The much-anticipated adaptation of the Shibuya Incident Arc has finally ended, and it delivered non-stop action, shocking deaths, and huge changes to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. But is that enough? Though the fights are handsomely animated and there are some moments of visual brilliance, the arc ends up being nonsensical fight after nonsensical fight without much emotion in the storytelling. There’s a cheapness to many of the deaths, and even though the story arrives at some big changes, it does so after a meandering story.
The first season of Jujutsu Kaisen had a great mix of comedy and action with horror influences that gave it a unique aesthetic. Then the first half of the second season came in with devastating character drama that deepened the world and lore, and made what was a relatively small villain into a fascinating and complex character. The Shibuya Incident Arc, unfortunately, seems to misunderstand that it wasn't the action alone, but the sum of Jujutsu Kaisen’s parts that made this show great. The problems begin with the awkward chronology of the arcs: It's been four years since last we saw Yuji and his friends, and the moment we are reunited with them, they’re separated into dozens of teams sent to respond to a full-scale attack by cursed spirits in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo.
Given just how much weight (and screentime) are devoted to the fight scenes, it’s reassuring that they look magnificent – for the most part. This would be a good time to mention the allegations of crunch and unfair compensation recently leveled against Jujutsu Kaisen studio Mappa, with one animation director going so far as saying (in a now-deleted post) that one Shibuya Incident episode made it to air as “30% of the intended vision.” Some cuts in several of the arc’s episodes do indeed look unfinished, like Todo and Yuji’s fight against Mahito. This is no criticism of the animation team, who give it their all to pull off plenty of visual spectacle. Particularly great is the fight between Jogo and Sukuna, a Shibuya Incident highlight. It has a stunning use of proportions, fiery imagery, and color, giving the impression of a clash between titans that goes beyond our comprehension of physics.
With so much combat and so little breathing room, the action becomes a slog – which is the last thing you want out of your battle shonen. If all you need out of Jujutsu Kaisen is people punching each other through a ton of VFX, this might not be so bad. It’s when you can't tell what the point of a fight is that’s the issue.
This is especially true once the body count starts to rise. Several characters die or get put out of commission by their injuries – possibly for the rest of the series. While a couple of these casualties are emotionally crushing and brought upon by character choices, some are used for shock value at best, and mere plot points at worst. It's not like there aren't stakes: Just look at the giant hole where Shibuya used to be, or Gojo being imprisoned.
Because the cast is separated at the beginning of the arc, we tend to only see some of them right before they die, making them seem like objects to be discarded rather than important, fleshed-out characters. It’s a shame, because Jujutsu Kaisen was always better when focusing on its larger ensemble rather than Yuji himself. Seeing him mostly react to the villains' plot while his friends drop like flies makes Yuji a worse character, and weakens the larger ensemble, too. Likewise, having the villain get away from a fight right before losing time and time again quickly becomes annoying and tiresome.
In expanding the fights from the manga for visual spectacle, the Shibuya Incident Arc ends up leaving little room for anything else. Though it’s clear with each passing episode that the events of the arc have big and immediate repercussions for the larger world of Jujutsu Kaisen, we are left with only a short montage in the final minutes to witness the reaction outside of Shibuya. The few times the show attempts to deliver information during action scenes, it’s through clunkily delivered, convoluted exposition.
