[0:00] I love how the first scene of JJK season
[0:02] 3 was dedicated to immediately reminding
[0:05] you how deeply traumatized Yuji became
[0:08] following the events of the Shabuya
[0:09] incident. Especially since the
[0:11] culmination of Yugji's guilt led to one
[0:13] of the best moments in season 3 and
[0:15] possibly Yugji's best moment in the
[0:17] entire series, his confession to
[0:19] Higuruma. Now, it's hard to tell because
[0:21] of how strangely this episode is
[0:23] structured, but Yuji just stops to aura
[0:25] farm on a ghost freak looking cursed
[0:27] spirit in the middle of a genuine fight
[0:29] for his life here. And yes, I said
[0:31] cursed spirit. So, all of you noodle
[0:32] brain GGK fans who were yelling at me
[0:34] months and months ago that this is
[0:36] actually Ra can suck it, bro. Because
[0:38] last I checked, Ra has not got a hand
[0:40] sticking out of her [ __ ] Eugi runs
[0:42] and dives straight out of this
[0:43] skyscraper window. And then this
[0:45] absolutely like leg shaking ear
[0:47] orgasming chill ambiance ASMR type music
[0:50] kicks in to immediately immerse you in
[0:52] the post Shabuya setting. Now I think
[0:54] JJK has always excelled at music
[0:57] aesthetic and atmosphere in general, but
[1:00] season 3 pushes all of those things to a
[1:02] completely different level. Something
[1:04] else this season excels at though is
[1:05] anime only extensions. Actually
[1:08] extensions isn't even the right word. A
[1:10] lot of the moments, such as this entire
[1:12] episode 1 opening sequence, is simply a
[1:14] new scene. It's 100% anime original.
[1:16] Anyway, after stealing some random
[1:18] family's protein bars, Yugji gets
[1:20] manhandled by Ghost Freak and dragged
[1:22] all the way into the sky before some
[1:24] unseen present starts moving like Sukuna
[1:26] and severs its arm. We see that my
[1:28] glorious king UTU is the off-screen
[1:31] presence that handled Ghost Freak. And
[1:32] now he has Yuji pinned down in a
[1:34] theater. And like I said, this entire
[1:36] opening sequence is anime original,
[1:38] which is cool cuz new content, but the
[1:40] continuity doesn't really make any
[1:42] sense. It's basically one of those,
[1:44] >> you're probably wondering how I ended up
[1:46] in this situation.
[1:47] >> And the openings, except you never
[1:48] actually find out how you ended up in
[1:50] the situation. I mean, Yugji and Uta
[1:52] start their chase right next to each
[1:54] other, but somehow UT ends up in a
[1:56] skyscraper halfway across the city. But
[1:58] whatever it it's one of the very, very
[2:00] few critiques I have of the season, so
[2:01] who even cares? Eyeso. Eyeso genuinely,
[2:04] bro. I hit Io Isizo in my dreams. Even
[2:06] more so since watching that insane final
[2:08] episode. Anyway, now he is in it. In the
[2:10] manga, he's cool. He's all right. Bit
[2:12] weird. Definitely opinionated, but I
[2:14] forgot that Ma are Loki Goonas for men
[2:17] because they made this man a completely
[2:19] different creature. Imagine your anime
[2:21] debut being some [ __ ] about my cousin
[2:23] got hella boobies. Okay, I might be
[2:25] paraphrasing slightly, but that's the
[2:26] gist of it, right? They've even got a
[2:28] whole anime only scene where Mary's mom
[2:30] ties Na's laces which low-key got me
[2:32] thinking Mara might just straight up
[2:34] hate women. Now despite being the
[2:36] richest dudes around with the exception
[2:38] of Satar Gojo of course the Zenin
[2:40] brothers decide to hold their circle
[2:42] jerk meeting in a janitor's closet of
[2:44] all places but it is hella
[2:45] claustrophobic and does make the whole
[2:47] thing really tense which is pretty dope
[2:49] to be honest. Now this old dude who's
[2:51] lowkey built like a Mr. Whippy Ice Cream
[2:53] pulls up to tell Nia that he's the new
[2:55] Zening clan head.
[2:56] >> Psych. Yeah, that's definitely got a
[2:58] sting, bro. Like, imagine being
[2:59] remembered as the [ __ ] that got his
[3:01] [ __ ] stolen by potential man of all
[3:03] people. Obviously, now has to unleash
[3:05] his inner Toji and go murder some
[3:07] teenagers, specifically Yugji, so that
[3:09] he can learn Mega Meow and then handle
[3:11] him. When you really deep it, though,
[3:12] now you Loki would have died if UT
[3:14] didn't pull up to save him. Like, bro
[3:15] lost to just Choso. Without UT to save
[3:17] him from the Yugji Choso combo, it's 10
[3:20] billion% now over, bro. Anyway, we
[3:22] finally end up back on the bridge where
[3:24] season 2 ended. Now, in the manga, Yugji
[3:26] versus the Tokyo Curse Spirits is dope.
[3:29] It's only like three pages, and the
[3:30] second I move on, I forget it even
[3:32] happens, but it is dope all the same. In
[3:34] the anime, though, yeah, this Goshono
[3:36] guy took these three pages and dashed
[3:37] that [ __ ] out the window because this
[3:39] was a whole different thing entirely.
[3:40] Honestly, I still think it's one of my
[3:42] favorite sequences in the season. It's
[3:44] definitely one of the most memorable for
[3:46] sure. The color scheme and lighting is
[3:48] actually just godly. Like, the water is
[3:50] purple, sort of similar to cursed spirit
[3:52] blood, and there's this cold, almost
[3:53] dreamlike aesthetic. Anyway, Yugji falls
[3:56] down in a ridiculously dynamic shot
[3:58] before being grabbed by what looks like
[4:00] the foreskin curse spirit and dashed
[4:02] around the city in another
[4:03] breathtakingly well animated sequence.
[4:05] Yuji then lurs the hordes of freakazoids
[4:08] into a tunnel, but it's a trap because
[4:09] they get obliterated by piercing cinema.
[4:12] While Choso yaps away about war gods and
[4:14] such, Nia then hits us with an
[4:16] annoyingly cool entrance. Bro, listen,
[4:18] it's cool, okay? He is a cool character.
[4:21] Mappa gave him that BBL. All right, I'm
[4:23] not a misogynist. I promise. Big up
[4:24] women and all that, but I'm not going to
[4:26] sit here and blatantly lie. Now Zenin is
[4:28] cool as [ __ ] I mean, they got bro out
[4:30] here looking like he's playing Beat
[4:32] Saber on Choozo's face. Imagine having
[4:34] the audacity to turn your back on your
[4:35] opponent and flick your hair mid beat
[4:37] down. Now's aura only goes downhill from
[4:39] here, though, because what happens next
[4:41] really puts into perspective how dulu
[4:44] this dude is. Bro thinks he can stand
[4:45] with Toji and Gojo, but UT's aura alone
[4:48] is enough to put skid marks on his
[4:49] underwear and have him begging for his
[4:51] life. And speaking of UT, holy Aura,
[4:53] Utah's pink cursed energy overflowing
[4:55] the city still makes my butthole clench,
[4:57] bro. Imagine having Aura so intense that
[4:59] people be mistaking you for literal god
[5:01] because that's basically what Yugji did.
[5:03] Who knows why he was arching his back
[5:05] like that, though. I'm not even going to
[5:06] question it. Now, Choso switched up on
[5:08] his whole war god thing real quick
[5:10] because he tells Yugji to run or he'll
[5:11] die, which is exactly what Yugji does.
[5:14] Runs then dies. Or more accurately,
[5:16] Yugji runs. UT immediately catches up to
[5:19] him, but then Goshono's internet cut out
[5:21] or something because we end up right
[5:23] back in the theater scene from the
[5:24] opening. And dude, the logic ain't
[5:26] logicing. How did they go from being
[5:28] next to each other to in two different
[5:30] skyscrapers hundreds of meters away from
[5:32] each other and then also, how did they
[5:34] start running away from Choso and Noya,
[5:37] but then end up in a theater right next
[5:39] to where they started? It doesn't make
[5:41] any sense, bro. But whatever, it is what
[5:42] it is. I'm going to drop a truth bomb on
[5:44] you guys now though that a lot of you
[5:45] are not going to want to hear, but the
[5:47] fight between UT and Yuji in the theater
[5:49] is actually a really accurate depiction
[5:52] of how this fight should go down. I know
[5:53] it looks stiff and slow and there's no
[5:55] insane sucka cuts or moons exploding,
[5:58] but this fight was never really like
[6:00] that because it isn't actually a fight.
[6:02] At this point, UT is leagues above
[6:03] Yugji. If he wanted Yugji properly dead,
[6:06] his head would be rolling on the floor
[6:07] before he could even try to dodge.
[6:09] Sendai Colony is now proof of that. But
[6:11] UT needs to land a clean hit to the
[6:13] heart so he can do his healing thing and
[6:15] revive Yuji. Which is why I really like
[6:17] how this scene makes it look as if UT is
[6:19] having to match Yuji's pace. He's being
[6:21] delicate, you know, and it does look
[6:22] like it. I know you're going to call me
[6:24] a delusional agenda pushing Glazer, but
[6:26] that's something a delusional agenda
[6:28] pusher would say. So, [ __ ] you. I was
[6:29] very upset that they removed the car
[6:31] scene, though. I'm not going to lie.
[6:32] Anyway, the visual representation of the
[6:34] difference between their cursed energy
[6:36] was mental. And I know it was always
[6:37] going to be mental, but seeing it
[6:39] actually, you know, on the screen was
[6:41] crazy. I mean, UT's aura is so hefty
[6:43] they had to whip out the 3D model to
[6:44] show it. Bro, also w too cameo. I was
[6:47] not ready for that. Playtime is over for
[6:49] UT now, though. Bosch knee to the
[6:51] stomach. UT then reveals that he was
[6:53] secretly trained in the UK, so he slices
[6:55] Yugji's stomach wide open. Yuji fights
[6:57] back and snaps UT's katana, but it meant
[6:59] nothing because UT simply dips out and
[7:01] leaves the rest to RA. Rough. The second
[7:03] Yuji felt Ra's aura and knew he was
[7:05] dropping fat logs in his pants. Bro, he
[7:07] already knew it was raps. Like, I mean,
[7:08] Ra had him in a bear hug so tight he
[7:11] low-key forgot he was the main
[7:12] character, so all he could do was watch
[7:13] as UT slowly pushed the blade through
[7:15] his heart.
[7:18] Now, for some reason, Mappa decided
[7:20] seeing Sukuna's reaction to being
[7:22] murdered would be way more interesting
[7:23] from the back of his head than seeing
[7:25] his face. I mean, look at this man's
[7:27] genuinely shocked expression turn to
[7:29] delight in the manga when he discovers a
[7:31] sorcerer as exciting as UT Aotu. But
[7:33] nah, apparently we didn't need that.
[7:35] Anyway, time for peak fiction.
[7:36] Misogynist versus the HIV devil. Yeah,
[7:39] so Nia was definitely not doing all that
[7:41] in the three pages of manga that this
[7:43] fight got. But no, Mappa said, "Screw
[7:45] the source material, bro. We're going to
[7:47] make him hit Choso with a damn Jojo's
[7:49] move." And you know what? I love it.
[7:50] Now, I wasn't the biggest fan of how
[7:52] loose some of the fights in season 2
[7:53] got. But for me, this was oh, this was
[7:55] beautiful. Now, I'm no animation pro. I
[7:57] can't even try and explain why I feel
[7:59] this way. But even though Nia was
[8:01] low-key turning into a crayon smudge on
[8:03] my screen, I just thought it looked
[8:04] dope. Like, the drawings felt strong
[8:06] even when things got loose. I I don't
[8:08] know. It's really hard to explain. The
[8:10] lighting, the music, the lighting, the
[8:12] smooth ass animation aura, the lighting,
[8:15] the dope blue projection sorcery effect,
[8:18] Choo's blood, the lighting, and I guess
[8:20] the lighting too. Whatever. Choso then
[8:22] releases his fluids all over the tunnel
[8:24] and so Nia dashes away. Well, he tries
[8:27] dashing away. It's kind of embarrassing
[8:29] though because how is he narrowly
[8:30] outrunning a wave of blood way slower
[8:33] than piercing blood which is literally
[8:34] just Mark 1. Everything then gets
[8:36] incredibly wibbly wobbly. Like I'm
[8:38] surprised my furniture didn't start
[8:40] floating or some [ __ ] during this scene
[8:42] because it dead ass looked like some
[8:43] freaky exorcism [ __ ] I mean, now Beto
[8:45] was over here casually sideswiping a
[8:47] whole ass flood from Dargon while his
[8:49] bum ass son is just going high diff with
[8:51] a bucket of red paint. Generational
[8:52] fraud, bro. I'm telling you. And let's
[8:54] not even talk about how Choso magically
[8:56] teleports to where Noa is and absolutely
[8:58] fries him with a supernova. Now is
[9:00] honestly so lucky pulled up at this
[9:02] exact moment to save his ass. Bro pulled
[9:05] up like this a regular day at the office
[9:06] and had Choso [ __ ] his pants from
[9:08] his aura alone. I'm pretty sure Uta
[9:10] didn't even hit him here, bro. Choso
[9:11] just looked at him and collapsed
[9:13] spontaneously. Shall I heal you now? Oh,
[9:16] I know that felt good having your girl's
[9:17] number one hater on his knees like that.
[9:19] Bro lost so much aura you'd think he'd
[9:21] been hit by chapter 7 bankruptcy. If if
[9:23] you know, you know. Now, obviously Yugji
[9:25] isn't dead because he's the main
[9:26] character. Yugji and UT then have a
[9:28] little yap session around a campfire
[9:30] that I can't really be bothered to
[9:31] explain, but the TLDDR is that UT calls
[9:33] Gojo bitchless. Megumi admits that he's,
[9:36] you know, put on a few pounds since last
[9:37] we saw him. And then we see, oh, it's
[9:40] Ryu, Uro, Reggie, and Higuruma. Let's
[9:42] go. The goats of the whole season. Oh,
[9:44] and and that zappy dude is there as
[9:46] well, I guess. I suppose I should also
[9:47] mention how Yuji had a flashback to his
[9:49] mom being Kenjaku, which meant Kjaku was
[9:52] a woman taking back shots from his dad.
[9:54] Whatever. I'm sure you guys understand
[9:56] that. Charzo then logged back into the
[9:57] game and told them all to get their
[9:59] asses to Jujutsu High, where we see post
[10:01] cookage Mari. And damn, she looks cool
[10:03] as hell. Also, Yuki, respectfully, um,
[10:06] please sit on my face. Honestly, when I
[10:08] got to this point, I'd forgotten that
[10:10] nobody except Yugji actually has a clue
[10:11] who Choo is. [screaming]
[10:15] And it's even funnier when you watch
[10:17] this scene and realize nobody gives a
[10:19] [ __ ] Seriously though, like, why have
[10:21] we not cleaned up the mess that Toji
[10:23] made here 12 years ago, bro? How have we
[10:25] still got brains and blood on the floor?
[10:27] I mean, I get Tenken's got [ __ ] to do,
[10:28] but if you're not going to hire a
[10:29] jiu-jitsu janitor, then get off your
[10:31] lazy ass and just do it yourself, bro.
[10:33] It will take 5 minutes. Look at her
[10:34] standing there like she done something
[10:35] cool. We know what you are. Anyway, uh
[10:37] that's episode 2, I guess.
[10:41] JJK season 3, episode 3 is one of the
[10:44] most inventive, exciting, and visually
[10:46] impressive episodes that Mappa have ever
[10:48] created. I honestly do not think it
[10:50] would be crazy to say this is the best
[10:53] looking episode of Jiujitsu Kaisen to
[10:55] date. Sure, there's no fights or insane
[10:57] action, which to some might make it
[10:59] boring or lackluster. And it's
[11:01] definitely a big information dump that
[11:03] would have even manga readers a bit
[11:05] confused, which doesn't really say much
[11:07] because comprehension isn't exactly this
[11:09] fandom specialty, but you get what I
[11:10] mean. Despite being given two full
[11:12] chapters of pure dialogue and slightly
[11:14] mind-boggling exposition to work with
[11:16] though, Muppa and season 3 director
[11:18] Shotoshono managed to not only create an
[11:20] incredibly engaging episode of anime,
[11:23] but they also managed to make several
[11:24] huge improvements from the manga.
[11:26] Actually, that's just a blatant
[11:27] understatement. This is leagues better.
[11:29] Overall, my favorite thing about this
[11:31] episode is just how unbelievably
[11:33] stunning it is, which is something I'll
[11:35] properly break down in just a moment.
[11:37] But if I personally had to choose one
[11:40] specific moment that really made my jaw
[11:42] drop, even as a manga reader, it was
[11:44] this right here. This image is just way
[11:48] cooler than some of you realize. Because
[11:50] in the entirety of JJK's history,
[11:52] whether it be anime, manga, or even
[11:54] bonus material, we have never ever seen
[11:57] what a sick size user looks like beside
[12:00] Saturu Gojo. This image does not exist
[12:02] in the manga. Ten simply explains
[12:04] everything with words. So, imagine my
[12:06] surprise when they start talking about
[12:08] that time a six eyes user and a star
[12:10] plasma vessel appeared on the day of the
[12:12] merger and then we actually saw it in a
[12:14] visual. Sure, it's just the back of a
[12:16] guy's head in an incredibly lowquality
[12:18] and staticky shot, which reveals pretty
[12:20] much nothing, but there is just
[12:22] something really exciting about finally
[12:24] seeing a six eyes user that isn't Satur
[12:27] Gojo. Plus, I thought people would find
[12:29] it pretty interesting that he doesn't
[12:30] have white hair, because believe it or
[12:32] not, not all Gojo clan members have to
[12:33] have the same color hair. I'll get into
[12:35] the episode properly now, okay? But I
[12:37] just wanted to fanboy over that moment
[12:38] for a second because it really did take
[12:40] me by surprise. I hoped Smapper would
[12:42] make use of Tenkin space and create
[12:44] visual representations of what was being
[12:46] described, but I did not think they'd
[12:48] actually create a visual for a moment
[12:50] like that. And slight tangent real
[12:52] quick, but word on the street is if you
[12:53] like this video and subscribe to the
[12:55] channel, Ayuki Sukumo will come into
[12:56] your life and fix all your problems.
[12:58] Anyway, this episode adapts exactly two
[13:01] chapters of the manga, chapter 145 and
[13:03] 146. In the manga, the gang walk into
[13:05] Tenin's big white barrier and they talk.
[13:08] That's it. They literally just stand
[13:09] there and yap, which is fine for manga.
[13:11] To be honest, I feel like Mappa probably
[13:13] could have gotten away with a pretty
[13:14] one-to-one adaptation of this
[13:16] conversation. Sure, it wouldn't exactly
[13:18] break the internet, but it would just be
[13:19] considered a necessary setup for the
[13:22] absolute peak fiction to come. But this
[13:24] is Mappa and Goshono we're talking
[13:26] about. This is pretty much a passion
[13:28] project for the staff at this point,
[13:30] meaning mediocrity simply was not an
[13:32] option. The lack of fights and intense
[13:34] action meant they could be way more
[13:35] in-depth with the details and really
[13:37] focus on the art. In fact, there was
[13:39] practically no major character movement
[13:41] at all, at least not compared to your
[13:43] average episode. So, they could really
[13:44] go all out with how it looked. Every
[13:46] single character looks the absolute best
[13:48] they ever have in literally every single
[13:51] frame they are in, especially because of
[13:52] the red line art, which really makes
[13:54] them pop out of the plain background.
[13:56] And oh my god, Yuki, please just punch
[13:59] me right in the face, dude. You know
[14:01] what? [ __ ] it. Choso can have in on it
[14:02] too. Both. I want both of them. I love
[14:04] you to Mari, but Yuki and Choso are such
[14:07] a goated power couple and they look so
[14:08] amazing together in this episode that
[14:10] it's making me so excited to see. You
[14:12] know what? The whole thing is just super
[14:14] cinematic, but also super tense at
[14:16] times, too. For example, once they enter
[14:18] the barrier, the entrance starts very
[14:20] slowly moving away from us. At first, it
[14:22] was such a slow panning movement that I
[14:24] wondered if it was actually happening
[14:25] until Yugji turned around and noticed
[14:27] that the entrance was fading slowly out
[14:29] of view. Tenin then gets right to the
[14:31] point with their explanation of the
[14:32] culling game and Kjaku's plan to use it
[14:34] as a means of collecting the cursed
[14:36] energy required to force the collective
[14:38] evolution of humanity by merging them
[14:40] all with Ten, who he intends to acquire
[14:42] via cursed spirit manipulation. Now,
[14:44] reading all of these nitty-gritty and
[14:46] slightly plot convenient details of
[14:48] Kjaku's evil plan for the first time can
[14:50] just feel like you've been hit with an
[14:51] unlimited void. That [ __ ] would
[14:53] overwhelm anyone. But Mara made it way
[14:55] more viewer friendly by actually
[14:57] utilizing Tenin's barrier and creating
[14:59] this really cool holographic projector
[15:01] effect so that both the characters and
[15:03] the audience have a visual road map of
[15:05] how all the key events in JJK link
[15:07] together and what they all mean for the
[15:09] future. It's honestly such an inventive
[15:11] way of making the explanation easier to
[15:13] digest and also making the episode
[15:15] engaging because holy [ __ ] the whole
[15:17] thing was just so beautiful to look at.
[15:19] My favorite part was when the entire
[15:21] place turned black and red, leaving them
[15:23] in this digital simulation looking place
[15:25] that Tenin manipulates to create visuals
[15:27] of what we actually see in the manga.
[15:29] Tenkin summoning text cards to represent
[15:31] certain events or people and then slowly
[15:33] linking all of them together throughout
[15:34] the episode until you are left with this
[15:36] massive chronological mind map was also
[15:38] an awesome addition. Tenkin then just
[15:41] starts from the very beginning with an
[15:42] explanation of why they look the way
[15:44] that they look. And this was shown by
[15:45] Tenkin spawning a load of images of
[15:47] themsel to demonstrate how what people
[15:49] see is just their body. Tenken's soul
[15:52] has actually become the very world
[15:53] itself following the events of Hidden
[15:55] Inventory 12 years ago thanks to Toji
[15:57] Fushiguru killing Rico Omanite which I
[15:59] really didn't need to see again by the
[16:00] way. It was depressing enough the first
[16:02] time. You didn't need to do that to me
[16:03] mapper. It's just rude. Ten then goes on
[16:05] to explain how fate ties themsself the
[16:07] star plasma vessel and the six eyes all
[16:09] together in an amazing visual. They
[16:11] continue on to explain that because Toji
[16:13] escaped cursed energy, Toji and Toji
[16:16] alone was able to finally break the
[16:17] chains of fate that tied these three
[16:19] things together. And of course, we got
[16:21] another visual just showing the goat
[16:22] himself because Gagege loves any
[16:24] opportunity to make Toji relevant in the
[16:26] story. This image of Toji and the image
[16:28] of Ghetto, which follows immediately
[16:30] after, are actually just direct onetoone
[16:32] adaptations of the manga panels, though.
[16:34] The only difference is that in the
[16:35] manga, they weren't shown as physical
[16:37] holographic images. Pretty much every
[16:39] other visual we see besides the bird's
[16:41] eye view of Japan and the two cursed
[16:42] tools is an anime only edition though.
