Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 6 aired on Thursday kicking off the highly anticipated Shibuya Incident arc. With a new opening, a new ending, and a more light-hearted episode that ended in the midst of a wild battle, the hype for the best arc in Jujutsu Kaisen is drastically mounting up.
The first half of the episode wasn’t much to write home about in terms of its content. It was, at its core, a handful of comedic, and rather basic, slice-of-life moments between Mei and Todo and Itadori, Megumi, and Nobara. But the facial expressions mixed in with, as always, wonderful voice acting by the cast created a cluster of laughs and heartwarming moments before the nitty gritty.
I said before while covering this season that I think the best time for a director and storyboard artist to flex their creative muscles comes during slower moments because there can be a creative ceiling at times. It forces staff to really think outside of the box as much as possible to uplift an anime past its source material. Luckily, everything looked clean in the former half of the episode with a handful of beautiful shots.
I can understand those who watched the episode and came away from the first half thinking “What was the point of all that?” Going from the comedic half of the episode to immediately switching over to something a lot more serious in revealing Mechamaru being a mole for Geto is a drastic flip. One minute we see the main three having a relaxing day meeting one of Itadori’s old friends from school, the next we see Mechamaru fighting Mahito with Geto cheering from the sidelines.
But Ryouta Aikei’s series debut as an episode director and storyboard artist proved to be a hit. What else would we expect from the same person who filled the same roles for part 1 of Attack on Titan Final Season THE FINAL CHAPTERS, which also ended up trending on Twitter for an entire week. There was a certain allure to Aikei’s decision to constantly hint at the darkness overcoming the light — a perfect use of visual foreshadowing. That being said, Eiko Matsushima’s color design and Junichi Higashi’s art direction both deserve their own round of applause.
While the fight is just getting started, it was definitely a surprise for anime-only’s of how fast-paced everything has become. The episode wasted zero time in outing Mechamaru as the mole and the transition of Utahime about to tell Itadori, Megumi, and Nobara the name of the culprit only to have it quickly transition to Miwa saying “Mechamaru” in her usually sweet tone was a nice touch.
I was wondering if this episode would leave off on the fight between Mechamaru and Mahito. Luckily, series director Shouta Goshozono and Aikei knew the perfect place to leave fans clamoring to see what happens next in their fight. That little flash of Miwa smiling in Mechamaru’s mind before the fight might’ve possibly spoiled how the fight will end, though. Either way, that emotional touch in these fights for this arc is something anime-only fans should get used to going forward.
I won’t say anything about the fight is special yet. While the Shibuya Incident arc did start with this episode, the next is when everything starts to hit the fan. It seemed fans were more hyped about the new opening for the season than the actual episode itself. While I’m in the minority of not particularly being a fan of the opening theme song, the wonderful visual work by Yuki Kamiya (OP director and storyboard artist), who also directed the first opening from this season, is undeniably brilliant.
Overall, the art style continues to impress me the most with the new season. Details aren’t too heavy nor too light. But the return of our favorite trio surrounded by the humor we all know and love them for was a nice little way of telling viewers “Laugh now because there won’t be any more of this from here on out.” If the latter half of the episode didn’t give you a hint of what’s to come, then let the next episode be your haunting guide into the Shibuya Incident arc.
Episode 6 rating: 8/10
If you enjoyed episode 6 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 then make sure to vote for the series in our weekly poll! The next episode will air on Thursday, September 7. The series is streaming on Crunchyroll with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Gege Akutami/Shueisha/JUJUTSU KAISEN Project