Highlights
- Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 40 delivers yet another fight-of-the-year contender with Sukuna humbling Jogo in a spectacular fashion, featuring mesmerizing animation.
- Toji's fight with his son, Megumi, showcases the complicated relationships between sorcerers, clans, and families in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
- Sukuna's true merciless villainous nature is revealed as he plays with sorcerers like puppets and unleashes his powerful fire attack, burning Jogo in the process.
- The end of the episode shows a sneak peek of what's coming in episode 41.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 40, "Thunderclap", now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Every week it's time to wonder if Jujutsu Kaisen will deliver another fight of the year candidate or instead will get heavily criticized by the fans over some backgrounds and trees. This week it was a fight of the year candidate, and deservedly so. Sukuna humbling Jogo in a spectacular fashion was one for the ages thanks to the mesmerizing animation on display.
A rare cinematic start, roughly 10 seconds of intro, hinted that this episode was going to be special. Apart from all that went down, the artistic decisions made during these fights were on point, and they even left some time to preview episode 41 and add little changes to the ending. If this was so good with ghosting, the Blu-ray version is surely going to sell well.
Fushiguro, Not Zen'in
Sukuna vs. Jogo was so shocking that it's easy to forget what came before, although Toji fighting his son was also a frenetic display of the very best animated Jujutsu Kaisen fights. The first fight of the episode also left tons of iconic moments. If they had Toji biting a fish in the last episode, this time he bit one of Megumi's rabbits. The animation for the scene where Toji hits the floor and defeats hundreds of shikigami with little bits of concrete is just so smooth.
Being in awe of the fights in this episode is unavoidable. But what should be highlighted about Megumi vs. Toji is actually the ending. For a moment, Toji was able to take control of the body he was temporarily in. It was in a flash, but a blurry memory of his past resurfaced. Selling Megumi to Naobito, thinking that for someone with talent, that wicked family might not be that bad.
Earlier in the season, fans got a chance to see his final wish after losing to Gojo. All he could think of was stopping Megumi from being sold to the Zen'in. For such a terrible father, his final moments were centered around the exact same thing again. With the few moments of clarity he had, Toji asked for his name. Upon hearing Fushiguro, he could now happily go back to being dead, and he made sure of that himself. A great scene that showcases once more the complicated relationships between sorcerers, clans and families in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Ready, Go!
In between stellar fights, Panda and Kusakabe cross paths with some of the former followers of Suguru Geto's revolution. This encounter served to introduce the scene in which said group takes different paths upon hearing of Kenjaku's plans for Geto's body. Kusakabe's cowardly nature came to light, as well as Panda's terrible orientation. Their confrontation was ironic from start to finish. Geto's group didn't want to kill sorcerers, Kusakabe didn't want to fight at all, Panda was just going with the flow, and then Sukuna came down.
One of the main purposes of these episodes is to reveal Sukuna as the true merciless villain. A selfish and cruel monster that started to act as such in the last episode. It was the turn this time for these two groups of sorcerers to suffer his demeanor. He simply decided to play with them. Sukuna ordered them to stay still while Jogo's final attack was approaching. Moving would mean instant death. Staying there and receiving the attack would also achieve the same result. All they could do was play along until he let them run away from the explosion.
If anyone was hoping for Sukuna to turn around and somehow help Yuji in the future. Stop hoping. This is who he is. His power is immense. He can't help but see everyone else as mere ants. In a way, he was born with an inevitable alienation, similar to Satoru. The difference is that he didn't have someone like Suguru, so his only way to interact with others is instinctual, violent. He uses the rest of the world as his entertainment. Like Mei, a life has no value beyond the use he can get from it.
Burning Fire With Fire
The cinematic style kept returning for iconic moments, and none was more iconic than Sukuna unleashing his fire-based arrow. This insanely strong fire attack is one of the biggest mysteries surrounding Sukuna's cursed technique. It activates after he opens something that was muted during this episode. He actually burned Jogo, the cursed spirit associated with the fear of volcanoes and other fire-related natural disasters.
After this amazing scene, probably the peak of the episode visually, in a sort of blank space where curses are reunited after death, Sukuna managed to enter and answered Jogo's questions. He thought their wishes to take the place of humans were weak, they didn't have a true hunger to reach their ideals. However, he complimented Jogo as one of the best fighters he has ever had the chance to fight, making the already dead cursed spirit find some tears. From the beginning, Sukuna's power wasn't even close to the special-grades, let alone your regular sorcerer.
The aftermath of the massive battle between them has Uraume joining Sukuna. They are a curse user from a thousand years ago, like Sukuna. His loyal servant and companion who has been plotting for their master's revival with Kenjaku as an ally.
Episode 41 Preview
The last seconds of the episode make a slight jump in time and show Megumi in a state of suspended death. He played his ultimate card after being ambushed by Haruta Shigemo, who didn't seem to learn his lesson fighting Nanami. It also shows someone walking, that someone is the ultimate shikigami Megumi has been saving up his sleeve until now.
He was fighting with the assurance of Shoko Ieri being able to repair his injuries with her ability to use the reverse cursed technique on others. But this plan goes well beyond that. His life now depends on one thing only; Sukuna's selfish interest in him, and his wish to keep him alive at all costs. On the other hand, Haruta's luck, or rather cursed technique, is about to run out.
