Were they even watching the same series?
Summary:
- IGN rates the Shibuya Incident Arc 6/10.
- The review says there’s nothing but nonsensical fights.
- Fans strongly disagree with the rating.
Jujutsu Kaisen fandom cannot catch a break, it seems. First, their favorite characters drop like flies, then the series’ animators are having meltdowns from overwork, and now this. IGN published their review of Jujutsu Kaisen Shibuya Incident Arc and gave it 6/10. Imagine that!
Why this rating?
IGN calls the entire arc a “nonsensical fight after a nonsensical fight” and points out the lack of character development and interesting story. They say that the combination of character drama, action, humor and worldbuilding is what made Jujutsu Kaisen so great, but Shibuya Incident Arc could only provide one of these: the action.
They also mention the quality of the action, pointing out that some of the scenes do look unfinished, indeed, and the crunch and terrible working conditions resulted in the decrease of quality. But still, the second part of the season looked incredible.
Fans’ reception
Jujutsu Kaisen fans are naturally upset. Okay, the word upset is an understatement and doesn’t even begin to describe the response of the fandom. The number of insults thrown at IGN for rating the Shibuya Incident Arc so low is alarming, and fans are comparing their other ratings to this one.
For example, the finale of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) got a 10/10, and everyone knows how controversial the ending is. The Solo Leveling (Ore dake Level Up na Ken) premiere got an 8/10, which is less controversial, but we still can’t forget that a lot of people called the first episode rather underwhelming.
One of the most important arcs
The emphasis of the Shibuya Incident Arc was indeed on the action and fight sequences, but fans think that it’s the beauty of it. There’s hardly an episode of Jujutsu Kaisen where there isn’t even one fight, so how is the Shibuya Incident different?
Jujutsu Kaisen fans think that 6/10 is an extremely unfair rating for the arc, since it’s one of the most important arcs in the series, and some even go as far as to say that this is one of the best shounen arcs ever. It changed the status of the JJK world and introduced one of its main villains.
The Shibuya Incident Arc is also the moment that showed the cruelty of Jujutsu Kaisen and made it clear: the series is not afraid to risk and kill important characters.
The storytelling is also present, and while it is overshadowed by brilliant action, it’s impossible to say that it’s absent. Yuji will never be the same after this arc, and neither will the viewers.