[Spoilers] Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season - Episode 6 Discussion "Shibuya Arc"

6CTION2 years ago20

I love this episode. Might just be my second favourite of the season, and quite possibly for the year. What a way to return to such an awesome series...

Natison2 years ago5
"second favourite", so what is first fav?

Slue2 years ago22

They COOKED this episode

LightningBlaze2 years ago11

Damnnn, that was a really good episode. We waited so long for this, and its finally getting exciting. Can't wait for more.

Also, seeing Mechamaru as a sort of double agent was pretty damn cool and interesting. He was doing this out of his own will right? Without being assigned to do so.

SamuraiGinpachi2 years ago14

mechamaru kinda looks like sonic guy from one punch man

AngelLiveur2 years ago14
mortallyatomic2 years ago1
ah yeah that's why he looked familiar lol

Fireninja2 years ago8

wasn't expecting this kind of opening tbh, took me by suprise, i expected a more "action" song, but nice song.

Astro2 years ago3
I thought this at first but it quickly grew on me. Idk if your a manga reader or not but it really fits the vibe of shibuya, dark, horror like vibes. This season is gonna be a huge fight with major loses on both sides along with a lot of story progression and links everything to together. The opening also displays a lot of core moments of the season but keeping them very lowkey.

Kaito672 years ago2

#<center>JUJUTSU KAISEN S2 #6: It's Like That

SB/Enshutsu: Ryota Aikei

Opening SB/Enshutsu: Yuuki Kamiya

Ending SB/Enshutsu: Shouta Goshozono
Ending KA: Shoichi, Takafumi Mitani

<center>img100%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F44Qeu7W0AAv6ni?format=jpg&am…)

So we’re starting off Shibuya Arc with a low priority episode which frankly looked even worse than the low priority episodes of Hidden Inventory. I guess the schedule is catching up. Ryota Aikei’s direction was good, though, with some of the best action direction we got so far. The lack of quality in the drawings (likely a 2nd key animation/douga issue) is just apparent.

Ozawa was sweet, I liked this little story we got. The 2nd half had me lost at the beginning because I forgot a lot about season 1. I thought the recaps are enough to get me up to speed, turns out, they aren’t. I will probably rewatch season 1 before the next episode if possible. Also, the humor is not as charming as season 2. I preferred Hidden Inventory’s comedy over what we got in season 1, but this episode reminded me a lot of season 1 somehow.

We also got a new OP and ED. The OP, well, it’s kinda meh to be honest. The song is okay, although not a banger, but it has a vibe. But the visuals aren’t that interesting. It feels like ever since JJK S1 MAPPA has come to the conclusion Shingoyama is the safest and most successful way to do an OP and that’s the only thing they will try now. I hoped for an OP which is more unique and stands out, but I guess Kamiya is a safe bet, his work is kind of Shingoyama-esque. The ED is kinda nice though, I like the song, and it definitely has interesting direction. I think it will grow more on me when I listen and watch it more.

img70%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F44RLVyWwAAkrWF?format=webp&a…)

img25%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F44QgO3XgAAd-kB?format=jpg&am…)

Hyliaforce2 years ago13

Good start to the Shibuya Incident arc but nothing crazy, feels like a calm before the storm type of episode. New opening is a banger
Watch on YouTube

alconnow2 years ago8
Really love the hand gestures

seiichisamura2 years ago9

mechamaru is built like aki me thinks

alconnow2 years ago4

Mahito doesn't deserve to look that good

Not expecting Juju strolls for this season

Natison2 years ago
i saw somewhere about what if in jjk2 would be juju strolls, when sths bad happen and at the end happily "juju sanpo" ~like....

aliyahhhhgirlkisser2 years ago2

I just think you are my special, idk tho

AngelLiveur2 years ago2

The author really likes Sasuke.

But remember people, whenever people add romance in a Shonen... something starts dying unless they are able to keep up to the HxH legacy.

MBA022 years ago1

Was half expecting Mechamaru to scream 'firebolt' as the end, can't help but love Yoshitsugu Matsuoka's VA performances

shariq12 years ago6

I feel like the tall girl is going to die.

LycoReco2 years ago1
im about 90% sure that train she taking will be the reason she dies
WhiteFang32 years ago1
I thought the exact same thing.
AngelLiveur2 years ago1
I believe it is a good metaphor for Shonen :

kstelakis2 years ago1

it was a great opening ep for the 2nd best arc imo (after culling game arc). for anime only people after a point it will almost be non stop action between powerfull opponents, get ready

Canada2 years ago3

And we begin the festival of suffering AKA the Shibuya arc.
Anime only fans buckle up because you are in for it.

