Throughout its first season in 2020, Jujutsu Kaisen proved it was an above-average and interesting shounen series. Some considered it a “dark shounen” due to character and civilian deaths, freaky cursed spirits, and general violence.
Those who were interested by the darker aspects of the first season will find even more in the intense second season. The 23-episode season has just finished airing at the end of 2023. It was highly enjoyable for its excitement, dark twists, and high-quality art and music. Here are my responses to the last three episodes of season two.
Episode 21 (45): Metamorphosis
This episode showed the prolonged fight wherein Todo and Itadori work together against Mahito. The battle looked and sounded great as usual. Mahito did a lot of damage. By using his domain for less than a second, he managed to use his technique on Todo. The big man responded by tearing off his warped arm before the transfiguration could spread to the rest of his body. Despite the injury, Todo is still going strong, finding ways to use his place-switching ability with one hand.
At one point in the battle, while Todo was down, Mahito transformed into a creature he called the true shape of his soul. He became even stronger than ever, with super tough armor. Honestly, though, his true shape didn’t look that cool. He was just a buff, faceless monster with a tail. I vastly prefer his human form.
Anyway, Mahito felt strong and confident as he battled Yuuji. But that confidence was misplaced. After all, due to Sukuna’s protection, he couldn’t use touch to alter Yuuji’s soul. He was also getting weak from so much fighting and power expenditure. With Todo’s help, it was only a matter of time before Yuuji beat Mahito. Speaking of our main character, he looked much more mature during this fight. It’s like he aged two or three years in the space of one evening. He’s been through a lot.
The scene where Mahito gets defeated was very satisfying, even though he didn’t die (yet). As he ran out of power, he looked more and more wretched and scared. Yuuji stood over him ominously and told him he would kill him – not just in this life, but also if the cursed spirit were to be reborn. This scene also finally made me understand why Mahito said he and Yuuji were the same. Just as Mahito is driven to kill humans without any remorse, Yuuji is equally driven to kill cursed spirits without any remorse.
I absolutely loved the visual symbolism used for this part. Yuuji and Mahito suddenly appear in a snowy forest. Mahito runs like a scared little rabbit, but close behind follows Yuuji – the great wolf leading his pack. The predator and prey dynamic is completely reversed compared to what we’ve seen so far. This time, Yuuji Itadori is the hungry carnivore. Unfortunately, the fake Suguru Getou appeared before Yuuji could kill Mahito. Still, I loved everything about this scene.
Episode 22 (46): Metamorphosis (Part 2)
Okay, first of all, can I just ask what the actual fuck is up with Mei Mei and her CHILD BROTHER? … I always liked Mei Mei despite her sleaziness. But I didn’t know she was an incestuous perverted pedophile. Interesting. Now I hate her. Anyway, let’s try to forget about that. The important part of showing Mei Mei was so that the audience could know that the economy is falling apart. The mass destruction in Shibuya is being called terrorism by the media, and it’s going to have lasting effects on human society.
One of the main events in this episode was the absorption of Mahito by the fake Suguru Getou. He technically saved Mahito from being killed by Yuuji, but only to take the opportunity to asborb him while he was weak. Mahito is now a senseless slave to this sorcerer, who can call him out to fight enemies and then throw him back into the void at will. I think that’s a pretty miserable fate for a spirit like Mahito, who craves freedom and constant stimulation.
Panda and the other Kyoto students arrive to help Yuuji fight Getou and free Satoru Gojo. A lot of characters had good moments in this episode as they fought. Choso the blood-user also returned, but now, he’s on Yuuji’s side – sort of. He won’t directly work with the Jujutsu sorcerers, but he will do whatever he can to protect Yuuji. That’s because he now believes Yuuji is his younger brother.
When Choso first started seeing memories of times spent with Yuuji and his other brothers, I assumed that was some kind of trippy madness caused by Sukuna. That may be the case, but for now, it seems more like the memories are rooted in something true. Yuuji Itadori is somehow connected to the cursed wombs. It doesn’t make sense for him to actually be one of them, because he’s not that old. (Unless he’s like immortal and stuck looking 16 forever. Weirder things have happened.)
