REVIEW: ‘Jujutsu Kaisen,’ Episode 28 — “Hidden Inventory 4″

With Riko Amanai shot dead by Toji Fushiguro (Takehito Koyasu), and believing Satoru Gojo(Yûichi Nakamura) has also been slain, Suguru Geto (Takahiro Sakurai) launches an all-out attack against the assassin. But despite having no cursed energy, Fushiguro proves to be a match for his newest opponent in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4, “Hidden Inventory 4.”

Picking up where last week’s episode left off, we return to the story just as Riko is slain and Geto launches his attack on Fushiguro. This initial action sequence balances its combat with exposition well. Between exchanges, Fushiguro explains how he can challenge Jujutsu Sorcerors without any cursed energy of his own. While he isn’t the first character in the series to prove to be a capable combatant with this deficiency, the explanation for how he manages it is an interesting one. While interesting, what makes this exposition truly work is the menace emanating from Fushiguro as he delivers it. He looks down on Geto, convinced that he has already won. This posture gives the dialogue a double function that allows it to add to the scene rather than feel like it is grinding it to a halt.

Once the battle is ended, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4 follows Fushiguro as he delivers the Star Plasma Vessel’s body to his employer. This scene is well executed as it expands upon several personalities and motivations that have shaped the story to this point. Combined with the excellent energy that the voice cast brings to the scene, the moment is thoroughly entertaining, despite largely simply being an explanation of the whys of Fushiguro’s mission.  Upon departing from this meeting, Fushiguro is confronted by a restored Gojo. As the pair renew their hostilities with each other, Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 28 delivers its one significant stumble for me.

While the animation and visuals during this sequence are gorgeous, MAPPA surprises by toning the speed you would expect way down, and delivers a more surreal presentation that grabs the viewer with as much force as its usual kinetic offerings, it loses much of what it tries to build thanks to Gojo’s explanation of how he survived the seemingly fatal blow Fushiguro delivered at the end of their last fight, and how he can surpass him in their newest encounter because of what he has discovered.

Unlike Fushiguro’s earlier explanations that slowed down the previous fight scene, this hard-to-follow explanation of reversing, twisting, and combining cursed energy largely hurts the scene as it goes in one ear and out the other. It pulls the viewer too far into the weeds of the mechanics of Jujutsu Sorcery and out of the gorgeously crafted moment that is playing out before them. If they felt discourse was needed in this sequence, some dialogue expanding on Gojo’s clear shift in personality would’ve easily been more interesting than a nuts-a-bolts-deep dive into the mechanics of sorcery.

As the episode closes, we see Geto reunite with Gojo to claim Riko’s body, presumably to see her properly buried. There is a disharmony between the duo in this scene that is jarring but in a good way. Where they once felt like a shared personality almost, now they seem to be on entirely different wavelengths. It has me interested to see if this rift will continue to expand between them as the series presses forward.

Despite a small misstep, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4 manages to wrap up the “Hidden Inventory” arc in a satisfying way. It feels impactful to the characters, as the changes that have come from the events of the narrative will clearly bring lasting shifts into their personalities and dynamics.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 4 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, watch Jujutsu Kaisen episodes every Thursday.