‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ Review- “Hidden Inventory Arc"

This anime aired in 2023.

Jujutsu Kaisen enters his second season with a prequel arc titled “Hidden Inventory” and followed up with “Premature Death.” It is directed by Shōta Goshozono and based on the dark urban fantasy manga by Gege Akutami.

Set before the events of the film and first season, we meet third-year Jujutsu High School students Satoru Gojo (Kaiji Tang), Suguru Geto (Lex Lang), and Shoko Ieiri (Ryan Bartley) as they prepare for a new mission. They are supposed to protect Master Tengen’s new vessel Riko Amanai (Reba Buhr), who is being targeted by a mysterious cult, and a brutal assassin called Toji Zen’in Fushiguro is hunting them. As this case proves difficult, Geto begins to doubt the ideals of Jujutsu and his role in stopping curse spirits.

This was an excellent intro to the early days of Gojo and Geto. Their friendship and subsequent falling out is lore within the series and seeing it appear in anime form is truly cool. We have seen Gojo’s true power in the first season, but seeing him learn about his abilities and show off how much mastery he has of them was a treat. Likewise, seeing Geto as a young, idealistic sorcerer only to have his ideals crash before him was tragic.

My only gripe was that I wish Master Tengen had a bit more explanation. He is casually mentioned along with the need for a new body, but there is not really a reason given for his existence. Perhaps we will learn more in the future.

While the incident surrounding Master Tengen solidifies Gojo’s path of becoming a powerful sorcerer to protect humanity, this incident provokes Geto into becoming something more sinister. Their mirror images lead to the events ahead and set the groundwork for future students and villains to do battle. It was exciting and I enjoyed watching it evolve. As we ready for the rest of the second season, I hope we see more glimpses into the past.

Check out the trailer below:

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Foul language, Disturbing images, Strong violence

This review is based on the dub from Crunchyroll.

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