Warning! Contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 6!Studio MAPPA have been doing a great job with their adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 and one scene proves it. Of course beyond the gorgeous production value of the show, a major force behind the anime’s success is the quality of the original manga by Gege Akutami. The anime itself recognizes this, and uses this to its advantage as the latest episode shows.
Instead of diving straight into the fight between Mahito and Mechamaru that the episode ends on, Jujutsu Kaisen‘s sixth episode begins by adapting a chapter from before the Gojo’s Past arc. In it, Yuji reunites with an old classmate from middle school who has a crush on him. The moment isn’t too plot relevant, but it does serve as a great showcase for Yuji, Nobara and Fushiguro’s personalities and dynamic. The fact that MAPPA adapted it here when they could have easily skipped it shows that the anime’s staff recognized the importance of this vignette and chose to prioritize making the best show they could rather than immediately capitalizing on the Shibuya Incident arc’s hype.
Jujutsu Kaisen Prioritizes Characters Over Immediate Action
Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Shibuya Incident arc is one of the most anticipated storylines in a currently airing show. This is for good reason, as the arc features bombastic battles, a myriad of twists, and some events that shake the status quo of the series to its core all of which puts it on a similar level as Hunter x Hunter‘s Chimera Ant arc. The anime took almost a month-long hiatus in order to prepare for the arc, and the show is devoting most of its second season’s runtime to it. This has only served to build the anticipation for this arc even further, both among manga readers who are close to seeing some iconic moments immortalized on screen and among anime-only fans who have surely heard about the buzz this arc has generated.
However, while immediately diving into the explosive action of Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Shibuya Incident arc and capitalizing on that buzz may seem like a good move from a business perspective, it would diminish the story. The plot wouldn’t necessarily suffer, as Yuji’s friend doesn’t have a large role in the series after this point (unless Gege is planning on bringing her back as a surprise at the very end of the manga) but it would have made the series much worse for fans. It has been years since fans last got to see Yuji, Nobara, and Fushiguro hang out together, and letting fans see the group having fun before the serious Shibuya Incident arc will help reintroduce them to the series.
Jujutsu Kaisen is Being Adapted Almost Perfectly By Studio MAPPA
Thankfully for fans, Studio MAPPA understood the value of including this scene in the anime. Some fans may be annoyed that the action has been slightly delayed in favor of more slice-of-life antics, but looking back after the season is over they will likely appreciate this calm reprieve. Now that MAPPA has once again proven that Jujitsu Kaisen‘s adaptation is in good hands, fans can relax and look forward to the next arc knowing that it won’t be botched.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
