Friday, July 7, 2023

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 Review: Anime and Manga Comparison

    Something I enjoyed while watching Chainsaw Man was pre-reading the manga before watching the episode. This way, I can observe the differences between the two. Sometimes the differences can be welcomed, or in some cases, they can lose the feel the manga provides.

    Of course, with two different ways of portraying the story, there are differences that benefit one that could hurt the other. So I think they definitely have a place as long as they do not drastically affect the overall plot.

    With that being said, the first 10 or so minutes of this episode are anime-only content. We get the scene of Geto exorcising a curse in an alley (the alley reminded me of "The Door" in Chainsaw Man). We get a bit of his perspective, explaining how absorbing curses is like "swallowing a dirty rag that's been used to clean up shit and vomit." Then we get a bit of a flashback to something we should be seeing again towards the end of this arc. I think it was neat to get this little bit of Geto, since we have not seen enough of him yet in the anime.

    I really enjoyed how they changed the beginning of Chapter 65. I really felt as though the manga caught me off guard during my initial reading. I really enjoyed watching Utahime run around and solve the way the barrier worked and ultimately try to break it with Mei Mei. The scene of her running down the hall as the building collapsed gave me huge Spirited Away vibes. But of course, the wonderful trio of Gojo, Geto, and Shoko come in and break them out without noticing they never put up a veil to keep the outside world from seeing what happened. While first watching the episode, I never noticed that Shoko was the doctor at Jujutsu High. It completely went over my head.

    The opening was fitting. It really gave the vibe of Gojo in his teenage years and the times they have as a crew before whatever happened with him and Geto.

    If you remember Gojo getting guidance in the form of a noggin punch, it is just as good in the manga. They really did not change much for that scene. While they did not change the content, they did change the setting, which really added a lot to Gojo and Geto's conversation about the stronger helping the weak. In the manga, they were in a classroom the whole time, while here they are playing basketball, with Gojo, of course, completely showing off, while Geto misses his shot. They also move around the school with Masamichi. I think the anime wins this scene just because of the direction they went while keeping the context in this moment of the episode the same. Side note, the "Metalgreymon" and "Skullgreymon" completely lost me. Later found out that it was a Digimon reference. One show that I never really watched as a kid.

    Going into the last part of the episode, we got another change from the manga. Not a huge one, really, but in the manga, Gojo and Geto are walking right next to each other while having their conversation, while in the anime, Geto is in the building, talking to Gojo over the phone before the explosion in the building. From here, it basically follows the manga, but with the Star Plasma Vessel falling, Geto is forced to use a curse of his to save her. But it continues to look difficult as he is confronted by a Q Soldier named Kokun.

    Down on the ground, Gojo is confronted by another Q Soldier, "Bayer," who attacks him with an ensemble of knives. But they are useless due to Gojo's infinity. Gojo, who is completely unimpressed, makes a deal with Bayer, telling him that if he cries and apologizes, Gojo won't kill him. I really liked the camera effect they had going on with Gojo walking up to the soldier. MAPPA is so good at what they do.

    Then we end the episode with the end of chapter 66, which brings in an interesting man who used to have the last name Zen'in but now goes by Fushiguro?

    I really enjoyed the episode! It did not change anything that would have an impact on the plot, and it was visually really appealing. If it stays this way or gets better, I think we are in for a great 6 months of this show.


- Casda




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