REVIEW: ‘Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24,’ – “Accomplices”

Jujutsu Kaisen is a horror-action anime produced by MAPPA. With Fushiguro out of commission, it’s up to Itadori and Kugisaki to confront their two opponents. These two special grades have a few tricks up their sleeves for our favorite Jujutsu sorcerers. Luckily, our heroes are filled with surprises of their own in Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24 to close out Season 1.

MAPPA aims to deliver a hard-hitting action-filled finale to the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen, and it certainly succeeds. With the vast majority of the episode’s run time dominated by the battle with the curse brothers, we see Itadori and Kugisaki deliver a ton of impressive hits.

The best part of this episode has to be Kugisaki. As the curses unleash their most powerful technique, Kugisaki comes up with a strategy to counter it that shows how strong and devious she can be. MAPPA leans into the darker aspects of her character, delivering some truly chilling moments as she revels in her opponent’s inability to counter her moves. Makes me thankful she isn’t one of the bad ones. While Kugisaki stole the show for me, Itadori certainly has his own moments as well. While not as tricky as Kugisaki, Itadori continues to surprise with just how much raw power and perseverance he can bring to any fight.

In the aftermath of their battle, Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24 does slow down for a second and lets the emotional side of our characters take center stage. This moment serves as a wonderful balancing point to reinforce the fact that, all g with being badass jujutsu sorcerers, Itadori and Kugisaki is, first and foremost, people. And while they did what needed to be done, knowing it had to be done doesn’t necessarily make doing it any less upsetting.

The visual delivering here does a fantastic job. While all the cool combat animation and unique design work MAPPA has showered this series with are in full effect, it is the presentation of Itadori and Kugisaki’s emotions during the fight that steals the show.

As both characters open up with everything they have to defeat their opponents, their visual presence in the show becomes evermore fractured with rougher line art conveying a sense of extreme strain. This combines with my earlier observations about Kugisaki’s personality in this episode to create some memorable, and borderline terrifying moments.

The only area where Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24 fails is in its place as the season finale. While its immediate story wraps up well, as a whole, it feels less like a season finale and more like just another ending to an episode.

With the inaugural season in the bag, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 goes out on an exciting note that highlights many of the show’s greatest strengths. With plenty of plot threads still dangling it will be interesting to see what the future holds for our trio of first-years from Jujutsu Tech. Hopefully, MAPPA will be able to build upon the unique, exciting, and character-filled beginning they have put together here.

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.