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Jujutsu Kaisen's season two has just begun and the fandom is already abuzz about the first episode. The first episode showed off a lot, being a flashback to Gojo and Geto's days as student Jujutsu Sorcerors. The animation was clean, with older and newer animation styles being utilized by Studio MAPPA to represent the retro feel of the decade.
What truly got people talking was the opening and ending. Since this is a long-running anime, the OP and ED are usually heavily paid attention to when it comes to what it represents. In Jujutsu Kaisen's case, the OP is a shining beacon of the good old days and the ED is more somber and reflective.
These are seen as perfect encapsulations of Gojo and Geto's stories, making them all the more tragic.
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Disclaimer: The following article will contain Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers, including the manga and season 2 of the anime.
Analyzing Jujutsu Kaisen season 2' OP and ED
The opening theme, Ao No Sumika, from Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 is already all over the internet. As mentioned earlier, it is a bright song with bountiful imagery of the blue sky shining through. The imagery of a summer's day is juxtaposed with the idea of being apart from a friend.
Gojo and Geto were close in Jujutsu Kaisen, as fellow students and friends. Both the anime and manga appear to show this. The opening theme is a heartwarming, yet also tear-jerking melody to hear given how badly the two fall out. The fact that they're both represented as people trying to speak true feelings is all the more tragic.
The lines like "The sorrow behind your smile/I failed to notice it, with all my regret" is one that absolutely applies to the two. They both had communication issues and grew up to be polar opposites of what they started out as. The OP recalls that feeling of missing someone, missing the good times of summer, and never being able to go back to it. It feels like it is from Gojo's point of view.
Then Riko Amanai's death happened and they began to drift apart. "We'll meet again, right?" is repeated at least twice as an invoiced wish. They did meet again, though under very different circumstances and with their moralities switched. The OP ends with a bittersweet note describing that experience slipping through the games between fingers, like star grains in a galaxy.
The ED
The ED, Akari by Sakiyama Soushi, is from Geto's point of view. This is according to Soushi's comments. Unlike the OP, which is heartwarming with a tinge of bittersweetness, the ED feels very somber in tone. It reflects a change of heart, and the complicated feelings that Geto wishes he could've said before things exploded.
There are plenty of references to the moon being dark in the song, "the moon went dark under this warping light" is used more than once. The moon is seen as the opposite of the sun, and the moon going dark is like the sun going dim. It's symbolic of Gojo's mind and morality altering.
Likewise, there are a lot of ideas of loneliness and crying in the song, questions of where to go tomorrow, and why Geto inflicts wounds on others. The ED's animation may showcase peaceful imagery, but the lyrics are not peaceful. It's a prelude to a villain arc and shows how things are going to change.
The theme of light fading is prominent throughout the song. The moon is dark, Geto is in shadow while Gojo is in light, and even the morning isn't described positively. The fact that Gojo was considered the good thing in Geto's life, and now the memories are fleeting and pain has taken hold is beautifully expressed in the song.
Geto and Gojo's relationship
What does this all mean for these former friends in Jujutsu Kaisen? It means both of these songs provide more of the characters' inner thoughts and regrets on not only each other but their places in life. Gojo became a successful master Jujutsu Sorceror, and Geto became an enemy of humanity.
This makes both their stories all the more tragic, as their friendship lies scattered and barely a memory by the time the series starts. It's an extra layer of tragedy, as they left so much under the table and unsaid and now it's too late. Additionally, it's already been too late as Geto is possessed by Kenjaku.
Riko wasn't the other one that Geto lost that forced him down the path of grief and darkness. Yu Haibara was another friend he lost, and he lost faith in humanity after massacring a village who wanted him to kill two girls. From then on end, the two were enemies after Geto declared non-magic users "monkeys" and likened them to animals for slaughter.
Gojo, for his part, did try to argue that Geto was just killing without purpose, but Geto denied this and stated his reasoning. Gojo couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend and now the curse user, and the two's friendship is broken beyond repair. It's a sad story of how one person lost faith, and the other found a reason to help people.
At the end of it all, Jujutsu Kaisen's Gojo and Geto's relationship is one of a brotherly bond and friendship broken by trauma, horrible experiences, and a lot of death. As mentioned earlier, the OP and ED serve as their inner thoughts.
With Jujutsu Kaisen's second season barely starting, and the manga long since past this point, it's safe to say viewers are in for one really good and sad time with these two. If anyone else has anything else to say about Jujutsu Kaisen's OP and ED, feel free to add comments.
