Jujutsu Kaisen
The Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event kicks into high gear with these two episodes. And we are going to see the students face off in various pairings. But, there may be other things going on as well. I'm sure you're surprised. Along with the new opening we got, we get a new closing theme. You can check it out below.
"Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event - Group Battle" Part 1
Yuji Itadori: "What gives you the right to just stomp all over my head like that? What if you made me dumber than I already was?!"
Aoi Todo: "Don't worry about that. Takada says men are perfect when they're a little bit dumb. And I have a feeling she's right."
Manga Chapters: 34, 35 & 36
Arc: Kyoto Goodwill Event
The Goodwill Event kicks off with the Jujutsu High students using Yuji to distract Todo since they hadn't planned on him being with them in the first place. Once they get out in the field, it becomes clear that the Kyoto students have a plan to kill Yuji. While Todo and Itadori face off, Todo begins to admire Itardori and sees within him the makings of a best friend.
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| What kind of girls do you like? |
The Goodwill Event kicks off here and for the next few episodes it is just action after action after action. But one of the things that I love the most about "Jujutsu Kaisen" is that while they are melting your brains with these action sequences, they also endear you to these characters with quirky, fun backstories and that is definitely what happens here.
If there is a negative to the Kyoto Goodwill Event arc, it's that we don't get a lot of Satoru Gojo. Gojo is definitely a breakout star of this show and so it's a kind of a bummer that we don't get a ton of him in the next few episodes. But they know this, so at the beginning of this episode we get a fun little moment with Gojo. As the event begins, he springs giving words of wisdom to the students on Utahime Iori. Iori is surprised and upset and this is definitely something that Gojo would do. Just as she's kind of getting into the groove of giving them advice, when Gojo cuts her off. It's such a douche-y move and it's classic Gojo. Never change Satoru.
The main event of this episode is Yuji Itadori vs Aoi Todo. They are the himbos of their respective school. They are filled with brute strength and watching them go at it is crazy. You can almost feel the blows that they are leveling on each other shaking your TV screen. Just watching Todo kicking Itadori in the head over and over and over again against the tree. It's one of the benefits of anime or just animation in general. You get to see these kind of brutal fights that you could never really see in live action and that is one of the coolest things. When Itadori gets up, blood rushing down his face, complaining about how Todo's hits have potentially made him dumber, something shifts in Aoi Todo.
I probably mentioned this when Todo first made his appearance that he is one of my favorite "Jujutsu Kaisen" characters. One of the things that I love the most about him is that he is completely unhinged. It's clear from the moment he appears on screen and that is just hammered home in this episode. Todo asks Itadori his standard question: "What kind of girls do you like?" Itadori is completely flabbergasted, but because he's a dummy, he answers the question. Yuji Itarodi likes a tall woman with a big ass just like Jennifer Lawrence. The answer to this question is when something sort of clicks in Todo. This big dummy has a full fantasy where he and Itadori are best friends. Itadori comforts him when Takada rejects him. He comes out of this fantasy sobbing. Itadori is so confused. But this fantasy changes the trajectory of their relationship. And its maybe one of my favorite moments in "Jujutsu Kaisen."
When the rest of the Kyoto students show up, Todo is not pleased. And he sends them away. It's clear that he has plans for Itadori and those plans don't necessarily involve killing him. Todo is upset that Itadori is relying on Divergent Fist. Yuji may not have any interest in being Todo's best friend (at least for now) but he doesn't have any interest in being weak, which only makes Todo admire his new best friend even more.
The rest of the episode kind of flashes to the other characters. I think it's pretty impressive how the Jujutsu High students figure out what the Kyoto students plans are. Panda makes a good point that all the Kyoto students know is that Itadori is the vessel for Sukuna so it's not surprising that they would have few qualms about killing Itadori. They don't know him like the Jujutsu High students know him.
