Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 38 Review

Mei Mei vs. Smallpox

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 38 gave us the fight I was expecting to get in Episode 37. Mei Mei (and Ui Ui) faced off against the special-grade Smallpox curse within its domain. And, it was a bit of a letdown.

Let’s just remember that this is a special-grade curse and Mei Mei is a grade 1 sorcerer. That should put them on about the same level, as Inu explained in a comment on the Episode 36 review. But, Mei Mei defeated this curse pretty easily.

Shouldn’t a special-grade curse be a bit harder to kill? I get that it’s not sentient like some of the other special-grade curses in the series. But, it fell for the same trick she played on it multiple times. And then she took it down in a single blow.

Something else I didn’t like about this fight was the explanation of the curse’s technique. No, it’s not the fact that the technique was explained. That was fine in this case. Though, another technique explanation later on in the episode wasn’t. Instead, I didn’t like how Mei Mei instinctively knew how the technique worked.

First, the curse locks its target in a wooden coffin. Next, a giant tombstone crushes the coffin into the ground. And finally, if the victim doesn’t escape within 3 seconds, they die. Specifically, they contract smallpox and die immediately.

The first two parts of this technique make sense. After all, Mei Mei experienced them firsthand. But, how did she determine that she’d die after 3 seconds under the tombstone? It would have made sense if she determined that after sacrificing one of her crows. But, she explained how the technique worked before doing that.

Is having a curse timer common?

The Sakugabooru Sorcerer

Naobito Zen’in could have been a cool character. For a few moments, he was a cool character. And then, he went on a rant about upscaling animation to 60 fps and I cringed. Was he correct in what he said? Yes. But, that doesn’t make it any less cringe.

Okay, so he’s an animation elitist. If that was all there was to it, I might be able to forgive him. I could conveniently ignore that aspect of his personality as long as he’s cool in other ways. You know, like ignoring Jiraiya’s perviness because he’s cool other times in Naruto.

However, Naobito’s cursed technique also has to do with animation. And I can’t bring myself to ignore that. This guy is a One Piece character (derogatory). Wacky character abilities work in One Piece because the whole show is wacky. They don’t work very well in Jujutsu Kaisen.

So, how does Naobito’s technique work? He’s able to instantly plan out his next 24 frames of movement. And, somehow, that allows him to move at superhuman speeds. How exactly that works still doesn’t make sense to me. But, I’m not going to question it.

Why the 24 frames, though? It’s because anime is animated at 24 frames per second. That’s why he went on his rant about how upscaling animation to 60 fps ruins the quality.

If Naobito breaks the 24-frame path he laid out for himself, there’s a demerit. He gets stunned for 1 second in an animation frame.

Also, if Naobito touches someone with his technique activated, they’re bound by it too. If they don’t move in the way their next 24 frames are laid out, they get stunned. The problem for those touched by Naobito, however, is that they don’t know their next 24 frames.

Second Beach Episode of the Season

In case you forgot, the first beach episode of the season was Episode 27. That’s when Gojou, Getou, and Riko hung out in Okinawa. It feels like forever ago, at this point. But, we went back to the beach in Episode 38.

Importantly, this isn’t the same beach. We’re not in Okinawa — we’re in Dagon’s domain. However, something you might have noticed is that we’ve been here before. Back in Season 1, we saw all the main special-grade curses hanging out here. And, that might have actually been the first time we saw Getou.

Anyway, Dagon has been around for a while. I believe he was floating in the water the first time we were in his domain. But, he never seemed like much of a threat. I thought he was kept around as a sort of silly mascot curse for the main bad guys.

Apparently, that’s not the case. Dagon is a special-grade curse like the others. And, also like the others, he’s sentient. But, what I wasn’t expecting is how much he cares for his comrades. When Naobito calls him “curse,” Dagon gets angry. He tells Naobito that he has a name, as do the other curses.

In a sense, Dagon is much more “human” than someone like Naobito is. He respects his fellow curses as individuals and even mourns their deaths. And because of that, I’m hoping Dagon isn’t exorcised at the end of this fight.

Sympathetic antagonists like him make the series more interesting. Sure, Getou’s cool and all. But, he (the brain) seems to be evil for the sake of it and has no other personality. I much prefer Dagon, Jugou, Mahito, and Hanami (RIP) over Getou. As characters, they’re far more personable, entertaining, and complex.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 38? Were you surprised by how easily Mei Mei defeated the Smallpox curse? Do you think Naobito’s cursed technique is cool or cringe? And, which of the sentient special-grade curses is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 39 is available now.