[0:00] Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episode 9 was
[0:02] very good to the surprise of absolutely
[0:04] no one. As per usual, it was an
[0:07] incredible display of directorial
[0:08] brilliance, studio animation muscle,
[0:11] minor visual cracks, and a consistently
[0:13] put together, albeit slightly
[0:14] inconsistent aesthetic. What's the
[0:16] technical term again? Goshizono cinema.
[0:19] The episode adapted what is arguably the
[0:21] second most important fight from the
[0:23] season in terms of narrative
[0:25] significance, and naturally the team
[0:26] went off gathering many of the usual
[0:29] guys as well as brand new exciting names
[0:31] to create a visual spectacle of a fight
[0:33] despite the fact that behind the scenes,
[0:36] the show is probably nearing that end of
[0:37] season crunch production stage as
[0:39] evident by the staff list. To sum things
[0:42] up, episode 9 looked amazing for the
[0:44] most part, and as such, let's break down
[0:46] the visuals. Make sure to subscribe,
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[1:06] So, I've made like five of these now.
[1:08] You know how these work. Let's start
[1:10] with the staff list and then go over the
[1:11] actual episode scene by scene. The
[1:14] episode was directed by JJK regular
[1:16] Teppei Okuda and storyboarded by series
[1:18] director Shota Goshizono, which means
[1:20] yes, he's back on storyboarding duties.
[1:22] If I had to guess, I'd say the previous
[1:24] episode 8 was in the oven for so long
[1:26] being solo key animated and all that it
[1:29] wasn't feasible for its production to be
[1:31] on hold while Goshizono storyboarded the
[1:32] previous seven episodes, and as such, it
[1:34] was handed over to assistant director
[1:36] Yusuke Takada instead. Anyway, you know
[1:39] what Goshizono storyboards are like.
[1:41] They're either the greatest you'll ever
[1:42] see or really, really good, but somewhat
[1:44] tame by his standards, and this episode
[1:46] was a bit of the latter. Complex
[1:48] compositions, really solid action
[1:50] storyboarding eye-catching meaningful
[1:52] framing, the whole nine yards, but not
[1:54] the best I've seen from him.
[1:57] Over on the animation side of things,
[1:58] the staff list was a bit messy. Like I
[2:00] said, I think the show is nearing that
[2:02] end of season crunch and it's starting
[2:04] to show. The episode needed three chief
[2:06] animation directors, nine animation
[2:08] directors, four assistant animation
[2:10] directors, and 43 second key animators,
[2:13] or in other words, it needed lots of
[2:15] people for roles that should ideally
[2:17] either be limited to a small number of
[2:19] people or not exist altogether. Not the
[2:21] end of the world for a major production
[2:23] like JJK, but definitely not ideal
[2:25] either and worth mentioning. [music]
[2:27] Anyway, with all that boring stuff out
[2:29] of the way, let's finally go through
[2:31] this episode.
[2:32] The first half of this episode wasn't
[2:34] the most animation heavy thing in the
[2:36] world. We had a few impressive shots,
[2:37] but overall the A part let the
[2:39] compositing, storyboards, and drawing
[2:41] quality do most of the heavy lifting.
[2:43] >> [music]
[2:44] >> We started with some cool effects and
[2:45] hand-drawn light flares animated by
[2:47] Sang-yong Song. This cool water
[2:49] reflection-like compositing texture and
[2:51] a fairly nifty technically action scene
[2:53] drawn by Zalman complete with a few
[2:55] smooth run cycles, background animation
[2:57] with tons of individual shapes and
[2:59] lines, and this really smooth flowy
[3:01] punch. The camera work did a fantastic
[3:03] job of adding to the momentum.
[3:05] Following that exchange, we entered
[3:07] Higuruma's domain, and like I said, the
[3:09] star of the show here was the drawing
[3:10] quality, storyboards, and compositing.
[3:13] The screen had a strong yellow glow
[3:15] brought forth not just by plain old
[3:17] lighting, but also by these paint-like
[3:19] god rays. I'm not entirely sure if they
[3:22] are background assets composited to look
[3:24] like lighting or actual lighting effects
[3:26] added by the compositing team, but
[3:27] either way, they looked great. Yellow is
[3:30] one of the hardest colors to execute
[3:31] properly. It's up there with green.
