This week’s episode of Jujutsu Kaisen was another great one. There’s a lot to cover this time, so buckle up!

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 11 started with the continuation of Nanami vs Mahito, which came to closure quickly. The Grade-1 Sorcerer immobilised Mahito temporarily after going into “overtime” and retreated.

This was a smart move, as Nanami would be at a clear disadvantage against Mahito, he doesn’t know Mahitos potential either. His goal was to gauge how strong his enemy is and plan for the future, perhaps that’s why he’s a Grade-1 Sorcerer and respected by Gojo-sensei.

It is also revealed that Mahito can survive any attack and transform his body parts into whatever he wants, till the time he can control his soul.

As Nanami himself stated that Mahito is a huge threat, as he is a young cursed spirit who will surpass the likes of Jougo in no time. This is enough confirmation for me to believe that Mahito will play a key role at least for a while in the series, which is great news. There’s still a lot to be explored in him even after excluding direct fights.

The other important section of the show revolves around Itadori and Junpei. They’re waiting for Ijichi-san (the assistant guy) at a riverside but he won’t pick up the phone. Hence, Itadori jumps the gun and asks him about the theatre incident, about which Junpei lies.

As any other bright shonen protagonist does, he befriends Junpei quickly, especially because of that cursed energy training Itadori had to go through (Junpei was in the movie club, remember?). They also meet Junpei’s mom, who invites Itadori over for dinner and well….. he was quite hungry.

The next few scenes are quite light-hearted as we see Itadori, Junpei and his mother have a great dinner time, Itadori watches a movie and then take his leave. However, Junpei does ask Itadori if he’s a Jujutsu Sorcerer, to which he replies honestly and is followed by another; which could have very well ended their bond and pushed Junpei a little more over the edge.

The question was if he would kill “bad” jujutsu sorcerers, to which Itadori declined. He said “The meaning of life would become ambiguous” for him. Making his point clear, he fears that he would have to kill people occasionally after that and his loved ones might lose the value they currently hold.

I cannot emphasize enough about how important this answer is, as it almost single-handedly got Junpei out of the dark path he was about to follow. Before going to sleep, he admitted that he won’t be able to kill anyone, making a huge, positive change in his life.

Ugh, how badly do I want him to have a simple happy ending but Mahito and Getou just wouldn’t let any opportunity to slip by. Mahito had already informed Junpei about Jujutsu Sorcerers and advised him to be friendly with them. While this was working well, the evil duo slips into his house and placed one of Sukuna’s fingers near his mother….. you guys know what happens next, right?

Mahito, being a manipulative, selfish curse; set all of this up since the time he met Junpei, meaning he just wanted to use Junpei.

The petrified teen was vulnerable, hence was lost into Mahito’s words.
That morning, Mahito formed a veil around Junpei’s school, to make it impossible for anyone to leave the school grounds, while Junpei would enact his revenge and frustration upon his bully.

Itadori does make it there in time, to only be referred to as “Jujutsu Sorcerer” by an enraged Junpei who seemed to have been misguided about the Jujutsu Sorcerers as well.

It is clear by now that Junpei had been pulled into the dark side, on a path which only goes downhill. It is quite sad to watch him being controlled completely like a mere puppet, even though he has potential.

I expect a face-off between Junpei and Itadori, which would more be about a clash of ideals and what they think is right in the next couple of episodes.
Hopefully, our protagonist’s new friend makes it back!

Overall, this was a fabulous episode, carrying the story well and at a great pace. The dynamic camera angels were amazing as usual and there’s no doubt about MAPPA’s capabilities, as this adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen is in the race for the title of “Anime of the Year”.