---
title: 'I''M IN SHOCK | Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Trailer Animation Breakdown'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=MyJsiYhWkcc'
video_id: 'MyJsiYhWkcc'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 852
---

# I'M IN SHOCK | Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Trailer Animation Breakdown

> Source: [I'M IN SHOCK | Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Trailer Animation Breakdown](https://youtube.com/watch?v=MyJsiYhWkcc)

## Summary

The video analyzes the surprise release of the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 trailer, release date, and advanced screening announcement. The creator breaks down the trailer scene by scene, discusses staff changes, and speculates on the production challenges behind the scenes.

### Key Points

- **Surprise Announcement** [0:00] — Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 trailer, release date (January 2026), and advanced screening were announced all at once.
- **Staff Changes** [0:54] — Director Shota Goshono returns. Assistant director changes from Riyota Ike to Yoske Takada. Character designers replaced by Yoske Yajima and Hiomi Niwa.
- **Trailer Breakdown** [2:29] — The trailer features bold color use, high-quality art direction, and complex compositions. Some shots are pre-animated but will appear in the actual episodes.
- **Composition and Storyboarding** [5:00] — Goshono's team excels at layered, purposeful framing. No shot looks boring; depth and complexity are prioritized.
- **Production Concerns** [9:28] — Season 3 is split into cores due to production constraints. The team is also working on the Chainsaw Man movie, leading to parallel production.
- **Healthier Production Expected** [11:10] — Reasons: handling a TV show and a movie (less intensive than two TV shows), and MAPPA's desire to avoid bad PR after Season 2 controversies.
- **Skepticism Remains** [12:55] — Despite improvements, the creator doubts a perfect production due to MAPPA's history of management issues and the split-cour format.

### Conclusion

The trailer promises high-quality animation and direction, but production challenges remain due to MAPPA's juggling of multiple projects. The creator hopes for a smooth release but remains cautious.