[16:44] So Tenken's shadow clones, the older six
[16:47] eyes user, the actual six eyes, the text
[16:49] cards, and the big panels that state
[16:51] each coloring game rule are completely
[16:52] anime only additions visible to both the
[16:54] audience and the characters, which again
[16:56] I think is just such an inventive and
[16:58] aesthetically pleasing way of using
[17:00] Tenkin's barrier. And it's in this next
[17:02] bit that Tangen changes their desktop
[17:03] wallpaper to the red and black theme and
[17:05] explains how Fate ties themsself, the
[17:07] star plasma vessel, and Six Eyes all
[17:09] together with that visual. It's great.
[17:10] Yeah, I'm not going to explain every
[17:12] single detail because I would just end
[17:13] up repeating myself about how incredible
[17:15] the art looks and how cool the whole
[17:17] holographic projection thing is, but I
[17:19] do want to touch on the part where the
[17:20] gang recap their goals for the season.
[17:22] Long story very short, there are
[17:24] basically just three main goals that the
[17:25] group has. One, to enter the game and
[17:28] collect as many points as possible to
[17:29] add a rule allowing Megumi sister to
[17:31] safely exit the game. Two, figure out a
[17:34] way to end the game if possible. And
[17:36] three, free Satar Gojo by having the Han
[17:38] era sorcerer called Angel use her
[17:40] extinguishment technique to open the
[17:42] back of the slightly plotconvenient
[17:43] prison realm and then have Gojo fix
[17:45] everything for them. If a player fails
[17:47] to enter the colony within 19 days of it
[17:49] starting, they have their technique
[17:50] forcibly removed, which Shoko says would
[17:52] mean death. And speaking of Shoko, holy
[17:55] [ __ ] And also, holy [ __ ] Shoko. I know
[17:58] you've had a really rough time of it,
[18:00] but Jesus Christ, it cannot possibly be
[18:02] that bad, bro. Somebody put this woman
[18:04] in rehab. [ __ ] Anyway, as of now, Uta
[18:07] is going to enter a colony all on his
[18:09] own. If you know, you know. Yugji and
[18:10] Megumi are going to recruit suspended
[18:12] thirdyear Kinji Hakari. And finally,
[18:14] Mari is going to collect cursed tools
[18:16] from the Zening clan, which we're going
[18:17] to see next week. Now, if we follow the
[18:19] manga, then the next episode should just
[18:21] be mostly Panda and Yaga stuff with the
[18:23] second half being about Mari. But based
[18:25] on the preview, it seems like we're
[18:26] going to be pushing the panda stuff back
[18:28] and focusing solely on Mari, which is so
[18:31] exciting because holy, we are in for
[18:33] such a treat if it's just a whole
[18:35] episode about Maki. If you know, you
[18:37] know. Genuinely, it might be a top three
[18:38] episode of the season or or maybe just
[18:40] of the anime. I'm not going to lie, it
[18:41] has some insane potential. The episode
[18:43] then ends with a brief introduction of
[18:45] Fumiko Takaba, a failing comedian who
[18:47] awakens a cursed technique and becomes a
[18:48] culling game player. And all I have to
[18:50] say about this is that damn, I I did not
[18:52] realize how sad and depressing his life
[18:54] actually was until I saw this moment
[18:56] animated. It's pretty hard to read his
[18:58] manga chapters without finding them kind
[18:59] of goofy, but this one really does hit
[19:01] hard. I'm not going to lie. I can't wait
[19:03] to see his stuff later on. And yes, this
[19:06] was just 23 minutes of straight yappage.
[19:08] But this episode walked so that the rest
[19:10] of the season could run. Trust me, from
[19:12] next week onwards, we're going to just
[19:13] be getting back to backto back peak
[19:15] fiction, especially episodes four and
[19:18] five. Oh my god. But yeah, the lack of
[19:20] action and movement in this episode
[19:21] really allowed the staff to focus on the
[19:23] art and visuals, which is why it's
[19:25] easily one of, if not the most beautiful
[19:27] looking episodes of the whole season so
[19:29] far. Actually, no, it's just one of the
[19:30] best looking episodes of the show. Let's
[19:32] be honest.
[19:47] >> [music]
[19:54] [screaming]
[19:54] >> What?
[19:56] >> Two seconds later.
[19:58] >> That episode was objectively
[20:03] mid.
[20:05] Four out of 10 ass. All right, look.
[20:08] When I loaded up social media after
[20:10] watching today's JJK episode, 70% of the
[20:13] responses I saw made me question if
[20:15] having eyes is like low-key overrated.
[20:18] Sure, most of it is either meaningless
[20:19] rage bait, burrito accounts seeking
[20:22] attention, or One Piece accounts being
[20:24] genuinely livid that Tolli isn't the
[20:26] only animation studio that exists. But
[20:28] this week, it somehow got to a point
[20:30] where some of the actual JJK fans
[20:32] sounded even dumber than the rage bait
[20:35] accounts. because for some reason that
[20:37] is far beyond my ability to comprehend.
[20:39] This episode didn't meet their
[20:40] expectations. Apparently, it was just
[20:43] never going to be enough for some people
[20:44] unless they could see Vincent Chanzard,
[20:46] Alan Bao, and God on that already loaded
[20:49] staff list. I mean, honestly, the only
[20:51] explanation is that I just watched a
[20:53] completely different version of the
[20:54] episode to these people because for me,
[20:56] this was a top five JGK episode.
[20:58] Actually, screw recency bias. It's one
[21:00] of my favorite episodes in anime, and it
[21:02] was certainly my favorite animated
[21:03] episode in the entire series. Yes,
[21:05] animation wise, I'd even put it above
[21:07] Sukuno vers Maharaga. Not the Blu-ray,
[21:09] though, cuz that's a whole different
[21:10] ball game, and that's also just my
[21:12] preference. I'm going to actually review
[21:13] and analyze the episode now, instead of
[21:15] ranting about how ungrateful this
[21:17] depressing poo stain of a fandom can be
[21:19] sometimes. Right, to stop myself from
[21:21] obsessively repeating this throughout
[21:22] the video, I'm just going to say it now.
[21:24] From beginning to end, this episode is
[21:26] absolutely incredible. There are so many
[21:28] different styles of art and animation in
[21:30] this episode, yet nothing really feels
[21:32] out of place. And I think it flowed
[21:34] incredibly well from beginning to end. I
[21:36] mean, the episode literally begins with
[21:38] a shot of Marquy walking towards the
[21:39] Zeninclan HQ, and it ends with the exact
[21:42] same shot, but it's her walking back out
[21:43] of it. I feel like this detail and a
[21:45] load of other things make the episode
[21:47] feel more complete because even though
[21:49] it has an extended runtime of 28
[21:51] minutes, fitting in around four and a
[21:53] half chapters worth of manga into a
[21:55] single episode could have easily made it
[21:57] feel rushed or disjointed, especially
[21:59] because there's such a sudden shift from
[22:01] the slow and emotional pace to the pure
[22:03] hype moments and aura. The other thing I
[22:05] wanted to quickly address early on is
[22:06] that even though I agree they did
[22:08] sometimes miss the mark, I respect the
[22:11] Mupper staff immensely for having the
[22:12] balls to get truly creative when
[22:14] adapting the source material instead of
[22:16] playing it safe and trying to make it a
[22:18] onetoone. So with Megumi's permission or
[22:20] the head of the Zenin clan, Mari pulls
[22:22] up to basically just raid the Zenin
[22:24] storehouse of cursed tools. Somehow
[22:26] after being embarrassed by Choso and
[22:28] Uta, NA still has the balls to belittle
[22:30] Marquy. And we even get this really dope
[22:32] shot where we actually pan from the
[22:34] present NA to the flashback of him
[22:36] bullying child Maki as if they were
[22:38] happening at the same time kind of. I
[22:40] feel like this is a good example of
[22:41] Mappa's inventiveness actually
[22:43] succeeding. It It's minor but very
[22:44] effective. The conversation where
[22:46] Janichi tells Noya that Oi is, you know,
[22:48] luring Marquy in to kill her is just
[22:50] pretty standard. And I would say the
[22:52] same for Mari walking past her mother in
[22:54] the tunnel, but damn. Damn, bro. Her
[22:56] voice actress had absolutely no reason
[22:59] to go that insanely hard. Anyway, Mari
[23:01] versus her dad round one. First of all,
[23:03] this shot reminded me of Moria from Lord
[23:05] of the Rings. Just wanted to throw that
[23:07] out there. Secondly, I much prefer the
[23:10] anime's adaptation of this fight to the
[23:11] mangas. The complete darkness with the
[23:13] only light being caused by the glow of
[23:15] Oi's cursed energy and the spark of
[23:17] their blades actually clashing is dope.
[23:19] But I also love that there is no music
[23:22] at all. The scene is very fast, but
[23:24] still incredibly tense. I mean, I know
[23:25] what's going to happen. I've read the
[23:27] manga and I still felt the tension. Oi
[23:29] just cooks Marquy Loiff before dragging
[23:31] both her and the severely injured Mai
[23:33] into the Zenin dungeon where they keep a
[23:35] load of cur spirits. Now, it's in this
[23:36] scene that we first get a taste for this
[23:38] episode's use of selective color, making
[23:41] practically everything black and white
[23:42] with the exception of the red blood.
[23:45] It's such a simple but very, very
[23:47] effective technique that they absolutely
[23:49] nail later on in the episode. Now, in
[23:51] the manga, Mai actually does kiss Mary,
[23:54] which I assume is because it's necessary
[23:56] for her to do that for what she's about
[23:58] to do. At least I hope. I I don't know,
[24:00] bro. Interpret it how you like. It's a
[24:01] bit weird either way. Their souls then
[24:03] resonate and they end up on a beach.
[24:05] Just like in the manga, they both wake
[24:07] up here without any shoes on because
[24:08] Gagegeay has a very suspicious habit of
[24:10] taking characters shoes off for
[24:12] literally no reason. In all seriousness
[24:14] though, this scene was adapted every bit
[24:16] as good as I had hoped. It didn't feel
[24:18] too rushed. The voice actors nailed the
[24:20] dialogue and the music low-key had me
[24:23] tearing up. Oh my days, it was peak. And
[24:25] dear god, Marina Inu's execution of the
[24:28] destroy everything line gave me actual
[24:31] chills. Even just the like subtle switch
[24:33] from Mary, you know, emotionally chasing
[24:35] after Mai and begging for her to wake up
[24:37] to the stoic and borderline emotionless
[24:40] looking monster that she becomes is is
[24:42] so well done. The character acting and
[24:44] animation in these moments has been so
[24:46] so good in season 3 so far and I really
[24:48] do hope it keeps up because there are so
[24:50] many more dialogue focused emotional
[24:53] moments to come. Also, for any anime
[24:55] onlyies that are confused about what
[24:57] happened in this scene, allow me to
[24:58] explain. Normal humans in JJK have a
[25:01] small amount of cursed energy. However,
[25:03] Toji had absolutely zero, which is what
[25:06] made him so stupidly strong and able to
[25:08] actually perceive curses with his eyes.
[25:10] Just like Toji, Mari has literally zero
[25:12] cursed energy for herself. But because
[25:14] Jiujutsu actually considers identical
[25:16] twins to be the same entity, her
[25:18] heavenly restriction has been massively
[25:20] held back because Mai still has cursed
[25:22] energy and Mai also lacked the will to
[25:24] get stronger. Mai's existence has
[25:26] literally held back's full potential,
[25:28] which is tragic but true. So when Mai
[25:30] dies, she takes all of that cursed
[25:32] energy with her, leading Mari to awaken
[25:34] her full strength by giving her life in
[25:36] a binding vow to massively increase her
[25:38] output. Ma uses her construction
[25:40] technique to create the weapon in
[25:42] Marquy's hand, which we're going to
[25:43] learn more about later, so I won't get
[25:44] into that now. She basically becomes the
[25:46] blade in a way, though, that's pretty
[25:48] much the gist of it. Yeah. Now, for the
[25:50] controversial part, Marquy versus Oi,
[25:52] round two. To an anime only, this scene
[25:54] would be absolute peak. Mary's newfound
[25:57] aura is dope. The way Oi immediately
[26:00] switches up and craps himself is dope.
[26:02] And the way he gets genuinely nodify is
[26:05] dope. But to a manga reader, I do
[26:07] understand the complaints to an extent.
[26:09] I think absolutely everything about this
[26:10] scene is literal perfection and a great
[26:13] adaptation of the source material. But
[26:15] the silhouette of Toji should have
[26:17] lasted literally 1 second longer because
[26:20] to a casual viewer, they're genuinely
[26:22] going to struggle to see who that was
[26:23] meant to be. Trust me, I watched this
[26:25] episode with three anime only casuals
[26:26] and they didn't even notice it
[26:28] happening. Maybe that's just because
[26:29] they're blithering idiots, but who
[26:31] knows? I'm sure they're not the only
[26:32] ones. So yeah, when compared to the
[26:33] manga panel, I mean, look at this thing.
[26:35] It's so cool. When compared to this, it
[26:37] does seem slightly underwhelming, but
[26:38] realistically, it's not that big of a
[26:40] deal. However, I do think they nailed
[26:42] the Toji moment that happens later on
[26:43] when Kid Na sees him as well, a kid. The
[26:46] way it goes from the bright and
[26:48] cartoon-like shot of Kid Nawa to the
[26:50] dark and unsettling shot of Toji makes
[26:53] for a pretty dope contrast. Now then,
[26:55] this is where the fun begins. The rest
[26:57] of the episode is really very simple.
[26:59] Mari locks in, channels her inner Toji,
[27:02] and literally annihilates her entire
[27:04] family. The anime absolutely clears the
[27:07] already goated manga adaptation of this
[27:09] event, though, because in the manga, the
[27:11] fights are entertaining, but much
[27:13] shorter and on a much smaller scale,
[27:15] which does mean that I feel it slightly
[27:17] fumbles when it comes to driving home
[27:19] the point that she just wiped out one of
[27:21] the three most powerful and dangerous
[27:22] jiu-jitsu clans alive with minimal
[27:24] difficulty at that while being heavily
[27:26] injured. To be fair, Gagegeay was sick
[27:28] when he was working on this fight in the
[27:29] manga, so it does make sense. But oh my
[27:32] days, the anime doesn't just fix the
[27:34] issue, but it low-key borders on
[27:35] overkill. You're telling me this Janichi
[27:38] guy is doing all that as a grade one
[27:40] sorcerer, cuz he is definitely not doing
[27:42] all that in the manga. He gets like one
[27:44] page. Look at this dude pull a deu on
[27:47] the whole estate and then compare him to
[27:49] Nanom. I'm sorry, but these Zenin grade
[27:51] ones are not like the rest because oh my
[27:54] days, this is some next level stuff. So
[27:56] yeah, when it comes to making the Zen
[27:58] clan look like they deserve the title of
[28:00] a top three clan, Mappa absolutely
[28:02] smashed it. In fact, the only thing they
[28:04] portrayed better than this was how
[28:06] insanely far above the rest of the
[28:07] jiu-jitsu world Marquy has actually
[28:09] risen. You know, because she like kills
[28:11] them all. Anyway, before the strong
[28:13] dudes arrive, Mari needs to warm up by
[28:15] slaughtering all of the Zenin NPCs,
[28:17] which is my favorite scene of the entire
[28:19] season so far and one of my favorite
[28:20] scenes in all of JJK. Not only does it
[28:22] have some incredible choreography as
[28:25] well as that same beautiful selective
[28:26] coloring, but is also a direct reference
[28:29] to Kill Bill, apparently. I wouldn't
[28:31] know. I've never seen it. Not only is
[28:32] she built like a brick [ __ ] house, but
[28:34] her completely stoic, nonchalant
[28:36] demeanor makes Marky's motions look so
[28:38] effortless, and it's just so cool. I
[28:40] especially like this cut of her standing
[28:42] dead still, just casually swatting away
[28:44] the NPCs because it felt like a homage
[28:47] to, you know, Toji doing this to Megumi
[28:49] in season 2. Oh, when she hit the knee
[28:51] slide, I screamed. And when she started
[28:53] ice skating on their blood before one
[28:55] inch punching this random dude, I was
[28:57] having a straight up aneurysm from just
[28:59] too much peak. Like I said, her fight
[29:01] against the hay was so dope and way more
[29:03] impactful than the manga, with even
[29:05] Rant's eye technique being made to seem
[29:07] way more busted than it was in the
[29:09] source material. And look, I'm a sucker
[29:11] for the Utaka Nakamura style orange and
[29:13] red heat effect to show a really
[29:15] hard-hitting move. So, this entire
[29:17] brightly colored sequence when Ranta and
[29:19] Janichi do their duo attack was just so
[29:21] cool to me. Like, it's it's so dope.
[29:23] Also, yes, this is definitely a Full
[29:25] Metal Alchemist reference. As expected
[29:27] though, Mari cleans these pulls up with
[29:30] very little difficulty. And it's at this
[29:32] point that the episode reaches its
[29:33] pinnacle. Now, Zenin versus awakened
[29:36] Mari. Wow. If you can't tell already, Na
[29:39] was massively holding back against Choso
[29:41] cuz this dude is an absolute menace when
[29:44] he actually reaches full speed. Like I
[29:46] said before, I'm a sucker for Utaka
[29:48] Nakamura's animation style. Grass is
[29:50] green, I know. And in the manga, Gage
[29:52] even drew this fight as a homage to the
[29:54] iconic Utapon Cube animation style that
[29:57] Utaka Nakamura has. So, when I saw names
[29:59] like Kohi Hiro on the staff list, I was
[30:02] certain this fight was in good hands.
[30:04] And oh my days, it did not disappoint.
[30:06] Mari basically just acts as a punching
[30:08] bag for the entire thing while she
[30:10] gradually adjusts to Nia's 24 fps
[30:12] rhythm. The depiction of Nia's insane
[30:14] speed with his blue projections, the
[30:16] insane destruction caused to the
[30:18] environment and the impacts of every
[30:20] blow is executed to perfection in this
[30:22] sequence. I don't even have that much to
[30:24] say about it to be honest beyond
[30:26] absolute cinema. The cherry on top and
[30:28] my favorite part of this fight though
[30:30] was the way Mary's first and final punch
[30:32] on Na was done. The scene actually
[30:34] freezes and we get a few different 360°
[30:37] shots of her throwing the punch right as
[30:39] Noi is running into it. And oh my days,
[30:42] the art and compositing here is just
[30:43] next level. I'm also a very big fan of
[30:46] the freeze frame shots of Maki actually
[30:48] landing the punch. I can definitely see
[30:49] why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of
[30:51] tea. But like I said in the beginning, I
[30:53] enjoy seeing ballsy creativity and this
[30:56] moment really worked for me. Especially
[30:57] the shot of Na's skull turning to dust.
[31:00] Oh. The episode rounds off with Marquy
[31:02] cutting down her own mother in an
[31:03] unexpectedly wellexecuted scene in which
[31:06] Marquy is exceptionally calm. And oh my
[31:09] days, bro. Like Nia's comment to Mary's
[31:11] mom in episode 1 of season 3 about how
[31:14] women who don't walk three steps behind
[31:15] men should be stabbed in the back and
[31:17] left to die aged absolutely horrifically
[31:20] because Mary's mom finds the strength to
[31:22] literally stab Noya in the back and
[31:24] leave him to die. This bum then arrives
[31:26] to cry over Mai's body. And we're told
[31:28] that over the next few days, Marky
[31:30] hunted down the rest of the clan that
[31:32] weren't present that day. And then the
[31:33] episode ends exactly how it begins. God
[31:36] knows how they were even allowed to get
[31:38] away with assembling the Avengers of
[31:40] animation and even releasing a 28minute
[31:43] cut for this episode, but I guess JJK
[31:45] just gets special treatment. Overall, it
[31:47] was truly peak and is comfortably in my
[31:49] top five favorite JJK episodes at the
[31:51] moment. If it genuinely wasn't your cup
[31:53] of tea, then that's fine. But at least
[31:55] give the animators credit where due.
[31:57] They definitely poured all of their
[31:58] heart and soul into making this and it
[32:00] paid off because it it just looked like
[32:02] absolute cinema.
[32:06] >> I'll never forget it. He's super tall,
[32:08] bro. And like it's super intimidating
[32:10] when he has so many bodyguards around.
[32:12] >> Who the [ __ ] is that guy?
[32:18] [screaming]
[32:24] >> No. Last week was Maky's time to shine.
[32:27] She was up in there being a complete
[32:29] goat for 28 minutes straight and it was
[32:31] peak cinema. But for episode 5 this
[32:33] week, we had a little cool down. Things
[32:34] are a bit slower and you know a little
[32:36] bit less massacre. Just like with the
[32:38] Tenken episode though, it is still
[32:40] gossoo cinema. The environments, the
[32:43] character acting, the unnecessarily
[32:45] incredible and dynamic direction of
[32:47] simple moments, the color palettes, and
[32:49] I I think you get the point. It's
[32:50] incredible. Oh, and I I nearly forgot to
[32:53] mention this episode is low-key making
[32:55] JJK history right now because it finally
[32:57] shows us the goat Kusa Kabi. Okay, I'm
[33:00] I'm kidding. I'm kidding. All right, it
[33:02] finally shows us the restless gambler
[33:04] himself in the flesh, Kenji Hkari, a
[33:07] suspended thirdyear who was teased by
[33:09] Gojo all the way back in season 1 as
[33:11] being a sorcerer in the same league as
[33:13] Uta Akotu, who will one day grow to be
[33:15] on par with Gojo himself. I don't know
[33:17] what Gojo was smoking that made him say
[33:19] that, but whatever. That's not
[33:20] important. I mean, you can tell Goshono
[33:22] knows how much hype there is around this
[33:24] dude simply by the fact that he was
[33:25] teasing that face reveal for the whole
[33:27] episode. I'm talking straight up edging.
[33:29] Like, Eugi, just move your elbow, bro. I
[33:31] want to see his face. Why Why are we
[33:32] doing all that? Just let me see him. Oh,
[33:34] okay. Definitely not the most badass
[33:35] angle, but but Cook, I guess. Yeah.
[33:37] Anyway, I'll get into my full review
[33:38] now. But wow. After seeing how great
[33:40] this episode looked, I I've just come to
[33:42] accept the fact that I I don't think
[33:44] there's going to be a single episode
[33:46] that I won't like or thinks looks worse
[33:47] than the others. JJK season 3 is just
[33:50] apparently what you get when your staff
[33:51] have an actual healthy schedule. I mean,
[33:53] who would have thought, right? So, the
[33:55] first 5 minutes of the episode is
[33:56] dedicated to this one single chapter of
[33:58] Yaga/Panda/Gakuganji/
[34:01] Timu Kakashi stuff that I think was
[34:03] adapted almost perfectly. Visually, it
[34:05] looks amazing. And, you know, it's
[34:07] pretty much a straight one:1 adaptation
[34:09] of the manga. You see, back in the day,
[34:10] Yaga was thrown in sorcerer jail because
[34:13] he managed to create Panda using his
[34:14] puppet technique. Normally, Yaga has to
[34:16] control his puppets himself, but he
[34:18] actually discovered a way to give
[34:20] puppets sentience and their own
[34:21] independent, self-preserving cursed
[34:23] energy supply, which may sound like a
[34:25] beautiful and wholesome thing, but as
[34:27] Yaga says, it's actually a curse. I
[34:29] mean, in the flashback, Yaga just
[34:30] outright denies that he can create these
[34:32] things deliberately and says Panda is an
[34:34] accident, which Loki saved his ass from
[34:36] either being executed or labeled as a
[34:38] special grade because those damn Tory
[34:40] make jiu-jitsu great again higher-ups
[34:42] were worried he would be able to create
[34:43] an army of pandas. God knows why anyone
[34:46] would be scared of an army of bums when
[34:47] people like Uta and Gojo walk the earth.