ChillGuru2 years ago1

This episode was just so pretty. Idk why that fact just hung in my mind as I watched it.

exLightning2 years ago2

I want to see that Human Earthworm movie animated in full.

Natison2 years ago
right?! like all parts animated by Mappa :D

HISIRDOUX2 years ago

it seems like the animation has been downgraded :/

Joshua10red2 years ago1

Pretty decent ep. The new OP is not bad but the "flute" part sound extremely similar to a part of the song LAST SONG by The GazettE

Devillain2 years ago2

So, mechamaru guy is a mole after all or not ?

Natison2 years ago1
kinda?
Aluminiaum2 years ago
double agent

Kaito672 years ago2

to be honest the camera angles with animation is so for me new and sth special, because I've never seen something like this, I was shocked and even screamed :DD

That's really cool! To be honest, I do miss the days when visuals like that were able to blow my mind. Nowadays I just have watched a lot of stuff already, so it isn't as impressive anymore which is a little sad. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgot about this whole mole plotline, lol.

Natison2 years ago1
I only watch anime like watch watch since May 2021 (before watched few series), so yeah I'm excited looking at it ^^ we even watched same amount of anime :o
to be honest i have bad memory, I should rewatch like most of animes haha

llGH0STll2 years ago9

So we’re starting off Shibuya Arc with a low priority episode which frankly looked even worse than the low priority episodes of Hidden Inventory.

After reading your review, I was wondering if we watched the same show. While I don't have much technical knowledge about animation, could you please elaborate on why you feel it looks worse than episode 2? From my perspective, the drawings appear quite clean, and there's a noticeable improvement in color grading. The decision to present Mechamaru in 2D is certainly ambitious. Additionally, the ping pong section impressed me with its camerawork. The episode featured several art style shifts that perfectly executed the visual comedy, making it incredibly enjoyable to watch

Natison2 years ago1
if ya want, ya can read Kaitos opinions about every episode of jjk2, maybe this will helps ;)
Kaito672 years ago2
Maybe it's not noticeable if you don't pay attention to it, but the drawings were pretty bad to me on first watch already. I'm not someone who goes frame by frame through staff, I just note what I immediately notice and what takes me out of the immersion. Here some examples.
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
img70%(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1139642132467040…)
Now, I elaborate. The main problem with these drawings is the douga. Douga is basically a cleaned up version of the genga (inital drawings the animator draws). You notice in a lot of these shots, the characters are stiffly drawin because the lines are either perfectly straight or perfectly rounded. That's because douga artist sometimes (either lack of time or skill, guessing the former) just use digital tools to draw perfectly straight lines or shapes to clean things up fast. The result however, are stiff, unorganic drawings which don't look good. You shouldn't use these tools for douga unless for objects which are appriopiate like boxes, but not characters. You can compare these drawings to the previous episode (premature death) to view the opposite: Organic drawings with volume where the characters have very strong personality. A lot of the drawings this episode just weren't good. Not all of them, of course, there were cuts where the douga is actually properly done naturally. As you might expect bad douga like that results also that any nuance in the original rough drawing is lost.
Now, I won't say that these drawings weren't a thing in HI (because I have no clue), like I said I don't go through episodes frame per frame or watch them three times to be exactly sure of how they are produced. I only watch something, and I note what stands out to me. But I can very safely say that in no episode of HI, not even episode 2 which is lower priority, I noticed such an abundance of weird and stiff looking drawings and shots. Hence my statement that this looks worse than the low priority HI episodes.
The animation in non-action sequences is also pretty stiff at times which also wasn't something which stood out to me in HI. Probably also a douga issue. There are also some cuts which could've used more inbetweening. It just looks like rushed work to me, which is no surprise because the schedule for this season is very bad. It was expected that we will get rough work like this.
If you want me to elaborate on anything, let me know. I was about to head to bed so I will answer tomorrow.
- AngelLiveur2 years ago1
  I understood nothing. It looked fine to me, even better than the first quarter.
  - IchiuzYluu2 years ago
    I'll make it simple. it's still great but not at the same level as the 5 first episodes.
  - Kaito672 years ago
    And that's okay, good even, when you don't notice it. More enjoyment that way. I just noted down my personal impression and explained it because I was asked. Technicalities like that are only for those who are curious and want to dive into it (like me, I notice it automatically at this point because I spend more time with stuff like this and analyzing stuff here and there), it's not something the average watcher needs to know, at the end of the day you want to enjoy what you watch.
- llGH0STll2 years ago4
  So, from what I've gathered, it appears that you didn't like the simpler art style. Personally, I found the simplicity of the character drawings enjoyable because they're soothing. They enhanced shading and color grading to compensate for the simpler art. Some of the shading even reminded me of 'Bleach. Of course, these drawings aren't on par with the level of detail seen in episodes 4 and 5, where the characters displayed more volume and intentional interruptions in the lineart (I can't add images to illustrate this point due to a technical issue). Regarding the static shots, Episode 2 featured a static shot of the boiling kettle, and they will be using more due to the tight schedule. This episode was quite fluid, except for the opening sequence which I agree could benefit from more in-between frames. Overall, I liked it, and I can see where you're coming from.