## Transcript

Look, I don't know how to start this
video. I really don't. I don't know what
to think. Jujutsu Kaisen out of
absolutely nowhere dropped an entire
trailer, a release date, one that's just
around the corner, mind you, and an
advanced screening announcement all at
once, and I'm at a loss for words. Let's
just go through everything that just
happened. Make sure to subscribe. It
seems like the mandatory milk jiu-jitsu
kaisen dry phase of this channel is
about to start. You don't want to miss
out on that, do you? Subscribe. You can
also become a member of this channel.
Members get at least two exclusive
videos per month, custom handdrawn
badges and emojis, shoutouts, blah blah
blah something something. Go down there
and click the join button. All right, so
here's how I'll go about this. I'll talk
about a few general things first. I'll
then break down the trailer scene by
scene. And finally, I'll speculate as to
what in the ever loving is going on
behind the scenes because what in the
ever loving is going on behind the
scenes? January? Really, Mr. Ma? Are you
sure? Let's get to it. So, Jujutsu
Kaisen season 3 is still being led by
the same core team by and large,
although there has been a couple of
significant changes in the staff list.
More about them in a second. The show is
still being directed by the one and only
Mr. Fishai himself, Shota Goshono, one
of the most creative minds in the
industry. Goshono's direction was one of
the best things about Jujutsu Kaisen
season 2. And that's saying something
because there were a lot of best things
about Jiujutsu Kaisen season 2. Of
course, if you've seen my many, many
videos about the second season, you'd be
familiar with the reasons why Goshono is
an incredible director. But for those of
you who haven't, you can take my word
for it. He really is incredible. One of
the best probably ever. Goshono is being
accompanied by assistant director Yoske
Takada this time around instead of
season 2's Riyota Ike. An interesting
switch. I wonder where I went. I think I
know, but I still wonder. The new
assistant director Yoske Takada across
both seasons of Jujutsu Kaisen has
proven himself to be a reliable name.
So, this change shouldn't be detrimental
to the project. And speaking of staff
changes, the biggest one occurred in the
character design department with season
2 Saiakoiso, who replaced season 1's
Tadashi Hiramatu being replaced by Yoske
Yajima and Hiomi Niwa, making this the
second character designer change the
show has undergone so far. Both Yajima
and Nia are incredible artists, and they
were heavily involved with season 2. And
between that and the way the designs
looked in the trailer, I can confidently
say that we have absolutely nothing to
worry about, at least when it comes to
the character designs. And that was a
general overview of the staff, the rest
of the team is more or less the same.
The same art director, the same DP, you
get the idea. Let's now break down the
trailer scene by scene. First things
first, though, let me clarify something.
You may have heard talk of the trailer
being pre-animated, and that's both true
and false. true in the sense that these
scenes probably were animated for the
trailer and false because that doesn't
mean those scenes won't be in the actual
anime. They will be basically, and this
is based on what I've heard in the past,
the JJK team animates certain cuts ahead
of time just to use them in the
trailers. That doesn't mean those cuts
are drawn exclusively for the trailers.
It just means those cuts are finished
before the episodes they are from. At
the end of the day, it's just a
promotional choice. It's not a big deal.
Anyway, back to the trailer. Let's start
with the designs. They don't look all
that different, which is a given
considering the fact that both Yajima
and Nea were involved with the show
previously. Plus, the director being the
same means that the general approach
towards the drawings is still the same.
There was a massive shift in drawing
philosophies between seasons 1 and two
since season 2 saw a complete stylistic
overhaul, but that's not the case here.
Yes, Yajima's designs, I'm assuming
Yajima is the main designer, his designs
are a bit sharper, a bit less rounded,
the line art is a bit more pronounced,
and the line count is a bit higher. But
as a whole, the general look is still
the same. Also, JJK is known to switch
up his design philosophies depending on
who's leading the episode, so it doesn't
even matter all that much. Another thing
I noticed was how bold the trailer was
with its color use. Season 2 used strong
accents as well, but season 3 seemingly
isn't afraid to drown scenes out in
color, and it executes that look quite
well. This opening shot, for example,
besides the gorgeous background with the
stunning painted reflection, the red
tone feels ominous and uncomfortable in
the best possible way. Speaking of
background, season 2 at its best
featured absurdly highquality art
direction, and it looks like season 3
won't be any different. This shot
features a vast composition with layers
upon layers of buildings and a
beautifully textured sky, and the
framing in this shot is cool and
layered. I don't want to keep yapping
about the backgrounds throughout this
entire section, so let me get this out
of my system. The art direction is so
good. Art director Junichi Higashi is a
master of his craft, and the backgrounds