[34:49] But yeah, he was set free because of
[34:51] this lie. As of the end of the Shabuya
[34:53] incident, those same stinky jiu-jitsu
[34:55] Tories pinned Ghetto and Gojo's fuckups
[34:57] on Yaga and sentenced him to death.
[34:59] Which is why we see Gakuganji and this
[35:01] fake ass Kakashi pull up to jump him.
[35:03] Now low key, I do wish we actually saw
[35:05] this fight on screen because seeing more
[35:07] interactions and infighting between
[35:10] multiple experienced grade one sorcerers
[35:12] would have been completely dope. But
[35:13] this is how the manga is, so I'm not
[35:15] going to blame the anime for it. One
[35:16] thing I was very upset about, though, is
[35:18] that in the manga, Gakuganji is like
[35:20] really roughed up. But in the anime, his
[35:22] shiny bald head did not get a scratch on
[35:24] it. Like, can we put some respect to my
[35:26] goat Yaga's name, please? I I know bro
[35:28] put up a hell of a fight. Now, the
[35:29] context to Yaga's secret was executed
[35:31] really well in the anime, and I love the
[35:33] visual that they did for Panda's three
[35:35] souls moving around. Long story short,
[35:37] the absolute goat Kusakab, aka the
[35:40] strongest sorcerer available, actually
[35:42] has a sister who lost her son, Takaroo,
[35:44] and became, well, I mean, look at her.
[35:46] She clearly became prettying depressed
[35:48] over it. And so is Kusakab for good
[35:50] reason. I mean, it's her kid. So,
[35:51] Kusakab turned to Yaga for help. Yaga
[35:53] copied the information of her son's soul
[35:55] and placed it in a cursed corpse similar
[35:57] to Panda and basically let him live out
[36:00] the rest of his life happily in a forest
[36:01] that's protected by Tangen. Yeah. Yeah.
[36:03] It's all very sad and and you know, it's
[36:05] like literally never brought up again in
[36:07] the whole story, but still, I like it.
[36:09] Anyway, much to Gakuganji's surprise,
[36:11] when Yaga's on death store, he actually
[36:13] spills the secret behind creating things
[36:15] like Panda and says the knowledge is a
[36:17] curse. Now, at this point, Gakuganji's
[36:19] entire thing is about being, you know, a
[36:21] mega right-winged jiu-jitsu Tory who
[36:23] just follows orders and sucks off his
[36:25] bosses to no end. I mean, hell, he
[36:27] killed his colleague in cold blood
[36:28] because that's what he was told to do.
[36:30] The man has no agency. But Yaga
[36:32] revealing this cursed knowledge right at
[36:33] his death seemed to lead Gakuganji to
[36:35] realize what he was actually doing,
[36:37] which comes back around in a very nice
[36:39] way later on in the story. Panda then
[36:40] pulls up and mourns the death of his
[36:42] father. Because remember guys, even
[36:44] pandas cry.
[36:45] >> Who gives a [ __ ]
[36:46] >> To be honest, my only complaint about
[36:47] this whole scene is that I think I would
[36:49] have preferred to have some kind of sad
[36:51] music over this scene rather than like,
[36:52] you know, dead silence. But other than
[36:54] that, it is adapted to perfection as an
[36:56] exact one to one and it is Loki Peak.
[36:58] Anyway, on a slightly happier note,
[37:00] Yugji and Megumi pull up to Herkari's
[37:02] illegal fight club that he runs as a
[37:03] broki bookie that he runs as a bookie. I
[37:06] mean, dude, just look at this scene of
[37:07] Yugji moving under the camera with the
[37:09] barrier moving up past the screen. Go
[37:12] direction actually just needs to be
[37:13] properly studied because even in these
[37:15] tiny insignificant moments, they be
[37:17] doing the most to make it engaging and
[37:19] basically just as difficult for them as
[37:21] possible. And other than the fact that
[37:22] they made my goat Loki look like a can
[37:24] of [ __ ] Fanta, this entire part of
[37:27] the episode really does put into
[37:28] perspective how great season 3 looks
[37:30] compared to both one and two. At least
[37:32] in my opinion. Even just the road they
[37:34] are walking down is like some really
[37:35] Chainsaw Man season 1 level stuff. The
[37:38] character acting, the constant change in
[37:40] color palette, and even the mix of 2D
[37:42] and 3D environments make this, you know,
[37:44] conversation, which should just be
[37:45] boring, pretty engaging and interesting
[37:47] to watch. At least if you have the eye
[37:49] for that kind of stuff, it is. I don't
[37:50] know. My my anime only friends when they
[37:52] watch this, you know, they're kind of
[37:53] brain dead, so they couldn't tell the
[37:54] difference between this kind of stuff
[37:56] and One Punch Man season 3, but
[37:57] whatever. Long story short, Yugji will
[37:59] enter the fight club and well, fight.
[38:02] Meanwhile, Mega will do recon inside the
[38:05] spectators shadows. Oh my god, that
[38:07] looks so dope. Hell yeah, man. Screw the
[38:09] Shikagami. This use of the 10 shadows is
[38:11] so much cooler. I need more. Now, Hikari
[38:14] is basically just sus of everybody and
[38:16] doesn't want any contact with Jiu-Jitsu
[38:18] High for fear of being spied on, which
[38:20] kind of works in their favor since
[38:22] Megumi and Yuji are first years that
[38:23] Hkari has never seen before. Unlike
[38:25] Panda, who was a second year and happens
[38:27] to be Yuji's first opponent. Yeah, this
[38:29] moment here where Yuji like smiles after
[38:31] seeing Panda as his opponent. Loki just
[38:34] reminds me of that one scene from Thor
[38:35] Ragnarok.
[38:36] >> Yes,
[38:39] he's a friend from work. They put on an
[38:41] incredible fake fight that had
[38:43] absolutely and no reason to be as
[38:45] unbelievably well animated as it was.
[38:47] Especially since the manga is like two
[38:49] panels and then Hikari just sits there
[38:51] and watches it from the monitor room and
[38:53] oh my god, bro, he is like fully clamped
[38:55] onto that [ __ ] Godamn. Even Gojo's blue
[38:58] could not pull his hand off that. Oh my
[39:00] days, Akari, you absolute menace. Bro
[39:02] dropped out of school to grab ass, eat
[39:04] shitty snacks, drink booze, and rig
[39:07] illegal death matches. How can you not
[39:08] immediately love this guy? Also, wow,
[39:11] Hikari looks like absolutely incredible
[39:13] in the anime. Zoro's Japanese voice
[39:15] actor, too, by the way. Like, is that
[39:17] not crazy? I think that's crazy. Now,
[39:18] obviously, Hikari is immediately
[39:20] impressed with Yuji since he knows Panda
[39:22] is a beast compared to your average Joe.
[39:24] And he also likes how Yugji is
[39:26] deliberately putting on an interesting
[39:27] fight for the spectators. So, he calls
[39:29] him up to his office later on to give
[39:30] him a job offer in basically just
[39:32] scripted matches in exchange for big
[39:34] monies. And it lowkey makes me wish that
[39:36] we actually got an alternate timeline
[39:37] where Yuji does that because it kind of
[39:38] sounds dope. Yuji just keeps on winning
[39:41] and winning and what is he doing, bro?
[39:43] That stuff is not in the manga. Bro just
[39:45] beat up a pedestrian dressed as the
[39:47] [ __ ] Lorax and now he's out here
[39:49] emoting on their asses. But Bro was even
[39:51] like lightly knocking on the fourth wall
[39:53] there when he came up to the camera.
[39:54] Anyway, later on, Megumi and Panda have
[39:56] a little catchup session outside to
[39:58] discuss strategy. They basically just
[40:00] want to take control of the roof around
[40:01] the monitor room once Yuji is escorted
[40:03] inside, which means they're going to
[40:04] have to find a way around Kurara's
[40:06] technique, which seems to work in a
[40:08] similar way to Gojo's in that no matter
[40:09] how hard he tries, Panda cannot actually
[40:11] get any closer to the room. Megumi also
[40:14] then says Kurara was a guy, right? To
[40:16] which Panda responds, "Yes, a guy."
[40:18] Listen, yeah, I don't want to get too
[40:20] political on here cuz I know I'm not
[40:21] going to change anybody's mind by saying
[40:23] anything. Kurara's exact gender identity
[40:25] is just not confirmed in any way. And I
[40:28] do think it's supposed to be somewhat
[40:29] open to interpretation, but she is
[40:31] strongly suggested to be trans. I think
[40:33] at least that's my interpretation is
[40:35] that she's probably just a trans woman.
[40:37] >> Um, actually, um, Kurara is a dude, so I
[40:40] think you meant to say he.
[40:41] >> Shut up, brother. Why are you like 12 or
[40:43] something? Get off your mom's phone and
[40:45] go play Frisbee in the park. I don't
[40:46] know. I mean, first of all, Panda is
[40:48] like he's he's a panda.
[40:50] >> He's a panda. You're a panda.
[40:52] >> He doesn't have a concept of human
[40:54] gender identity, you know, cuz he's a
[40:55] he's a panda. I mean, hell, in this very
[40:58] episode, we see that a big part of Panda
[41:00] is that he is not a human and his mind
[41:02] doesn't work the way humans do. So,
[41:03] judging Kurara's entire gender identity
[41:06] of something a literal panda says is
[41:08] silly bro.
[41:11] My interpretation, you know, is that
[41:13] Kurara identifies as a woman, so I'm
[41:15] going to treat her as such. But what do
[41:17] I know? Like, you have absolutely no
[41:19] obligation to agree with my take. This
[41:20] is just what I think. I'm not trying to
[41:22] convince anyone of anything. Everyone is
[41:24] free to think what they like. Just
[41:25] please don't go and start demanding that
[41:28] everyone else share your exact
[41:29] interpretation because that's just
[41:31] unproductive and only causes conflict.
[41:33] Especially since I do believe it is left
[41:35] kind of, you know, open to
[41:36] interpretation because Ggeay wants it
[41:38] that way. But yeah, do your worst
[41:40] comments. I'm fully prepared. Like do do
[41:42] your worst. Go ahead. Anyway, Kurara
[41:43] shows Yugji into Hikari's monitor room
[41:45] for their meeting and then leads them to
[41:47] it. H I wonder what that suspicious
[41:50] looking grux symbol means. Huh? Anyway,
[41:52] the entire Hikari and Yugji conversation
[41:54] then plays out all at once in one shot
[41:57] from this side on angle, which is very
[41:59] different to the manga, but I really
[42:00] like it. The manga shows this
[42:02] conversation happening in real time,
[42:03] where we cut back and forth between this
[42:05] and the events of the next episode,
[42:07] which are happening outside of the
[42:08] monitor room as they speak. I actually
[42:10] really like that they condensed it into
[42:12] one scene, and even that they kept it as
[42:14] one static angle, because that combined
[42:16] with the dim lighting emitted from the
[42:18] TVs makes the scene so much more tense.
[42:21] The manga has a lot of different angles
[42:23] that I do wish we could have seen, like
[42:25] Kakari drinking and then firmly placing
[42:26] his glass down in response to Yuji's
[42:28] panicked face, but I think I like the
[42:30] suspenseful interpretation just as much,
[42:32] if not more. Especially since it allowed
[42:34] the animators to really go overboard
[42:36] with the character acting, which made it
[42:37] all feel supernatural. I mean, sure,
[42:39] Yuji being called out on not knowing
[42:41] Saturu Gojo was much less comedic than
[42:43] the manga made it seem, but I think it
[42:45] was worth it for the tension. Even just
[42:47] the way Hikari like nonchalantly threw
[42:49] the glass at Yuji, who was already
[42:51] backing up because he knew he messed up
[42:53] felt so natural. And oh my god, I love
[42:55] the way Hikari does the doors as well.
[42:56] It was great. Again, it does seem a lot
[42:58] more like dramatic and in-your-face in
[43:00] the manga, but I think I prefer this
[43:02] tense version to be honest. And and god,
[43:04] bro, Hikari looks so good, dude. I felt
[43:06] like Gage always kind of drew Hikari as
[43:08] this slightly, you know, stubby dude,
[43:10] but wow, he just looks incredible in the
[43:13] anime. Like look at the character and
[43:15] clothing animation when he swings for
[43:16] Yuji in this scene. It's so effortless
[43:18] and natural. In fact, the character
[43:20] animation being this good in these
[43:22] scenes, as well as certain ambiguous
[43:24] hints from staff members online has led
[43:26] a lot of people to believe that these
[43:27] scenes are rotoscoped, which I think
[43:29] could definitely be true. Uh, and I
[43:31] don't see the problem with that in the
[43:32] slightest. Whatever looks best in it,
[43:34] like whatever works. There's no
[43:35] confirmation of this though, not yet
[43:36] anyway. So, you know, take everything
[43:38] with a pinch of salt. The episode then
[43:39] comes to a halt right as Yuji is backing
[43:41] up from Herkari, meaning that next time
[43:43] we're going to be seeing what was going
[43:44] on outside that door. I cannot wait.
[43:47] Again, this episode was gosso cinema,
[43:49] and it was amazing seeing Hakkari in the
[43:51] flesh after so long.
[43:54] In this week's episode of Jiujitsu
[43:56] Kaizen, Panda launches a bunny rabbit,
[43:58] Megumi flexes his abs, Kurara commits
[44:01] several animal safety violations, and
[44:03] Hakari gets jump scared by a child. Oh,
[44:06] and we see this guy, too. Yay. I'm
[44:08] guessing this is probably going to be
[44:10] another controversial episode of JJK,
[44:12] but I wouldn't know because I've chosen
[44:14] to make this video before checking the
[44:16] negativity riddled cesspool that is the
[44:18] internet. I say this because like the
[44:20] Ten episode, episode 6 of JJK requires
[44:24] basic reading ability and an IQ above
[44:26] room temperature to actually understand.
[44:28] Actually, to be fair, that that's a bit
[44:29] harsh cuz I didn't even really
[44:31] understand Kurara's technique at first
[44:33] either. But then again, I've never
[44:34] claimed to have an IQ above room
[44:36] temperature, so suck it, I guess.
[44:37] Director Goshono and his incredibly
[44:39] talented team yet again took on some
[44:41] creative liberties when adapting this
[44:43] episode, which obviously are mostly for
[44:46] the best. I'll start breaking it down in
[44:47] a moment, but first, I just want to
[44:49] glaze the music and sound design in this
[44:51] episode specifically because holy hell,
[44:54] as if Yuji's cog speech to Hakari wasn't
[44:56] already amazing in the manga, the anime
[44:59] just pushed it up to a completely
[45:00] different level for me. Even the tension
[45:02] between Megumi and Kurara was like
[45:04] massively elevated to a totally new
[45:06] level simply because of a few simple but
[45:08] very impactful sound design and music
[45:10] choices, which I feel like is a
[45:12] recurring theme throughout the season so
[45:13] far that the music and sound design game
[45:15] has really stepped up. Anyway, sorry.
[45:17] I'm going to stop yapping about that
[45:18] now. Let's just get right into it. Oh my
[45:21] god, bro. The silent pan across to
[45:23] Megumi just a farming inside of a dude's
[45:25] shadow to start off an episode is
[45:27] actually crazy. The way his face lights
[45:29] up from the dude's lighter. Oh my god,
[45:31] it's so peak. But dude, that guy is just
[45:34] an NPC. Like, why why is Megumi looking
[45:36] at him like he's just mowed down an
[45:38] orphanage or something? I don't know,
[45:40] man. This jiu-jitsu clearly gets
[45:41] serious. Now, Megumi honestly thinks
[45:43] he's Sunjin Wu. And you know what? I'm
[45:45] not even going to hate on it because
[45:46] when was the last time you saw Sunjin Wu
[45:48] dive into a dude's shadow like that? Oh,
[45:50] it's so cool. Honestly, this just makes
[45:52] me want to call Megumi a fraud even more
[45:54] because I need him to be using this side
[45:56] of his technique in the rest of the
[45:57] series. Please. While he's busy aura
[46:00] farming though, Pandanda's out here
[46:01] pretending to be well, a panda.
[46:03] >> He's a panda. You're a panda.
[46:05] >> Once the fod were dealt with, Megumi and
[46:07] Panda make it onto the set of today's
[46:09] episode, a rooftop car park with Akari's
[46:11] monitor room placed in the corner.
[46:13] Kurara passes underneath them and they
[46:14] make eye contact, which means now they
[46:16] obviously have to fight. However,
[46:18] Megumi's divine dog totality gets flung
[46:20] right back at him once Kurara marks it
[46:23] with her cursed technique because that's
[46:24] kind of how that works. I'll explain it
[46:26] more in a second, maybe. But can we
[46:28] please just take a minute to appreciate
[46:30] how unbelievably cool Totality looks?
[46:32] Bro, that's not even a dog anymore. He's
[46:34] just standing upright like a whole ass
[46:36] dude looking like that one Ben alien.
[46:38] It's so cool. Before the fight properly
[46:40] gets started, Megumi tries reasoning
[46:42] with Kurara and telling her the
[46:43] situation. But obviously, she ain't
[46:45] buying it because the concept of Satur
[46:47] Gojo being sealed is just straight up
[46:49] incomprehensible. Like seriously, there
[46:51] was no doubt on Kurara's face. The
[46:53] possibility of that being true didn't
[46:55] even cross her mind because Gojo is
[46:57] really just that guy. So look, right,
[47:00] this is obviously just a simple
[47:01] conversation between Megumi and Kurara.
[47:03] The animators could have just had it be
[47:05] a normal face-to-face confrontation and
[47:07] no one would bat an eye, but director
[47:09] Goshono and his team are just not having
[47:12] it. They still chose to do the absolute
[47:13] most possible to make this dialogueheavy
[47:16] episode into a proper treat. There was
[47:18] no need for this dramatic slow-mo pan or
[47:20] for this completely amazing but totally
[47:22] unnecessary dynamic perspective of
[47:24] Kurara literally just standing still.
[47:27] But they chose to do it anyway, which is
[47:28] why JJK is so goated and why the
[47:31] adaptation gets so much praise. Now, I
[47:33] think this fight is really dope because
[47:34] it's not actually a fight. Like, no
[47:36] hands are really thrown. As it normally
[47:37] is for Megumi's best moments, it's a
[47:39] game of strategy and intelligence, which
[47:41] because it's Gay writing, it often means
[47:43] a lot of dialogue and overly complex
[47:45] explanations that I think Mapper
[47:47] actually did a pretty good job of
[47:49] adapting. I think the team genuinely
[47:50] handled this specific fight as well as
[47:53] they possibly could have by basically
[47:55] making the dialogue and explanationheavy
[47:57] moments much easier to understand with
[47:59] simple diagrams and then keeping the
[48:01] viewers engaged in between these moments
[48:03] by dialing up the animation to 11. The
[48:06] entire first half of this episode feels
[48:08] like it goes through this constant cycle
[48:09] of explanation and then wellan animated
[48:12] action and then more explanation and
[48:14] then more well-animated action. Like
[48:15] sure, they didn't need to be making
[48:17] these stupidly dynamic almost
[48:20] utaponesesque scenes for a fight like
[48:21] this one, but doing so is a really great
[48:24] way of keeping your attention because of
[48:26] how dialogueheavy the rest of it can
[48:27] get. Okay, maybe I haven't really
[48:29] explained this in the best possible way,
[48:30] but I can summarize by saying the
[48:32] episode was structured and storyboarded
[48:34] really well. so that we didn't get
[48:36] bored. That's basically the gist of it.
[48:38] We might have been confused with the
[48:39] information, sure, but not bored. At
[48:41] least I definitely wasn't. Anyway,
[48:43] Megumi tests out his hypothesis by using
[48:45] his rabbits and seeing what they can
[48:47] reach. He then comes to the conclusion
[48:48] that Kurara marks cursed energy with a
[48:51] star from a specific constellation. And
[48:53] then later on in the episode, he works
[48:54] out that in order to reach a location
[48:56] marked with a star, you need to first go
[48:58] past all of the other stars in the
[49:00] correct order. That's the bare bones
[49:01] basics of it. But don't ask me more than
[49:03] that because it just breaks my brain
[49:05] every time I put too much thought into
[49:06] it. I don't know. Like, go watch the
[49:08] episode. I'm not here to break down how
[49:09] the technique works. I want to glaze the
[49:11] animation. Now, from the moment this
[49:12] fight began in the anime, the OST just
[49:15] started absolutely cooking. Like, so far
[49:17] in season 3, the music has definitely
[49:19] been very bold. It's very brave choices,
[49:22] but I'm really appreciating it so far.
[49:24] It is working. And god, I love the
[49:26] tension built by that synthetic voom
[49:29] sound when Megumi tests Kurara's
[49:31] reaction to saying her technique
[49:32] resembles the southern cross. That this
[49:34] was definitely a highlight for me. That
[49:35] that little was just oh, it was it added
[49:38] such a nice little element that I didn't
[49:40] think that scene even really needed.
[49:41] Directly after this scene, we also get a
[49:43] really wholesome anime only visual of
[49:45] Megumi's sister, Sumaki, showing Megumi
[49:48] the Southern Cross when they were kids.
[49:49] And honestly, watching that one little
[49:51] it's it's genuinely like a second long,
[49:53] but watching that one little scene made
[49:55] me like feel really strange because it
[49:57] it looks so far removed from JJK. I hope
[50:00] they do more stuff like this because
[50:01] even Gage himself has acknowledged the
[50:03] slight lack of substance from Sumaki and
[50:05] Megumi's relationship. Also, I'm sorry,
[50:07] but what the is Panda doing, bro? Like,
[50:10] you you guys ask why I hate on Panda,
[50:12] but what did he actually contribute to
[50:13] this fight besides being a test dummy
[50:15] for Megumi? I mean, later on in the
[50:16] episode, once Kurara's technique is
[50:18] exposed, he still decides to try and
[50:20] throw a car that Kurara draws to him.
[50:22] Why? Because he's a [ __ ] idiot, bro.
[50:24] That's why. The scene of Panda actually
[50:25] throwing the car, though. Wow. I love
[50:27] that. I really love that scene. The
[50:29] camera movement in this episode and the
[50:31] way it tracks Megumi vaulting the
[50:32] handrail. Oh, it just looks so clean.
[50:35] Even just these simple visuals of Megum
[50:37] are beautiful. Anyway, Panda takes a
[50:39] trip into the sky and then wait coin
[50:41] coin. Look, Kura is doing a If you know,
[50:44] you know, man. If you know, you know.
[50:45] But look, that's coin. That's coin. I
[50:47] must sound like a crazy person to you
[50:48] guys. Read Kagurabachi, man. It's peak
[50:50] and and damn, like I know Kurara is
[50:52] cool, but what the hell are these mappa
[50:54] dudes thinking giving her aura like
[50:55] that? She's moving like Gojo with blue.
[50:57] I mean, that was beyond a speed blitz.
[50:58] That was just straight up ultra
[51:00] transmission or or something. I don't
[51:02] know, man. I've never watched Dragon
[51:03] Ball in it. Kurara then does some
[51:05] Magneto type shenanigans on the car to
[51:07] try and straight up murder Megumi. But
[51:09] the divine dog that has been lying in
[51:10] weight behind the wall is then launched
[51:12] towards Megumi with Kurara standing
[51:14] directly in the way exactly as he
[51:16] planned. Megumi dies out of the car,
[51:18] subdued Kurara, who canceled her
[51:20] technique, and then the car [ __ ]
[51:21] explodes for hype moments and aura
[51:23] reasons. Enough of all that though.
[51:25] Let's talk about the main event. Let's
[51:26] talk about Kinji Hikari and Yugjiadori.
