Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Review
Prequel to the Prequel
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 (Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season / 呪術廻戦 懐玉・玉折／渋谷事変) is a bit of a mess when it comes to chronology. It covers three story arcs, though, two of them are connected. These story arcs are Hidden Inventory, Premature Death, and Shibuya Incident.
Alright, so why is this season a mess? Remember how Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was the prequel to Season 1? Well, Hidden Inventory and Premature Death are prequels to Jujutsu Kaisen 0. They’re prequels to the prequel. And then, Shibuya Incident is the sequel to Season 1. So, in this season, we get both the earliest and latest arcs to date.
This also means that it’s more important than ever to watch Jujutsu Kaisen 0. If you skipped this movie, you should go back and watch it. Hidden Inventory and Premature Death lead into that movie. And, a certain character from 0 shows up at the end of the Shibuya Incident.
Now, let’s talk about Hidden Inventory and Premature Death. These arcs are the origin stories of Satoru Gojou and Surugu Getou. Back in their high school days, they were friends. And, they were considered some of the strongest sorcerers alive.
But, their paths diverged pretty drastically. As we know, Gojou became the strongest sorcerer in the jujutsu world. And Getou became a villain whose goal was to eradicate all non-sorcerers. However, the Getou we know in the present timeline isn’t the same Getou. That’s explained in Jujutsu Kaisen 0.
What I found most interesting about this prequel is how their roles were almost reversed. Getou almost became the hero due to wanting to eliminate curses from the world. But, he chose the wrong way of doing it. And Gojou almost snapped and became Sukuna II due to what happened to Riko.
The Sealing of Satoru Gojou
A lot of crazy stuff happened in this season — both in the first arc(s) and the second. But, the craziest thing of all was probably the sealing of Satoru Gojou. This was one of the major goals of the Shibuya Incident.
Considering everything that comes later in the arc, this might not seem like that big of a deal. But, it’s Gojou’s sealing that allows a lot of what follows to happen. And, in the final episode, we’re explicitly told how Gojou’s absence changes things. It’s kind of a big deal.
Something that surprised me about Gojou’s sealing was how little he accomplished beforehand. Sure, he was fighting three special-grade curses and a jujutsu sorcerer. And sure, he was in a crowded train station and didn’t want to kill any civilians. But, he only managed to take down one special-grade curse.
Hanami got obliterated by Gojou. But, Jougo, Mahito, and Chousou all survived the encounter. Though, in Chousou’s case, he likely wasn’t seen as much of a threat. The special-grade curses were more important for Gojou to take down. And, I guess he could have taken down more of them if Getou hadn’t shown up to seal him.
Anyway, as I said, Gojou’s sealing is what allowed everything else that followed to happen. If he wasn’t sealed, the special-grade curses wouldn’t have been able to run wild. In particular, Mahito and Jougo wouldn’t have been able to do everything they did.
And, if that were the case, then there would be quite a few characters still alive. Spoilers here, but Nanami and Nobara are two, in particular, who may have survived the incident. But, there are still plenty of others who would have died this season anyway — like Mechamaru.
Shibuya Incident
The second half of the Shibuya Incident arc is just one crazy fight after another. There are so many that I’m probably going to forget some. But, let’s go through the highlights starting with Itadori vs. Chousou.
Itadori vs. Chousou was a cool fight because it involved a lot more martial arts than some of the later fights. They were both using their jujutsu techniques. But, it was nothing like the fights that came after.
Speaking of crazy fights that came after, there was Sukuna vs. Mahoraga. Mahoraga is some sort of deity that Fushiguro summoned with his technique. This was the first crazy fight of the arc. Anytime Sukuna starts fighting, you know it’s going to be wild.
After that, we got Sukuna vs. Jougo, which may have been the best fight. In it, we got to see Jougo use his full strength. And, we got to see Sukuna reveal his true technique.
Then, we got Itadori and Todou vs. Mahito. Itadori and Mahito aren’t as exciting as Sukuna, Mahoraga, and Jougo. But, when you add Todou into the mix, it makes the fight great. It’s no stretch to say that Todou was the star of this fight.
So, who did we lose throughout this season?
Well, Riko died in Premature Death. But, the Shibuya Incident saw the deaths of a lot of characters. There are the special-grade curses Hanami, Dagon, Jougo, and Mahito. Then, there are the sorcerers Mechamaru, Nobara, and Nanami.
Maki and Naobito Zenin might be dead. The last we saw of them, they got fried by Jougo. Oh, and both Todou and Inumaki suffered serious injuries. I don’t remember how this happened, but Inumaki lost both of his arms. Todou lost one of his hands to Mahito. Did I miss anyone?
Final Thoughts
Overall, I gave Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 an 8/10. It was pretty close to earning a 9. But, there were a few things holding it back. One of the big ones was Nobara’s death episode. No matter what happened in that episode, I was not going to care one bit.
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