throughout the trailer looked stunning.
Be it the picturesque establishing shots
or the unorthodox compositions that
complemented the action, it's so good.
Anyway, some subtle creature and effects
animation and a nifty light flare added
by the photography team brought us to
this shot. Almost certainly animated by
Hayat Kurosaki. The high energy smoke
animation complete with Kurosaki's
easily recognizable style looked
amazing. The best thing about Goshono's
Chisutsu Kaisen in my opinion is the
level of composition/storyboards.
At least one of the best things. Even if
it's not Goshono himself handling the
boards, his sensibilities and
philosophies are upheld by the rest of
the team. No shot looks boring. There's
always something going on. There's
always depth. It's never a flat screen.
There's complexity and there's purpose
behind the complexity. This shot looks
absolutely gorgeous and the main reason
why is the line art. The outlines pop.
They are uneven but confident and the
brakes in them add so much character to
the shot. The way the black outlines are
interrupted by those colored stretches
that match the light source. It's so
good. This style of introducing colored
brakes in the line art is something
season 2 did as well, but it looks like
they're really leaning into that look
this time around. Also love the subtle
spot blur bloom effect near the top. It
works perfectly with the line art breaks
and adds so much depth. The cursors
still look the same as expected with
thick stylish inky lines and the
outlineless liquid effects here look
quite satisfying. These two shots are
insanely well animated. Not only are the
drawings flawless, there are so many of
them. The basic actions of Yugji and
Megumi slightly moving their heads have
so many frames and there's not an ounce
of melt. Every single drawing is
consistent. Shots like these are
incredibly difficult to pull off. So,
props to whoever animated and corrected
the sequence. A cool composition here
with good drawings. Although, I've never
liked red outlines. I think they look a
bit jarring. Another meticulously drawn
acting cut. Just look how amazing the
line art looks. It just it looks good.
It's just good. Also, it might be
subtle, but the animation itself is
extremely high level. Notice how Yugji's
shirt being tugged is conveyed through
the lines. Even in the absence of
highlights, the artist managed to convey
depth around the areas of the shirts dug
between the fingers. Masterful work. The
next few shots showcase that top-notch
composition sensibilities I was talking
about earlier. There's always an added
layer, if not multiple layers of depth
and complexity. Goshono and his team are
allergic to framing shots normally, and
I love that each frame has so much
character. This shot was insanely well
animated. You have the three different
layers of animated effects behind Yuji,
the complex low-angle perspective, the
heavy volutric character animation with
a ton of weight behind Yugji's movement,
and some subtle forcehortening. And if
all of that wasn't complicated enough,
the structure to Yugji's left is hand
animated frame by frame. This shot looks
great, too, with a well-drawn low-angle
Eugi and a couple of 3D buildings to
convey an accurate sense of speed and
space, and the smeary cables for that
added bit of weight. Once again,
fantastic drawings. Look how well the
lines pop out. And look at the subtle
but everpresent movement. This exchange
looked quite awkward. The first cut was
weirdly framed with lowquality drawings
that suggest that this shot wasn't meant
to be so zoomed in, which in turn
suggests that this shot was unfinished.
Also, the flow between the next few cuts
is practically absent. The action
storyboarding feels amateur-ish, if that
makes sense. Three different cuts for
the same slash. It feels unnatural. I
hope the sequence flows better when
viewed in its entirety. The next few
shots, however, do look quite cool with
smooth, flowy movement and strong
drawings. This is probably the most
impressive sequence from this trailer.
The style is about as out there as it
gets. The character models completely
fall apart. The lines aren't consistent,
but that's the point. Style and flow
were everything. The energetic action
and the wobbly line art complete with
these Shinyoh inspired pencil-like lines
look insane. This scene was animated
either by Rui or by director Koshazono
himself. Both have animated similar
scenes in the past. Love these shots.
Again, ambitious color use. This
sequence is pretty much black and white.
It almost looks like a negative. It's so
cool. And more cool, creative color work
follows. You'll love to see it. I'm not
sure what the kind of background black
magic is going on here, but I like it. I
think it's 3D. Wonderful perspective
work on Yuji's acrobatics as well. It's
too short to say for certain, but I
think there are seven different layers
of effects here, which is insane. Also,
some insanely complex compositions
follow. It's really hard to break down
these scenes properly since they are
obviously heavily trimmed to fit the
trailer, but at least the top-notch
framing is evident. This final cut looks
amazing as well. Large scale dynamic
action. You love to see it. I believe
the background head is 3D. Fantastic
drawing here, wonderful perspective
work, and masterful volutric line
placement. Probably a Takuya Ninuma
drawing or it can be Sotaya Yamazaki as