[3:33] Poorly implemented yellows and greens
[3:35] tend to look like piss and uranium 235.
[3:38] Just ask Tananadad for both.
[3:40] Compositing aside, the drawings
[3:42] throughout this section were fantastic
[3:44] with tons of eye-catching frames. I
[3:46] believe this section was directed by CAD
[3:48] Hiromi Niwa, and some of the drawings
[3:50] were genuinely out of this world. This
[3:52] one, for example, the subtle curvature
[3:54] of the jaw and bold facial features
[3:56] visible thanks to the confident lines,
[3:58] the richly detailed hair, and three-tone
[4:00] shading make this one of the best
[4:01] drawings across the entirety of season
[4:03] 3, in my opinion. Besides that stuff,
[4:06] the storyboarding here was really well
[4:08] done with complex wide shots, aspect
[4:10] ratio changes, multiple changes, and
[4:12] unorthodox angles. Not the best I've
[4:14] seen from Go-Shono, but definitely
[4:16] eye-catching and then some.
[4:19] Of course, this section wasn't devoid of
[4:20] animation. We had a serviceable amount
[4:22] of subtle movement as well as a few
[4:24] particularly impressive shots. This
[4:26] meticulously drawn thread unraveling
[4:28] animation [music] and this complex
[4:29] low-angle cut, for example, cool stuff.
[4:32] All of that then brought us to Yuji
[4:35] versus Higuruma round one, and I'd be
[4:37] lying if I said the start of it was well
[4:39] executed. Don't get me wrong, we had a
[4:41] few cool ideas, but the actual animation
[4:43] was quite stiff. The drawings and
[4:45] motions simply didn't have the energy
[4:47] needed, and the frame spacing was on the
[4:49] jumpier side. This sequence, for
[4:51] example, looked slow and clumsy and
[4:52] didn't have that flow and energy
[4:54] Go-Shono was probably going for.
[4:56] Similarly, this gavel hit was a bit
[4:58] stiff. This shot melted quite a bit, and
[5:00] the red lighting came off as a bit
[5:02] excessive and uninspired. I did like
[5:04] this shot, though. Definitely on the
[5:06] economical side as far as animation
[5:08] goes, but a decent amount of weight.
[5:10] Anyway, this was then followed by the
[5:12] highlight scene, the scene that will
[5:14] undoubtedly be talked about the most
[5:15] online, and for good reason, the scene
[5:18] animated by Neon 41. Now, Neon, as some
[5:21] of you may know, is a Yutaka
[5:22] Nakamura-inspired Chinese animator best
[5:24] known for his work on shows like Super
[5:26] Cube. Yes, the fight you're thinking of,
[5:28] and this was his Japanese anime debut,
[5:30] [music]
[5:30] and what a debut it was.
[5:33] Before we talk about his sequence,
[5:34] though, let me yap for a second. It's
[5:36] relevant, I promise. Back when his Super
[5:38] Cube episode aired, I was one of the
[5:40] people who was very impressed by his raw
[5:42] animation skills, but took issue with
[5:44] his sense of timing and flow. I won't go
[5:46] into detail, but basically his work felt
[5:48] a bit too animation for the sake of
[5:50] animation if that makes sense. There
[5:52] wasn't much directorial intent behind
[5:54] many of his shots. Controversial, I
[5:56] know, but that's just the way I felt.
[5:59] Anyway, with all that in mind, this was
[6:01] my favorite work from him ever. I loved
[6:03] it. I thought it was brilliant, and yes,
[6:05] I will elaborate. From a storyboarding
[6:08] point of view, the framing and some of
[6:09] the poses looked similar to his previous
[6:11] works, which leads me to believe he was
[6:13] allowed to modify the storyboards if
[6:15] fair bit. And like I said, it was
[6:16] amazing, better than his previous works,
[6:18] especially when it comes to action
[6:20] structure and storyboarding.