Anyway, thanks to Choso showing up and blabbering a lot, we now know the true identity of the fake Suguru Getou. He’s the former Noritoshi Kamo, after whom the archer boy is named. Noritoshi Kamo was known as the world’s worst sorcerer – “worst” meaning he was very evil. His abilities, though, were advanced. He created the cursed wombs and found a way to live on by putting his brain inside host bodies. Noritoshi lived about a hundred and fifty years ago, if I understand correctly.
Uraume shows up to help Getou. We still don’t really know who Uraume is or how they are old enough to know Sukuna, who lived about a thousand years ago. In the last few minutes of the episode, a familiar face shows up to fight for the Jujutsu sorcerer side – it’s Yuki Tsukumo, the attractive “loose canon” sorcerer who trained Todo. The episode ends there. To be continued!
Episode 23 (47): Shibuya Incident – Gate, Close
Note: Sorry for the extra length on this episode, but I wanted to explain as much as possible to reinforce my own knowledge as well as hopefully helping others understand.
The final episode of the season opens with an interesting discussion between Yuki Tsukumo and the fake Getou. They talk about their views on cursed energy and how it relates to the evolution of humanity to its next stage. Yuki believes humanity should free itself from cursed energy, but she doesn’t seem to have a plan. She just knows it’s the more ethical alternative to what the original Getou wanted, which was to make everyone into sorcerers and slowly eliminate ordinary humans.
One of the problems with Getou’s plan was that it would make Japan a sorcery monopoly, which would eventually lead to conflict with other countries, such as the USA, who want to seize that power. Yuki states that far more Jujutsu sorcerers appear in Japan than anywhere else in the world. That’s news to me, and I’m not sure why it is the case. Regardless, if Getou were to use Tengen’s barrier abilities to optimize cursed energy – something I don’t yet understand – it would lead to Japan’s evolution and progression, leaving the rest of the world behind.
This may have mattered to the original Getou, but Noritoshi Kami doesn’t care. So what if there’s global conflict? That could also be necessary for human evolution. So, without waiting any longer, the imposter Getou initiates his plan. Having absorbed Mahito, he uses Idle Transfiguration over all of Japan. This had three main effects. It altered the souls and minds of humans in two different ways (explained in the paragraph below). It also resulted in an unprecedented outbreak of cursed spirits in Tokyo.
I’ll try to explain the two changes to humans in Japan. There are certain “ordinary humans” like Junpei Yoshino who can see curses and potentially use cursed techniques. But in the past, their brains were not wired in a way that would let them actually awaken to sorcerer powers. Well, now, that’s changed. All of these people can now become full-fledged users of cursed energy.
The second change applied to people who had consumed cursed objects. Anyone like this gained the ability to be vessels for curses and demons, in the same way as Yuuji Itadori. With these two changes, there will now tons of new sorcerers emerging in chaos without any proper order or guidance. Noritoshi Kamo hopes that they will all kill each other, leaving only the strongest new sorcerers for the next generation.
As hundreds of cursed spirits flood in to overwhelm Yuki and her allies, Getou walks away with the artifact holding the sealed-in Satoru Gojo. After this point, the episode cuts away from the massive hole that used to be Shibuya. We see a long sequence wherein the government of Japan is trying to figure out what to do about the chaos. It was a fairly interesting sequence, especially when the government decided to go public with the fact that cursed spirits are real and taking over Tokyo.
The world has now changed drastically, entering a dark period of violence and destruction. As the disaster goes on, the leaders of the Jujutsu sorcery community issue five important announcements. Number one: Suguru Getou is sentenced to death. Number two: Satoru Gojo was an accomplice in the Shibuya Incident and therefore an enemy. Anyone who tries to free him will be treated as a criminal. Number three: Yaga-sensei is also now a criminal who will be put to death for “inciting” Gojo and Getou.
Number four: Yuuji Itadori is sentenced to death as the dangerous vessel of Sukuna. Number five: The executioner for Itadori shall be special-grade sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu. The last section of the final episode shows Okkotsu saving a random little girl and then vowing to kill Yuuji Itadori as ordered. Now on the run, Yuuji does his best to survive alone. That is the dark ending of season two.
Though it’s a grim outcome, it also makes this show more exciting than ever for me. I might have to start reading the manga. Anyway, I’ll try to write a review for season 2 as a whole as soon as possible! As usual, I appreciate you for stopping by Anime Rants!
Thanks for reading~
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