Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 was aired on Thursday, July 6, at 11.56 pm JST on MBS/TBS network in Japan. The episode was simulcasted around the globe half an hour later. the Season directly began the Hidden Inventory/Gojo’s Past arc and picked up from chapter 65 of the manga. As was expected, Mappa elected not to adapt the hilarious filler chapter 64, titled “It’s Like That.”
The episode was distinctly different from the acclaimed season 1, both in terms of art and execution. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 directly introduced Gojo and Geto along with most of the supporting cast, and ended with Toji Fushiguro finally appearing in the anime. Director Goshozono and mangaka Akutami chose to reorder some of the scenes and added a considerable amount of anime original content as well. Below is a thorough breakdown and analysis of the episode.
Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers from Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 introduces Gojo and Geto’s dynamic as the Star Plasma Vessel mission begins
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 is titled “Hidden Inventory” and has a cold opening. It begins in medias res with a voiceover from Geto, who describes a busy summer, and the tedious process of using his Cursed Technique. He has to continuously exorcise and consume Curses to add them to his repertoire. Geto utters his infamous lines on how no one knows the vile taste of Curses.
A snapshot shows two children walking through the grass with bloody feet. This segment ends with Gojo and Geto meeting on a crowded street. Given that in the rest of the episode, the story carries on in the Spring, this segment is clearly from after the main story is over.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1: Introduction of Gojo, Geto and the supporting cast
The episode truly begins with a younger Utahime Iori and Mei Mei, Gran 2 and 1 sorcerer respectively, being assigned a mission to a Cursed Mansion. The Curse in the Mansion applies a time-space manipulative technique to elongate the inside of the mansion and loop it back onto itself. After Utahime and Mei Mei spend a few hours traversing the mansion, it gets blown up and a second-year Satoru Gojo appears.
As Gojo and Utahime banter, the Curse appears behind her. However, Suguru Geto, another second-year student at Jujutsu High, captures it with one of his pet Curses. Utahime expresses her joy at seeing Gojo and Geto’s classmate Shoko Ieri when Mei Mei reminds them that none of them put up the Curtain that obscures the Curses from the common people.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 then returns to Tokyo Jujutsu High, where the three second year students are scolded by their teacher, Masamichi Yaga. While playing a game of basketball, Gojo complains about the necessity of Curtains, prompting Geto to lecture him on the necessity of hiding Curses from normal people.
An interesting symbolism here is that while Geto fails to make a single shot, Gojo makes every single basket. Geto speaks his famous line, which viewers will remember from the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie,
“Listen, Satoru, Jujutsu exists to protect non-Jujutsu users.”
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1: Star Plasma Vessel
Gojo finds Geto’s righteousness annoying, which prompts them to bicker before Yaga arrives and assigns them to the Star Plasma mission. Master Tengen, the prime-most entity of the Jujutsu World, has found a Star Plasma Vessel, a compatible body to merge with. Gojo and Geto have the duty to escort this girl to Master Tengen in the next two days.
Geto Explains that Master Tengen is blessed with immortality. But while they would not die, their Cursed Energy seeks to switch bodies every few hundred years. If the switch is not made in time, Master Tengen will evolve into a higher being who will have no conscience and can become an enemy of humanity.
Given that Tengen maintains the Barriers at the two Jujutsu High Schools as well as the pillars of their world, losing them would mean the end of the Jujutsu world. However, merging with the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai, would prevent that. Since the location of Amanai was leaked, two groups are currently after her. The first is the Curse User group Q, which is aiming to overturn the Jujutsu World by eliminating Master Tengen.
The other is the religious group Time-Vessel Association, which worships Tengen and aims to keep them pure by preventing the merging with the vessel, whom they see as a lesser being. When Gojo and Geto arrive at the scene, Q soldiers have already blasted Amanai out of her apartment. Geto catches her by using a floating Curse, and confronts one Q soldier. Meanwhile, other soldiers come across Gojo and engage him in a battle.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 shows two people observing the scene from afar. One of them, the recruiter Shu Kong, offers the other, whom he addresses as “Zen’in”, to become a hired mercenary for the Time-Vessel Association. The other man accepts the offer but corrects Kong on his name by saying that he no longer goes by Zen’in. After getting married, he has taken his wife’s last name. he urges Shu Kong to call him “Fushiguro.”
Final thoughts
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 does a great job of introducing the personalities of Gojo and Geto. Gojo is intentionally rude and overtly arrogant, often disregarding people who are not as strong as him. Geto is more polite and considerate, but he is naturally cunning and often unknowingly cruel. Geto’s almost textbook idealism is balanced by Gojo’s callous practicality.
Shoko, while being a calm middleman, is often absent. However, it is interesting that Geto, being an outsider, knows so much about the inner workings of the Jujutsu world, while Gojo seems blissfully unaware of it despite being the heir to one of the three main clans.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 makes it clear that Gojo’s teaching style follows his studying style, which is mostly dependent on inherent talent and does not concern itself with actually learning information. Geto, in this regard, would remind the viewer strongly of Megumi with his studious aure and polite speech.
The younger version of Gojo and Geto share a dynamic so vastly different from Yuji and Megumi, that anime-watchers may find it hard to decipher why they remind everyone of the younger duo. The reason for that is while Yuji shares Gojo’s arrogance and Geto’s righteousness, Megumi shares Geto’s cunning and Gojo’s pragmatism.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 1 explains some of Geto’s cursed techniques and shows at least two of his curses. However, it explains nothing of Gojo’s Cursed Technique apart from showing that he can use Infinity at this point in his life. It’s clear that unlike when he was first introduced in the series, Gojo hasn’t yet mastered infinity to the point of running it constantly. However, as the season progresses, more and more details about the duo’s Cursed techniques will be revealed.
Be sure to keep up with more Jujutsu Kaisen anime news and manga updates as the series progresses.
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