It's been a long time coming, but Jujutsu Kaisen is finally back on July 6, and despite the long hiatus and the fears of how it might suffer without its original director Sunghoo Park, people are reasonably excited. From the moment the first trailer dropped, it was clear that Season 2 was going to look and feel different, and considering how different the story will be this time around, it feels awfully fitting. Season 1 told the story of Yuji Itadori, a boy with abnormal strength who finds themselves merged with a powerful demon and is subsequently marked for execution - at least until he receives an offer. He can either be killed or get trained as a jujutsu sorcerer and help collect the fingers of the demon he's merged with, so it can be properly exorcised - which will also kill him.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Yuji picks the choice that will let him live longer and do some good in the process. The first season became a huge hit on account of its gorgeous animation, slick fight choreography, and above all the cast, whose grounded personalities had a way of cutting through the supernatural in a way that made them easily relatable. Season 2, however, is taking a break from Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, and the gang.
Take it Back To 2006
Whereas the first was set in 2017, the sequel is turning the clock back to 2006 to see how everyone's favorite overpowered stud of a teacher, Satoru Gojo, got his start. Fans get to see how he and Suguru Geto became friends and their inevitable falling out, referenced in the film Jujutsu Kaisen 0. This season will also feature some of the other teachers back when they were students and mark the anime debut of some fan-favorite characters from the manga.
As of the time of writing, the total number of episodes is unknown, as is how long viewers will have to wait to see the original cast take the spotlight again. It's certainly a curious choice to follow up the first season with not just a prequel film following a different protagonist, but a sequel that is also a prequel. To its credit though, it has kept each new installment feeling fresh and different.
The original posters do show Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, and an adult Gojo, mirrored against Gojo in his high school days, so there will presumably be some cutting back and forth. However, as yet, there hasn't been any footage shown in the present day. Regardless, getting a chance to flesh out the older cast through flashbacks is a fantastic opportunity to flesh out the cast and inform the direction of the story in the modern day.
Back in the first season, the villains made a pretty big deal about getting Gojo out of the picture so that they could fulfill their plans easier. It's what compelled Jogo to attack him in Episode 7 and what prompted the creation of a barrier only he couldn't enter during the ambush of the Sister School Event. Gojo is a big target, and from his skill set, it's easy to see why.
Given how powerful he is, seeing him at a younger age, still powerful but perhaps less refined in his technique, could go a long way in developing him further. As a supporting character, he's already a ludicrously fun character. Now he's taking the spot of protagonist and even if it's only for a short time, the poster alone conveys so much of his infectious swagger that it's as if he's taken over the show by force. It looks like plain fun.
The New Look
People loved the look of Jujutsu Kaisen, and not everyone has had quite the same reactions to the new season from the two trailers shown. It's not as if anyone thinks that it looks bad because - to be fair, just look at it - but it's the small changes in the style that have some fans feeling uncertain. Casual viewers notice little things like the details in Gojo's eyes or the way characters are drawn and come to conclusions about how the show might look and feel.
The trailers emphasize a lot of expressive character animation that can feel realistic and cartoony, but will that come at the cost of the consistency of the art style? Season 1 had plenty of great sakuga, but it also had a sort of baseline of quality and a way of drawing the characters. Trailers naturally put the best work forward to get people enticed, so it won't be clear what the baseline of quality will be until a few episodes in.
For what it's worth, fans shouldn't be too quick to worry, and the reason is director Shota Goshozono. He directed one of the best episodes of Season 1 and has done some great work on other shows like Ousama Ranking and Chainsaw Man. There's not much to be said that we didn't already say in our piece on his career and style, but rest assured, he's probably the best person to take over for Sunghoo Park.
Tadashi Hiramatsu will return as character designer, but he's joined by Sayaka Koiso, a fellow character designer as well as an animator across Season 1 and the chief animation director of the film. There have been change-ups in the production crew both big and small, but enough of the creative team have returned that this shouldn't feel like a huge departure.
The things that are new should have us the most excited, at least so long as the show doesn't seem to crumble under the weight of its studio's ambitions. It wouldn't be a preview of a MAPPA series without at least a brief mention of how many projects they have under their belt. Even the author of Jujutsu Kaisen, Gege Akutami, was excited about the new trailer but simultaneously concerned about the work it took to make it.
It's easy to type out a reminder about a studio's questionable work ethic, and it's even easier to sound empty and hypocritical when said reminder is following nothing but praise and excitement. There's a discussion about the industry's workload and conditions that should be had, but as for those content to savor the work of talented artists, the final product should reflect the truth.
What's good will be good because of the talent behind this series and what will potentially be bad shouldn't shock anyone. Here's hoping that Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 will not only be good but that its production is and will continue to be well-managed - at the very least, relatively. Should it fumble, it would behoove this community to be mindful of who we blame for its shortcomings.