[51:29] Bosch. Car blows up. Kurara finally
[51:32] agrees to help. And Yuji gets his [ __ ]
[51:34] absolutely rocked by this wife
[51:36] beaterawwearing behemoth of a man. I
[51:38] always thought Gagegeay draws Akari in a
[51:40] way that makes him look kind of small
[51:41] and stubby, but god damn, the anime
[51:44] makes this dude look like an absolute
[51:46] monster. Something else I really like
[51:48] compared to the manga, as Hakkari just
[51:49] wales on Yuji here, is that Hakkari's
[51:51] face is way more expressive than in the
[51:53] manga. He seems way more well, I mean,
[51:56] way more passionate, I guess. And the
[51:58] music and the lighting in this scene are
[52:00] just oh, they're so peak. Like, they
[52:02] create such a tense and emotional
[52:04] atmosphere. especially the music later
[52:06] on when we see Yugji get back up to give
[52:08] his cog speech. Just before Yuji gives
[52:10] his speech though, Hikari actually has
[52:11] his own little bit of very cool and
[52:13] underrated dialogue. He basically says
[52:15] Yugji is boring because being a cog that
[52:17] exercises curses simply because that's
[52:19] what he's been told to do isn't
[52:21] passionate at all and that principal
[52:22] Yaga was meant to weed out people like
[52:24] him from the school. It's in the manga,
[52:26] too. But I love this little throwaway
[52:27] comment from Hkari because he's right.
[52:29] Yaga did test Yuji way back in the
[52:31] beginning of the series to see if he had
[52:33] passion or if he was just becoming a
[52:34] sorcerer because that's what he was told
[52:36] to do. What takes Hikari probably by
[52:38] surprise though is that even with his
[52:40] sharp cursed energy and insane striking
[52:42] power, he cannot get this cog that is
[52:44] Yujiadori to stay down. Oh, and yeah,
[52:46] Hikari's got a cursed energy trait that
[52:48] makes his cursed energy feel sharp. I
[52:50] Loki thought his cursed energy would
[52:52] also be a different color, but it seems
[52:53] to just be blue. That might change later
[52:55] on in Jackpot, but who knows? Hkari
[52:57] absolutely decimates Yugji with a strong
[52:59] punch and then turns around to talk to
[53:01] Kiraara. But he clearly hasn't watched
[53:03] the show because if it's just pain, then
[53:06] Yujiadori will never quit. Ray Yuji
[53:09] pulls up behind Akari and straight up
[53:11] jump scares that man. I've never seen
[53:12] Hkari back away from anyone like that
[53:14] before. So, props to Yuji for being the
[53:16] first and the last person to do it. Yuji
[53:18] then delivers his incredible cog speech
[53:20] about how he's a cog, but he's a cog
[53:23] with a purpose, and he will not stray
[53:24] from that purpose until the day he dies.
[53:27] He must exercise curses no matter what.
[53:30] I don't know if any of you guys are
[53:31] reading JJK modulo, but uh wow, this
[53:34] this hits like 10 times harder now.
[53:36] Damn. His voice actor smashed it, and I
[53:38] love how dead pan Yuji's expression and
[53:40] voice are here. Like, there's no actual
[53:42] emotion behind it. He's just stating a
[53:44] fact. Kurara then chimes in to help
[53:46] Hikari realize that Yujiadori is
[53:48] actually a cog with passion. He is a cog
[53:50] with the fever. And for that reason,
[53:52] he's worth hearing out. The episode ends
[53:53] with Kugane pulling up to declare to
[53:56] Yuji Tadori specifically, who is already
[53:58] a player due to Sukuna that another
[53:59] player has added a rule allowing for
[54:01] player information to be shared, and
[54:03] I've just said player way too much. This
[54:05] rule was added by none other than the
[54:07] mythical Ado era farmer himself, Ahajime
[54:10] Kashimo. The only downside of this
[54:12] episode is that for whatever reason,
[54:14] Gosso decided to remove Kashimo's
[54:16] introduction panel where he's staring
[54:17] through some poor dude's donuted torso.
[54:20] Yeah, I really like that moment, but
[54:22] whatever. Instead, we just kind of see
[54:24] him in this weird crouching position
[54:25] under a bridge staring at the no-name
[54:27] droid that he seemingly just blasted.
[54:29] For anime onlyies, I'm not going to
[54:31] speak about this guy too much. Like,
[54:32] you're just going to have to wait and
[54:33] see. But for you manga readers, here's a
[54:35] cool little detail that you might have
[54:36] missed. You can actually see strands of
[54:38] gas or steam coming from the lake that
[54:40] he's sitting in due to the, you know,
[54:42] effect that his cursed energy trait has
[54:44] on the water, which is also probably
[54:46] what makes his stuff flare up as well.
[54:48] It's just another example of how much
[54:50] attention to detail Gosso and his team
[54:51] are putting into this series, man. But
[54:53] yeah, banger episode and the final prep
[54:55] episode before we finally jump into the
[54:57] actual culling games. And trust me, if
[54:59] you thought it was good now, oh my god,
[55:00] you have not seen anything yet.
[55:04] This week on Jujutsu Kaizen, Hikari
[55:07] breaks the fourth wall, Yuji hurts his
[55:09] hand, Megumi has a generational fumble,
[55:12] and Kjaku stalks children in their
[55:14] dreams. Actually, that that last one is
[55:15] like a bit mad out of context. I mean,
[55:17] even in context, it's a bit creepy and
[55:19] be real. Long story short, to explain
[55:21] Kaku's creepiness, non-scorers, such as
[55:23] Yugji's season 1 occult friends, get one
[55:26] chance to leave the colony and get
[55:27] themselves to safety. Kjaku gave special
[55:30] thanks to this one person in particular
[55:31] for being his son's friend, which has
[55:33] always made people wonder, does Kinjaku
[55:35] actually like care for Yugji as a child?
[55:38] Does he have like real maternal
[55:39] instincts? Like why has he gone out of
[55:41] his way to just thank this person for
[55:42] being Yugji's friend? I don't know. It's
[55:44] weird. It's interesting. As for how he
[55:45] invaded her dreams and leaded her out of
[55:47] the barrier in this weird world between
[55:49] worlds type of place, like God knows,
[55:52] bro. Like just don't think too hard
[55:54] about it. All right. Just just accept
[55:55] it, bro. Oh. Oh, wait, though. What?
[55:57] What's that in the background? Wait,
[55:58] that looks sick. I I I hope we come back
[56:00] to that for whatever reason, you know,
[56:02] later on cuz that that looks cool.
[56:04] Anyway, Isizo Isizo then blesses our
[56:06] ears again and we cut back to Hikari and
[56:08] the gang who are having a little yap
[56:10] session again. 99% of this is just a
[56:12] onetoone with the manga as Hkari shows
[56:14] disbelief that Gojo was sealed. Hand
[56:16] tells everybody about Yaga's death. And
[56:18] then Hikari explains his desire to well,
[56:21] long story short again, he just wants to
[56:23] expand his sorcerer fight club to all of
[56:25] Japan. The 1% of this that isn't
[56:27] faithful to the manga is um the
[56:30] hilarious moment where Hikari just hears
[56:32] Megumi say that he's the head of the Zen
[56:34] clan and can help him achieve his Fight
[56:35] Club goal and then basically just
[56:37] straight up break the fourth wall into
[56:39] little pieces in this little fang girl
[56:41] freakout moment. I was I was dying when
[56:43] he turned on his heels and made that
[56:44] cutesy face that he pulled in the manga.
[56:46] It's so funny. That bro is really doing
[56:48] tricks on it after beating up his friend
[56:50] right in front of him because he wants
[56:52] the fight club that badly. Bro has no
[56:54] shame. I lowkey respect it. Okay, then.
[56:56] Like, so, do these guys walk down the
[56:59] stairs in the manga? No. Did Mappa
[57:01] choose to include this sequence because
[57:03] they like flexing their artistic talent
[57:05] to every possible turn? Yes. And
[57:07] speaking of artistic talents, oh my
[57:10] days, the art in this episode is unreal.
[57:13] The aesthetic, the atmosphere, the
[57:15] insane sense of scale that Mapper
[57:17] achieved when showing the colonies and
[57:18] how desolate the streets are is, well,
[57:21] it's insane. And obviously the
[57:23] incredible OST only just helps elevate
[57:25] that feeling. Seriously, man, it looks
[57:27] so goddamn good. Like they're in broad
[57:29] daylight right now, but the tension is
[57:31] still incredibly high because of these
[57:33] very wide shots of the empty and
[57:35] desolate road that Fushiguru and Itidori
[57:37] are walking down. You see the huge scale
[57:39] of the city and the barriers. Yet, until
[57:41] they actually enter the colony itself,
[57:42] the place seems like a ghost town,
[57:44] almost as if Yuji and Megumi are the
[57:45] only people left in the world. So, yeah,
[57:47] I think the art and composition is
[57:49] definitely the highlight of this episode
[57:50] for me. You know, the whole thing had
[57:52] such a unique atmosphere and I really
[57:53] liked it. In fact, it was actually so
[57:56] good that my anime only friends who
[57:58] forever just complain about anytime
[58:00] Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen gets slightly
[58:01] dialogueheavy. Any yap sesh without a
[58:03] fight, they're complaining. Yeah,
[58:04] they're those kind of people. But they
[58:06] actually enjoyed this episode, which
[58:07] means yeah, it was it was that good, you
[58:09] know. Anyway, enough glazing for now.
[58:11] I'll continue to yap about the quality
[58:12] and other specific moments shortly. But
[58:15] first of all, a very brief TLDDR of the
[58:17] current situation because the culling
[58:18] game rules and objectives can be a bit
[58:20] complicated thanks to Gagege having just
[58:22] major overexplaining syndrome. To enjoy
[58:24] the culling games, you really don't need
[58:26] to memorize all of the rules. You get
[58:28] points for killing people. You can spend
[58:30] 100 points to add a rule within reason.
[58:32] If you refuse to participate or your
[58:34] points don't change for 19 days, you
[58:36] just spontaneously collapse and die of
[58:38] death. Very simple. This player called
[58:40] Kashimo spent 100 points to add a rule
[58:42] revealing player information to all
[58:44] players, which is good for us because as
[58:46] Megumi geniusly points out, they can now
[58:48] track down players with over 100 points
[58:50] that haven't yet created rules, beat
[58:52] them up, and then force them to make
[58:54] rules for us. There are a few rules that
[58:56] they need to make, but the most
[58:57] important one right now is allowing
[58:59] players to transfer points between each
[59:01] other because that way they don't have
[59:03] to kill anybody and Megumi can at least
[59:05] then transfer Sumaki a couple points to
[59:07] reset her 19-day countdown to death.
[59:09] Simple, right? Like it's simple. Load up
[59:11] the game, select battle royale, drop the
[59:13] battle bus, hunt down the top ranked
[59:15] players, victory royale. Easy. The
[59:18] calling game is literally as simple as
[59:19] Apex Legends or Fortnite, bro. Like, at
[59:21] least for now, it is. We can worry about
[59:23] the complex stuff much much later on. So
[59:25] yeah, the player that Megumi and Yuji
[59:27] actually choose to hunt down is called
[59:28] Higoruma sorry Higuruma Hiomi. He has
[59:32] 100 points and he has not yet created a
[59:34] rule. So he is the perfect candidate.
[59:35] Yugji and Megumi will track him down and
[59:37] Hkari decides that he will go and face
[59:39] Kashimo since that guy seems to be way
[59:41] too strong for Yuji or Megumi to
[59:43] currently deal with. Yeah, that is Loki
[59:45] Hkari aura. Not going to lie. The scene
[59:47] of them actually entering the barrier is
[59:48] really damn cool though. Especially the
[59:50] part where Megumi knocks on the barrier
[59:52] and it makes like this really nice
[59:54] metallic echoey sound which I feel like
[59:56] reinforces you know just how solid and
[59:59] and impenetrable these barriers actually
[60:01] are. I feel like sometimes they look a
[60:02] bit you know kind of just there but this
[60:04] really reinforces how how strong these
[60:06] things are. They are a barrier. The
[60:08] transition from Yugji walking into the
[60:09] barrier to him falling straight down was
[60:11] really well done. But damn, like imagine
[60:13] you were just a f sorcerer that had no
[60:15] way of surviving like a fall from this
[60:17] height. Everyone knows when you play
[60:18] these video games, bro, how embarrassing
[60:20] it is to die of full damage. You're
[60:21] telling me sorcerers have to deal with
[60:22] that off rip. Before he hits the ground
[60:24] though, Bosch jet hair lady slams him
[60:26] through a building in an awesomely
[60:28] animated shot which leads to a sick
[60:30] sequence where Yuji regains his balance
[60:32] and runs to the edge of the scaffolding.
[60:34] And damn, I have been watching Yuji
[60:36] getting slammed by this woman in
[60:37] ninjistic ninja's calling game MMV for
[60:39] literal years at this point. It It's so
[60:42] weird to finally see this, you know, be
[60:43] animated properly. And the anime really
[60:45] didn't hold back. like she looks strong.
[60:47] Oh no, never mind. Nope, she got taken
[60:49] out by a rock. Good job, Eugi. Jet
[60:51] lady's man then pulls up whose real name
[60:52] is Hubba, but we're going to call him
[60:54] helicopter man because that's exactly
[60:55] what he is. I mean, this dude really
[60:57] just pulled the short straw here. You've
[60:58] got techniques in the verse like the 10
[61:00] shadows, ratio, idol transfiguration,
[61:02] auspicious beast summon, but nah, this
[61:04] dude was born with an MHA background
[61:06] character's quirk. That's just unlucky.
[61:08] Still though, it does seem pretty
[61:09] deadly, especially when it comes racing
[61:11] towards Yugji as a life-sized blender. I
[61:13] mean, how the hell is Yugji going to
[61:14] survive? Oh. Oh, okay. No. Like, what
[61:17] the [ __ ] That was That was sick. It
[61:19] makes no sense at all. Like, how is Yuji
[61:20] fitting through that? I don't get it.
[61:22] But it's still sick. It's dope. It looks
[61:24] really cool. I mean, screw physics, bro.
[61:25] Like, this is anime. We don't really do
[61:26] that here. Just don't even question it,
[61:28] you know? Now, I really like this shot
[61:29] of Yuji being thrown out the back of the
[61:31] building. Uh, because I have a weird
[61:33] soft spot for like distorted close-up
[61:35] POVs like this. And also, this is the
[61:37] scene where I properly realize just how
[61:39] beautiful the background art really is.
[61:41] Like, just look at the sky and look at
[61:42] the cold purple bluish vibe they got
[61:44] going on. It's really nice to look at.
[61:46] To finally end the fight, Yugji figures
[61:47] that hitting helicopter man on the head
[61:49] with strong punch should definitely do
[61:51] the trick, which it did. Like low key,
[61:53] the manga almost kind of had you
[61:54] wondering if Yuji just straight up
[61:56] killed these guys because they are out
[61:57] cold. And all he got was some bloody
[61:59] knuckles. And I do really like the way
[62:00] that he tried to like, you know, shake
[62:02] off the pain. It looks really natural,
[62:03] which I guess I should just expect at
[62:05] this point because the character acting
[62:07] has been amazing so far. Now to fill in
[62:09] some gaps very quickly though. Ren
[62:10] Amayi. He's a dude who knows Itidori
[62:12] from back in the day and he is an
[62:14] awakened player that was working with
[62:15] the vehicle head people. It's honestly
[62:17] kind of messed up. They were just
[62:18] blatantly spawn camping people and
[62:20] attacking them as they fell on Amaya's
[62:22] signal. Now, Megumi actually landed safe
[62:23] and sound in the company of a very
[62:25] annoying but undeniably attractive
[62:27] scorpion tail-haired lady who claims to
[62:29] know where Higuruma is, but will only
[62:31] take Megumi there if he becomes her
[62:33] knight and shining armor. Yeah, this
[62:35] girl has clearly not read the source
[62:36] material because Megumi is not moved one
[62:39] millimeter by her seductive tactics. She
[62:41] tries getting all flirty with Megumi, to
[62:43] which Megumi's internal response is, "I
[62:46] ain't like Yugji, [ __ ] I'll [ __ ] kill
[62:48] you to get these points and he means
[62:49] it." The episode then ends on a
[62:51] cliffhanger where Amay tells Yugji that
[62:53] Higuruma is in Ikabukuro and Remy tells
[62:55] Megumi that Higuruma is in Shinjuku. As
[62:57] the split pathway imagery was alluding
[62:59] to for the entire episode until this
[63:01] moment, one of them is obviously lying
[63:03] and leading either Megumi or Yugji into
[63:05] a trap. Looking at these two though, I
[63:07] think anybody who thinks with their
[63:08] first head and not their second head can
[63:10] figure out who the yapper is. Anyway, W
[63:12] episode as expected. I just I loved the
[63:14] like sense of scale that was going on
[63:16] when we saw the barriers. And I also
[63:18] just love the crazy atmosphere that was
[63:20] built up in this episode. It was really
[63:21] damn good. Now, unfortunately, the anime
[63:23] is on break next week, but once it
[63:24] returns, it is going to be straight
[63:26] banger after banger for the rest of the
[63:28] season. I mean, and I know it kind of
[63:29] already is, but even more so than usual.
[63:31] So, yeah. As always, make sure to like,
[63:33] sub, thanks for watching, and I will see
[63:34] you in a bit. Okay, I lied. Video is not
[63:36] over cuz I realized as I finished
[63:38] recording that I have something very
[63:39] important to talk about. Hikari's dub.
[63:42] There was a lot of doubt online about
[63:43] Yuri being given the role of Akari
[63:45] because obviously, you know, we know him
[63:47] for voicing like Sasuke and Ben from
[63:49] Alien Force, which a lot of people heard
[63:51] those voices and were like, "Nah,
[63:52] there's no way that fits Akari." I think
[63:54] it sounds dope. He really captures like
[63:55] the nonchalant vibe, the way he's
[63:57] talking to Yugji. I think it does fit
[63:59] him. I think I look at him and I go,
[64:00] "Yeah, I believe he has that voice." He
[64:02] sounds like a teenage delinquent. That's
[64:04] what he sounds like. A young teenage
[64:05] delinquent. I know people are going to
[64:07] want him to sound like Zoro or Keachi or
[64:09] something, but like I don't know. I I I
[64:11] liked it. I thought it did fit and I'm
[64:12] really looking forward to his stuff. So
[64:14] yeah, don't judge a book by its cover,
[64:16] man. I really like it. It's nowhere near
[64:18] as out of place as people said it would
[64:19] be. It's dope. Sorry, I wanted to yap
[64:21] about that real quick cuz I think voice
[64:23] actors deserve way more respect than
[64:24] they get. And I honestly think he killed
[64:26] it. So Yuri, you're never going to see
[64:27] this video, but in case you do, you
[64:29] [ __ ] killed it, mate. All right, I
[64:30] like it.
[64:33] Oh my god, the bruh. Look at Yuji hook
[64:36] kick this man. I know it happens like
[64:38] halfway through the episode, but I'm too
[64:39] impatient to reach that part in my
[64:41] review. I need to talk about it right
[64:43] now. Look at how good this looks. What
[64:45] the hell, man? Nah, bro. The rotoscoped
[64:47] character acting in JK season 3 is
[64:49] actually ridiculous. It's added so much
[64:51] like source to this already sourced up
[64:54] anime. Sure, some crazy stuff happens in
[64:56] this episode, but this one little
[64:57] flashback scene of Yuji aura farming on
[64:59] some high school bullies, it's just
[65:01] living rentree in my head. Like, I
[65:03] actually just can't stop watching it.
[65:05] [clears throat] But anyway, I'll
[65:06] actually get into my review of the
[65:07] episode now before my retention starts
[65:09] declining steeper than Higuruma's knows.
[65:12] Today was a big day for Jiujutsu Kaizen.
[65:14] And to be honest, the more I think about
[65:16] it, the more the idea of an anime only
[65:18] who has never heard of the amazing
[65:20] lawyer/genius that is Heromi Higuruma.
[65:22] It's kind of hilarious to think about
[65:24] because like you must have been so
[65:25] confused when the opening shot of the
[65:27] episode was a grown ass man in a bathtub
[65:30] fully clothed on a theater stage with a
[65:32] note on a projector reading in Japan
[65:34] 99.9% of criminal trials end in a guilty
[65:37] verdict. Like that's so weird. That's
[65:39] such a weird way to open an episode. It
[65:41] must have had so many of you confused,
[65:42] bro. But to be fair, as funny as this
[65:44] seems at first, we soon learn that the
[65:47] context is really depressing. Not the
[65:49] like, "Oh my god, that's so sad. I'm
[65:51] going to cry kind of depressing. More so
[65:54] the oh oh my days man humanity is so
[65:57] screwed. How did it ever come to this?
[65:59] What is even the point anymore? It's
[66:00] that kind of depressing. His backstory
[66:02] starts with Hearuma being a normal 9 to5
[66:05] lawyer in Japan which had my anime only
[66:07] friends, you know, asking me if we were
[66:09] still watching JJK because yeah, this
[66:11] all feels way more grounded in reality
[66:14] than what we normally get from this
[66:15] show. Which I guess is kind of the
[66:17] point, right? It's a commentary on the
[66:18] exhausting injustice of, ironically, the
[66:21] Japanese judicial system. But to be
[66:23] honest, the message does kind of apply
[66:25] to a lot of countries, not just Japan.
[66:27] Now, I personally I I love I love this
[66:30] backstory because it begins with the
[66:32] case of this MPC who is found in
[66:34] possession of the murder weapon used in
[66:36] a recent killing. Basically, all of the
[66:38] evidence is like stacked against him,
[66:40] which would usually mean the case is
[66:41] relatively open and shut. Any normal
[66:43] defense lawyer would do what they could
[66:45] to get paid. But none of them would
[66:46] actually care enough about upholding
[66:48] justice to even consider the possibility
[66:50] that he was innocent because it seemed
[66:52] so, you know, implausible. Except
[66:54] Higuruma is no ordinary lawyer. Money
[66:57] does not drive him. He believes in
[66:59] justice and works himself to the bone,
[67:01] as I'm sure you can see from the way he
[67:02] looks, to ensure that all his clients
[67:04] get what they deserve, which is why he
[67:06] keeps looking into his client's story
[67:08] despite his assistant telling him that
[67:10] it's a waste of time. Now, when we hear
[67:12] the NPC's full account from Higaruma,
[67:14] suddenly him being innocent becomes a
[67:16] lot more believable. And what I I really
[67:18] love about this is that we never
[67:20] actually find out if that one guy was
[67:22] innocent or not because that isn't the
[67:24] point. The point is that Higuruma cared
[67:26] enough to look into the possibility that
[67:27] he was innocent because that's what it
[67:29] takes to achieve real justice. The next
[67:31] case that we see in the flashback kind
[67:33] of dives deeper into this idea because
[67:35] long story short, it exposes how the
[67:37] Japanese judicial system is basically
[67:39] pay to win. Despite all of the work to
[67:41] try and achieve true fair justice for
[67:43] the defendant, the outcome was decided
[67:45] from the very beginning and that made
[67:47] Higuruma mad as [ __ ] Around the same
[67:50] time as all of this going down though,
[67:52] you know, Kjaku conveniently started the
[67:54] culling games in Shabuya and caused
[67:56] people all across Japan to awaken cursed
[67:58] techniques. One of those people of
[68:00] course being Heromi Higaruma. So once
[68:02] his defendant had his initial, you know,
[68:04] ruling overturned and had been given a
[68:06] life [ __ ] sentence, Heromi Higaruma
[68:09] lost it. And oh my god, what a sequence.
[68:12] Look at this art, bro. This the kind of
[68:15] face that I'd see from my parents in the
[68:16] rear view mirror if I turn the roof
[68:18] light on in the car. You know, you get
[68:20] me? Yeah. You You get me? You get me?
