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Being the first installment of the most anticipated arc of MAPPA’s most popular anime, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 had much to live up to. However, unlike the previous five episodes of the season and the whole of season 1, this episode left two different impressions on the two main subsets of viewers: the manga-readers and the anime-only viewers.
After the draught of content for the past three weeks, fans were not just parched but downright salivating for the season to start back up. Additionally, episode 6 was marketed as the beginning of the Shibuya Incident arc, which is universally hailed as the arc that took Jujutsu Kaisen from a great manga to one of the greatest in recent times.
It stands to reason that manga readers, who are familiar with the content, and anime-only fans, who have only heard about it, had very different expectations from this episode. MAPPA added chapter 64 to the mix, making some fans wonder if Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 truly was the start of the Shibuya arc. However, answering this question requires a bit more deliberation.
Did Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 live up to fans’ expectations from the beginning of the Shibuya arc? A review
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6, titled It’s Like That, was directed by Ryota Aikei. The episode covered chapter 64 (It’s Like That), parts of chapter 79 (A Taste of Things to Come), and chapter 80 (Evening Festival, part 1) from the manga. Among these, chapter 64 is largely considered to be an in-between filler before Gojo’s Past arc.
The first part of chapter 79 was covered in episode 5, while chapter 80 is considered the first chapter to completely fall under the Shibuya Incident arc. However, and here is the tricky part, it doesn’t officially begin the Shibuya Incident, which starts from chapter 83. In addition, here lies what divides the expectations of anime-watchers and manga-readers.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 synopsis
After a mission, Nobara runs into Yuko Ozawa, Yuji’s middle school classmate who harbors feelings for him. However, after meeting Yuji, Ozawa chooses to keep her feelings to herself. Later, Utahime tells the students about two traitors in the jujutsu high schools, and they confirm Kokichi Muta, or Mechamaru, to be one of them after finding his real body gone from his hideout.
Elsewhere, Geto and Mahito, having previously entered a Binding Vow with Kokichi, fulfill their end of the bargain by healing his body. Immediately afterward, Kokichi and Mahito attack each other, with the former employing a gigantic puppet. Kokichi’s goal is to meet up with his friends and inform Satoru Gojo about the Curse Users’ plans for Shibuya.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6: Specifics
Undoubtedly, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is great and has been unanimously praised by the fans for its art and direction. The art style continues to be fluctuating, as it has become the staple for the second season. However, that does not necessarily mean that it has lessened in quality.
The vast difference in that animation style between the two halves of the episode greatly contributes to setting up the diametrically opposing moods for each section. Moreover, the contrasting color palettes and camera angles add to this effect. Voice actors also act in tandem with this note and provide two distinctly different atmospheres.
The new opening song, SPECIALZ by King Gnu, has sharply divided the fandom, with some finding it mediocre while others believe it to be perfect. However, the intro by MAPPA has only gained positive reactions. The ending theme, More Than Words by Hitsujibungaku, is much less talked about but no less endearing, especially in light of the tragedies that await fans further into the season.
One thing that does stand out in the second opening debuted in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is MAPPA's lack of care about spoiling things for anime-only fans. Other than that, there is little to criticize in terms of production or directorial choices made in this episode.
The start of the Shibuya Incident arc
This article has so far only praised Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6, so readers might be wondering why the title says what it does. Truly, the episode itself has not disappointed any fan - a distinction that needs to be made early. If anything, this episode cements that season 2’s art and animation is a cut above season 1’s.
If there is anything slightly controversial about this episode, it is the content. What Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 has done is exceeding some expectations while completely subverting the others. In other words, for most anime-only fans, while this was a great episode, it was decidedly not what they expected when they were waiting for what is often called the best arc of the series.
The Shibuya Incident arc has been propagated as the darkest and most gruesome arc of the series, one that delves into action straight away. However, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is definitely not that: it is partly wholesome and partly deals with a character no one cared about that deeply prior to this episode.
Any viewer unfamiliar with the manga beyond chapter 63 would not expect this to be the start of the arc. However, while MAPPA has doctored a bit of the beginning, it is indeed how an arc like Shibuya is supposed to start: with a prelude. Episode 6 is the first leg of a gradual upward climb that gets steeper and steeper with every step.
The Evening Festival: Character investment and expectation
The Shibuya Incident arc is made up of 2 parts: The Evening Festival (latter half of chapter 79 – chapter 82) and the Shibuya Incident (chapters 83 – 136). The Evening Festival sub-arc gives the viewers some key information and a minuscule amount of time to process it before the series jumps headfirst into Shibuya.
Originally, the Evening Festival sub-arc served as a slow respite between one emotionally draining arc and the next. However, it did not succeed, given that it is an action-packed arc itself and ends in a tragedy. What it managed to do was make the fans care about Kokichi Muta and Kasumi Miwa.
While both of these characters were intriguing during the Goodwill Event arc, they didn’t necessarily entice fans into investing in them in the same way the core trio or the Gojo-Geto duo have. Mechamaru and Miwa have been tertiary characters with little plot relevance up to this point. However, the Evening Festival arc changes that.
