Summary
Jujutsu Kaisen’s anime adds a disturbing subtext by showing the Curses playing alongside innocent children, hinting that they will later kill or disfigure them. Studio MAPPA made subtle changes to the manga throughout the second season, including expanding the battles and character designs to enhance the viewing experience. While this change may be unnecessary, it further characterizes the Curses before the Shibuya Incident and makes them even more disturbing than in the manga.
Warning! Contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode #8!Jujutsu KaisenThe anime took some liberties in adapting the source material in season 2, but one addition made the series’ villains even more disturbing. This is somewhat shocking because mangaka Gege Akutami has never shied away from showing the brutality of his villains. However, Studio MAPPA went a step further with a subtle but important change.
In Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode #8, Jogo flashes back to when Geto told him the plan to stop Gojo. Geto reveals this plan to him in a park, and the anime shows the other Curses frolicking on the playground as they talk. This playground also has many children innocently playing next to the Curses, including Mahito. Based on what Mahito and the other Curses are known to do to humans, this implies that they all kill or demorph children when they are done playing. The manga version of this scene still shows the Curses playing together, but without any children, which makes the scene much less gloomy.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s anime implies that curses killed children
This isn’t the first time this season that Studio MAPPA has made a subtle change to the manga. Gojo’s Past includes several additional scenes that flesh out the plot and characters, such as Mei Mei and Utahime exploring a cursed mansion and Geto making some tea. It also expands certain battles like Geto vs. Toji, makes them much more interesting. Despite what some purists may say, these scenes allowed MAPPA to improve on Jujutsu Kaisen’s source material and provide a better overall viewing experience. It’s unclear whether the change in Jogo’s flashback is positive or not, but it’s certainly an interesting one.
While it certainly wouldn’t be unusual for Curses to kill a group of children, it would be the most disturbing act they’ve taken in the series to date. It would also completely extinguish any potential sympathy fans might have for them. Of course, their actions in the manga don’t make it easy to sympathize or support the Curse, but it never goes as far as the anime’s twisted implications. So this change could just be seen as MAPPA trying to shock audiences before the Shibuya Incident reached its most shocking moment. After all, the anime did make some of Jujutsu Kaisen’s action more brutal.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s twist is unnecessary but important
While this is ultimately an unnecessary change, it helps better characterize the Curses before the Shibuya Incident further exploring their personalities. This may cause more fans to prefer the anime version, despite its disturbing implications. However, no matter how fans feel about this scene, the fact remains that with it, the anime of Jujutsu Kaisen made the series’ villains even more disturbing than in the manga.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode #8 is available to watch on Crunchyroll.