Welcome all to the Fall 2020 Season, I am Lenlo and this is my first new show, Jujutsu Kaisen! I had no idea what this was before this season, didn’t even know it existed. Boy am I glad for that, because I don’t think I would be enjoying it as much as I am if I knew what was coming. Without further ado lets dive into the episode!
Right off the bat, lets talk some animation, because Keiichiro Watanabe went a little bit crazy this episode. Just like his work in Mob Psycho 100 and God of Highschool, Watanabe is all about the action scenes. Saying screw the model, screw physics, lets just have a good time. Combine that with the crazy camera of Seong-Hu Park, Director of last seasons God of Highschool, and you have a recipe for some insane cuts. From the opening fight on the roof to the expressive dolls in the second half, Jujutsu Kaisen looked great this week. I have absolutely no idea if MAPPA can keep this up of course. They are working on Taiso Samurai and Attack on Titan this season well. Combine that with the MAPPA curse and things look sketchy. For now at least though, I am hype. Gimme my action Watanabe! I need it my fix!
Actual content wise, let’s take this slow. Jujutsu Kaisen’s core story of finding 20 McGuffins is pretty standard Shounen shlock. We all know it won’t be that easy. That the real meat of the show comes with whoever is holding those fingers. So until we meet some Antagonists, until we see how Jujutsu Kaisen handles its villains, there isn’t much to judge here. That said there are a few things I liked, however small. I liked how our lead, Itadori, wasn’t given a choice for instance. He can either choose to die now, or collect the fingers and die later. It forces him into the journey whether it fits with his personal morals or not. This is good, since in a lot of Shounen the MC just doesn’t feel like the type of person to give a shit. Here at least it doesn’t matter, and gives us some decent motivation.
In particular I liked how Jujutsu Kaisen framed this whole thing. The grandfather’s death from last episode isn’t just being glossed over, it’s a continuing event. It’s influencing how people have these conversations and what kind of environments they are happening in. Take the funeral home for instance. I don’t think I have ever seen this setting in an anime before. And having this conversation of curses, of execution, of how Itadori is going to live his life while picking up his grandfathers ashes/bones with chopsticks does wonders for the mood. It tints the entire conversation with this idea of death and finality, but in a natural way. Plus, as I said, it’s just a novel setting. We don’t really see much of Japanese funeral practices in anime, so its a unique setting to top it all off.
As for the characters themselves, I’m enjoying them so far. None of them feel like… stereotypes, at least not yet. Take Gojo for instance, probably the most stereotypical one of them all. He is the super-strong teacher/elder student. Unlike say, Giyu from Kimetsu no Yaiba, he isn’t a blank slate. He smiles, he laughs, he is eccentric and down to have fun. Taking pictures of Fushigoro for future laughs or being able to sit down and have a serious conversation with Itadori about his grandfather. I wouldn’t call him a fully realized person just yet, it’s to early for that. But it feels like there is some depth there waiting to be explored. Whether it be the reason for his cocky arrogance or his easy going nature, he isn’t what I expected him to be from his design and I want to see more.
It’s similar for Itadori as well, Jujutsu Kaisen is doing some interesting stuff here. Exploring the general Shounen Protagonist ideals of wanting to help people, demanding he find something more. It’s not subtle in the slightest, but it is nice to see. I especially liked how Jujutsu Kaisen tore down this idea of “doing it for grandfather”. How you can’t enter into this sort of work with that kind of motivation. Because if you do, without your own reasons, then by the end you will come to hate and curse whoever set you on it. Its another example of Jujutsu Kaisen tying everything back to this side-character old man. Making him and his death feel far more important than it really should be. Its still a clear Shounen, it falls into some of the same traps. But there is enough here to make it a different flavor of Shounen.
The only thing I didn’t like about this episode has to be the highschool setting. Seriously, after all we just saw, after all the curses and murder and death… this is a highschool battle shounen? This is the stereotype we fall into? It felt so random and out of place that I actually had to do a double take. It doesn’t fit the setting/setup of Jujutsu Kaisen at all and I can’t help but think its going to drag it down. Hopefully we don’t spend much time here, since we have to go out and hunt the fingers. But between meeting the older students and the final first year we saw on the train, I am not holding out much hope for that. Maybe Jujutsu Kaisen will figure out a way to make it interesting. But I ain’t expecting much on that end.
So all in all, how was this episode of Jujutsu Kaisen? Aside from the weird choice of making this a Highschool based battle shounen, I liked it a lot! Watanabe had some beautiful cuts and Jujutsu Kaisen is doing some interesting things with its characters. So long as it can continue to explore and find its own niche in the genre, I don’t see any reason it can’t be good. And based on its reception in Jump up until now the manga doesn’t slouch either. I think the one thing I want to see more than anything else moving forward though is more Sukuna. We have an Antagonist bound to our MC, lets use it. Give him personality, let him talk more and let him get involved. If Jujutsu Kaisen can make that fun? I’m down.
Oh and P.S. I love this ED.
Sick screencap choices. Really showcases the breadth of the color design.