PEAK ACTION | Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 9 Animation Breakdown

[00:00] Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episode 9 was

[00:02] very good to the surprise of absolutely

[00:04] no one. As per usual, it was an

[00:07] incredible display of directorial

[00:08] brilliance, studio animation muscle,

[00:11] minor visual cracks, and a consistently

[00:13] put together, albeit slightly

[00:14] inconsistent aesthetic. What's the

[00:16] technical term again? Goshizono cinema.

[00:19] The episode adapted what is arguably the

[00:21] second most important fight from the

[00:23] season in terms of narrative

[00:25] significance, and naturally the team

[00:26] went off gathering many of the usual

[00:29] guys as well as brand new exciting names

[00:31] to create a visual spectacle of a fight

[00:33] despite the fact that behind the scenes,

[00:36] the show is probably nearing that end of

[00:37] season crunch production stage as

[00:39] evident by the staff list. To sum things

[00:42] up, episode 9 looked amazing for the

[00:44] most part, and as such, let's break down

[00:46] the visuals. Make sure to subscribe,

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[01:06] So, I've made like five of these now.

[01:08] You know how these work. Let's start

[01:10] with the staff list and then go over the

[01:11] actual episode scene by scene. The

[01:14] episode was directed by JJK regular

[01:16] Teppei Okuda and storyboarded by series

[01:18] director Shota Goshizono, which means

[01:20] yes, he's back on storyboarding duties.

[01:22] If I had to guess, I'd say the previous

[01:24] episode 8 was in the oven for so long

[01:26] being solo key animated and all that it

[01:29] wasn't feasible for its production to be

[01:31] on hold while Goshizono storyboarded the

[01:32] previous seven episodes, and as such, it

[01:34] was handed over to assistant director

[01:36] Yusuke Takada instead. Anyway, you know

[01:39] what Goshizono storyboards are like.

[01:41] They're either the greatest you'll ever

[01:42] see or really, really good, but somewhat

[01:44] tame by his standards, and this episode

[01:46] was a bit of the latter. Complex

[01:48] compositions, really solid action

[01:50] storyboarding eye-catching meaningful

[01:52] framing, the whole nine yards, but not

[01:54] the best I've seen from him.

[01:57] Over on the animation side of things,

[01:58] the staff list was a bit messy. Like I

[02:00] said, I think the show is nearing that

[02:02] end of season crunch and it's starting

[02:04] to show. The episode needed three chief

[02:06] animation directors, nine animation

[02:08] directors, four assistant animation

[02:10] directors, and 43 second key animators,

[02:13] or in other words, it needed lots of

[02:15] people for roles that should ideally

[02:17] either be limited to a small number of

[02:19] people or not exist altogether. Not the

[02:21] end of the world for a major production

[02:23] like JJK, but definitely not ideal

[02:25] either and worth mentioning. [music]

[02:27] Anyway, with all that boring stuff out

[02:29] of the way, let's finally go through

[02:31] this episode.

[02:32] The first half of this episode wasn't

[02:34] the most animation heavy thing in the

[02:36] world. We had a few impressive shots,

[02:37] but overall the A part let the

[02:39] compositing, storyboards, and drawing

[02:41] quality do most of the heavy lifting.

[02:43] >> [music]

[02:44] >> We started with some cool effects and

[02:45] hand-drawn light flares animated by

[02:47] Sang-yong Song. This cool water

[02:49] reflection-like compositing texture and

[02:51] a fairly nifty technically action scene

[02:53] drawn by Zalman complete with a few

[02:55] smooth run cycles, background animation

[02:57] with tons of individual shapes and

[02:59] lines, and this really smooth flowy

[03:01] punch. The camera work did a fantastic

[03:03] job of adding to the momentum.

[03:05] Following that exchange, we entered

[03:07] Higuruma's domain, and like I said, the

[03:09] star of the show here was the drawing

[03:10] quality, storyboards, and compositing.

[03:13] The screen had a strong yellow glow

[03:15] brought forth not just by plain old

[03:17] lighting, but also by these paint-like

[03:19] god rays. I'm not entirely sure if they

[03:22] are background assets composited to look

[03:24] like lighting or actual lighting effects

[03:26] added by the compositing team, but

[03:27] either way, they looked great. Yellow is

[03:30] one of the hardest colors to execute

[03:31] properly. It's up there with green.