Mechamaru’s arc is supposed to serve as an exposition for Mahito’s mindset, Geto’s future plans, and a veritable information dump regarding Binding Vows. The last of these pertains to Sukuna’s vow with Yuji, and the additional point of Mahito’s interference with a Heavenly Restriction opens up possibilities for other such interventions in the future, namely regarding Maki Zen'in.
Therefore, in terms of emotional and informational payoff, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 should be a necessary part of the process, and in most parts, it is. However, for some viewers, there can be a certain disconnect in the episode, and it is largely due to the first part of the episode.
The blurred line between the preamble and a filler
Now, here is the crux of the matter: Was MAPPA’s decision to reorient the chronology a good idea? Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 spends the first half on a plotline with no further significance in the series, insofar as the manga is concerned, other than giving the viewers a better idea of Yuji Itadori’s personality. By most definitions, it is a filler.
Chapter 64 is largely considered an interlude between the Death Painting arc and Gojo’s Past arc. It is, as it has been presented in the anime, a much-needed break between an action-heavy arc and another emotionally taxing arc. Presenting it in between Gojo’s Past and the Shibuya Incident arcs serves much of the same purpose, with the additional benefit of bringing the core trio back into the field after their long absence.
Most fans would consider the Shibuya arc to begin from the next episode, and they would largely be correct, but not entirely so. As said before, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is the preface to the core of the arc, it is imprudent to expect the main event to begin from the first episode itself. This statement includes the first half of the episode. The rearrangement of chapter 64 in the anime was not only a good move but also a necessary one in the long run.
An emotional necessity vs. plot relevance
Undoubtedly, MAPPA’s key motivation in rearranging the chronology was to prolong the appearances of Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi in between two arcs where they are largely absent. The trio is among the most beloved characters in the series, and they have had little part to play in Gojo’s Past arc and the Evening Festival sub-arc.
Now, Gojo’s Past arc was centered around characters that the viewers are emotionally invested in, but the Evening Festival sub-arc, as mentioned above, does not have that luxury. By giving some screentime to the trio before the sub-arc, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 keeps the viewers’ attention and provides a singular moment of light-hearted fun before all hell breaks loose.
The biggest, and perhaps the only, criticism that any manga reader has on the Shibuya Incident arc is that Akutami provides his readers no room to process anything. This phenomenon continues from Gojo’s Past through the Evening Festival and Shibuya Incident, onto the next three arcs.
From chapter 65 to chapter 233 (the current chapter in the Shinjuku Showdown arc), the mangaka refuses to give his readers any room to breathe. There is only the journey up, no downward slope, not even a plateau. There would be some breaks in between, which he would use as an opportunity to follow Togashi’s footsteps and dump as much information as he can. However, an info dump is not an opportunity to wind down.
As such, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 provides the viewers with a necessary space to process things. Yes, the first half is, in fact, canon filler, but when taken with the rest of the episode, it appears as though they went to meet Utahime directly after. In a certain light, it can even be considered that the first half of the episode took place after they parted ways with Utahime.
It’s a look into the trio’s life, an exposition of their dynamic and their personalities, and a testament to their equation. At the risk of spoiling things for the anime-only readers, there is a disputed moment in the middle of the Shibuya arc, which makes fans argue whether Nobara and Yuji’s relationship is romantic or platonic. It’s Like That provides a good answer to that debate.
Final thoughts
Now, to round back to the question in the title of the article: Is Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 a false start to the Shibuya Incident arc, or can it even be considered a proper start of the arc? The answer would be that it is very much the start of the Shibuya Incident arc and, in certain terms, an even better start than the manga.
Essentially, the reason why manga-readers are so pleased with Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is because it provides them with the gradual increase of pacing that a heavy arc like Shibuya requires. It can be said that as inconsiderate MAPPA has been about the anime-only fans in the opening theme, structuring this episode in this manner was their biggest show of consideration for that half of the viewers.
From the way manga readers have marketed Shibuya to their anime-only counterparts for the last three years, everyone has built up a certain expectation of what it is. That expectation will be fulfilled from the latter half of the next episode if MAPPA keeps to the manga chronology. However, the parts before that are equally necessary, and the placement of chapter 64 is a veritable blessing: a luxury that the manga readers did not have.
After Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 7, MAPPA might rearrange the order of things to keep a linear narrative (detailed discussion is linked below). Leaving aside the information overload, the breakneck speed of the action scenes, and the emotional weight of the tragedies, the Shibuya Incident arc in the manga is structured such that it requires rapt attention to follow and a passing knowledge of the Shibuya ward.
Given that most international viewers don’t have the latter, it will be interesting to see how MAPPA adapts that into the anime. Either way, it is only an uphill battle from here on, and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 6 is the only breathing space the audience will be getting in a long while. The rest of the arc will be exactly as its reputation suggests: a dark, tragic, and borderline suffocating road where the light at the end of the tunnel is just more darkness.
Related links;
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 6 highlights
How MAPPA may structure Shibuya
Shibuya Arc opening theme Easter Eggs
