Things I Love About Jujutsu Kaisen’s Second Season

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Jujutsu Kaisen is…not at all finished. In fact, the second season has landed us in the middle of what manga readers have called one of, if not the most, important arcs in the series: The Shibuya Incident. Still, the most recent episode leaves the series around 100 chapters in, story-wise, while the manga is currently up to almost 240 chapters as of writing.

Despite having so much material left to be adapted Jujutsu Kaisen has very quickly become one of my favorite Shonen properties of the last few years. It has genuinely very polished and unique characters with personalities that stand out despite some of them only having half an episode’s worth of screen time or so as well as kick-ass animation (from an unfortunately overworked and underpaid team. This is not what this post is about but I do feel morally obligated to keep mentioning it because Jesus christ those conditions are awful).

Season two has definitely managed to up the ante in a lot of ways, which is why I wanted to talk about it before it ends. There will likely be a review proper, but there is just so much stuff worth talking about it felt appropriate to offload some of that work ahead of time.

Hidden Inventory

Gojo has become as much a central figure in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen as Yuji. From his first appearance at the end of episode one, it was easy to tell that he would be a mentor-like figure. However, as the show progressed, the nature of his existence became much clearer, and much of his centrality in the story is premised on the sheer strength of his abilities and what that strength means for both friend and foe alike.

Season two’s prequel arc centered around Gojo and Geto’s relationship while still in the academy does well at further solidifying their characters. Given his abilities, Gojo in the modern era is treated as basically a god walking among men, and an undefeatable powerhouse. However, this arc not only gives further insight into certain character relationships like Gojo and Megumi but also literally humanizes said walking deity by showing him getting beaten inside the academy, a place where he is supposed to be safe.

Strategy Still Matters

One thing Shonen watchers have probably experienced a bit over the years is when strategy stops mattering in a fight. A series will start out with characters who observe a certain set of rules when it comes to combat. However, over time, the series will play fast and loose with them, usually in the form of crazy powerups out of nowhere or divine intervention-esque wrenches being thrown into someone’s plans out of nowhere.

Jujutsu Kaisen has, at least so far, not done this. Its take on the genre is almost meta in the way that its most powerful characters are acknowledged from the beginning. So much so, in fact, that some have recently speculated whether Mangaka Gege Akutami has written themself into a corner via Gojo’s existence. Despite this, the show has still managed to create a sense of stakes, especially given that the villains are largely targeting those most powerful characters.

Mysteries Abound

Often a criticism of overly complex and pointless stories is that they tend to leave more questions even when ones get answered. To a certain extent, this can leave people with a feeling of discontent. Even so, stringing along viewers with new questions and the end of arcs also helps to keep the story engaging. Though Shibuya is not over yet, it seems likely that its story will leave some mysteries around Geto’s identity and the strange entity controlling it, especially since Gojo already demonstrated that his will is still present.

What are you looking forward to in the rest of season two? Let me know in the comments.

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Originally published at http://animatedobservations.com on October 27, 2023.