[6:22] The tempo felt exciting. The pacing
[6:24] wasn't mundane, which was one of my
[6:26] biggest issues with the Super Cube
[6:27] episode. The action would speed up and
[6:29] then slow down and then speed up again
[6:31] and then slow down again. There was
[6:33] variation. The pacing wasn't one note.
[6:35] Plus, the character animation was more
[6:37] focused with less wasted motion and
[6:39] unnecessary flailing around of limbs.
[6:42] Also worth mentioning, the sequence was
[6:44] pretty heavily corrected and extensively
[6:46] cleaned up, which helped avoid that boxy
[6:48] Chinese animation look, which there
[6:50] isn't anything explicitly wrong about
[6:52] it, but I'm not the biggest fan. Now,
[6:55] just to clarify, what I just described
[6:56] isn't as simple as let's just redraw it,
[6:59] lol. There's a lot more to it than that.
[7:01] Modifying the drawings to fit a Japanese
[7:04] anime without compromising Neon's
[7:05] distinct style and animation quirks is a
[7:08] Herculean task that probably [music]
[7:09] took a lot of work. Hats off to the
[7:11] animation direction and cleanup teams.
[7:14] Anyway, storyboards and drawings aside,
[7:16] let's finally talk about the animation.
[7:18] Holy
[7:20] Here's the thing, Neon loves to make
[7:22] things move. His characters are always
[7:24] in motion, always doing something, an
[7:26] effect accentuated by his liberal smear
[7:28] use. The sequence was around 80 seconds
[7:31] long, and there was maybe 8 to 10
[7:33] seconds where the characters weren't
[7:34] explicitly in motion. Again, Neon packed
[7:37] a tremendous amount of animation power
[7:39] into the sequence, and I'm glad he did.
[7:42] We started with this buttery smooth
[7:43] exchange of strikes with two constantly
[7:46] animated characters approaching the
[7:47] camera followed by a series of quick
[7:49] fluid cuts that they did fantastic job
[7:51] of preserving the sense of flow between
[7:53] them. This section for example, Higuruma
[7:56] hit the gavel and the energy of the
[7:57] strike was paid off by the next three
[7:59] cuts. This close-up and these two wide
[8:01] shots are all three used this shot as
[8:03] the build-up. As these gavel throws got
[8:06] more intense, the number of cuts went up
[8:08] and the poses became more energetic
[8:10] giving it that sense of build-up and
[8:12] thankfully those quick shots were
[8:13] buffered by these slow-motion shots
[8:15] helping the viewer fully comprehend what
[8:17] was happening giving their eyes an
[8:18] opportunity to rest and making the sense
[8:21] of impact stronger. I loved this
[8:23] sequence. The kick had so much energy.
[8:26] It started with a side profile of
[8:28] Higuruma's legs as he jumped and the
[8:29] energy of it was transferred to and
[8:31] enhanced by the next cut. Higuruma
[8:34] occupied a tiny part of the screen here,
[8:36] but a few frames and one and a half
[8:37] battle rolls later he was all up close
[8:39] and personal giving the strike a
[8:40] tremendous amount of energy which was
[8:42] then paid off by this wide shot. Amazing
[8:45] stuff.
[8:46] Again, the characters never stopped
[8:48] moving. The strike exchanges, the really
[8:50] lifelike rag-dolling, the acrobatics,
[8:52] even the subtle bits of acting, highly
[8:54] consistent three-dimensional gavel
[8:56] animation and bits of 2D background
[8:58] work, the whole thing was animated
[9:00] flawlessly. Plus Nyan and Orgoch Shono,
[9:02] whoever was in charge did a fantastic
[9:04] job of using both long shots and quick
[9:07] successive cuts. The timing on both was
[9:09] perfect conveying a raw, visceral,
[9:11] uncontrolled sense of intensity that the
[9:13] series hasn't seen since its Songo Park
[9:15] days. Insane work. Also, I'm glad some
[9:18] of Nyan's animation mannerisms made it
[9:20] to the final product. His distinct sharp
[9:23] shading, though somewhat Lego block-like
[9:25] debris, and that classic partially
[9:27] clenched open hand, it was all there.
[9:30] Like I said, there was so much energy
[9:31] packed into the sequence. The kicks, the
[9:34] rag-dolls, the the thing felt alive.
