Mahito’s Other Natural Enemy

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 43 was good — for the first half. Yeah, the two halves of this episode couldn’t have been more different. And, that’s going to be the main focus of today’s review. How was the first half so good and the second half so bad?

There are two things that made the first half of the episode good. First, it had some good action. The fight between Mahito and Nobara looked a little janky at times. But, the fight between Itadori and Mahito looked good. And together, the fights were cool.

Second, and more importantly, the start of the episode set up Nobara to actually have a role in the series. That’s a huge deal. As I mentioned in my review of Episode 42, I didn’t have very high expectations for Nobara going into this fight. Until now, she’s kind of been a nobody.

Shounen battle series have a tendency to push the female characters to the side. Think of Sakura in Naruto, Ochaco in My Hero Academia, and Miksasa until the final chapter of Attack on Titan. They’re always overshadowed by the (usually two) main male characters.

The same is true of Nobara in Jujutsu Kaisen. She’s always been overshadowed by Itadori and Fushiguro. But, in her fight against Mahito, we got a glimpse of her being important. She was the only person aside from Itadori who could hurt Mahito with her attacks.

All the series had to do was expand upon this. Break out a niche for Nobara so that she could continue fighting alongside the boys. Her niche could even be in handicapping cursed spirits. You know, like how she damaged Mahito so that Itadori could regain momentum in his fight. But, that’s not what happened.

Itadori Isn’t Alone

Of course, Mahito told us exactly what he intended to do to Nobara. So, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised by what happened. And, it played out exactly as Mahito intended. He wanted to use Nobara’s death to break Itadori’s spirit.

Before Nobara’s death, Itadori was already at his lowest point. First, he saw the destruction “he” caused by allowing Sukuna to take over. Shibuya is gone and so is anyone who wasn’t able to evacuate. Even though that wasn’t Itadori’s fault, he blames himself. And, that’s not all he was dealing with.

Itadori also watched Mahito kill Nanami. He wasn’t able to do anything to save Nanami. And, I’m sure he blames himself for Nanami’s death, too. Itadori likely views everyone Mahito has killed since they last crossed paths as his fault. If only he was stronger back then, he could have exorcised Mahito and saved them.

After all this, there was something keeping Itadori going. He recognized the cursed energy that hit Mahito as Nobara’s. That reassured him that he wasn’t alone. There are others still fighting out there. And, it’s one of his friends, no less.

To me, this was the best part of Nobara dying (we can assume she’s dead). Without this moment, it would have been tragedy after tragedy for Itadori. But, by giving him this little moment of happiness, it actually makes the next tragedy hit harder. Well, for Itadori. Not for me, as I’ll get to shortly.

Imagine if Mahito’s other half just showed up out of nowhere with Nobara’s body. That would hurt Itadori, sure. But, it wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much as what actually happened. The elation of finding out Nobara is still out there fighting followed by the crushing weight of her death.

Nobara, Fumi, and Saori

So, I called the second half of Episode 43 bad. And, yes, I already know there are going to be plenty of people who disagree with that. But, allow me to explain. It’s not that it was bad on a technical level. It looked great. I just don’t care about Nobara.

As I’ve already said, this episode could have been the start of Nobara being a major character. Until now, she’s been a supporting character just as much as someone like Mechamaru. I didn’t care when he died and I don’t care now that Nobara is dead.

Why didn’t I care about Nobara? Because Gege Akutami (the mangaka whose name I just had to look up) didn’t make me care. What development did Nobara get before her death? What has she done to make me care about her? Nothing.

Gege made one of the biggest mistakes I see mangaka make. If you want me to care about a character’s death, you have to make me care long before they die. He didn’t do that here. When did we get Nobara’s “tragic” backstory? Once we already knew she was a goner. By that point, it’s too late.

Did introducing Fumi and Saori at this point change anything? No. I doubt we’ll ever see them again beyond this episode. The only reason they were added was to try to make us care about Nobara in a short amount of time. That may work for some people, but not for me.

There’s a pretty simple way to use the same content but make it more impactful. Introduce Fumi and Saori earlier. Do Nobara’s backstory in an earlier episode and then cut to Fumi and Saori in this episode. That way, their relationship with Nobara is already established.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 43? Were you expecting this to be the start of Nobara’s importance in the series? Is there anyone left to kill off in this arc? And, do you agree with me that Nobara’s death could have been handled better? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Rob and Pepe for supporting at the Kouhai tier. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

The review of Episode 44 is available now.

The End of Kento Nanami

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 42 wasn’t as good as the previous two episodes. It didn’t have the same level of animation as those two. But, that was expected. Those episodes had insane animation and a lot of the animators got burnt out.

