Skeptical thinkers know that occult notions like curses do not comport with reality. Nevertheless, many of us are still fascinated by fiction that incorporates curses and other paranormal elements. No anime does this better than Jujutsu Kaisen. In this anime, curses arise from negative human emotions and actions. They take on monstrous forms and cause chaos and carnage. In order to combat these curses, Jujutsu sorcerers use their own cursed energy against them.
For a while, the world stayed relatively stable thanks to the efforts of the Jujutsu sorcerers. But this may not last forever. At any point, a sufficiently powerful cursed spirit or demon could shake the balance of the world. That’s why Yuji Itadori continues fighting – even while carrying a demon inside him – in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2.
Spoilers Notes: This review contains no major spoilers, but mentions a few relevant facts – for example, I’ll say there is character death, but I won’t say who dies. You should be able to read this review and not be spoiled for the signifcant events of season 2.
Article Contents:
Story
Score: 8/10
The story of Yuuji Itadori, the vessel of the great demon Sukuna, continues in this second season. Mahito and his gang of curses are preparing to launch a huge attack on human society in the middle of Shibuya. (This area is a part of Tokyo, the capital city of Japan.) Itadori and the other Jujutsu sorcerers must stop the carnage while not playing into the enemy’s hands. The battle that rages during most of this season is known as the Shibuya Incident.
Before launching into the Shibuya Incident, the narrative takes us back in time. The first five episodes show us segments from the lives of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Getou when they were still students at Jujutsu High. From these episodes, we learn about Gojo’s experience awakening to his full powers, as well as Getou’s story of turning to the dark side. This is an unusual plot structure, with five episodes in the past followed by eighteen in the present. However, it ended up working smoothly enough as a narrative.
Jujutsu Kaisen has so far walked a fine line between standard and dark shounen. By “dark,” I mean intense, violent content that doesn’t shy away from character death and other potentially disturbing events and ideas. Season 2 was “darker” and more thrilling than the previous season and the movie put together. I have no issues with that, and if you enjoyed the first season, I don’t think you will mind it. However, if you want a more standard, colorful shounen anime with less death and destruction, you should look elsewhere.
The story themes are not mind-blowing, but some are quite fascinating. For example, how much violence and chaos can be allowed before the end no longer justifies the means? And who decides that? Do deaths and killings have any meaning? Should Jujutsu sorcerers be held accountable for their actions in the same way as normal humans? Are interpersonal bonds strong enough to overcome “curses” (negative energy and emotions)? There’s a lot of great discussion material tucked into this anime.
The final note to make on the story category concerns world-building and exposition. Sometimes, this is done rather well. For example, we learned about how the essence of someone can be called back from the dead under certain conditions. We saw this in action. However, at several points, I felt that important plot aspects or abilities were not properly explained. I had to look up a few things online or ask a friend for their understanding. It’s nice that the narrative doesn’t think its viewers are dumb, but to be honest, I would appreciate a bit more clarity on the facts.
Visuals
Score: 10/10
I never have as much to say about visuals as some other categories, but I’ll do my best. As far as I can tell, the visuals in the second season are just as good – if not better – than those in the first season. Everything looks outstanding, including the intense face expressions and mix of bright and dark colors. The lighting, shadows, and detail are great, especially in certain close-up shots.
Though the action sequences are significantly less detailed, that’s to be expected with the amount of movement being animated. The fight scenes are dynamic and exciting rather than being made of complicated still-shots. It feels like the show is taking me on a wild and colorful rollercoaster ride – one that is sometimes splattered with blood.
As many of you know, studio Mappa was responsible for animating Jujutsu Kaisen. They are notorious for severely overworking their employees, leading to outrage from certain groups online. While I wish that Mappa was better with its human rights, I can’t look at the art and animation and call it anything but astounding. I personally don’t see any point in an American nobody boycotting a Japanese anime studio. This may be a useless gesture, but by giving a score of 10/10, I’m trying to honor the animators and artists.
Audio
Score: 10/10
The soundtrack and songs for JJK’s first season were incredibly popular, and the second season is no different. In fact, personally, I much prefer the opening songs for season 2 over season 1. For episodes 1 to 5, the intro song is “Ao no Sumika” by Tastuya Kitani. It’s upbeat and empowering. For the rest of the episodes, the intro song is “Specialz” by King Gnu. It has become the most popular anime song of 2023 according to some, though I have not verified this with any metric. Regardless, it’s an amazing song. ‘Nuff said.
