuji actually processing his pain. I’ll have to wait and see. That’s all for today!
Thanks for reading~
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