well. Great stuff. So that's that
fantastic trailer which is to be
expected given the metric ton of
highlevel talent involved with this
production. Let's now talk about some
other less hopeful topics. JuiTutsu
Kaisen season 3 is being split into
individual cores which I'll be honest is
a bit annoying because unlike other two
core productions out there, Jujutsu
Kaisen is narratively exciting enough to
pull off a 24 episode format without
boring its audience because it's so good
at building. Anyway, the reason why
they're splitting this season is
obviously because they physically cannot
finish the entire thing this quickly. If
they could, they would. Now, them taking
a break in between is obviously more
preferable compared to them putting out
a broken product that doesn't do justice
to the staff behind it. But at the same
time, it's not ideal either. I'll
explain. As many of you know, Juutsu
Kaisen is produced by the same
team/production line as Chainsaw Man.
And with that in mind, the 2026 release
date sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn't
it? The Chainsaw Man movie isn't even
out yet. In fact, it recently finished
production. How the did they
animate an entire season of a different
show already? Well, short answer, and
this is speculation, they didn't. Here's
the long answer. Based on what I can
tell, the team didn't wait for Chainsaw
Man to finish before starting with JJK.
There was some degree of parallel
production involved. This is something I
suggested in one of my previous videos.
Split the production team and work on
both shows simultaneously. Of course,
that doesn't mean a hard line is being
drawn. There still is plenty of staff
intermixing. But let me put it this way.
I'll be very surprised if I find out and
the rest of the JJK team did a lot of
work for the CSM movie and vice versa.
So, will this season be fine? Will it go
by smoothly? Or will it be a repeat of
season 2? Well, it's hard to say for
certain, but here's what I think.
Probably no and no. While I do think
season 3 will fare a lot better behind
the scenes, and this is further
corroborated by credible leaks, I highly
doubt it'll be perfect. Let me explain.
There are two main reasons why I think
season 3 will be healthier behind the
scenes. One, the team is handling a TV
show and a movie this time around
instead of two TV shows back to back.
Jiujitsu Kaisen season 2, a TV anime,
followed Chainsaw Man season 1, another
TV anime, meaning the staff had to
effectively produce 35 high-quality
episodes back to back. a herculan task,
especially given the lack of time.
Movies, on the other hand, by their very
nature are less staff intensive. Think
about it. The Chainsaw Man movie is a
100 minutes long, while the TV show was
280 minutes long, excluding the ops and
eds. Plus, since Chainsaw Man season 1,
for all intents and purposes, was movie
quality. The difference in formats
doesn't really matter. Basically,
producing those extra 180 minutes
requires additional manpower, additional
animators, additional directors, etc.,
etc. And that's not the case this time
around. The new Chainsaw Man project
being a movie means that a chunk of the
Sichimo line was probably free to start
working on Jujutsu Kaisen while Chainsaw
Man was still in production, giving them
a head start, although I'm not sure what
the exact arrangement was. The second
reason why I think Jutsu Kaisen season 3
will be healthier is the fact that Mapa,
an extremely brand conscious studio, got
a lot of bad PR from season 2. Now, most
studios wouldn't give a about what
western fans think of their
behind-the-scenes practices, but Mapai
is an exception. The studio, especially
as of late, has gone above and beyond to
establish its own name as an attraction.
And as such, I'm sure the higherups
would love to avoid any controversy,
even if that means they can't push out a
project as soon as possible. Now, all of
that is well and good, but like I said,
I highly doubt this season will be
perfect behind the scenes. And the main
reason for that is a simple one, that
being it still is Mapa, a studio I can't
fully trust. There are more substantial
hints, of course, but that's the main
reason. I've been let down time and time
and time again by the studio, so it
would take a lot for me to start
trusting them again. Besides my
one-sided beef with the company, the
fact that this season has been split
into cores is in and of itself an
indication of the behind-the-scenes
circumstances. Juditutsuka's production
committee is led by Tohjo Animation and
they don't give a single solitary
about Chainsaw Man. It's not their IP.
Why should they care? And as such, they
won't account for Chainsaw Man's
production cycle, meaning it's entirely
up to the studio and its management to
juggle between the two projects. And
look, there are a lot of things Studio
MA is known for, but efficient
management isn't one of them. Eh, at the
end of the day, it's the final product
that will speak the loudest. All of this
is speculation. I hope things go well.
I'm a huge fan of both Jiujutsu Kaisen
the story and the team that makes
Jujutsu Kaisen the anime. And as such, I
hope all of my worries are unnecessary.
January 2026 sounds way too quick, but I
hope that's just me being paranoid about
nothing. That's about it. A special
thanks to Node 03, Pel, and Damir for
becoming tier three members. And until
next time.