‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ review: Yuji breaks in “Right and Wrong Part 3”

Jujutsu Kaisen understands the innate cruelty of tasking teenagers — children — to fight the battles that make up the meat of the story. In “Right and Wrong Part 3,” the series and direction double down on that knowledge in three pivotal scenes to the series that define its underlying thesis. Despite some shaky animation in the combat sequences and a lack of cohesion in a crucial fight scene, the series nails the emotional suffocation as Yuji can barely piece himself back together enough to wage war against Mahito’s looming, monstrous form. This is the reality of a shonen protagonist like Yuji. At a certain point, why would he get up?

“Right and Wrong Part 3” refuses to pull its punches, with one of the three strongest direction decisions being made at the start as we enter a flashback between Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi. It’s a superfluous sequence in the grand scheme of things. Still, it speaks to the more significant issues of the narrative, the positions these three have found themselves in, and the thematic core revolving around the lack of agency of youth. A girl who can’t get a stain out of a shirt is meant to fight impossible wars, and the boy who engages in jokes about the mess is splattered by her blood. The harsh pivot from the flashback of them all laughing to the shot of Yuji’s mental deterioration through Nobara’s empty eye socket and her lifeless, contorted face nauseates. This is the reality, and there comes a point where the hero can no longer rally. 

Yuji has no choice, however, when Todo arrives to help his brother out in a last-ditch effort to save his pierced soul. In a devastating sequence anchored by Junya Enoki’s tremendous performance, Yuji curled on the ground after allowing Mahito to beat him with no interference, sobs, broken, that he can’t fight anymore. Not only that, but he can no longer forgive himself. He believes that he’s been selfish to continue fighting, that by telling himself that he needs to save as many people as Sukuna murdered, he’s created a false reality. Having confronted so much brutality, he needs Todo’s speech about what it means to be a jujutsu sorcerer and that karma doesn’t apply to them because their job necessitates a certain level of death and the sacrifice of their bodies and souls for the sake of others. When he tells Yuji that he shouldn’t let himself grow so small, it’s a means to remind him of his power gifts and mental fortitude necessary in this line of work. 

“I’ll make sure I take on your share of suffering too.” 

Yuji’s story is a tragedy, and his youthful perseverance and good nature have often kept him moving. This time, he needs the assistance, even if his takeaway is to burden himself further with the leftover suffering of a dead man. But like in “Right and Wrong Part 2,” when Yuji was motivated to keep fighting once he realized he had Nobara fighting with him, this week, he’s given the push by simply having someone in his corner to fight with. And, as was the case in their fight against Hanami in season one, Todo and Yuji work so well together that it would seem they always should. 

Both the characters and viewers need these small, delicately built victories to justify our investment. If there’s no hint of hope, how can one derive joy from watching it? There’s no fun in just watching people die; writing relies on it, and the shock value it brings is lazy. We need the hero to stand back up even if it is against immeasurable odds and even if he’s destined to be beaten down again. Jujutsu Kaisen has the unenviable position of balancing a dire, dour story without it ever becoming simply the march of the dead featured in the OP. And that’s where Yuji comes in, dusting himself off, teary-eyed but engaged in battle once more. 

While seeing the two fighting together is thrilling, the details of the fight are lost a bit in the mayhem. That said, along with Enoki, Nobunaga Shimazaki continues to do incredible work as Mahito, especially as he continues to warp into the most hideous version of himself. One particular highlight is the shot of him waltzing off the mutated train of poor souls, a truly evil being who gleefully exists in the suffering he causes. It’s a strong moment in a sequence that deserved more of them, the destruction lacking the same weight as some of the intense fight scenes of the season. 

The emotional weight does the heavy lifting, bringing me to the third most crucial moment and the best-animated sequence of the episode. Miwa is talking to Mechamaru beyond the grave as she and the remaining Kyoto team realize that he organized it so they would be far from the Shibuya wreckage. As they talk and he bids her farewell, his voice shifting from mechanical distortion to human as they pass through a tunnel, his human body reflected in the mirror, we’re again reminded that they’re all just children. They want to fight and be seen as vital, and yet they’re already having to bid farewell to someone who never got to lead a normal life and still, out of desperation, tried to save their lives. Miwa’s wails as we watch the remaining Kyoto students talk about how they were left out of the battle make it all the more impactful, her grief charging the moment. The animation and her pinched expression as she slowly realizes what’s happening, that Mechamaru will be gone for good, is super and exemplifies how naturalism in the small details, such as how a face moves when you’re trying not to cry, can reach extraordinary heights in animation. 

As stage two of the Mahito versus Yuji and Todo battle sets up and the season begins to wind down, Jujutsu Kaisen “Right and Wrong Part 3” captures the highs and lows of the season. Luckily, the lows aren’t constant, with only a few rough spots of direction, and the highs are extraordinary in how they slam into us. It asks how we engage with spectacle as Mahito wreaks ruinous wreckage as the last two pillars of hope try to maintain balance. Is this spectacle or carnage? Jujutsu Kaisen tries to find the sweet spot between the two. We’re miserable, but we can’t tear our eyes away. 

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is available now to stream on Crunchyroll

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Featured Image © Gege Akutami/Shueisha, JUJUTSU KAISEN Project