Highlights
- The anime adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen is doing a fantastic job with the Shibuya Incident Arc, building up character dynamics and adding details for fans.
- The episode emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the obvious course of action to move forward.
- The characters in Jujutsu Kaisen exist in a gray area of morality, with no clear distinction between good and evil, and each character follows their own motives and gets to their own conclusions.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 36, "Dull Knife", now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Dull Knife had a lot going on which doesn't come to a surprise as the show enters the critical stages of the Shibuya Incident Arc. The anime adaptation put a little more emphasis on how different character personalities built up through the conflict, while also adding a few details to please the fans. Especially those who beg for every second they can get of Kento Nanami.
As if they were chess pieces, pretty much everyone is now in position for a final/decisive battle or move, right before everything spirals out of control. A few exciting battles will fill the next couple of episodes, but nothing can prepare fans for what will come after. So for now, let's appreciate the fantastic job MAPPA is doing with the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen.
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Look Beyond
The first of many characters' dynamics that complete this episode is the one featuring the star duo of the previous episode, Megumi and Yuji. During their battle against Jiro it was evident who played the role of calm, composed leader. If it wasn't for Megumi, this arc would have played out entirely different. Just a single decision set an inevitable course of events. When Ino fell off the top of the building, he decided the best course of action was for them to split, letting Toji roam free and Yuji enter the epicenter of the incident.
A similar dynamic also sets another key path. Maki analyzes the situation and sends Kugisaki and Nitta away for their encounter with the murderer of the assistants, Haruta Shigemo. Nobara found herself in a terrible matchup for her, that only left space for the anime adaptation to add a very cool concussion animation and some gruesome scenes with Nitta being stabbed. Still, in both cases looking beyond the obvious course of action was necessary to move forward, and if it served for Nanami to get busy, so be it.
No More Pulling Punches
The average 9 to 5 sorcerer won't go out of their way for the sake of the job. At the end of the day it's just a job like any other. However, for Kento Nanami, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, there was always another layer. He may seem unfazed, always indifferent, something the voice acting portrays to perfection, but he has as much of an urge for helping others as Itadori.
Perhaps that's why when he saw his friend lying on the floor almost dead surrounded by the bodies of more of his coworkers something unlocked in him. A strong feeling that was always being repressed but a feeling that defined him, anger. The contrast, the one that provoked him enough to break character is someone who can't really comprehend anger. Thus reflecting on two opposite ways of understanding death: rejection and embracement.
Haruta is a somewhat mysterious character with a somewhat mysterious cursed technique. He seems to be able to withstand any attack, but every time he gets hit with an attack powerful enough to kill him the marks under his eyes start to fade away. More importantly, he is someone who embraces death as pure joyful chaos. Even when getting beat to a pulp his childish nature doesn't go away.
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen the traits Nanami and Haruta represent are not really a tag, but a simple showcase of their inner personality. In this particular scenario, it served the purpose of Nanami reaching his limit. With patience gone, the punches sure hit strong. But whether it was the right thing to do, that's not something at stake here.
Two Sides
One might think this behavior or personality difference is canonically associated with good or evil. In Jujutsu Kaisen though, good and evil aren't necessarily a thing. It has been stated before as a debate whether the existence of sorcerers it's good or harmful for society. Either way, pretty much every character moves in a gray area, aside Mahito, maybe. Perhaps that's why in this episode Mei and Ui are on the side of embracing death, whereas the allegedly evil curse user she faced was begging for his life.
The fact is, no one has gotten closer to feeling the same as Nanami in this episode than Suguru Geto, no matter if the example is Riko, or that village or his friends from Jujutsu High. Mei only views other people's lives as mere tools only valuable when they have a specific purpose for her. This can relate to how Mahito views things, or on a more similar note, Pseudo-Geto.
Jujutsu Kaisen is built around death, so a simple dichotomy won't do it. There is no right answer either. Each character follows their own motives and comes to their own conclusions. As with any good dark fantasy, there is no hopeful way out, no perfect future plan that will solve everything and have everyone alive and well, happy together. The two confronted sides aren't such. This is a story of overcoming pain or losing against it. Or even better, an almost infinite spectrum with one of these options at the top and the other one at the bottom.
Setting, Completed
A lot of things happened in this episode. The most engaging aspect was when Nanami defeated, or at least knocked Haruta out, and informed everyone about Gojo's sealing. But the first part of the build-up for the coming episodes was Mei and Ui confronting Pseudo-Geto. He used the Smallpox Deity a special-grade cursed spirit that quickly got them into a domain battle. This domain traps their victim inside a coffin that then gets hit by a rock, and if the target doesn't get out before it counts to three they die.
This battle will likely finish in episode 37 which will also see at least the start of Yuji vs. Choso. As he and Mahito decided, Yuji can now be killed since Satoru is not around anymore. Choso wants to take revenge for the death of his brothers, another example of Nanami's rejection of death, but he is not the only one looking for Yuji. The different battle fronts are set, Yuji and Mei with their incursions, and Nanami, Maki and Naobito Zen'in entering Shibuya. Every battle left is going to be special.