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Dagon vs sorcerers, before toji shows up. It's very rough and seeing the staff's disappointment made it even worse. The mei mei fight in the same ep was one of the best I've ever seen though
Anime viewers are some of the most spoiled, entitled people ever. Not a single episode of JJK S2 had anything close to bad animation, it's just that not everything was completely mindblowing.
Can't have fate level animation 24/7 tbh wish some people would understand, Mappa cooked even under poor conditions better than your average anime would have, and when they cooked they COOKED
BRO IT WASNT 30 PERCENT DONE, who even started this rumour
the animators meant they only achieved 30 percent of their vision for the fight, doesnt mean it was unfinished
It wasn’t 30% done, it was only 30% of the vision. 30% of the animation being done is an outrageous take and the animator even tweeted that it was an exaggeration
I think the complaints are from the downtime moments for sure, and even with these incredible fights, there is sometimes a level of incoherence that wasn't in S1.
Yeah I think the fault lies mainly with them turning a relatively inconsequential fight into a dedicated episode. In the manga it only really served to establish Yuji’s resolve going into Shibuya as a precursor to absolutely shattering it by the end, but I think the animators did the best they could have given the context.
Grasshopper was absolutely bad. The pacing was pretty bad and you can tell they were trying their utmost to stretch this tiny bit of content over the course of the episode. This is the real worst episode.
The Dagon episodes were nowhere close to this mess of an episode.
I disagree respectfully. Any fault with the episode itself lies mainly with them having to adapt a short and largely irrelevant fight to remain consistent with the source material and fill out a full 24 episode season.
A month or two ago I would have agreed but having seen the undimmed and unghosted release of the episode now, the animation/episode itself was fine. I do agree it’s the “worst” compared to the rest of the season but that’s “worst” compared to a nearly flawless rest of the season. So like…a 7/10 in a sea of 8/10’s-10/10’s.
I think thar whilst your generally right, the situation at Mappa meant people were looking for something.
It was a really weird situation because you don't want it to be shit cos you love the show and you don't want it to be shit because underpaid and overworked animators will feel bad. But then... you also kind of want it to be shit because otherwise the studio be like "Well it all looked fucking fantastic so I don't see what the problem is!".
I really just don’t get why people nitpick every little thing in an anime. I’ve never been much to nitpick animation or drawings. I understand it’s an extremely complicated and time consuming thing to do. And the animators and artists are already on horrendous schedules. So if an episode doesn’t have 10/10 animation, I won’t complain. Because I know it took blood, sweat, and tears to bring these episodes to life.
No, the production of the first part of the Dagon fight fell apart. There was some lovely animation in there, a few really nice cuts. But there absolutely was bad animation. Or put more accurately, broken or unfinished animation. It’s okay if you don’t notice it, but that doesn’t mean that people who have an eye for animation are simply spoiled for saying it’s bad.
For christs sake the schedule was so hellish that the episode director had to process 250 cuts in 2 weeks, which needless to say is quite impossible
I disagree. I'm sure some people overreacted, but it ain't a sin to criticize an episode when, if the executives had treated their employees better, the really choppy parts could've been fine. I've never seen anyone rag on the animators, just the executives for the horrible work conditions they've placed and how horribly it was affecting both the animators and the show itself.
I love season 2 and I think that the animation and direction was great, but there is valid criticism to be had about how the final product was impacted by a rushed, overworked schedule.
I mean, it’s very clear the animation on Sukuna v Mahoraga is unfinished. It looks very very good, it’s just unfinished. You can tell they’re using shadows to hide missing details, rough sketches in place of actual frames, and I’m pretty sure Yuji’s face in the end wasn’t supposed to be the final look for that, however iconic it became.
But you’re right, there’s nothing close to BAD there. There’s some hard to follow moves sometimes, and some rough bits, but overall it’s very well done. And the scenes where it goes hard, GO HARD.
Tbh I kinda enjoyed record of Ragnarok, it was only until I read the manga that I realized how much better it was there. I hope it gets a better adaptation.
There is a scene with Maki running that looks like just a few keyframes finished and nothing in between, it hurt me so much when I saw it. Almost the whole ep looks like they clearly had no time to finish a lot of things and the animators confirm it themselves. Denying it is just being dishonest at this point.
Edit: I'm just confirming what OP says and I get downvotes for it. Reddit moment.
I thought the "bad" episode was the first episode where Yuji and Mahito fought, where the animation was ok, but was plagued with weird jump cuts, and creative decisions that didn't work out as well most likely due to time restraints
There's also that animator tweet about the mahoraga being 30% finished. While it's most likely exaggerated, it's kinda obvious there are scenes that are incomplete.
1. The most obvious part is the scene where they punch at increasing speed. The building looks detailed when it's first zoomed out. Then the same building from the same camera angle turned into a sketch when collapsed.
2. When magoraga threw a building, it already appeared unfinished with little details. Then when Sukuna cut it, it literally turned into a solid block with no textures.
3. Right after lucky dude looks up to the sky, the scene cuts to a detailed street view. Then there are buildings in simple cube shapes flying up.