The first ending song is “Akari” by Soushi Sakiyama. I really love the melody, though the vocals might be off-putting for some who aren’t fond of high-pitched male vocals. As for the second ending song, it’s “More Than Words” by Hitsujibungaku. Not surprisingly, it’s another banger, this one with a light rock sound and female vocals. Yoshimasa Terui was the composer for the original sound track. This creator’s music is excellent. One of the most popular pieces is “Malevolent Shrine,” linked below. There are also dramatic musical inserts from Beethoven and Chopin. It’s a memorable OST.
Like the music and songs, the voice-acting is also extremely high-quality and enjoyable. I haven’t seen the English Dub, so I’m only addressing the original Japanese voices at this time. The same cast from the first season returned and did a great job, including Junya Enoki as Yuji Itadori, Takahiro Sakurai as Suguru Getou, Yuichi Nakamura as Satoru Gojo, and Asami Seto as Nobara Kugisaki.
There are many other talented seiyuus besides the ones I mentioned above. The cast has a good mix of veteran voice actors (like Takehito Koyasu as Toji Fushiguro) and promising newbies (such as Anna Nagase as Riko Amanai). Writing about all them would only serve to eat up time, so I’ll just add one more note. My personal favorite performances this season were those of Takahiro Sakurai (Suguru Getou), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Mahito), and Junya Enoki (Yuji Itadori).
Characters
Score: 9/10
The character concepts, development, and interactions in this season are top-notch. Episodes 1-5 showed important character development for Satoru Gojo and Suguru Getou. This was one of the most interesting aspects of season 2 for me, since Suguru Getou was my favorite antagonist. This season tells the story of how he “snapped” and turned to the path of genocide. The character development for Gojo was also intriguing. It was eerie and thrilling to witness his borderline insanity during some key moments.
The writing for Yuji itadori’s character is excellent. Personally, I might have chosen to make him more emotionally fragile. But that wouldn’t make for a hero as loveable and quick to action as Yuji. Though the protagonist struggles when things go wrong, I feel that he recovers swiftly. It usually only takes one person to give him a pep-talk and he’s ready to keep fighting. Yuji also grows in other ways during this season. He becomes extremely fierce at some points, asserting his desire to hunt down curses without mercy. That was, as they say, “pretty metal.”
The supporting characters and villains were developed quite well. That includes important character moments for Jougo, Muta (Mechamaru), Mahito, and others. A few new characters appeared as well, such as Choso and Yuki Tsukumo. If there’s one major weakness of the character category, it’s that there’s not enough good female characters. The ones that are there – like Kugisaki, Miwa, and Momo – are fine, but I’d like to see more. Some people may not like the fact that there’s character death in JJK. However, I think it’s fairly well done because it’s not formulaic.
Personal Enjoyment
Score: 8/10
Jujutsu Kaisen is extremely enjoyable for a number of reasons, including the high quality of art and music. It also has a slightly darker, more mature atmosphere than the average boys’ fighting anime. Season 2 in particular is suspenseful and thrilling. I won’t spoil the conclusion to the second season, but it’s a huge game-changer. The world as everyone knows it has been altered and a new dark age has begun. I like grim settings, so although it was sad and unfair for the good characters, I enjoyed the dark ending.
Though it’s first and foremost an action show, JJK also contains a few solid themes that could spark thought and discussion. I don’t think it’s as good as Hunter x Hunter in this regard, but it’s still commendable. Additionally, I liked learning more about the Jujutsu world in this season. The world-building and power systems are fairly creative in Jujutsu Kaisen. I definitely prefer worlds and systems like this over those in, say, Demon Slayer.
Another enjoyable element would be the characters. They’re well written and diverse in terms of personality. There were so many interesting moments for the characters in this season. I can’t be specific with many examples without giving away important spoilers. But for one example, I will “spoil” the fact that we meet Todo again in this season. He can be so absurd, but he’s uplifting and strong when it counts. As you can see, there’s a lot to appreciate in JJK season 2.
Overall Score
Score: 9.0 / 10.0
The overall score is the average of the scores for the five categories explored previously. I rarely rate anime series in the 9s range, so Jujutsu Kaisen is definitely the cream of the crop by my standards. The current score for this season is 8.81 on MyAnimeList.net, so it seems that MAL users agree with me. Anime News Network has a much lower score for the season with a median rating of about 7.3. I think this reflects the fact that fewer people vote on ANN, resulting in criticisms becoming more statistically impactful.
If you enjoyed Jujutsu Kaisen, and you can handle some character death and dark plot twists, there is no reason to not watch season 2. Go forth and watch with the approval of Anime Rants! XD
~Thanks for reading~
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Anime Rants 