REVIEW: ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ Episode 44 — “Right And Wrong Part 3”

With Nobara Kugisaki (Asami Seto) dying before his eyes, Yuji Itadori (Junya Enoki) has officially been pushed beyond the breaking point. Unable to defend himself against the onslaught of attacks by Mahito (Nobunaga Shimazaki, Dark Gathering), it seems Yuji’s final moments are at hand. Or they would be if not for the timely arrival of Aoi Todo (Subaru Kimura, Super Crooks) in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20, “Right and Wrong Part 3.”

This week’s episode opens with Yuji remembering a silly moment involving Nobara. This brief scene opens the narrative with a softer tone before plunging the viewer back into the carnage of Shibuya Station. When Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20 returns to the present, we find Yuji stunned and immobile as he stares down at the body of his dead friend. Not giving our hero a moment to compose himself, Mahito launches into a bevy of strikes against the defenseless Yuji. As he hammers the sorcerer, Mahito rants about the nature of the conflict the pair are engaged in. The madness in his voice highlights how far the ongoing battle has also pushed Mahito. While he is trying to project an aura of dominance over Yuji, there is also a terrified relief underpinning his proclamations. He knows how close he just came to being defeated and is lashing out in celebration of his near escape.

Before the coup de grace can be delivered, however, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20 sees the arrival of Todo to save his “brother” from his fate. When Yuji refuses to answer Todo’s demand that he get up and continue the battle, the newly arrived sorcerer launches into an inspirational speech to get the hero moving again.

This moment lands on shaky ground. Voice actor Kimura delivers the speech with the perfect supportive tones and inspirational energy, while the writing leaves a bit to be desired. Todo’s main point is that, as jujutsu sorcerers, they are beyond the moral conundrum that is tying Yuji in knots. His concerns over the lives he’s taken are moot, best left for lesser individuals. There are so many better avenues the show could’ve gone down rather than simply dismissing Yuji’s emotions out of hand.

Compounding this shortfall is Yuji’s attitude when he finally rises again to his feet to take up the fight. We hear Yuji’s thoughts as he asks Nanami to forgive him for trying to use his convictions as an easy way out of the trials ahead of him. The statement that the emotional crisis that had Yuji too paralyzed to even defend himself from a deadly threat was the “easy way out” feels like a disservice to the valid emotional and mental anguish he is suffering. It would’ve been far better for the series to have Yuji realize he doesn’t have time to process his pain now, accepting that all of that must wait until the threat has been dealt with.

The other major plot element in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20 leaves Shibuya and jumps to a traveling train to catch up with Kasumi Miwa (Chinatsu Akasaki) and some of the other characters that were not deployed to the current crisis. We see Miwa sitting alone aboard the train, clutching one of the Mechamaru drones. The drone explains that Miwa and the others were sent away from Tokyo that day by Mechamaru’s designs for fear of what would become of them if they were at Shibuya when everything went down. While Miwa initially translates this revelation as an accusation that Mechamaru devalued what they could contribute to the scenario, it quickly becomes apparent that is not the case. Instead, Mechamaru’s feelings towards his fellow students, particularly Miwa, drove him to shield them from the coming storm. Before Miwa can thoroughly discuss the situation with Mechamaru, however, the drone goes offline, leaving Miwa to grieve over the unexpressed feelings she still bears.

This moment hurts. Miwa has only been present in two scenes this season, both of which have been heartbreaking. The animation delivers her tears and pain perfectly as she discovers she’s lost something the audience has known was gone long before now. The choice to have the scene take place in an empty train car is perfect. The isolation and silence Miwa is trapped in as the drone goes silent is broken only by the periodic flashes of lights outside. The loneliness infuses the train car with the projection of traveling to nothing. What Miwa might’ve had waiting for her is gone, and only a cold silence remains to fill the void.

When Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20 doesn’t delve into the motivations and heartaches of its cast, it does deliver the most mind-blowing action it has all season. The three-way fight between Mahito, Todo, and Yuji delivers exciting moments that remain fresh thanks to the unique powers and intelligent implementation the characters employ. Mahito continues to expand his power set, as Todo’s appearance forces the curse to push beyond his previous levels if he is to have any hope of surviving.

While Mahito’s powers are epic in scale, Todo and Yuji have plenty of fantastic moments as they creatively combine their formidable physical skills to pierce Mahito’s formidable defenses. The duo can barely keep one step ahead of their foe, making the sequence a tense series of attacks and counters.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 20 does a lot of stuff extremely right while still stumbling. Its tone and energy are delivered through stellar voice work and gorgeous animation.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.