SPOILER: This column contains potential spoilers for "Jujutsu Kaisen" Season 3.
"Jujutsu Kaisen" wrapped up its explosive third season on March 26, airing 12 episodes in total exclusively on Crunchyroll, making it 11 episodes shorter than its previous season.
But even in a shorter runtime, the new episodes maintained and sometimes exceeded the quality of prior seasons.
The show’s first season was a smash hit among American audiences when it released in 2020, in part because of the heightened popularity of anime on TikTok during the pandemic. Audiences connected with the characters, Satoru Gojo in particular, and the show quickly became famous for its high-quality action set pieces.
Season 2 upped the stakes, killing off fan-favorite characters and shifting towards a much darker tone. The second season was received even better than the first because it delivered twice the fights with a higher, almost film-level animation quality.
I am happy to report that Season 3 exceeded my high expectations set by Season 2. The action scenes are beautifully animated and are written in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The show shines when integrating the characters’ internal conflicts with the action pieces, making each battle deeply personal. This season also introduces a ton of new characters whose powers are just as interesting as their motivations.
This season follows our characters as they try to free their powerful teacher, Gojo, after the ancient sorcerer Kenjaku trapped him in a prison realm. After resurrecting other ancient sorcerers and giving some modern-day citizens the ability to practice sorcery, Kenjaku forces them into a battle royale called the culling game to try and force an evolution for humanity. To free Gojo from Kenjaku and find a way to stop this evolution, our characters must participate in the culling game.
A highlight of this season for me was the introduction of Higuruma, a former public defender and recently awakened sorcerer who battles Yuji, the protagonist, in a unique way. Higuruma can force his opponent into a courtroom trial and if they are found guilty, he can confiscate their abilities.
The fight between these two is so compelling because their internal conflicts are intrinsically tied to their battle. Due to events in seasons prior, Yuji is struggling with guilt for crimes that were out of his control. This makes Higuruma a perfect foil for Yuji, as he became jaded towards the judicial system after he failed to stop the sentencing of his innocent client to life in prison.
In other cases, I felt that some fights were underdeveloped. Specifically, I was disappointed with the battle between Megumi and Reggie that takes up episodes 9 and 10. At this point in the story, Megumi has a ton of personal drama that isn’t acknowledged during the fight. While the animation and fight choreography were still outstanding, I felt like this sequence had a ton of wasted potential.
When time is used for fights that don’t progress the story, the plot can feel underdeveloped or rushed. In this regard, I found the third episode of this season to be really messy. In the third episode, our main characters spend the entire runtime in one room listening to Tengen explain the rules of the culling game as well as elaborate on important plot details.
The reason this episode was lackluster wasn’t because of its lack of action; other episodes in this season had little to no action and were still enjoyable, such as Higuruma’s backstory. This episode wasn’t entertaining because simply explaining plot events (in confusing ways too, mind you) holds little to no emotional weight, and just leaves the viewer bored.
To end on a good note, I’ll say the episode that directly follows this is my favorite episode of the entire series. “Perfect Preparation” is entirely self-contained, following Maki as she faces off against her entire clan all by herself. The episode strikes a perfect balance between emotion, excitement and triumph.
The episode makes bold aesthetic choices that make it stand out from other episodes as well. For example, there is a fight sequence in the episode that is in black and white, with the only color being found in the blood, a potential homage to Quenten Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Vol 1.”
In the end, "Jujutsu Kaisen" Season 3 continues the show’s hot streak of being the best-looking animated series currently being aired. If you liked the previous season or simply enjoy action and animation, be sure to check it out.
