Just a little breath of fresh air between the exhausting and emotional arcs.
We already discussed the importance of fillers, not only from a production point of view but also from a plot standpoint, too. Fillers bring both the viewers and the characters a little bit of relief, especially in battle shounen anime where one fight almost seamlessly morphs into another without any breaks.
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of these modern battle shounens that was spared the filler's curse due to the specifics of the production: the seasonal release schedule allows the animation studios to wait for the arcs to finish properly and time the production wisely. That essentially renders fillers useless, as they are mostly used to fill in the gaps caused by the scheduling issues between the manga release and its adaptation.
But manga readers know what's coming, and they wish for the characters involved to have a little breather. The manga itself is very story-driven, the adaptation is extremely faithful, and Akutami Gege, the author of Jujutsu Kaisen, didn't add much of the slice-of-life-ish moments to the original, focusing instead on progressing the story and adding one plot twist after another.
Thankfully, anime takes care of that: in the first season almost every episode ended with a little post-credits comedy sketch called Juju Stroll. These sketches gave us chibi Sukuna, Megumi being hit on by a woman, Gojo giving Nanami a note that would better fit a middle-schooler, and so many other funny moments that brought us relief in the dark and serious world that Akutami Gege paints.
And we need that in the current season, too, because these characters won't be able to just stop and relax for a very long time. Some of them, on the contrary, would enter the world of infinite relaxation without having a chance to experience the stupid joys of Juju Strolls anymore.
We want them to have fun! We want them to eat food, bicker with each other, go shopping, save kittens, go all philosophical under a ginkgo tree, discuss the perfect girls and boys, enter a cherry seed spitting contest — we want them to take a break from their constant journey of eradicating evil and just enjoy life while they have it. Because judging by the direction that the manga goes, not everyone would stay alive. Those who would... They'd need a therapist for the rest of their lives.
But the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen didn't have Juju Strolls in its first arc, and that's concerning. Why won't you let your characters have some two-minute long fun on the beach, Gege? Why won't you let them eat some steaming hot buns and argue about the fillings? Please, let them catch their breath!
Just a little breath of fresh air between the exhausting and emotional arcs.
We already discussed the importance of fillers, not only from a production point of view but also from a plot standpoint, too. Fillers bring both the viewers and the characters a little bit of relief, especially in battle shounen anime where one fight almost seamlessly morphs into another without any breaks.
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of these modern battle shounens that was spared the filler's curse due to the specifics of the production: the seasonal release schedule allows the animation studios to wait for the arcs to finish properly and time the production wisely. That essentially renders fillers useless, as they are mostly used to fill in the gaps caused by the scheduling issues between the manga release and its adaptation.
But manga readers know what's coming, and they wish for the characters involved to have a little breather. The manga itself is very story-driven, the adaptation is extremely faithful, and Akutami Gege, the author of Jujutsu Kaisen, didn't add much of the slice-of-life-ish moments to the original, focusing instead on progressing the story and adding one plot twist after another.
Thankfully, anime takes care of that: in the first season almost every episode ended with a little post-credits comedy sketch called Juju Stroll. These sketches gave us chibi Sukuna, Megumi being hit on by a woman, Gojo giving Nanami a note that would better fit a middle-schooler, and so many other funny moments that brought us relief in the dark and serious world that Akutami Gege paints.
And we need that in the current season, too, because these characters won't be able to just stop and relax for a very long time. Some of them, on the contrary, would enter the world of infinite relaxation without having a chance to experience the stupid joys of Juju Strolls anymore.
We want them to have fun! We want them to eat food, bicker with each other, go shopping, save kittens, go all philosophical under a ginkgo tree, discuss the perfect girls and boys, enter a cherry seed spitting contest — we want them to take a break from their constant journey of eradicating evil and just enjoy life while they have it. Because judging by the direction that the manga goes, not everyone would stay alive. Those who would... They'd need a therapist for the rest of their lives.
But the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen didn't have Juju Strolls in its first arc, and that's concerning. Why won't you let your characters have some two-minute long fun on the beach, Gege? Why won't you let them eat some steaming hot buns and argue about the fillings? Please, let them catch their breath!
