Jujutsu Kaisen - Season 2

Jujutsu Kaisen is an anime based on the manga of the same name by Gege Akutami and animated by the well-known MAPPA studio.

After a successful first season, Jujutsu Kaisen continues to offer a different take on the well-known Shōnen genre. MAPPA, the animation studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen, has (finally) brought the highly acclaimed and highly anticipated Shibuya Incident Arc to life in its second season. Despite issues here and there, the second season has some of the best moments in anime to date. But is it enough to continue to break the stereotype of the Shōnen genre?

The second season begins with the rather confusing, but interesting, Hidden Inventory Arc, which explores the messy and emotionally charged pasts of Gojo Satoru (Yūichi Nakamura, Goblin Slayer) and Geto Suguru (Takahiro Sakurai, Bungou Stray Dogs). I call it confusing because, for me at least, the transition to the past came quite suddenly. I remember watching season one and still thinking Geto was one of the villains. Once I realized this wasn't an alternate timeline or "What if" arc, I enjoyed this flashback. Important and cool characters are introduced and philosophical ideals that the villains set up begin to grow, leading very nicely into the next major arc, the Shibuya Incident Arc.



This arc offers a thrilling, horror-esque story that fans have been waiting for for a long time. The Shibuya Incident is nothing short of pure chaos and total destruction, combined with dramatic character development and intense combat. Still, something remained to be desired. The story is plagued by a strange timeline that causes more confusion than it should. It doesn't help that the main characters are separated the moment we finally see them again. This separation into different teams does allow us to see the massive destruction of Shibuya from different angles, which is both good and bad. Lots of fights take place, each with unique choreography and great animation.

Although the second season is filled with wild moments straight from the manga, including scenes recreated 1:1, some anime original scenes fortunately deepen the character development

But the fights span multiple episodes and are all at the same time, meaning most episodes consist of great fights while leaving little breathing room for the story to really unfold.

Fortunately, for the most part, the battles look very good. Which is a miracle considering the poor treatment of the animators who worked on the anime. I want to mention this because when you talk about Jujutsu Kaisen season two, you talk about MAPPA's poor treatment of animators. Week after week, animators had to work to tight deadlines, sometimes with just a few hours to complete the episode for broadcast. Fortunately, the animators are both passionate and hardworking. And it shows. While some of the battles have no backgrounds or have fairly simple character designs, each episode was of such high quality that it was still praised by the anime community.



During the many well-animated fights and sparse story moments, the voice actors really brought the characters to life. In an arc that revolves around pure chaos, utter destruction, dramatic character development, and intense battles, the voice acting was crucial in conveying the emotions of the characters. It's no surprise that one of the reasons the season was so well received is due to the voice acting. In particular, the voice actors behind Yuji Itadori (Junya Enoki, Demon Slayer), Sukuna (Junichi Suwabe, One Piece), Kento Nanami (Kenjiro Tsuda, Bungou Stray Dogs) and Mahito (Nobunaga Shimazaki, Baki Hanma) delivered some of their best performances.

The fights span multiple episodes and are all at the same time, meaning most episodes consist of great fights while leaving little breathing room for the story to really unfold

Although the second season is filled with wild moments straight from the manga, including scenes recreated one-on-one, some anime original scenes fortunately deepen the character development that was sorely needed in a season full of bombastic battles and unnecessary deaths. Examples of this are the beautiful farewell of Todo Aoi (Subaru Kimura, BLUELOCK) during the battle with Mahito, which was not in the manga. Or Miwa's (Chinatsu Akasaki, Erased) emotional moment with Mechamaru (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Tokyo Revengers), which was extended. It's a shame that these unique additions and perfect adjustments are only added right before the characters 'depart'. I would have liked to see them next to Yuji. Now Jujutsu Kaisen is slowly turning into a one-man show and that is not the power behind Jujutsu Kaisen or Yuji. I am curious to see how this further develops the story.

Season two of Jujutsu Kaisen is packed with bombastic battles, leaving little room for story to really develop. The sheer chaos and utter destruction, combined with dramatic character development, can only carry a season so far. The manga still has many chapters left, so I'm curious to see what Jujutsu Kaisen's future looks like.