Summary
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 34, “Pandemonium”, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
Episode 34 ofJujutsu Kaisenwas an infamous transition episode. Satoru Gojo’s battle reached its peak in the last episode and now the show enters the stage of setting what’s about to happen next. Still, fans can tell they made an effort to keep it interesting and with a decent pace, giving all the necessary information in one run, so the action can begin in episode 35.
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It might feel a little bit too much to be processed, especially in terms of new characters and the situation of each group and their respective plans. But doing it at a slower pace would have resulted in a poor episode. Instead, it left fans with a lot to take in and to look forward to for next week ofJujutsu Kaisenanime.
Metaphysical Relativity
Something this episode can actually be accounted for is another amazing scene before the opening. It is said that the first few minutes of an episode have an effect on the viewers' attention and interest for the rest of the ride, something they are flawlessly achieving during the second season. In the span of three minutes, fans got to see the Mechamaru activation, a superb conversation between Satoru, Kenjaku, and Mahito, and the sealing being completed.
Arguably the best part of the episode resides precisely in the three-part conversation where Satoru, trying to wake something up inside Geto’s body, pushes his old friend to somehow resist what is happening. Almost as if his friend was there, his hand moved and tried to strangle himself in an effort to maybe find actual death. Now that was strange and seemingly impossible according to Mahito’s explanation of the soul, andKenjaku can’t help but laughsince it’s the first time this has ever happened to him. However, that last remnant of Geto trying to do something proved to be ephemeral.
The conversation now has been taken to philosophical debate on whether an essentialist view of the soul is correct or the body is part of the soul and the soul part of the body. The conclusion is a unique vision that only works for theJujutsu Kaisenworld: a metaphysical relativity depending on one cursed technique or another. As such, there is no universal truth but multiple ways to interpret the world. And with that, the gate closes.
Mechamaru’s Plan
If there is something Pandemonium showcased, it is how valuable Mechamaru’s intel proved to be. Not only he was aware of everything that was happening but already prepared the perfect plan to aid everyone in Satoru’s rescue. The situation asked for it. As it was later explained, the absence of Satoru meant the destruction of the Gojo clan which can be reduced to him, and the implications on the jujutsu society go far from everyone he has vouched for to simply political status and resources. Furthermore, the power balance that kept the bad guys away also disappeared with him.
To prevent that situation the sealing must be broken as soon as possible. Mechamaruknows exactly how the veils work, so the first step is taking care of them, but not before letting everyone know that Gojo has been sealed. Next would be entering Shibuya from the three nearest stations to avoid the more problematic veils and also try to get people out of the area. But, for that to work, they are going to have to defeat all the curse users working for Pseudo-Geto.
Mahito’s Decision
While one group gets together and plans a counterattack, the other stumbles upon a selfish decision. Both Choso and Mahito want to kill Yuji over personal vendettas and from Mahito’s perspective, Sukuna was never needed for victory, it’s a more situational element. With him, victory is guaranteed, without him, victory is still an option now that Satoru has been sealed. Jogo, on the other hand, still wants to continue the plan andgive Sukuna all the fingersthey collected.
Kenjakuadmits Mahito is rightand even though he would prefer the guaranteed path, he has to stay next to the Prison Realm, now that they can’t move it. Now, Yuji has two fearsome enemies going after him with the intention to kill, and another one trying to feed Sukuna more fingers. There is no positive way out of this, but at least he is much stronger than before.
New Enemies
This episode added a few morecurse users to Kenjaku’s sideas well as bringing back others from previous attacks at Jujutsu High. The best example of the latter is when Kiyotaka gets brutally stabbed by Haruta Shigemo, who is also in the company of Uraume, a character that has been shown before but remains a mystery. The first of the new curse users introduced in this episode was Niji Ebina.
He is about to fight Mei Mei and Ui Ui. Niji’s power level,as stated by Yuji, is above the grasshopper curse, although it might not be that big a deal for someone as powerful as Mei Mei. The others introduced in this episode were the guardians of the veils, who appeared after the ending in a brief scene. Ogami is the old woman in charge of the veils and her grandson and Jiro Awasaka, who might prove a little problematic, will try to protect her from Yuji and company, so the veils remain untouched. These fights will be the center focus of the coming episodes, as well as some other surprises.
