Scan barcode
A review by zhaenya
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 19 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wow, this was such a good volume. and i don't know if it's because it was so yuji and megumi focused and i'm very biased when it comes to those two, but i just enjoyed it a lot. (i'm so mad at gege for separating them again. why do they insist on keeping them away from each other when it matters most? THEY'RE A SET. DO NOT SEPARATE THEM. STOP. BAD THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN THEY'RE NOT TOGETHER.) the fights were really fun and we got introduced to some interesting and some not so interesting and unimportant characters. and i guess i should start with the one on the cover. beautiful, beautiful cover. i really like higuruma, i think he has a potential to become one of my favorite characters. just from his introduction (we've seen him before, but this felt more official), with him chilling in a full bathtub while wearing a formal suit. "haven't you ever taken a bath in your clothes? it feels better than i expected." i knew i would like him from that very first moment. and then we had to go from one trial, "itadori yuji stands accused of entering the maji vegas pachinko parlor on july 16, 2017, in sendai city, miyagi prefecture, despite being under the age of 18 at the time" to the other, "itadori yuji stands accused of mass murder in shibuya on october 31, 2018", and that gave me a fucking whiplash. the way yuji didn't even hesitate before saying that, yes, he was the one who murdered all those people... my boy, it wasn't you, it's not you fault. WHERE SUKUNA AT, I JUST WANNA FUCKING TALK with fists. god, the way yuji went from stunned and borderline triggered at the mention of shibuya, to resigned and accepting, and then ended up with a look of sheer determination with a hint of exhaustion. and even higuruma's look of slight surprise when yuji accepts the guilt in a matter of seconds said it all. i think it was the look of higuruma recognizing the similar circumstances between yuji and his clients. there's a resignation in yuji's eyes, because he believe in his (misplaced) guilt, and higuruma is used to seeing that guilty sentence hang over the heads of those on trial. much like the people that he's worked with for his cases, yuji's guilt was assumed by the system he's in from the beginning, even though he's an innocent person trying to do the right thing for the sake of others. i'm glad higuruma didn't fight yuji for very long, and just decided to sit down and have a talk with him instead. yuji needs a therapist. but, yeah, chapter 165, i will remember you as one of my absolute favorites, it was so good. i just hope that we gained an ally in higuruma and we get to see him again fighting on our side soon.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😠and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😠and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.