With that said, this wasn’t a bad episode by any means. Sure, the content did the heavy lifting this week. But, the animators really need better working conditions and I hope they receive them. That will benefit everyone in the long run — animators, fans, and the people behind the scenes who make all the money.

Anyway, this week’s episode was all about Mahito, one of the main special-grade curses. I think he was actually the first special-grade curse introduced into the series. And, of the special-grade curses we know of, he’s the one Itadori hates the most.

But, before we get to Itadori’s run-in with Mahito, we need to talk about Nanami’s. At the end of Episode 41, we saw that Nanami survived Jougo’s attack. He suffered major burns on half of his body, but he was alive. That’s, unfortunately, no longer the case. Mahito killed him in front of Itadori.

This is something I didn’t see coming. In an earlier review, I predicted that Gojou was going to be out of commission for at least a few arcs. That’s good for the series because it lets other characters shine more. And, I thought Nanami would be one of those other characters.

With Gojou out of the picture, I assumed Nanami would step in and work with Itadori, Fushiguro, and Nobara. You know, like how Yamato stepped in for Kakashi for a while in Naruto Shippūden. Well, that dream is dead, just like Nanami. At least he can finally rest.

Itadori vs. Mahito

The big fight of Episode 42 was Yuuji Itadori vs. Mahito. Naturally, after seeing Mahito kill Nanami, Itadori flew into a rage. Nanami wasn’t the first friend of Itadori’s Mahito killed. Remember Junpei Yoshino from the start of the series? His death is what cemented Mahito as Itadori’s personal antagonist.

Mahito isn’t the main antagonist of the series. At least, not as far as I can tell. That’s going to be the brain curse using Getou’s body. But, Mahito is to Itadori what the brain curse is to Gojou. These jujutsu sorcerers have personal connections with these curses.

Now, earlier in this season, I’m pretty sure I predicted that Mahito would die during this arc. I could be wrong about that. But, if I did, I now don’t believe that. There are a few indicators that Mahito is going to be sticking around for a while longer.

The first indicator is the fact that there aren’t many antagonists left. Dagon and Jougo are both dead now. And Chousou had a mental breakdown after his blood mixed with Itadori’s. That only leaves Mahito and the brain curse within Getou as antagonists. And the brain curse seems like the big antagonist.

If Mahito also dies, that leaves the series in an awkward position. Either, it means that it’s time to fight the final boss, which seems unlikely since the manga is still ongoing. Or, it means we’d have to introduce an entire new lineup of sub-antagonists.

Having Mahito carry over into at least the next arc makes more sense. But, also, Mahito mentioned that Itadori won’t be able to defeat him until he realizes they’re the same. To me, this implies that Itadori will have to learn to use Sukuna’s cursed energy. So, he won’t be killing Mahito here.

Nobara’s Time to Shine

At the end of Episode 42, Nobara runs into another Mahito. To speed up his search for Itadori, he split himself into two. So, while one of his bodies is fighting Itadori in the subway station, the other runs into Nobara on the surface.

Nobara has never encountered Mahito before and doesn’t seem to have a full grasp of his abilities. But, she’s heard about him and knows not to let him touch her. And with that knowledge, she believes this is her time to shine.

Well, I’m going to have to disagree with Nobara’s assessment of the situation.

I don’t think Nobara is going to come out of this fight in a winning position. Though, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going to lose, either. What I find more likely is that Itadori puts Mahito in a position that forces him to retreat.

Now, there are a few other things that point to this situation not being favorable for Nobara. And the one I have to call out first is that she’s a woman in a shounen battle series. Female characters tend not to get the same attention as their male counterparts.

Nobara is no exception. She’s obviously the least favorite child between her, Itadori, and Fushiguro. And, I even had to look up her name before this review. She’s memorable in that I remember she exists. But, what has she actually done in the series? I couldn’t tell you.

The final thing that’s not great for Nobara is that Mahito plans to show her corpse to Itadori. As we saw with Nanami, even prominent supporting characters aren’t safe in this arc. So, what about Nobara? I doubt she’ll die here. But, she might be put out of commission for a while like I’m expecting from Gojou.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 42? Were you expecting Nanami to die so soon? Do you think Mahito is going to survive the arc? And, what’s your prediction for Nobara’s fight against Mahito? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 43 is available now.

Eight-Grip Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Makora

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 41 may be the last good episode of the season. In case you aren’t aware, things aren’t looking so good for the production of this series. Animators have been complaining about tight deadlines and being overworked.

But, I’m no expert in the Japanese animation industry. So, that’s all I’m going to say about that. We’ll just have to wait and see if the series melts going forward. I hope it doesn’t. However, there’s a very real possibility that it does.

