Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 3 aired on Thursday giving fans a beautifully tragic course of events. Whether it was the hype surrounding stellar animation and composition, the shocking twists, or being left in awe at the musical score, this week’s episode was a beautifully directed masterpiece that showed us Jujutsu Kaisen is really better than it’s ever been.
While many fans were enamored with the action sequences in this episode, myself included, one scene in particular left me completely speechless. Seeing Riko have fun during what she expects to be the last day of being a normal, teenage girl is the most bittersweet feeling I’ve had since Jujutsu Kaisen began.
From the low shots of exploring around the beach to the cartoonish humor while eating her last bowl of ramen all the way to the flickering exit light, this scene just encapsulated what anime can truly do for its source material. While most of this credit can be given to Naoki Miyajima, who directed and storyboarded the episode, Yoshimasa Terui gave us one of the most angelic and emotional piano scores I’ve heard in a very long time.
The change in tempo during the visual transition from mid-day to sunset. Then again once she’s in the aquarium, playing to the mood of each scene, was genius. And once it all came to a pause before resuming again before Riko made her way to Tengen’s location was a flow unlike any other. It was a moment when I shed a few tears without even realizing it because of how beautiful it was — something that I never felt even while reading this part of the manga. The visual representation of her journey and mental state in this episode was magnificent.
It’s truly amazing that this was Miyajima’s episode directing and storyboarding debut. The pure genius that went into making one of the smallest arcs in the manga turn into a spectacle that led to trending worldwide on social media with just a single episode goes to show that he’s now one of many new directors in this industry that we have a lot to be excited for.
Riko was the series representation of reminding all of us that life is extremely fragile in the most beautiful ways while death can be the cruelest opposite. The feeling of being free for her was short-lived. But in that short time, you learn to lose yourself in the little things that make us realize how amazing life really is. To have that feeling taken away in a moment of happiness just goes to show that Jujutsu Kaisen isn’t going to be another shonen that caters to a heartfelt story.
The ending theme song playing as it leads viewers to believe the story is going to end with Riko joining Geto and living the full life that he also wanted for her just to hear the loud echo of a simple gunshot was something I didn’t expect to take me by surprise…but it did. Miyajima succeeded in finding a way to shock everyone as much as possible, even those of us who knew what was coming.
I know a lot of people love just the action Jujutsu Kaisen brings, but the emotional writing is great in this series when it wants to be — this arc shows that. Gojo’s attitude of doing what he wants took a backseat in this episode and it was nice to see. He developed a reputation for protecting his students in the present time period and it’s not far-fetched to say this is where it really began — with Riko.
Remember, Gojo preached that he hates the elderly in power and loves the kids a lot more. And even though Geto was the more kind-hearted of the two towards Riko upfront, Gojo was the one who wanted to give her just a little more time to live a normal life. Constantly being awake for days on end just to protect her so she could enjoy a normal life for the short time was a testament to Gojo’s character.
Now, that’s not to say Geto didn’t either. He was the one who agreed on Riko just continuing her life as it is. That him and Gojo would make sure that she could live a normal life after seeing how happy she was. It’s almost like the two of them became her big brothers at the end of it.
His bone-chilling reaction to being told Gojo was killed and after witnessing Riko dying in such a way was the absolute perfect cliffhanger for this episode. The artwork was clean and the rough line art just gave that more intense feeling — mirroring his rage as best as possible.
It’s hard to feel tense at the moment that Gojo was torn apart by Toji because even anime-only fans know that Gojo is going to return knowing this arc is set in the past. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact of how gruesome the fight felt thanks to a stellar team of animators, including Yooto and Keiichiro Watanabe, under Shota Goshozono’s and Miyajima’s direction.
The action sequences in this episode were so well done that it was impossible for me not to go back and watch them all over again. The clean blend of well-modeled 3D backgrounds and simplified 2D art gave way to breathtaking animation and some of the best composition the series has seen thus far. Seeing Gojo use his Blue technique in all its glory was perfectly done. I seriously can’t imagine a scenario where that moment could’ve looked any better than it did and a large part of that is thanks to Watanabe’s animation expertise.
But a lot of credit has to go to Kousuke Kato as well, who animated a couple of sequences for Toji’s end of the fight. Toji’s speed is one that even Gojo was worried about during the fight and Kato captured Toji’s physical prowess to a T, especially in this cut below where Gojo ends up stopping Toji’s direct attack.
This episode of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 gave us everything we could possibly want. The production all around was of the highest quality. The story of Amanai was masterfully told in both script and visuals. And we received one of the most beautiful piano scores in recent anime history. There was nothing in this episode that a single person could outright hate.
Miyajima, congratulations on a wonderful episode directing and storyboarding debut! We can’t wait to see more of your work!
Episode 3 rating: 10/10
If you enjoyed episode 3 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 then make sure to vote for the series in our weekly poll! The next episode will air on Thursday, July 27. The series is streaming on Crunchyroll with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Gege Akutami/Shueisha/JUJUTSU KAISEN Project