[03:33] Poorly implemented yellows and greens

[03:35] tend to look like piss and uranium 235.

[03:38] Just ask Tananadad for both.

[03:40] Compositing aside, the drawings

[03:42] throughout this section were fantastic

[03:44] with tons of eye-catching frames. I

[03:46] believe this section was directed by CAD

[03:48] Hiromi Niwa, and some of the drawings

[03:50] were genuinely out of this world. This

[03:52] one, for example, the subtle curvature

[03:54] of the jaw and bold facial features

[03:56] visible thanks to the confident lines,

[03:58] the richly detailed hair, and three-tone

[04:00] shading make this one of the best

[04:01] drawings across the entirety of season

[04:03] 3, in my opinion. Besides that stuff,

[04:06] the storyboarding here was really well

[04:08] done with complex wide shots, aspect

[04:10] ratio changes, multiple changes, and

[04:12] unorthodox angles. Not the best I've

[04:14] seen from Go-Shono, but definitely

[04:16] eye-catching and then some.

[04:19] Of course, this section wasn't devoid of

[04:20] animation. We had a serviceable amount

[04:22] of subtle movement as well as a few

[04:24] particularly impressive shots. This

[04:26] meticulously drawn thread unraveling

[04:28] animation [music] and this complex

[04:29] low-angle cut, for example, cool stuff.

[04:32] All of that then brought us to Yuji

[04:35] versus Higuruma round one, and I'd be

[04:37] lying if I said the start of it was well

[04:39] executed. Don't get me wrong, we had a

[04:41] few cool ideas, but the actual animation

[04:43] was quite stiff. The drawings and

[04:45] motions simply didn't have the energy

[04:47] needed, and the frame spacing was on the

[04:49] jumpier side. This sequence, for

[04:51] example, looked slow and clumsy and

[04:52] didn't have that flow and energy

[04:54] Go-Shono was probably going for.

[04:56] Similarly, this gavel hit was a bit

[04:58] stiff. This shot melted quite a bit, and

[05:00] the red lighting came off as a bit

[05:02] excessive and uninspired. I did like

[05:04] this shot, though. Definitely on the

[05:06] economical side as far as animation

[05:08] goes, but a decent amount of weight.

[05:10] Anyway, this was then followed by the

[05:12] highlight scene, the scene that will

[05:14] undoubtedly be talked about the most

[05:15] online, and for good reason, the scene

[05:18] animated by Neon 41. Now, Neon, as some

[05:21] of you may know, is a Yutaka

[05:22] Nakamura-inspired Chinese animator best

[05:24] known for his work on shows like Super

[05:26] Cube. Yes, the fight you're thinking of,

[05:28] and this was his Japanese anime debut,

[05:30] [music]

[05:30] and what a debut it was.

[05:33] Before we talk about his sequence,

[05:34] though, let me yap for a second. It's

[05:36] relevant, I promise. Back when his Super

[05:38] Cube episode aired, I was one of the

[05:40] people who was very impressed by his raw

[05:42] animation skills, but took issue with

[05:44] his sense of timing and flow. I won't go

[05:46] into detail, but basically his work felt

[05:48] a bit too animation for the sake of

[05:50] animation if that makes sense. There

[05:52] wasn't much directorial intent behind

[05:54] many of his shots. Controversial, I

[05:56] know, but that's just the way I felt.

[05:59] Anyway, with all that in mind, this was

[06:01] my favorite work from him ever. I loved

[06:03] it. I thought it was brilliant, and yes,

[06:05] I will elaborate. From a storyboarding

[06:08] point of view, the framing and some of

[06:09] the poses looked similar to his previous

[06:11] works, which leads me to believe he was

[06:13] allowed to modify the storyboards if

[06:15] fair bit. And like I said, it was

[06:16] amazing, better than his previous works,

[06:18] especially when it comes to action

[06:20] structure and storyboarding.

[06:22] The tempo felt exciting. The pacing

[06:24] wasn't mundane, which was one of my

[06:26] biggest issues with the Super Cube

[06:27] episode. The action would speed up and

[06:29] then slow down and then speed up again

[06:31] and then slow down again. There was

[06:33] variation. The pacing wasn't one note.

[06:35] Plus, the character animation was more

[06:37] focused with less wasted motion and

[06:39] unnecessary flailing around of limbs.

