REVIEW: ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ Episode 43 — “Right And Wrong Part 2”

With Yuji Itadori (Junya Enoki) in a pitched battle with Mahito (Nobunaga Shimazaki) following  Kento Nanami’s (Kenjirô Tsuda) death, Mahito’s double was also preparing to face off against Nobara Kugisaki (Asami Seto). But when the fight takes an unexpected turn, Nobara goes on a trip down memory lane to the village she hated in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 19, – Right and Wrong Part 2.

This episode comes out swinging as it bounces between Yuji and Nobara’s fights with Mahito. These fights feel distinct from each other thanks to the different approaches the two fighters take to engage their foe. While Yuji can trust his strength and speed to keep him safe in a close-up fight with Mahito, Nobara is forced to be more evasive as she keeps clear of Mahito’s powerful attacks. This contrast works well, as it helps each battle stand out against the other, even though one of the combatants is shared between them.

The animation in these fight scenes delivers tons of speed and style. While Nobara’s side of the battle is the more bombastic, with a large scale as Mahito wreaks entire buildings trying to chase her down, Yuji delivers some great examples of skill in how his relentless attacks pummel his foe. Rather than simply showing the fighter throwing random punches at his foe, Yuji is shown to be a genuinely skilled fighter. There is rhythm and logic to his punches, like a prizefighter with his foe on the ropes.

MAPPA also does a great job of presenting Nobara as an equally confident fighter despite her more cautious approach. She keeps on the run, not because she is scared of her opponent, but because she understands it’s the only way she can win the confrontation.

When Nobara manages to land her Resonance technique, she and Yuji realize they may not be the only ones fighting Mahito. This comes as a reassurance to Yuji, as he feels like he isn’t fighting alone, knowing that Nobara is out there. For Nobara, the revelation provides a tactical advantage as she discerns that she is fighting a double of Mahito rather than the real thing. Knowing his touch won’t be an instant kill, Nobara can go on the offensive. Before the renewed attacks of both his opponents, the Mahitos begin to flee. Unknown to either Yuji or Nobara, though, they are headed directly towards each other.

As the two Mahitos cross paths, Yuji realizes what is happening a second too late. As Nobara comes around the corner, she is confronted with the real Mahito, who promptly slaps her across the face, making direct contact with her, which will prove fatal for the sorcerer. As Nobara reels in the shock of this sudden change in fortunes, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 19 jumps back to her past to expand upon her early days in the village she grew up in.

This deeper glimpse into Nobara’s past builds upon what we learned in season one, episode three when we were first introduced to the character. This look back introduces another young girl from her village, Fumi, who was a close friend of Nobara. We learn about how the two initially met, their everyday routines, and that Fumi was present when Nobara got to know Saori. This exploration of the past lets us see that, while there were problems in Nobara’s village, there were also good things. Nobara observes how, despite her frequent feelings that everyone in her village was crazy, it was never that way. Crazy people are the loudest, so they often feel like all there is. This observation is poignant, as we all are forced to struggle with such observations in daily life.

When Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 19 returns to the present, there is a brief moment with Nobara before her face explodes and she slumps down dead. Yuji’s horror at seeing his friend’s lifeless body hits hard, as he is sure to struggle with the thought of another person he was unable to save. Unfortunately, this is also the big problem with this episode.

When Yuji sensed Nobara’s energy earlier in the episode, it renewed his hope that he wasn’t fighting alone. That there was someone else there helped him push through the knowledge that he had already failed to save so many. The abrupt way the episode ends Nobrara’s life feels far less to do with her and more to do with him. It feels like her death is reduced to being a motivation point for Yuji, and Nobara deserves better than that as a character who was there from the start, who has shown her strength and will to persevere through adversity, to see her go out as she does feels like a waste. It’s like the series is just staking up bodies now to hurt Yuji/the viewer as much as humanly possible.

While Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 19 delivers some stellar action and emotional exploration of Nobrara’s past, it ultimately fails the character with how it removes her from the stage. Hopefully, the sacrifice of one of the series’ best characters will be worthwhile for the plot from here.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.