Anyway, Episode 41 introduced some shiny new stuff for me to go over. And the first of those shiny new things is Fushiguro’s 10th shikigami. His ability allows him to make pacts with 10 powerful shikigami. But, no prior users of his technique were able to forge a pact with the strongest of the shikigami, Makora.

Shikigami and curses aren’t the same thing. I don’t know the technical differences. But, there are differences (source: trust me, bro). One piece of evidence pointing to that is that Makora is divine. He’s somehow connected to the Buddha, which would be weird if he was a curse.

Through his fight against Sukuna, we also learn that Makora’s ability is that it can adapt to anything. If Sukuna hadn’t figured this out fast enough, there’s a good chance Makora would have won the fight. And, if Makora won the fight, Fushiguro would die.

Why doesn’t Sukuna want Fushiguro to die, though? It’s not because Fushiguro and Itadori are best friends. Instead, it seems to be because Fushiguro is one of the few sorcerers who could defeat Gojou. This information comes from Gojou himself. But, it’s unclear exactly how Sukuna would use that to his advantage. Gojou’s sealed and Fushiguro wouldn’t help Sukuna.

Domain Expansion: Malevolent Kitchen

I can’t say that I was expecting Sukuna to be revealed to be Gordon Ramsay. But, that’s kind of what happened in this episode. Previously, I theorized that Sukuna represented Hell as a curse. The fire we saw him use would therefore be hellfire.

But, it turns out that wasn’t quite right. In Episode 41, he reveals that his domain expansion is Malevolent Kitchen. And within his domain, he can do a variety of cooking-related things. He can slice things, he can dice things, and he can boil/bake things.

What if I wasn’t entirely wrong, though? What if Sukuna still represents Hell in a way? Maybe Malevolent Kitchen is actually an alternate translation of Hell’s Kitchen? Now are you seeing why I said he’s Gordon Ramsay? It all makes sense. Well, except for the part about Sukuna being the strongest curse.

I can’t say I understand how a curse whose ability has to do with cooking is the strongest. Though, I’m sure there’s more to Sukuna than what we know right now. And that’s why I’m not giving up on my representation of Hell theory.

You see, when he was fighting Makora, Sukuna commented on how Makora could see his ability. This is an odd thing to say if Sukuna’s ability actually only has to do with cooking things. His comment implies there’s still something we don’t understand about how it all works. And, we should also consider what he said to Jougo in Episode 40.

Jougo thought slicing things up was Sukuna’s ability. But, Sukuna said that’s not his true ability. Could Sukuna’s true ability have to do with gaining power through eating curses? That could tie into the cooking motif. And, it could explain the whole “eating Sukuna’s fingers” thing.

Destruction of Shibuya

By the end of the episode, Shibuya is in rough shape. There are multiple blocks that simply don’t exist anymore thanks to Jougo and Sukuna. And, there are thousands of people who lost their lives as a result of Sukuna’s fights.

One of those people who lost their lives is Haruta Shigemo, the guy whom Nanami killed a couple of times. He ran out of backup lives and Sukuna finished him off. But, I wanted to bring Haruta up because it turns out that I was somewhat correct when I predicted his ability.

Back in my review of Episode 36, I pointed out how the marks on Haruta’s face disappear every time he dies. That’s exactly what was happening. But, what I couldn’t have predicted is how he gains those extra lives. He gains them by erasing his own memory of little miracles that happen every day.

Basically, if something good happens to Haruta, like he finds a coin on the ground, he gets an extra life. But, he won’t remember that he found a coin on the ground. So, he doesn’t know what happened to give him that extra life. That’s why he doesn’t understand his own ability.

Anyway, we know Haruta is dead now. However, what’s more important is that we know Nanami is alive. He looks like Two-Face from Batman now. But, things could be worse. He could have died from Jougo’s fire blast.

We don’t yet know how Nanami survived with only half of his body being burnt, though. And since we don’t know that, we can’t assume that Maki and Naobito are dead. They could have survived in the same way. And, as I predicted in a previous review, Maki, in particular, seems too important to die like that.

Final Thoughts

What do you think about Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 41? Why do you think Sukuna wants to keep Fushiguro alive? Is Sukuna really the curse of cooking? Or, do you think there’s more to his ability than that? And, how do you think Nanami survived? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 42 is available now.

Fushiguro vs. Fushiguro

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 40 might be the best episode so far. I’d say it had the best action and it didn’t have any ability explanations. It was the best of both worlds and should be the benchmark all other episodes are measured against.