[68:22] And then we just hear him start banging
[68:24] a gavvel on the desk, which was such a
[68:26] dope way to build like anticipation and
[68:28] tension for the reveal of his judgment
[68:31] shikami, which is somehow even creepier
[68:33] in the anime than in the manga.
[68:35] Especially later on when we see how it
[68:37] kind of like emerges from the tub that
[68:39] Higuruma is in. Like its face pops out
[68:41] of the water. Oh, that's so cool. But
[68:43] anyway, yeah, Higuruma locks in.
[68:45] Everyone come back. We're having a
[68:47] retrial. And then we cut to the
[68:49] announcement of Higuruma as an awakened
[68:51] culling game player for the halfway mark
[68:53] in the episode. Holy peak. Things then
[68:55] basically pick up where we left off last
[68:57] episode with Ren Amay telling Yuji that
[68:59] Higuruma is in Ikabukuro and that stupid
[69:02] bit that Remy chick telling Megumi that
[69:03] Higuruma is in Shinjjuku. And by the
[69:06] way, the point of this little flashback
[69:07] scene where you know the show suddenly
[69:09] becomes windbreaker is to show how Amay
[69:12] kind of like looks up to Yugji in a way
[69:14] because Yugji refuses to just be a
[69:15] bystander. Yuguji literally goes out of
[69:17] his way to help people, which is very
[69:19] relevant to what we saw from Higuruma
[69:20] earlier in the episode. Some food for
[69:22] thought. Anyway, time to glaze the
[69:24] production of this episode. Yeah, don't
[69:25] worry. I haven't forgotten because oh my
[69:27] god, this was this was actually mad. All
[69:29] right, again, I love the rotoscope
[69:31] character acting in season 3. The way
[69:32] Yuji is just like effortlessly dodging
[69:34] their attacks and the way he throws
[69:36] those kicks, it looks so dope. I love
[69:37] it. It really does look like a real
[69:39] person is doing them, which I guess is
[69:40] kind of the point of rotoscoping. But
[69:42] yeah, it really does make a huge
[69:43] difference. The most impressive thing
[69:45] about this episode by far though that a
[69:46] lot of you may not actually know is that
[69:48] the entire thing was animated by one
[69:51] person kind of Koki Fujimoto. He acted
[69:54] as the sole key animator for this
[69:56] masterclass of an episode which means he
[69:58] did the vast I mean I say vast majority
[70:01] pretty much all of the animating work
[70:02] for every single sequence. To kind of
[70:05] put that in perspective, the last
[70:06] episode and most other episodes have
[70:08] around 20 primary key animators working
[70:11] on it. This episode had one. Yeah, sure,
[70:14] there were still like around 30 second
[70:15] key animators to help finish up the
[70:17] work, but most of the workload fell to
[70:19] just him, which is insane. And if you
[70:21] have a key eye for this kind of stuff,
[70:22] then you might actually be able to tell
[70:24] by just watching it because the scenes
[70:25] with lots of movement are animated
[70:27] beautifully. But there are also just way
[70:29] more still shots and slow pans that are
[70:31] there to kind of reduce the workload and
[70:33] effectively cut corners so that the
[70:34] higher priority scenes can get more
[70:36] attention. That's why one minute you
[70:38] have, you know, a very long-lasting
[70:39] still shot of a building and then the
[70:41] next you have this unbelievable like
[70:43] firsterson POV shot of the uh the
[70:45] defendant looking at his handcuffs
[70:46] looking at the floor and we have even
[70:48] more 2D environments as we're moving
[70:50] forward for no reason other than like
[70:52] you know the artist flexing their
[70:54] artistry and maybe in like other anime
[70:56] like your average anime it would be more
[70:58] noticeable but JJK season 3's background
[71:01] art and composition is just so [ __ ]
[71:03] good that even when I look at you know a
[71:05] city or a building for more than 10
[71:07] seconds, it still feels engaging. It's
[71:09] just nice to look at. Oh, and the music
[71:10] in this episode incredible. Like the
[71:13] music in Higuruma's backstory, it kind
[71:14] of reminded me slightly of uh By the
[71:16] Pool from Chainsaw Man, you know? But
[71:18] yeah, just the whole thing, the
[71:19] background art, phenomenal. You know,
[71:20] the way we cut from the kind of
[71:21] desaturated, very normal, grounded in
[71:24] reality look of Higuruma's life to then
[71:26] the sort of like purple bluish, very
[71:28] very cold kind of aesthetic that we have
[71:31] in the barrier in present time in the
[71:33] culling games kind of separates the
[71:34] first part of the episode from the
[71:36] second, right? Like it's two completely
[71:37] different worlds that I feel like we're
[71:39] we're living in, which can kind of maybe
[71:40] represent the way that, you know, Ten
[71:42] said Kenjaku has moved Japan across to
[71:45] the other side. We've gone from reality
[71:47] into this this [ __ ] up jiu-jitsu world
[71:49] that Kjaku has created. Or maybe I'm
[71:51] just looking into that and they like the
[71:52] color blue. I don't know. But then yeah,
[71:54] we also have these like amazing shots
[71:56] of, you know, the defendant walking down
[71:57] the hallway with that 2D environment
[71:59] that we saw in the Hikari introduction
[72:01] episode for no real reason other than it
[72:03] looking dope. Again, the first person
[72:05] POV, the amazing art of Higuruma's eye.
[72:07] Even just that scene later on in the
[72:09] episode of Higuruma dramatically walking
[72:11] towards Yugji down the stairs is like
[72:13] it's just done so well that it makes up
[72:15] for the you know still shots throughout
[72:16] the episode. Anyway, the rest of the
[72:18] episode is basically a mix of Megumi and
[72:20] Yugji arriving at their destinations and
[72:22] finding out that they have either been
[72:23] tricked or that they have found their
[72:25] target. As expected, Megumi was the one
[72:27] who got tricked, but thank God he did
[72:29] because Megumi versus Jojo's side
[72:31] character 42 is actually a generational
[72:33] fight that is going to be hard to hate
[72:34] on no matter how strong your anti agenda
[72:37] is. That fight is going to have to wait
[72:39] for the moment though because first
[72:41] Yugji is confronting Higuruma who has,
[72:43] you know, been found lying in a bathtub
[72:45] fully clothed in a theater that he has
[72:47] made his base of operations for the
[72:49] culling game. And oh my god, bro, like
[72:51] Higuruma's voice actor was just cracking
[72:53] me up in this scene. Listen to his laugh
[72:56] after he tells this dad joke. Jokes
[72:58] aside though, the lighting and
[73:00] composition on this entire sequence is
[73:02] amazing. The way he's just like sat
[73:03] there playing with the water with wide
[73:05] eyes makes him look it makes him look
[73:07] deranged. Like he's he's a grownass man
[73:09] in a suit sat in a bathtub in a theater
[73:11] playing with water like he's four years
[73:12] old, bro. It's just it's crazy. He's out
[73:15] of his mind. And it's, you know, the
[73:17] whole scene is so desaturated. And it
[73:19] all just further reinforces how
[73:20] depressing and lost this character is.
[73:22] It's amazing. His reasoning for
[73:24] rejecting Yuji's proposal of using his
[73:26] points to create a rule to stop killing
[73:28] also interested me a lot when I read it
[73:30] in the manga because, you know, he's
[73:32] obviously unaware of Kjaku's true goal.
[73:34] But even when Yuji says that the game
[73:35] will eventually lead to everybody's
[73:37] death, his logic for like calling
[73:38] [ __ ] on that is completely sound.
[73:40] It's actually so sound that even Yugji
[73:42] questions himself. You see, the calling
[73:44] game is built to literally make sure
[73:46] that the game isn't forcefully ended
[73:48] even by Kjaku. So it starts begging the
[73:50] question, you know, what has Kjaku got
[73:52] planned to actually beat the rules of
[73:54] his own game? Higuruma's interest in the
[73:56] calling game and jiu-jitsu as a whole
[73:58] being, you know, a way to force an
[74:00] unbiased justice upon Japan is really
[74:02] interesting. And to be honest, I can
[74:04] definitely see where he's coming from
[74:05] with the concept of it. But the Colin
[74:07] Games itself is obviously just too
[74:09] brutal to actually work. Still, his
[74:10] interest in a system that delivers
[74:12] forceful, unbiased justice automatically
[74:15] is kind of valid, especially, you know,
[74:17] given what he's seen from the judicial
[74:19] system of humans. I'm getting sick of
[74:21] saying judicial. Like, it's just a
[74:22] difficult word to say in a script. Where
[74:24] I think Higurumi's character really
[74:26] shines, though, is when he's clashing
[74:27] with Yujiadori, the judgment versus the
[74:30] judged. It creates for an incredibly
[74:32] interesting dynamic that unfortunately
[74:33] we're not going to see until next
[74:34] episode. So, the anime only are going to
[74:36] have to, you know, wait for the payoff
[74:37] of this episode. But trust me, it's so
[74:39] going to be worth it. And then when
[74:40] Higuruma gets out of the tub in response
[74:42] to Yugji's threat, like the theater
[74:44] lights just change to to neon, red, and
[74:46] blue, which I guess can only be
[74:48] explained by saying it was divine
[74:51] intervention because of how much aura
[74:52] there currently is in this theater.
[74:54] Seriously though, the last time we got
[74:55] the red and blue neon lights in a fight
[74:57] was Yuji versus Choso. So, I am
[74:58] expecting some serious peak next
[75:00] episode. Hearuma walks ominously towards
[75:02] Yugji and then the OST just starts
[75:04] cooking. of I can't play it cuz you know
[75:06] copyright but just just imagine that I
[75:07] am yeah drums guitar absolute s wait is
[75:12] that [ __ ] domain expansion off rip
[75:14] bro what we even doing here yeah bro no
[75:16] no no wonder this dude tore through half
[75:18] the players in this colony already man
[75:19] is clearly a beast god the domain also
[75:21] just looks so dope like especially with
[75:24] him banging that hammer again bro it's
[75:26] it's so cool and and speaking of him
[75:28] looking dope listen when it comes to
[75:29] this character you know what the JGK
[75:31] fandom is like right I just know the
[75:33] gojo figure incident side of the fandom
[75:35] is gooning so hard to this bro. Hell,
[75:38] some of you are probably gooning to him
[75:39] while watching this video. Freaky ass
[75:40] [ __ ] But yeah, to be continued.
[75:44] Hey, this is editor Alons here just
[75:46] interrupting real quick. So, this next
[75:48] episode review basically features my
[75:50] face cam instead of the normal, you
[75:52] know, suka shaking image. Don't worry,
[75:54] it's literally just for this episode.
[75:56] The compilation will go back to normal
[75:58] after we're done with this one. I was
[76:00] just messing around, you know, to see
[76:01] whether it would make things easier for
[76:03] me, but it didn't, so I dropped it. And
[76:04] uh, yeah, that's why you will now see my
[76:06] face. Gay Akatami, the writer of
[76:08] Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen, basically just put two
[76:10] men in a room with a bathtub, gave it to
[76:13] Mappa, and said, "Make peak fiction."
[76:15] And there's actually an old Jiujitsu
[76:17] Kaizen saying that explains exactly how
[76:19] they were able to create such an amazing
[76:21] episode. It's a phrase of great power
[76:24] and wisdom. Go cinema, bro. Yeah, that
[76:27] intro line took me like 20 minutes to
[76:29] come up with. By the way, I I didn't
[76:30] even know how to start this video. Like,
[76:32] I've been sat here staring at a blank
[76:34] page for 20 minutes trying to think of
[76:37] something witty or even just find the
[76:39] words to describe what the actual f what
[76:41] in the actual world I've just watched.
[76:44] So, you know what? I'm just going to say
[76:46] this. I think Yuji versus Higuruma is
[76:49] the best fight in Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen's
[76:51] anime so far. Yeah, I said that. I'm not
[76:54] lying. And I won't Okay, never mind. It
[76:56] really doesn't hit the same when I say
[76:57] it. Oh, the recency bias is crazy, bro.
[76:59] Relax. It's not that serious. I don't
[77:01] care, bro. Eat a brick. Sure, Sukuna
[77:04] versus Maharaga is peak in terms of
[77:06] animation and hype, but this latest
[77:07] episode of season 3 just scratched an
[77:09] itch that the rest of the fights in the
[77:11] anime really just couldn't reach for me.
[77:13] Oh, and this is my face, by the way.
[77:15] Yeah, I kind of felt bad about shoveling
[77:17] Ryu's gifts down your throat for 10
[77:18] minutes every week, so I'm doing this in
[77:21] those moments now. You're welcome.
[77:23] Anyway, episode 9 of season 3 was as
[77:25] incredible as it was because it had the
[77:27] perfect blend of the only three
[77:29] ingredients that you ever really need to
[77:31] create actual peak fiction. Peak
[77:33] writing, peak animation, and peak music.
[77:36] Yes, I said music, even though it played
[77:38] a variant of the La song that everyone
[77:40] hated. And what? It was beautiful. [ __ ]
[77:42] had me looking like that one Kroo. Now,
[77:43] I'm not saying fights like Sukuna versus
[77:45] Maharaga and Chos versus Yuji don't have
[77:48] these three things, but it's all about
[77:49] balance. Let's start with just like the
[77:51] animation for example, right?
[77:53] Immediately as soon as the episode
[77:54] begins, it's on site. Domain expansion.
[77:57] Now, domains normally look awesome when
[77:59] they're expanded. Sure, they definitely
[78:01] don't cut corners, but in this case, we
[78:03] got like an entire 5-second shot of
[78:05] simply just the gravel floor unwinding.
[78:07] Why? Why? It looks so good. And then
[78:10] there's the art direction throughout
[78:11] this episode as well, which is like, you
[78:13] know, we do the first part, which is the
[78:15] whole pachinko parlor trial incident.
[78:17] The domain looks great. You've got this
[78:19] nice warm lighting, spotlights on each
[78:21] character, and you kind of just have fun
[78:23] with the moment, right? But then you cut
[78:25] straight back into that action sequence
[78:26] that follows and it's neon red with a
[78:29] blue spotlight that follows Yugji
[78:30] around. Very similar to how Yugji versus
[78:33] Choso did it in the bathroom, right?
[78:34] It's like the kind of neon red and blue
[78:36] contrast. And then later on when you
[78:38] know the episode takes a slightly dark
[78:40] and very depressing turn which I'll talk
[78:42] about in a moment. It goes back to this
[78:44] kind of melancholy like colder blue or
[78:47] greenish kind of vibe which is so sick
[78:50] the way that we literally change the
[78:51] lighting and the the colors throughout
[78:53] the episode depending on the tone. Now
[78:55] in the domain basically what happens is
[78:57] Yugji just figures out how it works.
[78:59] It's not a typical domain with a short
[79:01] hit. But then what's dope is in the
[79:02] manga we get this one panel of Yuji
[79:04] talking to Tangen where Ten explains,
[79:06] you know, what domains used to be like.
[79:08] This could have easily just been a
[79:09] silhouette saying it in like a single
[79:10] line, but no, it's Mappa, so he had to
[79:12] go overboard. All right. Yuji literally
[79:14] transitions from where he's standing and
[79:16] peels back into Tenin's domain into the
[79:18] flashback, right? And then the animation
[79:20] when Tenin like does this visual of a
[79:22] barrier expanding is just so good for no
[79:25] reason at all. And again, a very
[79:27] important thing about this episode, I
[79:28] won't get into the writing too much cuz
[79:30] I've already have a a massive like deep
[79:32] dive analysis video um on my channel of
[79:35] this fight. So, if you want like deep
[79:36] deep writing, then check that out. But
[79:38] what I love about this fight and that
[79:40] the anime absolutely nailed is the way
[79:42] that we set up the second half by
[79:44] basically making the first half kind of
[79:45] unserious, you know? Oh, Yugji, you've
[79:47] been accused of going to a pachinko
[79:49] parlor, which is basically a casino when
[79:51] you're underage. That's illegal. And
[79:52] Yugi's like, ah no, what should I do?
[79:54] and he's there shivering like a fence
[79:56] zombie who can't get his fix for like 3
[79:58] minutes, right? It's all kind of goofy.
[79:59] It's fun. I was laughing. My mate was
[80:01] laughing. It was a great time. He then
[80:02] comes up with his, you know, very very
[80:04] dumb idea where he goes, "Ah, I went in
[80:07] there to take a [ __ ] Didn't really pan
[80:08] out." He got his um cursed energy
[80:10] confiscated. Well, technically, no.
[80:12] Normally, it confiscates your technique,
[80:13] but then, you know, Yugji doesn't have a
[80:15] technique, so it kind of disabled his
[80:16] cursed energy instead. Obviously, at
[80:18] that point, Higarum would normally
[80:20] squash any enemy, but Yugji is built
[80:22] different even without cursed energy.
[80:24] So, he's the perfect matchup here. But
[80:25] yeah, that whole kind of thing happens
[80:27] and it's like very light-hearted and
[80:28] unserious and it's kind of meant to
[80:29] lower the viewers's guard so that later
[80:31] on, you know, when we get the moment, if
[80:34] you know, you know, it just hits like
[80:36] like like what? One minute you're
[80:38] laughing. It's like, "Oh, that's that's
[80:39] good." And then Eugi goes, "Yeah, I did
[80:40] that." And you're like, "Huh? What?
[80:42] Huh?" And then everything just gets like
[80:44] more depressing from there. That's
[80:45] something that the lighting actually
[80:46] does a really good job of portraying is
[80:48] the way the episode is split. You do the
[80:49] goofy bit and then the red action bit
[80:51] and then you go back to the bluer, you
[80:52] know, colder colors for, you know, the
[80:54] very sad, depressing stuff. And the
[80:56] music also matches as well. The way the
[80:57] domain turns off when Yuji gets accused.
[81:00] Oh my god, it just zip gone. And then
[81:02] Higuruma on smoke, bro. He's using that
[81:04] gavvel like Thor's hammer, throwing it
[81:05] back and forth, using the force to pull
[81:07] it back to him. Crazy things that never
[81:09] happen in the manga, bro. This fight was
[81:11] massively extended. And again, I'm I'm
[81:12] just going to say it. I think animation
[81:14] and choreography wise, like hand-to-hand
[81:16] fighting, this is the best we've got in
[81:17] JK. And it looks so good with that neon
[81:19] tint. But the the hand-to-h hand
[81:21] animation is ridiculous. It's so good.
[81:24] It's made by this entire 1 minute 30-ish
[81:26] cut, I think, is done by a guy called
[81:28] Nyion or Neon 41 who um animated that
[81:31] one fight everyone sees, you know, every
[81:33] other month on the internet from Super
[81:35] Cube because it's just that that good.
[81:37] Yeah, he cooked with this sequence, man.
[81:39] Oh my god, the choreography is insane,
[81:40] bro. Higaruma was doing things like,
[81:42] "Oh, Yuji blocks my hammer." Smashes it
[81:44] into his face. And then he's using it
[81:46] like a like a gum gum gatalin, bro. He's
[81:48] going like voom voom voom with the
[81:49] hammer. I'm never doing that again. But
[81:51] yeah, he's like doing things that Gay
[81:53] like didn't even dream of when writing
[81:55] the manga. And it's just it's amazing.
[81:56] He literally uses it to pull V onto the
[81:59] stage. Oh, it's so sick and just it's so
[82:01] dynamic. The way that like the fluid
[82:03] motion and the sucker moments are still
[82:05] like you can still follow them. You can
[82:07] still understand everything that's
[82:08] happening. It's incredibly fast, but not
[82:10] so fast that you, you know, you get lost
[82:12] in it. It's so good. It's ridiculous. I
[82:14] will say I think the Choso and Yuji
[82:17] fight was a bit more dynamic in terms of
[82:18] how they use their environment and like
[82:20] the POV shots and stuff, but in terms of
[82:22] like the actual hand-to-h hand and just
[82:24] the the quality of the overall animation
[82:26] is a different level to any. So,
[82:28] honestly, like honestly, it's like
[82:30] probably one of the best handtohand
[82:31] scenes I've seen in animation to be
[82:32] honest. And again, just like the
[82:33] lighting is great. We finally end up
[82:35] after that ridiculous sequence after
[82:38] Yugji slides under Higuruma's feet and
[82:40] kind of runs away for a bit, eventually
[82:42] gets him back onto the stage and then
[82:44] thinks of the retrial moment. So, as
[82:46] soon as he says retrial, bam, again,
[82:48] we're straight back in the domain, which
[82:50] I really like cuz it kind of backs the
[82:51] point that it's more of a rule than like
[82:53] a suggestion. You know, if you demand a
[82:55] retrial, you get a retrial whether
[82:56] hearuma wants to give you one or not.
[82:58] But then this is when the episode shifts
[82:59] and I was watching it with my anime
[83:01] anime only friend who was like, you
[83:02] know, we were having a good time. It was
[83:04] like, "Wow, that's funny." And then it
[83:05] was like, "Wo, that action's cool." And
[83:07] then Judgment says, "You've been accused
[83:09] of mass murder in Shabuya on October
[83:11] 31st." And then very simple, very
[83:14] onetoone panel of Eugi. Just just one
[83:16] frame. Yeah, I did that. I'm not lying
[83:18] and I won't deny it. And he's got this
[83:20] very matterof fact voice. It's not
[83:21] overly emotional. It's kind of dead.
[83:23] There's no music. It's completely
[83:24] silent, which just really makes you feel
[83:26] it. And obviously the evidence shows
[83:28] that actually it wasn't Yugji. But
[83:30] because he confessed, judgment
[83:32] immediately immediately handed out
[83:34] confiscation and death penalty. Hearuma
[83:36] had his executioner's blade pretty much
[83:38] instantly and was throwing hands with
[83:40] Yuji, but he in his mind he was confused
[83:42] cuz he's like, "You've said you're
[83:44] guilty, but the evidence says it's
[83:45] Sukuna, like it wasn't you." And this is
[83:48] amazing because not only is the like the
[83:51] visuals and the music in this following
[83:53] sequence ridiculous with that like I
[83:55] don't even know what to call it like
[83:56] beautiful kind of 360 looking shot of
[83:59] like Kigaruma literally flying down upon
[84:02] Yuji with the spotlight behind him like
[84:03] he's an angel coming in to strike the
[84:05] chairs flying around him that kind of
[84:07] green mist the music just like very soft
[84:10] very emotional a bit of the la music in
[84:12] there as well you know but it it looks
[84:14] incredible it really matches the tone
[84:16] but what I love about it is just the
[84:17] fact that Yugji is completely defying
[84:20] everything Higuruma stands for at the
[84:22] moment. You know, after being a lawyer
[84:23] for so long, he eventually reached the
[84:25] point where he snapped and decided all
[84:26] people are ugly and just the worst,
[84:29] right? Yugji really does whatever he can
[84:31] to help people cuz that's what his, you
[84:33] know, grandpa told him. He is a cog to
[84:35] exercise curses and to help people to
[84:37] save them. So, this is Yugji just being
[84:39] himself. And even just that is making
[84:42] Higuruma question everything that has
[84:44] led him to this point. And he's now
[84:45] having this moment of like, "Oh [ __ ] I
[84:47] killed those people." And he's
[84:48] realizing, "Was I was I in the wrong?"
[84:50] Because Yugji is disproving everything
[84:52] he currently believes. Obviously, there
[84:54] is a lot more to analyze from like I
[84:56] mean so much more to the point where I
[84:57] managed to bring Gojo into it and the
[84:59] future of JJK, but go watch the video
[85:00] for the full breakdown. But yeah, wow.
