Jujutsu Kaisen animator attacked for Todo's crossdressing scene

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21 concluded the fight between Yuji & Todo, and Mahito. The episode featured a plethora of action, ranging from Cursed Techniques to Domain Expansion. Evidently, even the animators put in their best efforts, successfully adapting all the action scenes in the anime. However, there was one particular scene that seemingly did not sit well with certain groups of fans.

As fans would know, the Jujutsu Kaisen animation team has faced a lot of issues due to the production schedule. Hence, the company employed the help of independent animators like Sota Shigetsugu as key animators. However, despite the animator's wonderful contribution to the Shibuya Incident arc, he faced harassment from some fans.

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Jujutsu Kaisen animator apologizes for Todo's original scene

Nobuko Takada and Aoi Todo as seen in Jujutsu Kaisen (Image via MAPPA)

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 21, titled Metamorphosis, saw Mahito transfiguring Todo's arm, forcing him to cut it off. Right after, Mahito tried to seize the opportunity and defeat Todo. At that very moment, fans got to see the original scene for the character.

The scene took place in Aoi Todo's imagination as he and his idol Nobuko Takada fought Mahito together. While the events from the scene did seem like something Todo would think, there was a certain segment in the fight that certain groups of fans disliked.

Nobuko Takada and Aoi Todo as seen in Jujutsu Kaisen (Image via MAPPA)

The segment was animated by Sota Shigetsugu. It saw Aoi Todo cross-dressing as a high school girl and fighting alongside Nobuko Takada. While such scenes are received well all over the world due to their comedic intention, Jujutsu Kaisen's global popularity pushed its reach to a larger mass of audience, who might not be familiar or comfortable with what was being depicted.

Evidently, people from different parts of the world and communities have varied beliefs and customs. Hence, when people from Islamic countries watched the scene, they disliked it due to religious reasons. Soon after, they started criticizing it online by directing their comments towards the animator, Sota Shigetsugu, responsible for the scene, widely known by his username on X @Hone_honeHONE.

As evident online, the animator got attacked on X, followed by harassment and death threats. The situation had clearly crossed the line, as receiving death threats over an original anime scene is unacceptable.

Nevertheless, despite not being in the wrong, the animator posted an apology for his work.

The original tweet has already been deleted. However, in that, he revealed how he was left wondering why he received so much criticism for Todo's scene from the Islamic fans when it was so well received in Japan. However, upon further inspection, he learned that cross-dressing is considered a sin in the religion, which led to the rejection of the scene by certain viewers. Upon realizing the same, Sota Shigetsugu apologized for any discomfort he may have caused to fans.

Screenshot of fans reacting to the animator's apology (Image via Sportskeeda/X)

Upon learning about Sota Shigetsugu's apology, fans instantly began showing appreciation for the animator as they believed that there was no reason to apologize for the scene. The entire segment was just meant to add a comedic element to the action scene. Thus, considering that the majority of fans found it funny and loved the scene, there was no reason for the animator to apologize for the same.

Even fans from the Islamic community came forward, stating that one should learn to differentiate between real life and fiction. While the scene may have offended several people, death threats and harassment were completely unwarranted for the given situation. With that, fans hoped that the animator would continue to contribute to the anime in the future as well.