The first great fight of the episode featured Megumi Fushiguro vs. Touji Fushiguro. And, the first thing I want to point out about this fight is that Touji didn’t recognize Megumi (at first). This means Megumi wasn’t targeted because of who he was. Instead, he likely had the most cursed energy of the nearby sorcerers.

Something else we should take note of is how long Megumi survived in his fight against Touji. Sure, he didn’t win the fight. And if Touji didn’t kill himself in the end, Megumi would have died. But, it’s impressive that Megumi was able to hang on for as long as he did.

Remember, Touji is the guy who killed Gojou (sort of). That was when Gojou was younger and not quite as strong. But Touji still went up against Gojou and won. And now, Megumi is holding his own against Touji. Most sorcerers couldn’t do that.

Now, unfortunately, Touji did kill himself, ending the fight. He did so after he realized who he was fighting. And in his final moments, he was glad to learn that Megumi was using his surname, not Zen’in.

Why is it unfortunate that Touji died (again), though? Because I would have liked to see him fight some of the other strong characters. We saw him destroy Dagon. But, what about Jougo? And what about Sukuna?

The good news is that Megumi referred to Touji as a perfected version of Maki. So, maybe in the future Maki will be on par with him?

I Guess Jougo Is Strong

In my review of Episode 39, I said I felt like Jougo wasn’t that strong despite being a special-grade curse. Well, now I realize that I was wrong. Jougo is very strong. Not as strong as Sukuna. But, he has way more destructive power than I thought.

It makes sense, though. He’s a volcano curse, after all. You’d expect him to be able to cause a lot of destruction. But, we hadn’t seen him do anything like he did in the fight against Sukuna until now. Previously, he used small bursts of fire. Here, he became a full-blown natural disaster.

Jougo was able to blast through buildings. He was able to melt large areas with his lava. And, at the end of the fight, he was even able to summon (create?) a meteor that crashed down from above.

So, why haven’t we seen Jougo fight like this before? If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you won’t be surprised to know I don’t remember if he fought at all in Season 1. And the only other fight we saw him take part in was the one against Gojou in the subway.

Naturally, there’s not much Jougo can actually do against Gojou’s abilities. Even if he creates a massive wave of lava or summons a meteor, Gojou can stop it. When it comes down to it, Jougo just has a bad matchup against Gojou due to the physical nature of his ability.

This is also why Jougo didn’t bother using his domain expansion against Goujo. He knew he’d lose. But, could this have helped him in his fight against Sukuna? Sukuna seems to imply it might have. Although, even with his domain expansion, I’m sure Jougo still would have lost. Sukuna is simply too strong.

Sukuna’s True Ability

Before this episode, I hadn’t thought about what Sukuna’s ability was. But, each of the special-grade curses represents something. So, in theory, Sukuna shouldn’t be any different, right? Hanami represented plants. Dagon represented the ocean. Jougo represented volcanoes. And even Mahito represents death.

Of course, there are other special-grade curses beyond those. For example, there was the smallpox curse that Mei Mei exorcised. And, there are even some lower-grade curses that represent things. Remember when Itadori fought the locust curse earlier in the arc? It appears that only the lowest of the low-grade curses are “generic” curses.

So, what does Sukuna represent? And what’s his ability?

Obviously, I don’t have a definitive answer. But, I can theorize about both of these questions based on everything we’ve seen of Sukuna, so far. And, my prediction is that he represents the underworld or Hell.

We know Sukuna is supposed to be kind of like a “king of the curses.” He’s the strongest curse, and according to brain-Getou, is on par with Gojou. So, wouldn’t it make sense for a Satan-like curse to be the strongest and considered the king? No? Well, I have a little more evidence.

Jougo was under the impression that Sukuna’s ability involved slicing and shredding. But, that’s not Sukuna’s true ability. That’s just something he does when fighting. When he reveals his true ability, it’s fire-based.

However, I wouldn’t say that Sukuna represents fire. If that was the case, you’d expect Jougo to be the stronger of the two.

My assumption is that Sukuna’s fire is supposed to be something like hellfire; a special kind of fire that burns hotter than anything else. Oh, and I think we’ve also seen Sukuna sitting on a throne of skulls, which is pretty Hell-like.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 40? Do you think Megumi will ever learn that the man he was fighting was his father? Who’s stronger, Touji Fushiguro or Jougo? And, what do you think is the true nature of Sukuna’s ability? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 41 is available now.

Touji vs. Dagon

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 39 wraps up the fight against special-grade curse Dagon. But, the fight didn’t end the way I expected when it first began. Nanami, Maki, and Naobito didn’t defeat Dagon. And (Megumi) Fushiguro didn’t help them escape Dagon’s domain.