[85:03] the parallel between them cuz like Yugji
[85:05] after Shabuya so far in season 3 we
[85:07] haven't brought up what happened a lot
[85:08] and we know he feels guilty about it but
[85:10] it's kind of been gatekeep from us
[85:12] because we've been saving it for this
[85:13] moment where Yuji just gets his like you
[85:15] know judgment judges him you killed
[85:17] those people in Shabuya and he finally
[85:19] has to come to terms with that against
[85:20] the lawyer player in the culling games
[85:22] which is so so dope and I feel like
[85:24] Higuruma and Yuji in their own right
[85:26] stand apart but also they have a great
[85:28] dynamic and it it's just beautiful all
[85:30] around so yeah incredible scene the
[85:32] music just cooks. Hearuma's flying in
[85:34] like an angel. Eugi's shirtless. I I I
[85:37] can't remember why. I think he throws
[85:38] his shirt at Hearuma for distraction or
[85:40] something. I don't know, man. And then
[85:42] at the last second, Hearuma gets rid of
[85:44] the executioner's blade. And then Yuji
[85:47] realizes and decides to punch him in the
[85:48] gut anyway, which is a bit of a dick
[85:49] move, but whatever. We all end up happy.
[85:51] Well, not happy. It's actually very
[85:52] depressing. Hearuma realized he killed
[85:54] innocent people and then wants to turn
[85:56] himself in and just realize he's given
[85:57] up his life forever. But whatever, it's
[85:59] about redemption for him. It's great
[86:01] though cuz in the end he realizes, you
[86:02] know what, Yugji, I can't I can't
[86:04] actually fight you. I can't with good
[86:06] conscience kill you. You've turned me
[86:07] back into what I used to be before, you
[86:09] know, the uh the corruption of the
[86:10] justice system destroyed me. So, he's
[86:12] kind of helped Higuruma find who he who
[86:14] he was before being influenced by that,
[86:16] which is really nice. And yeah, so they
[86:18] get the transfer rule. Yuji then gets
[86:20] given a point, so he doesn't have to
[86:21] worry about the 19 days anymore. And
[86:22] Higuruma exits. And again, what is it
[86:24] with these like fights that are so peak?
[86:27] You know, all the best hand-to-h hand
[86:28] fights with the neon red and blue
[86:29] lighting end with an exit sign. Is that
[86:32] a little call back to Choso vers Yuguji?
[86:34] I don't know. How has it happened twice?
[86:35] It's weird. Anyway, I don't even know,
[86:37] man. The voice acting was incredible
[86:39] considering it was pretty much just
[86:40] three characters plus some flashback
[86:42] stuff. The art direction, and lighting
[86:44] was insane. It genuinely had what is
[86:46] probably my favorite animated
[86:47] hand-to-hand fight scene in JK or just
[86:50] fight. I think it's just one of like at
[86:51] least a top three cut in the whole in
[86:54] the whole show for me. The music and the
[86:56] way that we just go from, you know, that
[86:58] first part is very light-hearted and
[86:59] it's kind of unserious and then it goes
[87:01] to the red and the upbeat music and the
[87:03] action scene and it's the animation is
[87:05] ridiculous and it's fast but it's easy
[87:06] to follow and you can figure out what's
[87:08] going on. Bro, in the manga it's like
[87:09] two or three pages of, you know, it's
[87:11] cool, but it's pretty basic action
[87:12] stuff, right? But no, we've got Higaruma
[87:14] using his hammer like Thor's hammer
[87:16] bringing it back, right? He's like
[87:17] swinging that thing round. He's firing
[87:19] at Yuguji like non-stop to the point
[87:21] where you can't even follow it with your
[87:22] eyes. He's polevolting using the end of
[87:24] it and extending it outwards. There's
[87:26] that like amazing um shot of Higaruma
[87:28] kind of jumping up and through the bath
[87:30] water which looks like blood because of
[87:32] the lighting. It's so good. It genuinely
[87:35] is just like it's such an amazing
[87:36] sequence and I can't sit here and
[87:38] describe every single frame because I
[87:39] feel like this video would end up being
[87:41] an hour long. But yeah, it's the way he
[87:42] used the gavvel for me that I really
[87:44] liked. Also just the how the environment
[87:46] kind of crumbles and moves. Um, it does
[87:48] a really good job of showing how strong
[87:49] they are, showing the impact. I think
[87:51] that's something Gay maybe failed at
[87:52] when writing this is he kind of failed
[87:54] to show how insanely combat capable
[87:57] Higuruma is simply because of his
[87:59] natural genius, right? He puts his mind
[88:00] to something, he achieves it, bro. He
[88:02] wasn't fighting nobody. He was no like
[88:04] he was no daredevil. All right? He
[88:05] wasn't lawyer by day, Daredevil by
[88:06] night. No, but he awakened his
[88:08] technique. He was like, "Huh? All right.
[88:09] Domain expansion. Boom." And then he's
[88:12] just able to use his technique so
[88:13] dynamically and freely. and the just his
[88:16] uh combat ability and ability to figure
[88:18] out what was going on with Yuji and why
[88:20] he was so strong is like it really shows
[88:22] his genius. And I think being able to
[88:23] convey that mid fight is really
[88:25] difficult thing to do. But Gosso Cinema,
[88:27] they smashed it. I loved it. It was
[88:29] dope. Amazing episode. Probably a top
[88:31] three episode for me as a whole. I I'm
[88:34] split between this and the Marquee
[88:35] episode for this season. I don't know.
[88:37] But yeah, um it was amazing. I Oh. Oh my
[88:42] god, dude. Can you imagine Sendai
[88:44] Colony? What the [ __ ]
[88:47] No matter whether you're an anime only
[88:49] or a manga reader, I feel like you've
[88:51] all heard of the JJK character known as
[88:54] potential man. He also goes by the names
[88:56] of fraud or bum or sometimes Megumi.
[88:59] Now, I'm going to put my hands up and
[89:01] say yes, normally I am very much on that
[89:03] Megumi hate bandwagon. However, when
[89:05] season 3 started airing, I also put my
[89:08] hands up and said I'm going to have to
[89:10] admit that yeah, Megumi absolutely cooks
[89:12] in the Culling Games. Gagegeay was oh I
[89:15] don't know what he was smoking when he
[89:16] wrote Megumi's colony fight and godamn
[89:19] did storyboarder Shoto Goshono yes Gosso
[89:22] Cinema again this episode it's peak and
[89:23] also episode director Ichawa absolutely
[89:26] just elevated Gagegeay's vision for
[89:28] Megumi and wow they they made this
[89:31] episode unnecessarily beautiful but also
[89:34] Megumi isn't even really the highlight I
[89:36] was expecting to talk about that guy for
[89:38] ages when this episode came out but nah
[89:40] there's someone else there's someone
[89:42] else who just stole the whole show
[89:43] Takaba. Oh my god. I'm going to get on
[89:46] to that later. Actually, you know what?
[89:47] I'm going to I'm going to save it
[89:48] because I I feel like what I have to say
[89:50] about Takaba needs everybody's utmost
[89:52] attention, including my own. So, we'll
[89:54] let that sit. Anyway, this episode now,
[89:56] I'm going to just say this. I feel like
[89:58] it was a lower priority episode compared
[90:00] to the others. I don't think anything
[90:01] ridiculous happened, but obviously
[90:03] because it's JJK, the standard is
[90:05] already way higher than normal. So, the
[90:07] moments that look really good still look
[90:09] really good. and the overall, you know,
[90:11] general direction and art um throughout
[90:14] the episode is just it's so beautiful.
[90:16] So, the episode begins with Reggie and
[90:18] Megumi picking up their conversation
[90:19] from episode 8. I'm not going to kind of
[90:21] rehash what they talk about because, you
[90:23] know, watch the show, guys. You should
[90:24] know this by now. But a detail I really
[90:26] like in this conversation is that Megumi
[90:28] tells Reggie that a rule allowing the
[90:30] transfer of points will soon be added.
[90:32] Which basically means that Megumi has
[90:34] absolute unyielding faith that Yuji will
[90:36] add that rule. And sure enough, shortly
[90:38] later, the rule is added. And Megumi
[90:40] goes, "Huh, okay, cool. Yugji did it. As
[90:42] expected, I can lock in and just kill
[90:44] these guys now if I need to. No need to
[90:46] hold back." Which is great cuz it just
[90:48] shows how much Megumi has like
[90:49] unyielding faith in Yugji. Anyway, when
[90:51] Reggie realizes he's not going to get
[90:53] Megumi onto his team, which is done
[90:55] through a sequence of basically just
[90:56] still shots at the beginning of the
[90:58] episode, I feel like there was a lot of
[90:59] time saving, which is why I say it is
[91:01] possibly a lower priority episode. But
[91:03] then Chisuhari, who is this NPC, burger
[91:06] bot sorcerer, comes running at Megumi,
[91:08] but he is not on that guy's level, bro.
[91:10] Megumi dips into the shadows over the
[91:12] shoulder and dashes that man off the
[91:14] balcony. I'm talking he launches that
[91:16] dude, bro. Like in the manga, he kind
[91:18] of, you know, pushes him over the
[91:20] railing. But nah, in the anime, Gosso
[91:22] was like, "Nah, we're going to have him
[91:23] throw him to the next city, bro." Like,
[91:25] cool, I guess. I don't know how he
[91:26] survived that, but cool. And then Hazan
[91:28] Noki's eyeball drops and explodes in
[91:31] this weird kind of like Demon Slayer
[91:32] style 3D explosion, which at first I was
[91:35] like, that kind of looks weird. But it
[91:37] grew on me. I'm not going to lie. I like
[91:38] it. And I especially like that slow-mo
[91:40] shot of the explosion like creeping
[91:42] around the door frame. And then of
[91:44] course, Megum and Remy have their little
[91:45] talk. And oh my god, they made Remy look
[91:47] so disgusting graveling on the floor.
[91:49] She's preaching to the choir here, man,
[91:51] cuz this is Megum. He don't care. He
[91:52] just called her scum and trash and said
[91:54] she should, you know, piss off, which I
[91:56] kind of respect. But then that Chisaruh
[91:57] Hari guy came in and I watched what they
[91:59] did with this fight between Hari and
[92:01] Megumi and I just thought, "Yeah, Gosso
[92:02] has to be rage baiting us, bro." Like,
[92:04] what are we doing here? This has to be
[92:05] engagement bait cuz in the manga, all
[92:07] right, this is not close. Megumi just
[92:09] destroys that guy, you know, two or
[92:11] three panels, kicks him in the face,
[92:12] nonchalantly, doesn't even break a
[92:14] sweat, max elephant out the building,
[92:16] and then whams a sword right into his
[92:18] head. But no, no. In the anime, what
[92:20] what we're having is this again what I
[92:22] think is probably rotoscoped amazing
[92:24] shot of like Megumi kind of walking out
[92:26] to face Hari. He sizes him up with the
[92:29] sword, backs up into the room behind
[92:30] him, and then just looks like he gets a
[92:32] bit lazy, bro. Like, why are we making
[92:34] Megumi look like a fraud here? What are
[92:35] we doing? This is what I'm saying. It
[92:37] has to be rage bait, bro. Well, what do
[92:38] you mean? The guy who's supposedly
[92:40] really good in hand-to-h hand and
[92:41] weapons combat just got the sword
[92:43] immediately kicked out of his hand and
[92:44] then booted into a wall only to then
[92:47] fall back on using his shikami to save
[92:49] his ass and kick Harry out of the
[92:50] building. Listen, it all looks dope.
[92:52] Okay, it looks great and I appreciate
[92:54] fight extensions. I'm not complaining in
[92:55] that respect, but bro, this does nothing
[92:57] for the Megumi agenda, bro. All right,
[92:59] this guy gets slandered enough. Why are
[93:00] we having this random NPC put hands on
[93:02] him? Oh, it's just not a good look. It's
[93:04] not a good look. Gosh, why? Something I
[93:06] do really appreciate though from the
[93:08] animator team is that they did not
[93:10] censor this episode one bit. Bro, Megumi
[93:12] still walks up to Hari on the ground and
[93:14] just it's like a onetoone because I know
[93:16] you guys love your onetoone moments.
[93:17] Sword slices straight through his head
[93:19] like a watermelon. Beautiful. Reggie and
[93:21] Haninoi then do their little Mary
[93:23] Poppins thing down to the ground. The
[93:25] rule gets added. You know, Megumi is now
[93:27] like cool. I don't need to hold back. I
[93:28] can just fight these guys or run away.
[93:30] And then Haninoi spits a tooth in this
[93:32] really cool shot to be honest. spits a
[93:34] tooth at Megumi that gets intercepted by
[93:36] the [ __ ] goat. The absolute Oh, he's
[93:38] so good. Killed it in this episode and
[93:40] just it's I just Okay, right. I had to
[93:43] cut out a big section there because I
[93:45] started yapping. I was really worried
[93:46] that they were going to fumble the
[93:47] execution of Takabet because obviously
[93:49] comedy is a delicate thing, but no. They
[93:51] basically killed two birds with one
[93:53] stone. They made him unironically
[93:55] genuinely hilarious. But they also
[93:58] utilized this character as a time-saving
[94:00] technique to lower the workload of
[94:01] making the episode because when he
[94:03] dropped his zero damage bar, they let
[94:05] that moment play out in complete silence
[94:07] for 40 flipping sec. I counted it was 40
[94:10] seconds, bro. He just stands there and
[94:12] wastes a whole minute of the episode
[94:14] bleeding from his head smiling with
[94:16] Megum. Like I love the way he just
[94:18] shifts awkwardly in the background and
[94:20] even Reggie and Haninoi start like
[94:21] shifting awkwardly because it's it's
[94:23] uncomfortable, you know? He's just said
[94:25] this ridiculously unfunny thing and and
[94:27] just standing there like a dumbass. It's
[94:29] it's done so well, bro. I can't. And
[94:30] then of course the Wi-Fi bar. Oh my god,
[94:33] the Wi-Fi line was executed to
[94:34] perfection. He sounds so funny. In the
[94:37] manga, the joke is, you know, if you
[94:38] read TCB, it's actually none of your
[94:40] businesset like like bisnet, like
[94:42] business. But in the Japanese, it
[94:44] translates directly to Wi-Fi, which is
[94:45] why the joke might not land and it might
[94:47] just sound funny to you. I don't know
[94:49] why I'm explaining this. No one [ __ ]
[94:50] cares. And just like in the manga, they
[94:51] had to censor that shot of his ball
[94:53] falling out of his costume. But if you
[94:55] actually watch very carefully in the
[94:57] anime as he turns around after that
[94:59] shot, you can see his literally like
[95:01] shift in his underwear. It's so funny.
[95:02] And when he goes to drop kick Hazan
[95:04] Noki, there's these dumbass cartoon
[95:06] sound effects and they do it from like
[95:07] four different angles. It's so cliche
[95:09] and stupid. I love it. I feel like I'm
[95:11] watching Tom and Jerry, bro. It's great.
[95:13] Actually, just the whole episode has
[95:14] this really unserious, goofy, colorful,
[95:17] and vibrant, very cartoonish feel to it,
[95:20] which is something that I feel like
[95:21] couldn't be portrayed as well in the
[95:22] manga because obviously in the manga,
[95:24] you know, it's black and white. You
[95:25] don't have this kind of contrast. You
[95:27] don't have voice acting, you don't have
[95:28] music. But the anime episode really
[95:30] elevated what Gagege wrote by really
[95:32] drawing on the contrast of you have this
[95:34] dark and gloomy edgy teen like Megumi
[95:37] and the rest of the things going on
[95:38] around him. Whether it be the scenery,
[95:40] whether it be Reggie, whether it be
[95:41] Takoba are just all colorful and vibrant
[95:44] and flamboyant and goofy. I love it cuz
[95:46] realistically Takaba and Reggie are just
[95:48] both goofy as [ __ ] bro. Reggie's out
[95:50] here with his hobbit feet. He's built
[95:51] like a truck. He's wearing a dress of
[95:53] receipts. Man, the way he just pulls out
[95:55] that rinky dinky little scion blue moped
[95:58] later on is so dumb. It's like watching
[96:00] Dwayne the Rock Johnson, you know, get
[96:02] on a on a e- scooter. It's It's just It
[96:04] doesn't make sense, bro. It does.
[96:06] Nothing about this episode makes any
[96:07] sense other than Megum. He's like the
[96:09] most realistic part of the episode, but
[96:11] it's dope. It's such a good contrast,
[96:12] and I feel like they really go all in
[96:14] and bring it to life in this episode.
[96:16] I'm actually really struggling to put
[96:17] into words how I'm finding this. I don't
[96:19] know. The the Tupper thing is just
[96:21] hilarious. Like the way he does his own
[96:22] adlibs and the sound effects that he
[96:24] makes, like just the little noises. I
[96:26] don't know what Takaba's voice actor was
[96:27] smoking, bro. They gave him some crazy
[96:29] drugs, locked him in the recording
[96:31] booth, and just said, "Do your thing." I
[96:32] don't know. He was cooking. It was sick.
[96:34] And then, as if that isn't cool enough,
[96:35] we go back to the um, you know, Megumi
[96:37] and Reggie stuff where instead of just
[96:39] having the conversation about Reggie's
[96:41] curse technique on the street then and
[96:42] there like they do in the manga, there's
[96:44] this massive anime only uh chase scene
[96:46] where Reggie's like running down the
[96:48] scaffolding, dodging New A's lightning.
[96:50] And again, I just want to say it's
[96:51] rotoscoped even though it might not be
[96:53] because it looks that damn good. And
[96:55] then you had Reggie using his technique,
[96:56] which is great cuz I do feel like in the
[96:58] manga, he didn't really use it to full
[97:00] effect. And it's nice just to have this
[97:02] anime only sequence, you know,
[97:04] storyboarded by the goat himself where
[97:06] we get to see Reggie's technique used in
[97:08] a much more versatile way, where he was
[97:10] like summoning giant plushies to cushion
[97:11] his fall. He was doing this weird thing
[97:13] where he was putting like rock climbing
[97:14] things on the wall to help him run on
[97:16] the wall or something. And then later on
[97:18] he just drops a whole ass piano on
[97:20] Megumi in an alleyway. It's just dope.
[97:22] But the action sequence of them running
[97:24] around the city is just generally sick.
[97:26] Like Mega looks dope as well. Him
[97:27] summoning Max Elephant out of the
[97:29] building was really really cool.
[97:31] Actually, I really like that moment
[97:32] specifically because it kind of
[97:34] emphasizes the use of the shadows cuz
[97:36] that part of the building was in shadow.
[97:38] But then, you know, eventually after all
[97:39] of this peak fiction, they end up in the
[97:41] gymnasium where Megum dodges these uh
[97:44] these lorries that Reggie sends flying
[97:46] at him. or sorry, I should call them
[97:47] trucks cuz most my viewers are American.
[97:49] He summons these trucks and Megumi like
[97:51] dives under them and again the camera
[97:53] looks like it's handheld, bro. Like the
[97:55] cameraman lowkey is on acid or something
[97:57] like he's just wobbling all about the
[97:59] place which is really sick cuz okay
[98:01] cool. It was a well animated shot but
[98:02] having the the camera like violently
[98:04] move really kind of brought that moment
[98:06] to life for me. I thought it looked
[98:07] really sick. And after saving some more
[98:09] time by doing these uh slightly
[98:11] egregious slow-mo shots. Yes, I think my
[98:14] only real complaint of the episode is
[98:15] that the slow-mo was a little bit
[98:17] overdone in places. I mean, if you're
[98:18] going to have Takaba and those kind of
[98:20] moments be long and drawn out for the
[98:22] sake of saving time, don't don't also
[98:24] overload it with slow-mo. But that's a
[98:26] minor inconvenience. All right, it's not
[98:28] a real complaint. After all that gets
[98:30] packed up, though, it's time for the
[98:31] pinnacle of the episode. And somehow in
[98:33] the space of only three episodes, we're
[98:35] getting two with domain expansion
[98:37] cliffhers because Megumi starts talking
[98:39] about how his domain is incomplete,
[98:41] can't be contained by a barrier. And as
[98:43] soon as he starts talking about
[98:44] barriers, Reggie suddenly looks shook.
[98:46] Now, this is a moment that I think the
[98:47] anime did a really good job of
[98:49] portraying that Reggie is in genuine
[98:51] disbelief that Megumi was about to
[98:53] unleash a domain expansion because
[98:55] despite Reggie being very strong, it
[98:57] kind of emphasizes, you know, how much
[98:59] higher of a level of sorcery you have to
[99:01] be to have something like a domain
[99:03] expansion. And you can see that
[99:04] expressed very clearly on Reggie's face,
[99:06] which was dope. So, um, yeah, the music
[99:08] then kicks in. We're building the
[99:10] tension again. It kind of reminds me of
[99:11] when It kind of reminds me of when he
[99:13] says, "Oh, it's the Southern Cross to
[99:15] Kurara." And that kind of voom music
[99:17] starts playing again to build tension.
[99:19] And then we get this great zoom out shot
[99:21] of Megumi actually expanding the domain.
[99:23] Uh and then it's it just it's the best
[99:25] it's ever looked. Like it looks good in
[99:26] season 1. It looks okay in season 2 in
[99:28] Dargon's domain. But here you've just
[99:30] got like this weird neon blue lightning
[99:33] effect with the core of the domain
[99:35] hanging above him. Like it looks so
[99:37] sick. Whereas before you kind of just
[99:39] see the shadow spill out, right? But
[99:41] this is a different level. It's
[99:42] beautiful. I love it. So um yeah, that
[99:44] is the episode. But again, I think my
[99:45] only complaint is like the time-saving
[99:47] moments being used in the Takoba section
[99:49] for comedic effect is completely fine.
[99:51] If anything, it's peaked. It just made
[99:52] it funnier. And at the beginning of the
[99:54] episode, I don't care about seeing shots
[99:55] of the scenery because all of the art is
[99:57] so beautiful that I'll happily just, you
[99:59] know, sit there and watch it while
[100:00] listening to them yap. I think the only
[100:01] thing they could have maybe fixed up a
[100:03] bit was the slightly egregious slow-mo
[100:05] at times, but it's honestly not a big
[100:07] deal at all. Yeah, Takaba was the
[100:08] highlight. Um, Megumi Loki going midiff
[100:11] and getting hands put on him by an NPC
[100:13] like Hari is just funny. I honestly do
[100:15] think that is just engagement bait from
[100:17] Goshono. I don't have a problem with it
[100:19] cuz it it doesn't matter at the end of
[100:20] the day. I just find it hilarious cuz
[100:22] Megumi gets slandered enough. Bro, he
[100:24] already has enough bad things going for
[100:25] him. We're going to have people out here
[100:27] saying he was getting packed up by Hari.
[100:29] H I just I I Let's not even go there.
[100:33] I'm doing this episode 11 review a
[100:36] little differently because this episode
[100:38] is very, very special. And if you're a
[100:41] longtime viewer of my channel, you will
[100:43] know why. This time, I'm starting with a
[100:46] very quick breakdown of that thing which
[100:48] happens at the end of this episode
[100:51] before diving fully into Megumi versus
[100:53] Reggie. So like the video, subscribe to
[100:56] the channel, and let me tell you about
[100:58] the long- awaited masterpiece that is
[101:00] Sendai Colony and the four sorcerers
[101:03] that started it all. These four players
[101:05] were such monsters that after wiping out
[101:08] the rest of the colony, they ended up
[101:10] stalemating in a situation that would
[101:12] famously become known as the four-way
[101:15] deadlock. However, on November 12th,
[101:17] 11:28 a.m., a new player entered the
[101:20] colony all alone, [music] and the
[101:22] deadlock was broken.
[101:27] Yeah, you've uh you've probably seen
[101:29] that edit on uh Tik Tok or Instagram or
[101:31] something, right? I I can't believe it
[101:33] became a thing. Um but yes, this episode
[101:35] finally marks the beginning of UT versus
[101:38] Sai Colony, which is often considered
[101:40] one of the best fights in all of
[101:43] Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen. Like, period. This is
[101:45] probably going to be the most intense uh
[101:47] jiu-jitsu kaisen battle we've ever seen.
