Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 51- Cinema for the Small Screen

Perfect Preparation is it, the greatest shining beacon of Jujutsu Kaisen’s  Culling Games material, the only non controversial part in that elaborate puzzle of a story. Gege Akutami laid out a brilliant blueprint that Shouta Goshozono has taken up and given the touch of death. For his 4th consecutive storyboard he assembled what can only be presumed as THE episode of this season of JJK, the biggest, the baddest, the boldest 28 minutes of television. Does it have the razor sharp artistic finesse of Sunkanohara’s opus Red Glare, no. Is it the self destructive ambitious monster that was Thunderclap, Part 2, also no. It forms a synthesis of those two, with tight purposeful direction to start giving way to an explosive climax of cutting edge animation all around the plot of Maki Zenin obtaining her freedom from the festering disease that is her clan.

Jujutsu Sorcerers have never been hero’s, it is one of the first things this franchise ever established and while it was always in the background the great clans that run the Jujutsu world have always been an oppressive corrupting force. Self serving and misogynistic is the Zenin Clan, a pathetic group of individuals hiding in fear of a ghost they created a decade ago and conspiring to kill those who challenge their status quo today. Maki, the clans failed low cursed energy child(and a women at that) returns to collect cursed weapons they had hoarded with the explicit permission of their new head Megumi but she expects trouble regardless. Her mother is the only one that tries to stop the events that will ensue, pleading for her to stay back and submit like she has, accept her position and maybe survive inside this system. Sometimes though a system can’t be reformed, sometimes you just have to burn it all to the ground and let the blood flow.

Her father made that choice easy because for him it was, he murders his own children, curses their very existence and walks away to submit to whoever ends up clan head after that.

Mai is not much of a character. I can’t tell you the last time I saw her and I can’t tell you the last thing she did in this story but that’s par for the course with Gege’s handling of his greater cast post S1. What I do remember of her is a pretty bitter rivalry with Maki that played out in the tournament arc that ended in a big fight(coincidentally Gosso’s first SB of the franchise) before she exited the series basically. These two aren’t close, twins in the Jujutsu world are actually cursed by the rules of the power system to be halved in potential as they’re treated as half an individual. Maki had low cursed energy and Mai has a half hearted technique, they hold each other back in this rigid world just by existing, they are each other’s greatest weakness and are their parents greatest curse as female twins. Familial love is very absent in Jujutsu Kaisen and that’s doubly so for the Zenin’s which is why the tragedy of it’s faint existence hurts so much. Mai could never be a full person in this twisted world and her character would never be a player in this story so it’s haunting to see her accept it all in the end and give everything to Maki, her power, her hatred, and most importantly her love. When she gives her life for Maki she leaves her with some final words, “destroy everything”.

And so with her love dies, family dies and all that’s left is an army of the greatest scum and villainy in the “proper” Jujutsu world and a single burning desire mixed with newfound power. Maki can and Maki will KILL THEM ALL!

That’s the substantive setup for what will ensue, the motivation that makes the madness so earned and satisfying. None of the goons that we’ll waste matter beyond their violent adherence to the system and thankfully both Gege and Gosso recognized that with minimal yapping necessary. Naoya is the only true antagonist, the singular force that deserves special attention and so we get more scenes of him being a piece of filth before he waits out the carnage until he can get the spotlight all for himself. Until that turn it’s time to waste the fodder and pay respects to legends of this industry and others. Maki one shots her pathetic excuse for a father begins the part of the episode that has everyone excited for sheer bullshit and spectacle(thanks Gigpt;) Gosso also directed this episode alongside Risa Suzuki and Yuusuke Sunouchi but when Maki makes it to the first stage we learn who’s actually pulling the strings because brother someone let Quentin Tarantino in for Kill Bill Volume 3 babyyyy.

I had the pleasure of watching Kill Bill for the first time ever in theatres recently and while overall it isn’t completely my cuppa tea Chapter 5, Showdown at House of Blue Leaves was worth the price of admission alone, a gloriously over the top onslaught of artful ultraviolence straight after my own heart. The physical, tangible carnage makes it an action scene this homage could never dream to surpass but boy does it try it’s best. Maki cleaves through goons in the most stunning fashion, clear choreography abandoned for exaggerated almost comedic posing, goons fighting like stick man animation that spray just all the blood, editing that is chaotic and quick and at the center of it all Maki, stoic and unbothered, not even breaking a sweat. Then there’s the music which is… a choice.

Perfect Preparation has a weird score, just an absolute set of choices that are interesting and stand out for good or bad. When I use the word weird it is not a value judgement of good or bad because I would just use those words otherwise. Weird to me means something stands out, something isn’t connecting fully with the whole in a fashion that confuses me to a point where I cannot decide clearly whether I like it or not. Broken down into scenes and tracks though I can and for this homage I can definitely say I do not like this song fully, but I get it. This is not a tense action scene, these are not threats to Maki heck she glides on blood hilariously just to screw with her prey and so the jumpy, lighthearted beat is very appropriate, this isn’t hype this is a casual dance. Than the bastard singer just starts saying lalala in a lazy monotone which stands not just above the appropriate instrumentation but the scene as a whole and I hate it, oh god it annoys me please shut up and make this an instrumental only song we we’re so close to greatness. Musically only, the actual sequence was undeniable greatness, the color giving way deliciously to a monochrome stained crimson as Shoutaro Ban handles most of this silly little slaying. And when the last body drops and Maki literally hits the lights bring the world to full color again the big guns get deployed for a 1v4.

Here the homage and animation itself switches from Tarantino to a home grown Japanese talent, Yutaka Nakamura. Aliased and unknown to me personally animator “mokmok” handles a big chunk, going full yutapon with his scale, animation style and timing as Maki effortlessly dumpsters some of the Zenin’s top dogs, Nobuaki’s demise in particular being a brutal highlight. The music is more appropriate and grand, I’m pretty sure this is the seasons main theme and it slaps.

Naoya is my goat, he is the most hateable of the Zenin’s as well as the most visually stimulating and the production team went all out making this the biggest flex they had so far. The Seshimo lines most trusted freelancers join in with the likes of Saucelot, HoneHone, Julian Bentley, Daniel Kim, Nakaya Onsen, Hakyuu Go(t that paycheck eh) delivering the greatest stream of nonstop sakuga I’ve seen since Reze which isn’t surprising since that’s where they last assembled like this, Sou Miyazaki and his Princess Kaguya ass smeary inkstrokes winning the most points though. Naoya powers at their full potential here is an animators wet dream and they all gave him as much force as they could, alongside a set of fantastic songs especially the western jingle type thing to start.

All this momentum comes to a head, specifically Naoya’s when Maki who’s been tossed around like a ragdoll(uninjured though) breaks through his 24fps technique and quite literally Fatalities his ass, shattering his skull in oh so satisfying slow motion. With him obliterated Maki’s current task is complete, barring an eye and a sister she is now the next incarnate of Toji, zero cursed energy, unparalleled physical strength and this ghost will now finish off the scraps of the clan that birthed her. She didn’t finish off Naoya though, that courtesy she left for her dying mother and it’s just as satisfying seeing him squirm all over again, her own last thoughts thanking Maki for being born to her.