Kaito672 years ago2

I really don't want this to come off rude but it's disappointing reading this because it feels like you didn't understand what I explained. The quality of douga is an actual objective issue, unless you really like characters looking like boxes. But that's in no way natural or good. But to say it again: Douga artists TRACE on top of the work of the animators in an attempt to clean their art up. By using tools like perfect straight lines or perfect curves not only it makes the drawing stiff and unnatural it loses any kind of nuance the original rough drawing had. This is not a conversation about artstyle, this is bad douga. Period. I don't know, look at ufotable or KyoAni stuff to see consistently really good douga. Older anime also generally have better douga, like Cardraptor Sakura. Observe the drawings.

I think it's important to understand that I said that a lot of drawings were bad and it was noticeable, but not ALL of them. We had good looking cuts this episode, naturally. And it's okay to say you liked those and didn't mind the bad drawings/they weren't noticeable to you, but it's annoying that I typed three paragraphs your conclusion was

So, from what I've gathered, it appears that you didn't like the simpler art style. Personally, I found the simplicity of the character drawings enjoyable because they're soothing. They enhanced shading and color grading to compensate for the simpler art.

Because in what I criticized
a) it's not less detailed
b) the shading is much more inferior
and color grading doesn't have anything to do with it. Color grading happens in post processing with the photography team. Two completely separate departments. Back to a and b, though. Episode 4 is the ONLY episode of HI which actually showcased detailed drawings. The other episodes showed Gosso's new style of less details (notice how the highlights on the uniforms are all gone) and episode 1 and 2 had both very good drawings (with 1 being higher priority, it looked better) and 5 was a masterclass. And if you observe the drawings of ep 5 you'll notice they actually use very few lines, it's just that Niinuma specializes in low line count artwork and showing volumes through shading. That is something you automatically lose when douga artists just trace your works with the perfect straight line tool.
Anyway, I'm typing all this down for anyone who is curious about it, again, it's fine to just not mind it. Technicalities like that are a deep rabbit hole anyway. I just want to make sure that it's properly understood what I want to say, because seemingly I didn't word it in my previous comment in a comprehensible manner.

toonshub2 years ago
Ya, no one wants minecraft like animation....

RaPrz102 years ago2

I understand that some still frames look off but I'll gladly take that if it means we have great animation. The ping pong and mahito vs mechamaru scenes were incredible. And as you said, this is a low priority episode, so it was never gonna be as good as HI episodes and later episodes. The little inconsistencies in this episode are a small sacrifice to make for great animation in future episodes.
Even though the schedule is really tight, there are so many animators that will work on jjk season 2 that it could turn out like one punch man season 1. The hakuyu go team uniting with the keisuke seshimo team as well as possibly arifumi imai and many others thanks to Gosso's connections will be a beauty to see. Even if the Hakuyu Go team only work on one episode because many animators will most likely be working fate/strange fake, that episode will be beautiful and could rivalise fate apocrypha episode 22.
The bad schedule combined with the full creative freedom to the animators will make the shibuya arc complete animation chaos. This means there will be so many different artstyles mixed into each episode, which although it will make many people angry, imo its perfect for this arc. It will be pure and utter chaos

Kaito672 years ago1
I am aware of that, don't worry. As I said I know it's a low priority, in my review I even said that I think this episode featured some of the best action direction I saw to date for S2. We'll see how this second season turns out, I thought also that the pv looks really good. However, it will be imperfect and that's already showing. Pointing out obvious imperfections while still looking forward to higher priority episodes, these two things don't exclude each other.

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