[101:49] The introduction is all we really get in
[101:51] this episode. All of Sendai will be next
[101:53] episode in a 27minut special confirmed,
[101:56] but the actual introduction of the
[101:57] players itself is oh my god, it's it's
[102:00] so it's so beautiful. Like the the OST
[102:03] is like it's so different to anything
[102:05] else I've heard in JJK. It's got this
[102:07] really kind of like eerie and and sort
[102:09] of almost horror kind of vibe to it,
[102:11] right? And we also just finally get a
[102:13] full look at Kurushi, the cockroach
[102:16] cursed spirit, who I I really like this
[102:18] visual um of him just kind of like stood
[102:20] looking kind of small against the wall.
[102:22] And then we have obviously Duv.
[102:24] [laughter] I mean, I don't know what to
[102:25] say about this guy. If you know, you
[102:27] know. He's obviously very scary, but
[102:29] he's dead. So, there's that. But then
[102:32] the goats. The goats. Ryu and Uro. And
[102:34] yes, I know the Goonas are going to come
[102:36] out in full force for this one. And why
[102:38] the hell did Mappa decide to animate her
[102:40] feet like that? I don't know. Am I
[102:42] complaining? Definitely not because god
[102:45] damn. Okay. Right. No, I need to I
[102:47] actually need to contain myself. Um, Ryu
[102:49] looks absolutely dope. Like, oh my days.
[102:52] And just the kind of sort of warm pink
[102:55] reddish lighting signifying Drew's
[102:58] domain. And then the way that lighting
[102:59] just switches back to the normal sky
[103:02] when Duv dies is really, really cool.
[103:04] Um, it's actually pretty onetoone with
[103:06] the manga, which I know a lot of people
[103:08] like when things get onetoone. I quite
[103:10] enjoyed Ya's introduction of slicing
[103:12] down droo. Obviously, that was never
[103:13] going to be anything crazy. Uh, it is
[103:15] literally just one panel in the manga.
[103:18] Now, what the narrator says in the manga
[103:19] is Utooku regain special grade blah blah
[103:22] blah. Second only to Saturu Gojo in
[103:25] unusual abilities, but the anime decided
[103:28] or at least the subtitles say rivaling
[103:31] Saturu Gojo in unusual abilities. I
[103:33] don't know if we needed any more UT
[103:35] glaze, bro. And I know the manga is more
[103:36] cannon than the anime, but like that's
[103:38] such a like going from second to
[103:39] rivaling is insane. But yep, the
[103:41] introduction is peak. Can't wait for
[103:42] next week. Anyway, let's get into it
[103:44] before I get flamed by my comments
[103:46] anymore than I probably already am cuz
[103:48] yes, I love you, sir. So, immediately we
[103:50] go straight back in. Megumi's expanded
[103:52] domain. We're keeping up with the kind
[103:54] of, you know, neon, very vibrant blue
[103:56] lights on this black kind of, or not
[103:59] black, but dark contrast background.
[104:00] Weirdly enough, pink hollow wicker
[104:02] basket. Um, which I I did think was a
[104:04] strange choice for Holo Wicker Basket at
[104:07] first, but then I saw what they did with
[104:08] the episode and basically the whole
[104:10] thing is like a red versus blue or like
[104:12] a pinkish kind of red for Reggie and
[104:14] this kind of range of blues for Megumi
[104:17] that are just constantly clashing to the
[104:18] point where when they're both in their
[104:20] like weight battle in the middle of the
[104:22] episode, it literally looks like a holo
[104:23] purple is about to be formed in the
[104:25] floor, which is dope. There was this
[104:27] Sakuga cut right at the beginning with a
[104:29] blatant Naruto reference like Megumi
[104:32] literally walking on well it's not water
[104:34] but it's shadows walking on shadows.
[104:37] He's summoning like shadow clones
[104:38] literally shadow clones and they're
[104:40] doing the Naruto run in this incredibly
[104:42] like fast-paced action sequence where
[104:44] the clones jump Reggie. Bro, they they
[104:46] tie that man up by his ankles and use
[104:47] him as a punching bag. Like the
[104:49] disrespect is insane. And then
[104:51] everything gets very very fluid. kind of
[104:53] like the second episode um of season 3
[104:55] with the Nia stuff, right? I know a lot
[104:57] of people won't like it. I am a big fan
[104:59] of this style of animation. It is a bit
[105:00] hard to track at times, sure, but I
[105:02] generally just really enjoyed how it
[105:04] looked and it also matches the kind of
[105:06] feel of Megumi's clones being made out
[105:08] of this like fluid sort of uh liquidy
[105:11] kind of shadow substance, right? So, I
[105:13] really enjoyed that. And then the
[105:14] episode kind of comes to a grounding
[105:16] halt when Reggie drops the cars in the
[105:18] shadow. And we have again the whole area
[105:20] is just surrounded in this very dark
[105:22] blue shadow. And then you have the
[105:24] center where Megum is trying to bear the
[105:26] weight of the cars with this kind of
[105:28] very vibrant bright blue or neon kind of
[105:31] color, right? Cyan, I should say. We get
[105:33] the explanation that Megum has to bear
[105:36] the weight of whatever falls into his
[105:37] shadow. And because the cars were
[105:39] dropped in there, he now has to bear
[105:40] that weight. And that is obviously going
[105:43] to cause a problem. But Megumi is
[105:45] accounted for something like this and he
[105:46] decides well he basically decides Reggie
[105:49] has something that he needs to address.
[105:53] I am the first person ever to make that
[105:55] joke. Yeah. He drops a whole ass
[105:57] elephant which is actually to scale.
[105:59] Like it it's stated to be because of the
[106:01] domain amp that his technique gets. It's
[106:03] as heavy as a fully grown um elephant.
[106:05] So Reggie is just holding an elephant
[106:07] and only took like a fractured leg or
[106:09] fractured heel which is a bit mad. I'm
[106:11] not going to lie, that's kind of crazy.
[106:12] And they're just literally for a big
[106:14] portion of the episode stood there with
[106:16] this like insane kind of music and the
[106:18] lighting just really like bringing up
[106:20] the tension constantly in this sequence
[106:22] where they are literally just having a
[106:24] spiritual pressure battle. Except
[106:26] instead of spiritual pressure, it's real
[106:28] pressure. Like it's just weight. They're
[106:30] both being dragged down into the shadow.
[106:32] Well, Megumi is being dragged down.
[106:33] Reggie's being pushed down. And whoever
[106:35] gives up first is going to lose. Uh
[106:37] because Reggie figures that if he
[106:39] actually falls into the shadow, he might
[106:41] not be able to breathe. He might not be
[106:42] able to get out should Megumi die. He
[106:44] might just keep falling forever. And
[106:46] sure enough, when he goes for his trump
[106:47] card, that is exactly what happens. And
[106:50] the way we just cut to dead silence,
[106:52] this murky atmosphere and and void. It's
[106:55] just it's terrifying. They were standing
[106:56] on this endless ocean where if they stop
[106:59] reinforcing their footing and fall in,
[107:01] it is a void. It's nothingness. He can't
[107:03] breathe. He can't see. He has no sense
[107:05] of direction. He's just falling. H But
[107:07] then obviously he's saved by the car.
[107:08] And I I really like this uh shot of the
[107:11] headlights kind of becoming more visible
[107:13] almost like there's a creature under the
[107:14] water or under the shadow. And then oh
[107:17] Reggie's celebration that he managed to
[107:19] pull a fast one on Megumi. Like the
[107:21] character acting and just the the kind
[107:23] of intensity in Reggie's voice acting is
[107:26] really incredible to be honest. It's
[107:27] it's very entertaining to see. And then
[107:29] he decides to drop that fat ass house on
[107:32] Megumi, thinking he's going to end the
[107:34] fight. We then go full slow-mo all the
[107:36] way down. Again, everything that
[107:38] Reggie's summoning has this kind of pink
[107:40] or um reddish kind of vibe to it,
[107:42] whereas Megumi staying solidly in that
[107:44] blue. But Megumi obviously, as this
[107:47] fight is meant to show, has had a handle
[107:49] on this fight since the very beginning.
[107:51] Reggie was never going to win. Me had
[107:54] been two steps ahead the whole time. So
[107:56] he releases his domain. He grabs Reggie.
[107:59] The house breaks through to the floor
[108:00] below where a swimming pool is waiting
[108:02] because they're in a gymnasium. All
[108:04] planned by Megum like he's Eizen or
[108:06] something. And that forces Reggie to
[108:08] relinquish his techniques which removes
[108:10] the stuff from Megumi shadow that was
[108:12] weighing him down so that they can both
[108:13] resurface and get some air. Now this
[108:15] kind of standoff moment is probably I
[108:18] mean just this whole sequence in general
[108:20] is probably one of if not my favorite
[108:22] moments in the entire series. I don't
[108:25] know that's a bit crazy. season.
[108:26] Definitely the season so far. They
[108:28] slowly walk towards each other from
[108:30] other ends of the pool. The music very
[108:32] gradually just kind of creeps in
[108:34] creating this tension and it goes slow,
[108:36] slow, slow, slow, and then fast jab,
[108:39] immediate block. And then we go in for
[108:41] this insane kind of fisheye lens dynamic
[108:44] camera work kind of action scene that
[108:46] lasts like not even 5 seconds, I don't
[108:48] think, until Divine Dog comes out of
[108:50] Megumi Shadow and bam, tears straight
[108:52] through Reggie. Now, in the manga, this
[108:54] is like a decent amount of hand-to-h
[108:56] hand fighting, right? I thought it would
[108:57] get extended a bit, but I much prefer
[108:59] this approach of having between five and
[109:02] six, seven, no, I'm not saying that. A
[109:05] solid like fiveish seconds of the most
[109:07] insane hand-to-hand fighting animation I
[109:10] have seen in anime. I I could not
[109:13] believe. Again, again, I'm going to I
[109:14] have a special segment at the end of
[109:16] this video that will kind of get into it
[109:17] a bit more. I'm not saying it is
[109:18] rotoscoped. I'm saying it's so damn good
[109:21] and convincing. It it looks rotoscoped.
[109:23] Obviously, they are using references of
[109:25] real people doing this to animate it.
[109:27] Um, and it could be rotoscoped because
[109:29] they do use that a lot in this season.
[109:31] Even when you guys say they don't, the
[109:32] animators do then go and confirm that
[109:34] they have been. I'm not saying it is. It
[109:36] just looks so damn good that it could
[109:37] be. Like, it's such an impactful scene
[109:39] going from that slow to then immediate
[109:41] punch, block, spin, kick to the side.
[109:43] Megumi dodges against the wall, fish
[109:45] islands shot, and then Megumi goes right
[109:47] hook to the face. Reggie stumbling,
[109:50] running back in, but it's too late.
[109:51] Divine Dog nabs him. All like done and
[109:54] dusted. It would take you as long to
[109:56] read the manga fight as it would to
[109:57] watch this. It might even take you
[109:58] longer knowing JJK fans and their
[110:00] inability to read. So, uh yeah, just
[110:03] straight up PE fiction. Like, I don't
[110:06] know. It's it's my favorite hand-to-hand
[110:07] fight. It's short, so obviously there
[110:09] are fights that are more enjoyable
[110:11] because they last longer, but in terms
[110:12] of the content we actually get, this is
[110:14] the the best I think a JJK fight. Has a
[110:17] look. I thought Miguel Gojo was good
[110:19] with the IT man references from
[110:21] Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen Zero, but this is a
[110:22] different level, man. Not even just the
[110:24] actual hand to hand. It's the fast cuts
[110:26] to the different camera perspectives.
[110:28] Even that fisheye lens shot is like it
[110:30] made me think of Kagurabachi's paneling,
[110:32] you know. If you know, you know. If you
[110:34] know, you know. But this this right
[110:35] there, I looked at that and went, "Huh,
[110:37] maybe they will be able to adapt
[110:38] Kagurabachi into a decent anime."
[110:40] Because being able to do that in
[110:42] animation is is ridiculous. Like, it was
[110:44] so well directed. Amazing episode. And
[110:47] then to just go into the Takaba Hazan
[110:49] Noki stuff, which again we go back to
[110:51] the cartoonish vibrant vibe. Hazan
[110:53] Noki's voice actor was hilarious. Takoba
[110:55] is funny as always. You get a bar saying
[110:57] that his technique opposes even Saturu
[110:59] Gojo, but that he can't use it like that
[111:01] cuz he's a complete plum. And then you
[111:03] end things off with this very slow and
[111:06] emotional moment of Megumi walking
[111:08] towards a panicking Remy who obviously
[111:10] thinks Megumi is going to kill her for
[111:12] points. But then his sister gets into
[111:14] his head and is like, "No, no, you don't
[111:15] want to do that." And so we just see the
[111:17] whole exchange happen from the point of
[111:19] view of their shadows to the point where
[111:20] Megumi just walks away leaving Remy
[111:22] there. And then finally the angel who
[111:24] descends down upon Megumi. I hate this
[111:27] character. Don't ask why for an anime
[111:28] only. I just [ __ ] I mean it's not
[111:30] Angel I hate it's it's the vessel but
[111:32] I'm not going to get into that now. I
[111:33] can't deny this shot again one to one.
[111:36] Beautiful. I loved it. It was And then
[111:38] you just transition into the Sendai
[111:40] segment and end the episode. Oh my god,
[111:42] it was dope. Just 10 like in every in
[111:44] every category. Music, lighting, colors,
[111:47] animation, direction. I'm glazing. You
[111:50] get the point. And if that was good,
[111:51] God, I don't think any of us are ready
[111:53] for what we've got in store for us next
[111:55] week. That preview looks insane.
[111:58] JJK 3X12 aka Sendai Colony has not only
[112:02] become the highest rated episode of the
[112:04] show, but a top 10 highest IMDb rated
[112:07] episode in TV history, at least as of
[112:10] right now. You see, for me, UT versus
[112:13] Sai Colony was already perfect shownen
[112:15] manga, but now now I think it's perfect
[112:18] shownen anime, too. I'm actually itching
[112:20] to get on with this deep dive, but first
[112:21] I want to quickly remind you that as
[112:23] promised, I've put mine and Orion's
[112:25] reaction to the episode at the end of
[112:27] this video. So, make sure to check that
[112:28] out later. And also, this video is safe
[112:31] for anime only. No manga spoilers here.
[112:33] Nice. With that out the way, I'm just
[112:34] going to dive straight into it. Right
[112:37] then, so Colony is a cool fight, sure,
[112:40] but it's ultimately a clash of
[112:41] ideologies. The entire event is the
[112:44] personification of Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen's
[112:46] most prevalent themes. themes of
[112:47] strength, isolation, and how you should
[112:49] choose to live your life. Uta, a
[112:51] character driven by the value of his
[112:53] relationships who has no desire to fight
[112:55] for selfish gain, directly opposes to
[112:57] Kako's Han era mentality, where the
[113:00] value of relationships is forfeited in
[113:02] favor of said selfish gain. She has the
[113:05] mentality of a pure monster where you
[113:07] just throw everything away to reach your
[113:09] own ideals. However, Ryu Shigori is kind
[113:12] of a middle ground between UT and Uro.
[113:14] Back in his age, he made a name for
[113:16] himself before settling down to live a
[113:18] complete and happy life with his loving
[113:20] wife. And yet, he still felt
[113:21] unsatisfied. In fact, his desire for
[113:24] someone to finally give him the fight
[113:25] that no one in his lifetime ever could
[113:28] was so strong that it reached you to
[113:30] Akotu on an emotional level. And in the
[113:32] words of the narrator, though he'd
[113:34] probably never find meaning in fighting,
[113:37] Ishigori's gaze melted you to Akotu's
[113:39] heart. The line just this once from
[113:41] Okotu gave me actual chills when I read
[113:44] it in the manga. But seeing him say it
[113:46] in that like onetoone adaptation with
[113:48] the music and the pink color of his
[113:50] laser and just all of it. Oh, absolute
[113:52] cinema. But what does that line actually
[113:54] mean? Why why is it so peak? Why does it
[113:56] hit that hard? Well, it's because UT
[113:58] actually had no intention of beam
[114:00] clashing Ryu in that moment. He was
[114:02] going to fire a much less charged up
[114:04] blast before Ryu could release his to
[114:06] catch him off guard, which probably
[114:08] would have worked. But Ryu's longing
[114:10] stare is the only reason that Akotu
[114:12] changed his mind and committed to fully
[114:14] charging his beam, even though he knew
[114:16] he would probably lose the actual
[114:18] struggle. The more and more Uta pounded
[114:20] him after that point, though, the more
[114:22] and more the dessert got eaten, which
[114:24] was such a dope visual for the anime to
[114:27] add here, cuz it literally shows Ryu's
[114:29] unsatisfaction being satisfied. Is
[114:31] unsatisfaction I don't think
[114:33] unsatisfaction is a word.
[114:34] Dissatisfaction. It made Ryu happy.
[114:36] That's that's the point. And speaking of
[114:37] the anime's adaptation, I didn't realize
[114:40] until watching this that Isizo was
[114:42] pretty much written for Sendai Colony
[114:44] and it was the perfect song to play here
[114:46] when the beginning of it just crept in
[114:48] leading up to their clash and then the
[114:50] beat dropped for the beam struggle. Oh,
[114:52] absolute chills. I mean, think about it.
[114:53] Yeah. Love me, love me. Kill me, kill
[114:55] me. Hate me, hate me. These lyrics
[114:57] literally represent the three main
[114:59] players in Sendai Colony. Love me for
[115:01] UT. Kill me for Ryu. Hate me for Uro.
[115:04] You could probably make arguments for
[115:05] switching some of them around a bit, but
[115:07] it ultimately comes down to your
[115:08] interpretation. Either way, it's peak.
[115:10] Like I said before, the Sendai fight is
[115:13] a deadlock of ideologies with all of
[115:15] them having an element of truth to them,
[115:17] but only one of them being the
[115:18] ultimately right path to take. A few
[115:21] manga, well, manga readers have
[115:23] criticized this because apparently Uta
[115:25] remains unaffected by Uro's influence
[115:28] and the sorcerer ideologies explored
[115:30] throughout this fight, which really
[115:31] isn't the case, but I can't elaborate on
[115:33] that because spoilers. Actually, it's
[115:35] not just spoilers. I simply don't have
[115:37] time to go into a massive deep dive
[115:39] analysis of the story, especially since
[115:41] I already have a 30-minute video on it.
[115:43] So, check that out if you want a much
[115:45] much deeper breakdown of this fight.
[115:46] Narratively wise, this video is pretty
[115:48] much just scratched the surface. But
[115:50] even then, I think it clears up that
[115:51] saying Sendai has no writing or themes
[115:53] at all is just wrong. Although, I will
[115:55] concede that a lot of the deeper themes
[115:57] in Sendai and JJK as a whole, to be
[115:59] fair, aren't always going to be written
[116:01] in a way that suits everyone's taste.
[116:03] It's quite a niche writing style, bit
[116:05] similar to Bleach, to be honest. Gay
[116:07] really does not like to hold your hand
[116:08] through the deeper stuff, which is why
[116:10] JJK often gets called out for having no
[116:12] story or writing. Sure, that's a bit,
[116:14] you know, over the top, but I understand
[116:16] the principle. The writing and themes
[116:18] are there. It's just not as visible to a
[116:20] casual viewer who takes things at face
[116:22] value. That's valid, though. I'm not
[116:24] trying to say there's anything wrong
[116:25] with that. If JJK isn't your kind of
[116:27] story because you don't want to be a
[116:28] nerd like me who just obsessively pours
[116:31] over the source material, then I really
[116:32] I can't blame you, you know. But that
[116:34] doesn't mean the writing doesn't exist
[116:36] at all. Anyway, this is meant to be a
[116:38] review of how the anime adapted the
[116:40] manga and not a fat over analysis of the
[116:42] writing. So, I'm going to quit my
[116:43] yapping on that for now. Long story
[116:45] short, themes and such, you know. Right,
[116:47] with that cleared up, I can now finally
[116:48] start frantically rambling about
[116:50] everything Muppa did to make this a
[116:52] truly 10 out of 10 adaptation. Normally,
[116:54] I feel like I can pinpoint the best
[116:56] parts of an episode on a specific member
[116:58] of the staff. Oh, Neon 41 sequence was
[117:01] awesome. Fujioto's character acting
[117:03] looked incredible. Gosso Cinema, etc.,
[117:05] etc. The Sendai though, I I just can't
[117:07] do that because unlike every other
[117:09] episode, this one had a properly like
[117:12] this was truly our Sendai colony type
[117:14] staff list where there was like seven
[117:16] episode directors, a bunch of animation
[117:18] directors, and two goated storyboarders.
[117:20] One of which was Gosso himself, and the
[117:22] other was Miso, the man behind Joo
[117:24] versus Sukuna. Such a messy staff list
[117:26] had people a bit worried about the state
[117:28] of this episode's production. And where
[117:30] I do agree that similar to Sukuna versus
[117:32] Maharaga, there were some moments that
[117:35] seem unfinished, overall this team of
[117:37] goats raised the bar yet again when it
[117:39] came to elevating the seven and a bit
[117:42] chapters of the manga that were actually
[117:43] adapted. Let's start at the beginning
[117:45] with UT versus Kurarushi as an example.
[117:47] Okay, even just their initial
[117:49] hand-to-hand fight and chase scene was
[117:51] genuinely insane, despite it being a lot
[117:53] more accurate to the manga than all the
[117:55] stuff that came after. The absence of
[117:57] music while UT just put the moves on
[117:59] Kurushi in these crazy dynamic quick
[118:01] cuts really lets you process every
[118:03] second of what's going on while keeping
[118:05] it very fast-paced. Eventually, UT runs
[118:08] from the huge wave of cockroaches and
[118:09] that's when we get his insane parkour
[118:12] oneshot scene. Now, I love the way the
[118:14] camera follows him all the way around
[118:16] the 3D buildings. It creates a a really
[118:19] great sense of speed and momentum akin
[118:21] to the ODM gear sequences you'd see in
[118:24] Attack on Titan. Yeah, sure. Utapon and
[118:26] Sakuga style high-speed movement looks
[118:28] dope when done correctly, like in the
[118:30] Mari episode. But I've always had a bit
[118:32] of a soft spot for when animation can
[118:34] achieve such a sense of speed without
[118:36] sacrificing the integrity of the
[118:37] drawings. I think both this episode and
[118:40] a lot of Attack on Titan are very good
[118:41] examples of this. Me personally, I also
[118:44] don't think it's an issue to achieve
[118:45] such things by employing tools such as
[118:47] 3D CG and rotoscoping. No, no, I'm not
[118:50] saying anything in this episode has been
[118:52] rotoscoped. All right, chill. I'm only
[118:54] saying that this season as a whole has
[118:56] been confirmed to contain a lot of
[118:57] rotoscoping and 3D models, which some
[119:00] people just look down on for whatever
[119:01] weird reason. I mean, if it works and it
[119:04] looks good, then by all means, like,
[119:05] keep doing what you're doing, you know?
