Jujutsu Kaisen Storyboard Offers New Insight Into Season 2's Most Destructive Fight
Among the many outstanding fights in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, the bout between Ryomen Sukuna and the Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga was seen as a new triumph for the series. Now, a storyboard artist who worked on the highly-anticipated match reveals a fascinating detail exclusive to the anime.
As reported by Sportskeeda, animator Weilin Zhang gave Jujutsu Kaisen fans a behind-the-scenes look at the animated fight between Sukuna and Mahoraga on social media website X (formerly Twitter). The minute-long video goes over the storyboarding process and animation direction for the climatic battle that capped the "Shibuya Incident" story arc. Directions on how the fight should be staged are provided, as well as amusing notes like comparing a physical exchange to an attack strategy in Super Smash Bros. While all of this sounds like standard stuff, the overall commentary on Sukuna's strategy against Mahoraga provides an insightful observation on both characters that might have been missed by fans on their first watch.
New Jujutsu Kaisen Storyboard Reveals More About Season 2's Sukuna vs. Mahoraga Fight
In the storyboard video, it's noted that Sukuna continuously tricks Mahoraga by making it seem like he's about to perform one attack, only to back out in the end -- so much so that even the storyboard describes the situation as "pathetic" for Mahoraga. Over time, Mahoraga adapts to Sukuna's feint-attack strategy by feinting an attack of his own, finally landing a successful blow on the King of Curses.
However, the storyboard notes that this is all part of Sukuna's plan. By teaching Mahoraga to essentially "lie" in battle, Sukuna corrupts the divinity status of the Shikigami. This particular fight sequence -- which isn't featured in the manga -- shows off the devilish personality of Sukuna as he uses Mahoraga's greatest ability against him for mere amusement.
Although the original version of the Sukuna vs. Mahoraga fight was praised for its destructive and gut-wrenching energy, the episode was the victim of the tight deadlines set by anime studio MAPPA that resulted in the physical and mental burnout of many of its animators. For the Japanese home media release of the episode, the Jujutsu Kaisen staff did a take-two on this monumental fight, resulting in a more complete and over-the-top action sequence that vastly surpassed the original in the eyes of fans.
The Jujutsu Kaisen anime series is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll, Hulu and soon on Netflix. Viz Media is the English distributor of the manga.