Megumi uses Nue to take down Momo who is then confronted by Nobara and Panda. Then Fushiguro faces off against Noritoshi. Maki and Miwa are facing off against each other and Miwa admits that she isn't interested in necessarily killing Itadori. Miwa is using the exchange event to get noticed by higher level sorcerers so she can potentially get promoted. She is from a poor family and this might be the only way that she can. I enjoy that even during these fights, the show is still willing to give us more information about this society.
In this episodes juju stroll, the characters answer Todo's question about what kind of people they find attractive.
Grade: B+
"Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event - Group Battle" Part 2
Panda: "You have your own hardships too, Mechamaru. But just having more hardships doesn't make you right."
Manga Chapters: 37, 38 & 39
Arc: Kyoto Goodwill Event
Todo and Itadori continue their one one one with Todo not only facing off against Itadori, but giving him lessons on how to improve. Panda and Nobara confront Momo. But they are soon ambushed by Mechamaru. Mechamaru and Panda square off against one another. Mechamaru has issues with cursed corpses and he's ready to take that out on Panda.
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| A panda and a robot walk into a bar. |
The episode begins with Yuji and Todo taking a little breather from their battle. Even in this relatively brief battle with Todo, Itadori is improving. And Todo is impressed. I love how Todo is taking time out of this battle to basically train Itadori. he teaches Itadori that he must harness cursed energy at the point of impact and then he can allow that cursed energy to flow throughout his entire body. Is Todo a better teacher than Gojo? It kind of seems like he is. It feels like in a super brief amount of time, he's helped Itadori take a giant leap forward in his training as a Jujutus sorcerer. With cursed energy flowing through both of their bodies, Todo and Itadori are ready to continue their battle. But, we have to check on someone else rather than stick with them.
One of the things that anime does is that it will shift from one thing to the next. We will go back to Todo and Itadori but first we have to move on to another fight. And this time it's between Panda and Mechamaru. I am more invested in the fight between Todo and Itadori and because of that, the momentum in this episode kind of lags a little bit when compared to the last episode. But, I will say that your mileage will always vary based on how invested you are in the characters that the episode is focusing on.
This episode educates us on cursed corpses. Panda is a cursed corpse. The principal of Jujutsu High, Masamichi Yaga, is the premier practitioner of puppet jujutsu. And Panda is his masterpiece. We got a glimpse of Yaga's skill with puppet jujutsu when he sent that stuffed animal after Itadori in the second episode. Panda is much more advanced than that. Most cursed corpses have a core of cursed energy that can be struck at, but Panda has three. They come from his brother, a gorilla, and his sister.
Panda initially thinks that Mechamaru is a fellow cursed corpse, but he quickly realizes that Mechamaru is corpse being controlled by a human jujutsu sorcerer. That sorcerer is Kokichi Muta. Kokichi was born with something called Heavenly Restriction. Kokicihi's body is basically useless, but he has a lot of cursed energy. But he'd give up all of that to be able to walk in the sun. And because of his disability he has a lot of anger and resentment towards cursed corpses. He doesn't think that its fair that they are able to walk in the sun while he can't.
Like, it's too bad that Kokichi has this affliction. I feel bad for him, but as Panda points out, it doesn't give him a right to be a dick. This resentment and anger that he has isn't a great look and it's difficult to empathize with him. In fact, I can't imagine anyone watching this episode and not being completely on Panda's side. This is a great episode for Panda. Panda initially seems like kind of a novelty, but he proves that he is quite a badass. I love when he transitions into his gorilla form. It looks really cool and he just smacks around Mechamaru. Panda ends up beating Mechamaru but does agree to help Kokichi find his bliss since it doesn't seem like he is super invested in being a jujutsu sorcerer.
We get a little preview of what looks to be the next battle in the exchange event which is Maki vs Miwa and that one I'm excited about.
In this episodes juju stroll, Mechamaru is doing favors for the girls at Kyoto High.
Grade: B
Next up, Maki and Miwa face off while Momo and Nobara go at it and a cursed spirit interrupts the fight between Megumi and Noritoshi.
What did you all think? Are you enjoying the opening fights of this event? How do you feel about the relationship between Todo and Itadori? Were you more invested in Mechamaru and Panda? Let me know in the comments.
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