[119:07] The manga version of UT versus Kurushi
[119:09] also has so many amazing combat panels,
[119:12] which often get overlooked in this
[119:14] fight. Partially because Tik Tok just
[119:16] loves to make up stuff about UT being
[119:17] trash without RA, and there's a whole
[119:19] army of JJ Kappas out there. The anime
[119:22] seems to have finally put that silly LA
[119:24] joke to rest, though, because it took
[119:25] those moments, such as Ut's cursed
[119:27] energy slash and him lighting up a
[119:29] cockroach tornado with cursed energy,
[119:31] and somehow made them look even more
[119:33] impressive, not to mention visually
[119:35] stunning. Even Kurarushi himself got a
[119:38] crazy anime upscale. Ro was already
[119:40] terrifying in the manga. Like, I totally
[119:42] get why Uro didn't want to go near all
[119:44] that. But his cockroach swarm was still
[119:46] relatively contained compared to the
[119:48] totally overwhelming tidal wave that
[119:50] they show in the anime. I mean, bro was
[119:51] moving like Jo, spreading his wave of
[119:53] cockroaches across two whole apartment
[119:55] blocks before creating giant insect-l
[119:58] like arms in the sky. And instead of
[119:59] just the one tornado, the anime gave him
[120:02] two much bigger, scarier tornadoes. Now,
[120:04] all of this is obviously great for
[120:06] Kurushi's PR. I mean, I did not think
[120:08] I'd see as much Kurushi love on the
[120:10] timeline as I am now, but it's even
[120:12] better for UT, who was casually swatting
[120:14] away the swarm with his pink cursed
[120:16] energy. And oh, oh, bro, the cursed
[120:18] energy pulse thing he did in the field.
[120:20] Ah, peak. I also really love the
[120:22] addition of the blind swordsman kind of
[120:24] thing and the onetoone bit on the kiss
[120:26] was very cool. Really didn't need to
[120:28] pause for that long, but it was executed
[120:30] very well. Now, before the episode came
[120:31] out, a lot of the leakers were kind of
[120:32] yapping about how UT got his ass kicked
[120:34] more than in the manga. But honestly,
[120:36] what that really meant was just that
[120:38] everybody in Sai Colony got a massive
[120:40] upscale, and it was much needed.
[120:41] Sorcerers like Uro for example kind of
[120:44] get put on that top tier hey on error
[120:46] sorcerer level through narrative
[120:47] standpoints only and not so much visual
[120:49] evidence after seeing all of their
[120:51] upscales like like agenda be damned I
[120:53] don't care if you has to get his ass be
[120:55] a little bit more to see all of these
[120:56] sorcerers actually live up to their
[120:58] reputations of being proper top tiers
[121:00] right it's it's a great kind of addition
[121:02] just to make them all that much stronger
[121:03] I like it speaking of Uro though her
[121:05] pull-up was so dope I I love UT's
[121:08] genuinely confused expression and little
[121:10] twitch is Sky manipulation seems to grab
[121:13] him and 2D UT got to be a top five
[121:15] funniest frame this season. Almost got
[121:17] me as good as crackhead Megumi. In terms
[121:19] of sound design, sky manipulation and
[121:21] granite blast are top tier in this
[121:22] episode. And just in JK as a whole, I
[121:24] feel like the sound effects have never
[121:26] been better than they are here. The
[121:27] little sound her technique made when
[121:30] blasting UT into Nania is so satisfying.
[121:32] Her entire first encounter and
[121:34] conversation with UT happens altogether
[121:36] in the same location in the manga, but
[121:38] here UT's getting pelted all over the
[121:40] shop. And wait, is that a One Piece
[121:42] reference? The real kicker is how their
[121:44] heartto-heart about the way in which you
[121:46] choose to live your life was changed
[121:48] from outside, you know, just in the
[121:50] middle of the city to in a museum that
[121:52] actually depicts all sorts of things
[121:53] related to these characters such as the
[121:56] Hyon era that Uro comes from and a
[121:58] Fujiwara general behind Uta.
[122:00] Understandably, Uro reacts with like
[122:02] pure frustration when Uta, someone who
[122:05] reminds her of the Fujiwara clan, who
[122:07] denied her an identity in the first
[122:08] place, starts lecturing her about how
[122:11] she's chosen to live. Her frustration is
[122:13] also just way more visceral in the
[122:15] anime. She had UT by the throat and
[122:18] launched him across the whole town. And
[122:20] oh my god, that weird mystical music has
[122:23] my legs shaking up every time it plays.
[122:26] I can't play it because of copyright,
[122:27] but you know what I mean, right? It goes
[122:28] like,
[122:30] "Yeah, you get me, brother." Right? You
[122:32] know what I mean? Anyway, Ryu Shagori
[122:34] decides to interrupt their fight and
[122:35] shoot Uta down with a fat granite
[122:37] blasto. In fact, the blast was so fat
[122:40] you decided Ryu actually needed to be
[122:42] taken out first so that the poor
[122:43] civilians weren't at risk of being, you
[122:45] know, accidentally evaporated. And then
[122:47] we get the most insane and slightly
[122:49] controversial movement scene of the
[122:51] whole episode. The music turns up. UT
[122:53] starts running. And far off in the
[122:55] background, you see a massive blurry
[122:56] array of granite blasts being launched
[122:58] from a rooftop, which I thought was
[123:00] actually much cooler than just showing
[123:02] Ryu firing them. But I say this is
[123:03] controversial because opinions are kind
[123:05] of split on this sequence. I immediately
[123:07] fell in love with this because I have a
[123:08] weird soft spot for the whole CG
[123:10] aesthetic, although I totally understand
[123:12] why this might not be everyone's cup of
[123:14] tea. Regardless of how the background
[123:15] and debris looks, though, there's no
[123:17] denying the movement is unreal. Now, Rio
[123:20] and Uta's confrontation on the roof is
[123:22] probably the only part of the episode I
[123:24] genuinely think they could have done
[123:25] better, and it's a part that I suspect
[123:27] wasn't actually finished, but overall,
[123:30] it's not something I care about because
[123:32] the rest of the episode makes up for it
[123:34] like 10 times over. See, I I love this
[123:36] page of Uta and Ryu going hand to hand
[123:38] on the rooftop, and I was really looking
[123:40] forward to seeing Mappa's take on it.
[123:42] But instead, they kind of just flashed
[123:43] the panels on screen for a picos second
[123:45] each and got on with their day. Which is
[123:47] fine because the anime only fights and
[123:49] hand-to-h hand stuff that goes down
[123:50] later on, like I said, make up for it 10
[123:52] times over. Still though, that doesn't
[123:54] change the fact I didn't think this
[123:55] moment was anything worth writing home
[123:57] about. I also noticed that a lot of
[123:59] dialogue was cut, such as Ryu thinking
[124:01] about how UT's cursed energy makes it
[124:03] feel like he's punching a water tank,
[124:05] and the bit where Ryu glazes UT's
[124:07] reserves and says his output isn't
[124:09] really anything ridiculous. However, I
[124:11] think this was mostly a very smart
[124:13] choice from Mapper because the lines
[124:15] they removed just weren't necessary to
[124:17] spend time saying out loud when you can
[124:19] show them instead. That's why I don't
[124:21] think Sendai Colony felt rushed. It
[124:23] matched the pace of the manga pretty
[124:24] much onetoone and managed to fit in two
[124:27] crazy long anime only fight scenes. I
[124:29] mean, we already know that Uta's huge
[124:31] cursed energy makes him a tank. We don't
[124:32] need to drag out the episode by
[124:34] explaining it again when we could be
[124:36] extending the actual fights. And
[124:38] speaking of anime only extensions, holy
[124:40] moly, Ryu versus UT was crazy. So crazy
[124:44] that I actually can't talk about
[124:45] everything because it would take
[124:47] forever. So here were the highlights. In
[124:49] the manga, Uta just blocks a granite
[124:51] blast with his hand. He still does this
[124:53] later on when they adapt the panel of
[124:55] him punching into Ryu's granite blast,
[124:57] but the original was changed ever so
[124:59] slightly to where he has a normal pipe
[125:02] that he imbued with cursed energy to
[125:04] make a cursed tool, and he used that to
[125:06] block granite blast. His hand still got
[125:07] burned initially, which led to him
[125:09] sucunating his way up this dome thing
[125:11] and then healing it with RCT. But the
[125:13] scene is fundamentally different to the
[125:15] manga for the better. I think it's a
[125:17] great call back to not only how UT broke
[125:20] his sword in JK Zero, but also how Yuji
[125:22] messed this move up when he tried to use
[125:24] it against UT in episode 1 of season 3.
[125:27] Kurushi, Uro, and Ryu all got insane
[125:29] anime only upscales and extensions to
[125:31] their cursed techniques. So, it's only
[125:33] fair that UT did as well. But since he's
[125:36] in base and can't use techniques yet, I
[125:38] didn't think they'd actually find a way
[125:40] to make him do anything special besides
[125:42] strong punch. And I'm so glad I was
[125:44] wrong because having him grab a random
[125:46] pipe and immediately turn it into a
[125:48] well-refined and strong cursed tool. I
[125:50] mean, it was so strong it was able to
[125:52] deflect Ryu's granite blast, which was
[125:54] literally a peak scene by the way. That
[125:56] was so cool. But but yeah, I I love the
[125:57] fact that he was able to do that, right?
[125:59] He just picked it up, imbued it with
[126:01] cursed energy, exactly how, you know,
[126:03] Yuji should have done that to the knife
[126:04] and bam. Great use of UT's genius for
[126:07] jiu-jitsu. And speaking of UT deflecting
[126:10] Ryu's granite blasts, another highlight
[126:12] of this fight is the anime only tunnel
[126:14] scene where Ryu's technique finally
[126:16] becomes a lot easier to understand. You
[126:18] see, being able to shoot cursed energy
[126:20] isn't actually a cursed technique. We've
[126:21] seen the likes of Uta, Gojo, and Nanomi
[126:24] do this already. Ryu's technique doesn't
[126:26] let him fire cursed energy. It lets him
[126:29] fire and manipulate cursed energy. He
[126:31] can change the concentration like when
[126:33] he makes those precise little white
[126:35] lasers. He can spin it around like he
[126:37] does later on. And he can fire multiple
[126:39] homing lasers like he did with the
[126:40] bridge. This is exactly why he can still
[126:43] fire a massive granite blast beam after
[126:45] Domain expansion. His technique does
[126:48] burn out, but his technique isn't what
[126:50] lets him shoot cursed energy. And I feel
[126:52] like the anime subtitles made that a lot
[126:54] clearer by saying a basic attack, one as
[126:56] simple as, you know, shooting a big beam
[126:58] of granite blast is easy enough to do
[127:00] without the cursed technique. Firing the
[127:02] big laser is very doable. He just can't
[127:04] control the concentration or manipulate
[127:06] it after domain. Also, Ryu combing his
[127:09] hair even after UT threw a whole ass
[127:11] train at him is so cool. Like, I don't
[127:12] know why they decided to make him even
[127:14] cooler than he already was. Moving on
[127:16] though, Bosch UT slammed by a [ __ ]
[127:18] gorgeous thin icebreaker, which was the
[127:20] last straw before Uta decided to summon
[127:23] Ra and finally lock in. Now, this frame
[127:25] right here, along with so many others,
[127:27] shows exactly why this episode worked so
[127:29] well. The one:one moments are biblically
[127:32] onetoone, but then the stuff in between
[127:34] is ridiculously inventive and out of the
[127:36] box, resulting in an episode that has
[127:38] the perfect balance of strict onetoone
[127:41] and creative freedom. Genuinely, it's
[127:43] perfect. I mean, if it wasn't for leaks
[127:45] and people making up their mind about
[127:46] this episode being rushed before even
[127:49] actually watching it, I doubt I would be
[127:51] seeing that criticism anywhere near as
[127:53] much as I am. Sure, it was seven
[127:54] chapters in 27 minutes, but they
[127:57] objectively did it. Like, the evidence
[127:59] is in front of us. Anywh who, I think
[128:01] it's about time I yap about my favorite
[128:02] section of the episode, the car park
[128:04] free-for-all fight, the three-way domain
[128:06] clash, and the final beam struggle. So
[128:09] once Buta is done playing around, he
[128:11] summons back RA and activates his
[128:13] 5-minute timer, which means RA becomes
[128:15] fully manifested. He can access his
[128:17] cursed techniques and he can access RA's
[128:20] storage of cursed energy. Now sure,
[128:22] Mappa extending a fight is definitely
[128:24] nothing new, but a fight extension is
[128:26] not what happened here. They just
[128:28] straight up added an entirely new fight
[128:30] scene between all three parties at once.
[128:32] And you know what? I'm so glad they did
[128:33] because I think it might be my favorite
[128:35] sequence in JJK. It's definitely up
[128:37] there. First of all, insane upscale.
[128:39] She's been moving like gear five Luffy
[128:41] and I love it. But Mappa workers have to
[128:43] genuinely be a different breed because I
[128:45] can't even fathom how they animated this
[128:47] sequence. The coolest thing about this
[128:49] though is that in the manga, once UT
[128:50] gets the gauntlet, he doesn't interact
[128:52] with Ryu at all, but in this fight,
[128:54] everyone gets a shot at everyone. Okay,
[128:57] yes, the hand-to-hand stuff is
[128:58] incredible, but this is JJK, you know?
[129:01] That's nothing new. The real kicker is
[129:02] the crazy inventive ways that Mappa made
[129:05] Uro and Ryu use their techniques,
[129:07] especially Uro. Here are the highlights
[129:09] for me. Ryu using granite blast to fire
[129:11] quick, less powerful lasers, is very
[129:13] cool, but the ring of spinning cursed
[129:15] energy that he traps UT in, sort of like
[129:17] a makeshift sumo ring is cool as hell.
[129:20] Also, having UT fight Ryu with the
[129:22] gauntlet makes so much more sense than
[129:25] what he does in the manga, because
[129:26] everyone who read this fight wonders
[129:28] what the hell the point of the gauntlet
[129:30] even was. Like what does it even do?
[129:32] Here though, we see UT tank a granite
[129:34] blast with the gauntlet. I mean, he'd
[129:36] spent the whole fight until this point
[129:38] having his hands constantly charred when
[129:40] he blocks the blast. So, you know, using
[129:42] the gauntlet to save himself the need to
[129:44] use reverse curse technique makes so
[129:46] much more sense for why he would choose
[129:48] this weapon in the first place. I feel
[129:50] like this is a perfect and very subtle
[129:52] example of how well Mappa fine-tune and
[129:54] elevate the source material. Uro though,
[129:57] oh boy. At one point, Uta and Ra
[129:59] surround her, and she literally swipes
[130:01] the sky in a circle to make Ra's punch
[130:03] hit Uta. And later, she manages to pull
[130:05] the exact same move in such a way that
[130:07] Ra ends up punching herself. My favorite
[130:09] bit of extra source that they gave her,
[130:11] though, is when Ra sent Uro crashing
[130:13] towards a building, but she just
[130:15] nonchalantly bends the sky away to
[130:17] create a sort of slide that just flings
[130:19] her back on course. Eventually, they end
[130:21] up standing on a roof, and the sky
[130:23] starts to turn gray. A suspenseful music
[130:26] similar to Sukuna's domain theme creeps
[130:28] in and Ryu Ishigori starts beating his
[130:30] chest like Gear 5 Luffy. What I didn't
[130:33] notice about this moment at first though
[130:35] was how Ryu is actually creating shock
[130:37] waves while doing this that made the
[130:39] building below him crumble away, leaving
[130:41] them space for their domain barriers to
[130:43] manifest, which is a really cool detail.
[130:46] The actual execution of the iconic
[130:47] three-way panel is is peak. I don't even
[130:50] know what you want me to say about it.
[130:51] every category. Music, voice acting,
[130:53] visuals. Like, I don't I don't know what
[130:55] to say. It was just perfect. There
[130:57] really isn't anything more I can add to
[130:59] that. It's not until both the returned
[131:01] Kurarushi and Uro were put to sleep
[131:03] after this moment, though, that we got
[131:05] what might be my favorite moment in the
[131:07] anime. And for the record, my previous
[131:09] favorite moment was UT's love beam in JK
[131:12] Zero. Now, I've already overexlained the
[131:14] awesomely wholesome interaction between
[131:16] UT and Ryu enough in this video, so I
[131:18] won't dwell on it, but oh, it's peak. I
[131:20] mean, you'll see it in the reaction
[131:21] segment in a second, but Orion and I
[131:23] immediately clocked the start of Isizo
[131:26] creeping in. And holy [ __ ] I've never
[131:27] had chills like that watching this show
[131:29] before. The way the beat drops on one of
[131:31] the most visually striking pieces of art
[131:33] in the series. Like, the way Ryu's voice
[131:36] actor absolutely bellowed the final
[131:38] granite blast as UT ran towards him. Oh
[131:41] my god, I've I've lost count of how many
[131:43] times I've rewatched that moment. The
[131:44] final portion of the fight was actually
[131:46] a lot easier to follow than in the manga
[131:48] as well. And I think that's mainly
[131:50] thanks to seeing a physical timer. Ra
[131:52] went back to partial manifestation, got
[131:54] clapped by Ryu, but then he turned to
[131:56] see that UT still had more to give him
[131:58] even after all of that. And at this
[132:00] point, we're down to no techniques, no
[132:02] granite blast, no shikami. They just
[132:04] revert to type. Pure hands. Throw in
[132:06] some visuals of dessert being eaten and
[132:08] a direct one-to-one panel before the
[132:11] music reaches its climax. And then UT
[132:13] ends the fight with his genius granite
[132:15] blast redirection and you have yourself
[132:17] what is the best fight in JJK undeniably
[132:19] like so far. I just I love this shot of
[132:21] UT smiling as Ryu collapses on the floor
[132:24] because it really puts into perspective
[132:25] how unreal what UT did here actually is.
[132:28] In a single day he wiped out the entire
[132:30] game's most dangerous colony. He walked
[132:32] away with 190 points that he just stole
[132:35] from a literal hyon era sorcerer and the
[132:38] highest output sorcerer in history.
[132:40] Absolute madness. Like what? See, you
[132:42] guys get it all wrong. You think I glaze
[132:44] Send Sendai because I'm a Uta Glazer,
[132:46] but that's not right at all. In fact,
[132:48] it's the other way round. I read Sai
[132:50] Colony and that's what made me a Uta
[132:52] Glazer. Yeah, for the record, this video
[132:54] was delayed so long because I got
[132:55] cripplingly ill over the weekend, but
[132:58] also because I was actually just
[132:59] speechless. Like, I have written and
[133:01] deleted this nearly 5k word script three
[133:04] times before I was happy with it. But
[133:05] I'll cut the app short here and just
[133:07] play the segment of me and Orion
[133:08] reacting to the episode. So, uh, like
[133:10] the video, subscribe to the channel.
[133:12] Thanks for watching so far, and, uh,
[133:14] yeah, fat headphone warning because we
[133:16] scream a lot. Enjoy. Oh my god.
[133:19] >> Oh my [ __ ] is that? Hello.
[133:22] >> Oh my god. The upscale is doing manga.
[133:27] >> Kurushi.
[133:29] Okay.
[133:29] >> He's moving like he's moving like Jo,
[133:31] bro.
[133:33] >> I like that they're buffing Kurro Roshi
[133:34] because he's a special grade. Like he
[133:36] can talk. He He should be like logistic
[133:38] like logically.
[133:39] >> Wait. Wait. He's going to do it.
[133:41] >> YES. WHAT'S THE ONE?
[133:44] >> Oh my god.
[133:45] >> Okay.
[133:46] >> All right. All right. We get it. All
[133:47] right. Chill. Chill. And chill. We
[133:49] [laughter] get it.
[133:51] >> The music. It's the music.
[133:57] >> Oh.
[133:59] >> YO,
[134:01] >> DUDE. We were saying in Shiba like what
[134:02] the [ __ ] is Ryu going to look like?
[134:04] >> Oh my god, bro. It's so one to one in
[134:06] the onetoone moments as well. God, these
[134:09] shots are insane.
[134:12] >> OH.
[134:12] >> OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. IT'S FROM the
[134:15] distance. That's so sick.
[134:19] >> Oh my, bro. Bro, people were [ __ ]
[134:22] doom posting over this, by the way.
[134:24] >> Yeah, but I mean they they would do that
[134:25] anyway. Oh my god, he's cool. That [ __ ]
[134:28] fell on his head.
[134:31] >> Oh my god, bro. Oh, I can't wait to do I
[134:35] actually have to do a whole breakdown
[134:36] for this episode. Like bar for bar.
[134:37] >> That's what I mean. Like he turned into
[134:40] like a crisp tool kind of like
[134:41] >> he did. That's cool. Oh, and he's Oh my
[134:44] god. They got inventive.
[134:46] >> This is you. This is completely new
[134:48] dialogue.
[134:50] But he's like making even [ __ ]
[134:52] stronger.
[134:52] >> Oh my god. Oh. Oh my god. N.
[134:58] >> Oh, that's a cool effect.
[135:01] >> Okay. Oh, she's like falling down cuz
[135:03] she can't maintain her [ __ ]
[135:04] technique. That's such a cool detail.
[135:06] >> Oh my god.
[135:08] >> Wait, wait, wait. This is switched
[135:09] completely.
[135:10] >> Oh yeah.
[135:11] >> Oh no. I'm pissed about the way the
[135:12] leakers were talking about this episode.
[135:13] I'm real pissed about it cuz
[135:15] >> dude
[135:19] is in sync. She's two of them.
[135:21] >> Yeah, but you know what though? If
[135:22] they're going to make Kurushi and Rio
[135:23] look like that, they had to give us
[135:24] something.
[135:25] >> Okay, recard skill.
[135:26] >> Oh my god. Oh my god. Do you see how she
[135:28] like Do you see how she dashed that? Oh,
[135:31] that's so cool.
[135:32] >> And punch him. Mury. Mury. Oh, he sounds
[135:34] so cool.
[135:36] >> I forgot he even uses that.
[135:40] No. Like, oh my god, that's so cool. I
[135:44] have I actually have so much to say, but
[135:45] I haven't taken a single note. Nothing.
[135:47] [laughter]
[135:48] I've written nothing.
[135:50] >> Oh, shut up. Shut up.
[135:55] >> OH MY GOD,
[135:58] it's so pink. [screaming]
[136:00] Oh my god, it's nearly over.
[136:03] Oh, so peak. It's so peak.
[136:09] I can [laughter] hear it. I can hear it.
[136:11] That's what I knew. I forgot that was
[136:13] coming.
[136:15] [screaming]
[136:18] >> No, it's the best episode they've ever
[136:20] made, bro. I'm sorry. [laughter]
[136:22] Oh my god, bro. The choice of Iso here
[136:24] is so good.
[136:28] Oh, the way he says it is so cool. Yeah,
[136:30] the icebreaker and it's done.
[136:33] >> Oh, it didn't work. It didn't work. He
[136:35] didn't get it in time.
[136:36] >> Ra's gone back.
[136:39] His VA is so good.
[136:40] >> His VA is so good, dude. This song is so
[136:43] perfect.
[136:45] >> He's eating all the dessert cuz of the
[136:46] fight. Oh my god, this is so peak. Okay,
[136:48] classic like Hajimo.
[136:49] >> Yeah. Yeah.
[136:51] OH,
[136:53] >> BRO. GENUINELY, like watching this
[136:54] episode with you right here is like
[136:55] making me so happy we're doing a [ __ ]
[136:56] collab.
[136:57] >> I know, bro. Imagine if I sat in silence
[136:59] by myself and watch this.
[137:03] >> It's so big.
[137:04] >> No, it's actually so good. I can't even
[137:06] fathom what the final arc of this series
[137:09] is going to look like animated.
[137:11] >> Me neither,
[137:13] dude. I love their dynamic, man.
[137:15] >> It's like they're just so good. Oh, it's
[137:18] We're gonna see we're gonna see big big
[137:21] boss man and then we're gonna see
[137:23] >> Oh my god. Oh my god.
[137:26] >> Oh, hello Charles. Oh gosh.
[137:29] >> That was that was No. Yo yo yo yo yo YO
[137:32] YO. He's placing the prison realm.
[137:35] >> Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god, bro.
[137:42] Oh my god. I can't