Review of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
"The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. However.. we are the exceptions." ABSOLUTE. CINEMA. And I don't say that lightly. Is Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 a true masterpiece? Maybe not : it really is up to perspective. Is it a spiritual masterpiece in my eyes, no matter its flaws? Absolutely. Coming off the heels of the highly acclaimed Season 1 and the JJK0 movie, there were a lot of expectations tied to this continuation. Be it the animation, the storyline, the music, the characters - ithad a lot to live up to. And it did not disappoint.
Yes, this season may not have been as polished or refined as Season 1. After all, we had to let go of Principal Yaga's sweet sweet shaded cheekbones. What it lost in eye candy, it made up for in sheer raw animation. Saying that may make you think the animation had a major dip in quality - it did not. It just became slightly flatter, which actually helped it in terms of the fight animation. Even the CGI used this season was much better than whatever we saw in Season 1. The story is not an ultra deep commentary or a character driven drama, and neither does it pretend to be. It performs where absolutely necessary - the action - and does it brilliantly.
If I am to be honest, the Hidden Inventory Arc actually had the most distinct animation style the entire season - scenes could go from looking like they were from something like Monster to looking like a Masaaki Yuasa work, and a few were actually uncanny to watch. The moment we returned to the present, however, Season One's familiar art style returned. As the episodes went on, with the exception of a few episodes, the quality of animation just KEPT. GETTING. BETTER.
It is no secret that MAPPA horrendously mistreated their animators for sheer corporate greed, killing many ideas envisioned by these masterful artists. Yet, it is a testament to their ability that these productions (case in point : episodes 16 and 17, reportedly incomplete on release) came out the absolute beauties they were. I don't think I have ever actually soft-clapped at the end of an episode, which made episode 17, in its entirety, that much more special for me.
This season was a celebration of pure, raw action - and even with that, the plot did not take a back seat. The entirety of the Shibuya arc may have been a sudden turn of events, but that made it much more special - characters were not given any mercy when it came to fighting an overpowered opponent. There was no bullshit plot armour, something I've heard only gets seen more in the later arcs. We saw an entire array of characters come to a narrative end - they were killed, put out of commission, giving rise to the popular question - "can we just get some filler at this point?"