[06:42] Also worth mentioning, the sequence was

[06:44] pretty heavily corrected and extensively

[06:46] cleaned up, which helped avoid that boxy

[06:48] Chinese animation look, which there

[06:50] isn't anything explicitly wrong about

[06:52] it, but I'm not the biggest fan. Now,

[06:55] just to clarify, what I just described

[06:56] isn't as simple as let's just redraw it,

[06:59] lol. There's a lot more to it than that.

[07:01] Modifying the drawings to fit a Japanese

[07:04] anime without compromising Neon's

[07:05] distinct style and animation quirks is a

[07:08] Herculean task that probably [music]

[07:09] took a lot of work. Hats off to the

[07:11] animation direction and cleanup teams.

[07:14] Anyway, storyboards and drawings aside,

[07:16] let's finally talk about the animation.

[07:18] Holy

[07:20] Here's the thing, Neon loves to make

[07:22] things move. His characters are always

[07:24] in motion, always doing something, an

[07:26] effect accentuated by his liberal smear

[07:28] use. The sequence was around 80 seconds

[07:31] long, and there was maybe 8 to 10

[07:33] seconds where the characters weren't

[07:34] explicitly in motion. Again, Neon packed

[07:37] a tremendous amount of animation power

[07:39] into the sequence, and I'm glad he did.

[07:42] We started with this buttery smooth

[07:43] exchange of strikes with two constantly

[07:46] animated characters approaching the

[07:47] camera followed by a series of quick

[07:49] fluid cuts that they did fantastic job

[07:51] of preserving the sense of flow between

[07:53] them. This section for example, Higuruma

[07:56] hit the gavel and the energy of the

[07:57] strike was paid off by the next three

[07:59] cuts. This close-up and these two wide

[08:01] shots are all three used this shot as

[08:03] the build-up. As these gavel throws got

[08:06] more intense, the number of cuts went up

[08:08] and the poses became more energetic

[08:10] giving it that sense of build-up and

[08:12] thankfully those quick shots were

[08:13] buffered by these slow-motion shots

[08:15] helping the viewer fully comprehend what

[08:17] was happening giving their eyes an

[08:18] opportunity to rest and making the sense

[08:21] of impact stronger. I loved this

[08:23] sequence. The kick had so much energy.

[08:26] It started with a side profile of

[08:28] Higuruma's legs as he jumped and the

[08:29] energy of it was transferred to and

[08:31] enhanced by the next cut. Higuruma

[08:34] occupied a tiny part of the screen here,

[08:36] but a few frames and one and a half

[08:37] battle rolls later he was all up close

[08:39] and personal giving the strike a

[08:40] tremendous amount of energy which was

[08:42] then paid off by this wide shot. Amazing

[08:45] stuff.

[08:46] Again, the characters never stopped

[08:48] moving. The strike exchanges, the really

[08:50] lifelike rag-dolling, the acrobatics,

[08:52] even the subtle bits of acting, highly

[08:54] consistent three-dimensional gavel

[08:56] animation and bits of 2D background

[08:58] work, the whole thing was animated

[09:00] flawlessly. Plus Nyan and Orgoch Shono,

[09:02] whoever was in charge did a fantastic

[09:04] job of using both long shots and quick

[09:07] successive cuts. The timing on both was

[09:09] perfect conveying a raw, visceral,

[09:11] uncontrolled sense of intensity that the

[09:13] series hasn't seen since its Songo Park

[09:15] days. Insane work. Also, I'm glad some

[09:18] of Nyan's animation mannerisms made it

[09:20] to the final product. His distinct sharp

[09:23] shading, though somewhat Lego block-like

[09:25] debris, and that classic partially

[09:27] clenched open hand, it was all there.

[09:30] Like I said, there was so much energy

[09:31] packed into the sequence. The kicks, the

[09:34] rag-dolls, the the thing felt alive.

[09:36] Plus some of the visual ideas were

[09:38] brilliant. The tracking shot of Yuji's

[09:40] feet, the almost comedic rapid-fire

[09:42] attacks, the spotlight providing some

[09:44] much-needed color contrast, amazing

[09:46] stuff.

[09:47] I won't go over every shot, but to sum

[09:49] it up, this was one of the best

[09:50] sequences across the entirety of JJK in

[09:53] my opinion, although that might just be

[09:55] recency bias talking. Neon's incredible

[09:57] layouts and the animation directors and

[09:59] 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.