[9:36] Plus some of the visual ideas were
[9:38] brilliant. The tracking shot of Yuji's
[9:40] feet, the almost comedic rapid-fire
[9:42] attacks, the spotlight providing some
[9:44] much-needed color contrast, amazing
[9:46] stuff.
[9:47] I won't go over every shot, but to sum
[9:49] it up, this was one of the best
[9:50] sequences across the entirety of JJK in
[9:53] my opinion, although that might just be
[9:55] recency bias talking. Neon's incredible
[9:57] layouts and the animation directors and
[9:59] second key animators translating them to
[10:02] anime without compromising its visual
[10:04] identity made the scene one for the
[10:06] history books.
[10:07] The episode wasn't done, though. Some
[10:09] decent acting, including this impressive
[10:11] bit of gavel twirling, then brought us
[10:13] to Madi Bengodifa sequence. I probably
[10:16] butchered that, which started with some
[10:17] slightly stiff rag-dolling, followed by
[10:19] smooth, stylish liquid effects and a
[10:21] tremendous amount of weight conveyed via
[10:23] energetic effects and fabric animation.
[10:26] This was then followed by these amazing
[10:27] close-ups with tons of lines and
[10:29] effects, and then by the second domain
[10:31] scene, which was more animation-heavy.
[10:33] [music] We had some decent acting and a
[10:35] solid animated zoom.
[10:37] After all that, we got a few beautiful
[10:39] drawings and a solid bit of acting,
[10:41] complete with intricate shading used to
[10:43] visualize the depth of Higuruma's facial
[10:45] features. These shots, besides looking
[10:47] good, served as the entryway to Yuji
[10:49] versus Higuruma round two, which, while
[10:51] not as ridiculous as Neon's sequence,
[10:53] was quite impressive.
[10:55] We started with a cool bit of
[10:56] acrobatics, although it was a bit
[10:58] awkward when Yuji just straight-up
[11:00] disappeared. I don't think he jumped
[11:01] that high. Plus, the CGI chairs did look
[11:04] a bit funky, and Higuruma floating
[11:05] through them looked a bit iffy, but it
[11:07] is what it is. Anyway, these slow,
[11:10] consistently animated turns and
[11:11] rotations were incredibly impressive,
[11:13] and this shot was one of my favorites
[11:15] from this episode. Goshozono did a
[11:17] fantastic job of utilizing the 3D
[11:19] background to make the staging feel
[11:21] grand and, buzzword alert, cinematic.
[11:24] Also, the spotlights were the cherry on
[11:26] top.
[11:27] The big climax was mostly animated by
[11:29] Daniel Kim, and it was amazing. The
[11:32] easily recognizable long lanky limbs,
[11:34] that classic shading, and the highly
[11:36] consistent for the most part slow motion
[11:38] shots. It was insane. I loved how you
[11:40] could feel the bounce in Yuji drawing
[11:42] back before the punch. The shot was so
[11:44] volumetric. Also, the shading and the
[11:46] drawing's hair looked gorgeous and the
[11:47] sheer amount of impact in the punch was
[11:49] insane. Also, also quick bit of
[11:51] background animation drawn by Tadayadam
[11:53] to end the fight. Really cool stuff.
[11:56] After the fight, we got some cool
[11:58] acting. I was particularly fond of this
[12:00] shot. Basic actions like these are
[12:01] incredibly difficult to animate. Also,
[12:04] cool bit of stair climbing animation
[12:06] near the [music] end. Somewhat broken,
[12:07] but cool regardless.
[12:09] And that was the episode. One of the
[12:12] better ones from this season. Amazing
[12:14] animation, amazing storyboards, solid
[12:16] drawings. This episode had it all.
[12:18] Really impressive.
[12:20] Based on what I can remember, pretty
[12:21] much every episode from this point on
[12:23] should be action-heavy. So, I'm really
[12:25] looking forward to all of them,
[12:26] especially the last one. And that's
[12:28] about it. A special thanks to Nozawa03,
[12:31] AhmedTheGallus90, and Shikisan for
[12:33] becoming tier three members. And until
[12:35] next time.