Instead, Touji Fushiguro saved the day. At the end of Episode 38, we saw Touji appear through the hole Megumi made in Dagon’s domain. And in this week’s episode, we got another reminder of just how strong Touji is. He’s arguably the second-strongest person ever after Gojou.

As we saw, Touji used Maki’s weapon to destroy Dagon. Dagon didn’t stand a chance. And we know Dagon was stronger than the other sorcerers present combined. Touji could have easily killed them, too. So, why didn’t he?

I thought Touji’s directive upon being summoned was to kill all the sorcerers in the area. Dagon isn’t a sorcerer. Why did Touji target him?

Well, the narrator gives us a partial explanation. According to the narrator, Touji was targeting the strongest opponent around. Since Dagon was stronger than the sorcerers, that made Dagon the strongest around. And so, Touji targeted him.

But, how does that match up with the whole “kill all the sorcerers” directive? My guess is that Touji was determining the strongest sorcerer by their cursed energy. Sorcerers have cursed energy. So, the strongest sorcerer around must be the one with the most cursed energy. But, as a special-grade curse, Dagon also has a lot of cursed energy.

The most interesting thing to come out of this, to me, was who Touji targeted next. After exorcising Dagon, Touji turned his attention to Megumi. Was this because he recognized his son? Or, does this mean Megumi has more cursed energy than Nanami and Naobito?

RIP Nanami, Maki, and Naobito

Getting singled out by Touji isn’t great. But, at least that saved Megumi from suffering the same fate as Nanami, Maki, and Naobito. After Touji took Megumi outside, Jougo appeared before the other three sorcerers.

Now, we know Jougo is a special-grade curse. And we know he was able to survive a fight against Gojou. Though, he wasn’t alone and there were some mitigating circumstances. Still, it’s impressive that he didn’t die there. And yet, I don’t feel like he’s all that strong. But, as Nanami mentions, Jougo is stronger than Dagon.

So, it’s no surprise that Jougo was able to quickly deal with the injured sorcerers. First, he burnt Nanami to a crisp. Then, he burnt Maki to a crisp. And finally, he burnt Naobito to a crisp. None of these sorcerers even stood a chance.

Here’s the thing, though. Nanami, Maki, and Naobito actually dead? They sure looked dead based on how badly burnt their bodies were. But, my prediction is that they’re not. Or, at least, not all of them are dead. I can’t see Nanami and Maki dying here. Naobito isn’t an important character, though. So, he might be dead.

Assuming I’m right, the question is then, “How do Nanami and Maki survive?” And the answer may have come from later in the episode. When talking to Sukuna, Jougo thinks to himself about Sukuna’s ability to heal others. That seems pretty relevant right about now.

If Nanami and Maki didn’t immediately die. And if Itadori can reclaim his body and make it to them in time. There’s a chance Itadori might be able to save them. That’s what I’m guessing is going to happen. Though, it requires them to still be alive and Itadori backtracks to get to them.

Also RIP Mimiko and Nanako

Two characters who I’m guessing definitely won’t be coming back are Mimiko and Nanako. Unfortunately for them, they don’t seem important enough to bring back. And, also, their injuries were immediately fatal. Nanako doesn’t even have a body at all anymore.

I suppose you could make an argument for Mimiko and Nanako coming back from the dead. After all, they came back to life after Jougo incinerated them. So, there is precedent here. But, I still don’t think that’s going to happen for a few reasons.

The main reason is that Jougo noted that it didn’t seem like something the girls could do again. Sure, they managed to survive his inferno once. But, whatever trick they used to do it wasn’t something they could repeat.

What exactly did the girls do to survive, though? I’m not sure. But, it seems like it was Nanako’s ability.

I don’t remember if the cursed techniques of these girls were ever explained. We might have seen them use their abilities earlier in the series. I’m not sure. So, I’m basing everything I’m saying right now on what I saw in Episode 39.

And, what I saw in Episode 39 was Nanako taking a selfie with Mimiko right before they died (to Jougo). After Sukuna kills them again, he picks up Nanako’s phone and says her ability must have used the camera in some way. Remember, she also pointed her camera at Sukuna in anger after he killed Mimiko.

So, while I don’t know the details of how Nanako’s ability works, it seems to be an ability she can use in a variety of ways. She can use it offensively, like when she tried to attack Sukuna. And, she can use it defensively, like when she revived herself and Mimiko.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 39? Do you think Touji targeted Megumi because he had the next highest amount of cursed energy? Are you expecting Nanami, Maki, or Naobito to survive their encounter with Jougo? And, do you think Mimiko and Nanako are dead for good this time? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 40 is available now.