The Shibuya Incident : Halloween Gone Wrong
Hi! Welcome back to another week of The Willow! Since Halloween is this week, I'll be talking about Jujutsu Kaisen's Shibuya Incident arc. Major Spoilers ahead for Jujutsu Kaisen.
For those unfamiliar with Jujutsu Kaisen, it is a Shounen manga/anime series created by Gege Akutami. It takes place in modern Japan and is centered around our protagonist Yuji Itadori whose life is flipped upside down after consuming a mummified finger. In Jujutsu Kaisen, sorcerers must fight off cursed spirits, entities that come from negative energy, with cursed energy. The series' power system relies on how much negative energy a sorcerer or cursed spirit has. The reason why I wanted to discuss the Shibuya Incident arc this week is because the majority of the arc takes place on Halloween night after a mysterious curtain is cast around Shibuya.
After I finished reading the Shibuya Incident arc, I believed I had developed some grey hairs. This entire arc was ROUGH from start to finish. Outside of the Hidden Inventory arc that centers around characters Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, Jujutsu Kaisen's storyline was not as ruthless. Yes, we had Itadori witness Junpei's death and Geto become a cult leader, but compared to what happens in the Shibuya arc... that's nothing.
The Shibuya Incident was canonically five and a half hours . That is absolutely insane considering the amount of character fates that are changed (or ended) in the arc. Akutami has mentioned before in interviews that series like Attack On Titan and Neon Genesis Evangelion influenced Jujutsu Kaisen, which makes a lot of sense considering the chaos that occurs in the Shibuya Incident arc. Those series also like to make their main characters suffer. A lot. Itadori's foundation for becoming a sorcerer is essentially destroyed after this arc. Events like Sukuna's possession resulting in the deaths of thousands of non-sorcerers, the deaths of Nanami and Nobara, and an unsuccessful attempt at grabbing the prison realm holding Gojo are triggers for Itadori's feelings of guilt and defeat. He no longer is the same hopeful fifteen-year-old who stepped into Jujutsu High months ago.
What also makes the arc so fascinating is that we get to see the perspectives of other characters outside of the main trio (Itadori, Nobara, Megumi) that highlight the chaos in Shibuya. Characters like Choso, Todo, Toji, Jogo, Sukuna, Kenajku, and Mei Mei have time dedicated to explaining their personal motivations and influence in the Jujutsu world. Prior to the Shibuya Incident Arc, there were very few moments where we saw Sukuna's true power. This arc made it very clear why he is the main antagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen as well.
Finally, the fights in this arc are just...awesome. Despite how stressful the Shibuya Incident arc is, it has some very iconic and entertaining showdowns. Each fight's dynamic is unique and has some history behind it. It's also great seeing really annoying characters (Mahito) get what they deserve.
Here are some fights:
Gojo vs. Hanami, Jogo, & Choso
Itadori vs. Choso
Nobara & Nanami vs. Haruta
Nanami, Naobito, Maki, & Megumi vs. Dagon
Toji vs. Megumi
Sukuna vs. Jogo
Sukuna vs. Mahoraga
Itadori vs. Mahito
The anime adaptation does an amazing job at bringing the Shibuya Incident to life. Season two's opening and moments are still popular on the internet today.
The Shibuya Incident arc in Jujutsu Kaisen is both exciting and traumatizing. It is the turning point for Jujutsu Kaisen's story and characters. From mass destruction to family fights, the Shibuya Incident arc has much to offer to viewers and readers of the series. Who knew Halloween night could be so cursed?
Thank you for reading The Willow and happy Halloween!
-Ariel
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