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Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 released on December 14, 2023. It picked up from where it left off in the previous episode: the fight between Todo and Itadori vs. Mahito. The crazy fight between the seemingly never-dying Curse and the two powerful jujutsu sorcerers would conclude in this episode, though it was a long and tough road to get there.
As the Shibuya Incident winds down, it's clear this fight and the upcoming finale will be the last audiences will see of certain characters. Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 adapts chapters 129 through 132 of the manga, focusing solely on the fight, much like how episode 13 did with Choso vs. Yuji.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 features Mahito's final form, a mid-fight music video starring Aoi Todo and his favorite idol Takada-chan, and Yuji finally getting the upper hand on Mahito. Mappa deviated quite a bit from the source Material, but was it the right decision?
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Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 features Mahito's final stand, final form, and final fight
Mahito vs. Itadori and Todo at full power
The previous episode ended with Mahito, Yuji, and Aoi all having overclocked their potential to reach 120% of their power. Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 shows exactly what that means. It's Mahito burning his remaining human souls to transfigure into hard-hitting clones to throw at Todo.
It's also Yuji managing to keep up with Mahito and perform several Divergent Fist combined with Black Flashes throughout the fight. It's Aoi Todo managing to kill the clones, keep up with Mahito, and survive the battle with only one arm remaining and one hand boiled from touching Mahito during the 0.2 seconds of Domain Expansion.
The fight is even expanded upon to include Yuji throwing the 109 sign off the building and into Mahito, something that doesn't happen in the original manga. Speaking of departures from the manga, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 shows off a full music video inside Todo's imagination.
A full music video in the middle of a fight
A full departure from the manga showed off inside of Todo's mind at around the midway point of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21. The corresponding chapter, chapter 130, had everything about that phase of the fight happen nearly instantly. The episode decided to experiment and tease the audience with a brief music video that Todo was going to die.
The music video was set to one of Takada-chan's songs named Climax JUMPING. It featured Todo, with both hands and arms intact, and Takada-chan backing him up as they double-teamed Mahito.
They danced, posed, sang, and beat the absolute living stuffing out of Mahito with poses to match! The climax of the song was an epic Black Flash from Yuji that threw Mahito back.
This doesn't mean that Aoi Todo is dead. He's just missing an arm and having a hand fried.
This marks a relief from all the deaths that the Shibuya Incident has been throwing at the audience for some time. Even with Boogie Woogie gone, Todo gets the last laugh on Mahito by distracting him long enough for Yuji to land a climactic Black Flash.
Mahito's final form isn't enough
As if cementing that this is Mahito's final bow, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 shows Mahito entering his final form in a fit of desperation following his Domain Expansion failing to kill Todo or Yuji. His Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing stands much taller than Mahito usually does, has the face masked, and blades coming out of the arm.
It's still not enough to save him from getting destroyed by Yuji and Todo. The Divergent Fist combined with Black Flash, and getting hit hard after barely managing to get his 0.2 seconds of Domain Expansion thanks to seeing Gojo do the same thing, weakened Mahito to the point where he was knocked out of the form.
Mahito's final form wasn't easy to get rid of as Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 shows, being faster and harder hitting than regular Mahito. Thanks to Todo's distraction, and the delayed effect of Yuji's punches and getting to perform Black Flash on command, Mahito was reduced to a squirming and fleeing wreck.
A wolf hunting rabbits, an epic speech
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 shows a terrified Mahito running for his life, symbolized as a pack of rabbits trying to outrun Yuji who is represented as a scarred white wolf leading a pack. The predator became the prey and vice versa.
The scene is appropriately quiet, with horror movie-style music playing as Yuji quietly advances. It's a cathartic moment, given that Mahito is responsible for a lot of pain in Yuji's life and the deaths of fan favorites like Junepei and Nanamin. Yuji's speech also rightly terrifies Mahito, as the former quietly snaps by telling Mahito he's going to kill him as many times as he needs.
While Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 omits the panel of Psudeo-Geto being a larger black wolf as he strides into the scene, it still makes everything all the more epic when he does. Even the simple question "Should I save you, Mahito?" is delivered menacingly, with Kenjaku having the most evil look on his face.
Final Thoughts
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 is a tour de force of a fight and conclusion to the Mahito fight. Yuji, Mahito, and Todo are all at their best and it succeeds as an adaptation by showing off everything involved in the fight from the whacky stuff Mahito is able to pull off to Todo's vivid imagination and Yuji's comeback.
Mappa has been criticised for slow pacing and overmining certain panels in the previous few episodes. However, in this case their exaggeration and ornamentalization of a few simple panels is well thought out. The famous Yuji chasing Mahito across a snowy landscape was done to perfection. The comparison of Mahito and the rabbit illustrated via their broken legs was poignant, if a little disconcerting.
Though Todo's music video is a bit of a silly moment, it's deserved after the gut-wrenching seriousness of everything else happening in the Shibuya Incident arc. The next few episodes are going to be the climax of the event, revealing what Kenjaku's endgame is and giving Mappa more room to play with the manga.
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