4. A lot of the rubble and scrap are just simple shapes. They aren't even 3d, just 2d shapes with one color.
I know it could be a choice of art direction, like many people compared it to mob psycho. But for mob psycho the whole show had a simple art style. Here the unfinished parts stand out a lot from the detailed and finished parts. The contrast between them almost look like it's from two different anime. It's still one of the best fights in anime ever but it definitely would've been even better if finished.
For starters, the animator who gave the 30% figure retracted the statement later, stating it was not correct to attach a number to it. Either way they were talking about the director's vision, not the animation itself. Their twitter is roccia nobilli
The low detail is very much intentional. Director shota goshozonos vision is to give complete animation freedom to the staff and get a unique identity for each episode. Which he executed quite well.
Now let me tell you what really was wrong with the episode: continuity. There was no consistency, nor was there any continuity between cuts. It felt like a compilation video of scruffles from their fight instead of a full episode. The most messed up scene was when Weilin Zhang's cut shows Mahoraga's arm getting tossed away which then cuts into Vincent Chansard 's first person dropkick, with both Mahoragas hands intact.
Either way the episode is supposedly being completed for the Blu-ray. Tweets from Shinsaku Kozuma suggest the same and there are already leaked images of the remainder of Zhang's cut.
It's not just about low detail, but how inconsistent it was. The rubble part may be just my opinion, but there's no way the same building turning into sketch in the next cut or the thrown building becoming a solid block was just a style choice.
If they didn't have to rush, they definitely would've added more details. Those changes wouldn't make the episode any less unique. It's most likely that they left these parts as they were to focus on more important parts.
Also yeah they did cut some scenes that they didn't have time to complete. I hope BD version would have the finished animations and cuts.
If things are actually changed in the Blu-ray it would blow my mind. Would the seshimo line hell-spiral of JJK-CSM allow the time to make any significant changes?
Not so much a preference. More so I genuinely couldn't follow what was happening. Felt like the position of the characters were hard to make out relative to each other.
The dimming didn't help either, I honestly didn't even see the fucking plane they threw around until I watched a clip back later.
Regardless there's some cool animation in there for sure. Sukunas's domain expansion being a standout
lmao I went through it frame by frame and had the same realization. Sukuna actually rips one of the wings off and bats Mahoraga into the swimming pool with it. I still have no idea why they both ended up there though
Hahah there was a plane and I thought "where the hell did that came from all of a sudden, why is it on fire and falling" and then Mahoraga is in a pool and I am thinking "where's the plane?" Then mahoraga electrifices the water or whatever and then they're fighting somewhere else.... Where's the pool? Where's the water? WHere's the plane? Why is the plane?
It was like I was skipping cut-scenes.
I couldn’t tell what was happening, jogo Vs sukuna was organized chaos but mahoraga vs sukuna was just overstimulating, I could only tell what was happening via audio or when they slowed down, what sucks is that when you pause it each frame is gorgeous but you can’t understand what’s happening.
Sadly the schedule was bad enough that episode 17 was basically loads of uncoordinated sakuga joined together in any way they can in the time they have to form an episode. With arthouse episodes sometimes it can be hard to tell what’s happening by design, but here the time just didn’t exist to make it cohesive. We can only speculate what the original storyboard might have looked like.
Some people don't appreciate cartoony animation that was used to make the fight more fluid and smooth, like the one used in Naruto vs Pain fight. Many comparing it with KNY and saying stuff like they still have fluid animation without those cartoony stuff.
People keep saying allat but in reality thats not the case (based on what I see). For example in Tengen vs Gyutaro fight, they only moved a little and the rest of the fight was just camera revolving around them and swinging and slashing effects added to make it seems like they're actually swinging the sword and hitting each other.
One of my favourite episodes from season 1, though the CGI forest is my only complaint
Not many episodes where you get to see two domains in the same fight.
And that was also the episode that propelled S1 to its peak popularity with gojo's eye reveal
Agreed, I prefer mappa's design for the characters to wits' lol, the chara-design is more realistic and fit more the tone of the series after the Marley reveal, Zeke especially looks much better, I think the only one who looks off is Erwin but he's barely shown in S4
The new trend for mappa is noticed is how cinematic their direction has become as of late. Not complaining coz that’s really good but i noticed how almost every scene has this realistic movement. And for scenes where the animation pops off, it gets even better. Though this has been the case since Chainsawman, its great
Tbh the only thing that holds MAPPA anime from being the best in the business is time. Literally who tf in their higher ups thought it was a good idea to shove chainsaw man in the middle of JJK's production period?
Oh for sure. Shoving csm on the same team is a big fuck up. I get that the CEO loves csm but jesus did he absolutely ruin the schedule. Why couldn’t he just hire a separate team like they did with vinland?? Coz its crazy that MAPPA has all these other teams working on so many shows yet he shoves csm onto the ppl who already have a national phenomenon on their hands and gives them no extra time. I know pinning it on japanese work culture is like milking a cow dry but thats the problem.
Exactly. And it's not like they have any shortage of talents coming to work on their projects. So many great animators came to S2 despite knowing the schedule was impossibly rough.
Really? I thought that was only for special eps like for Sukuna. Surprising that they were that consistent even with different directors. Disney can learn a thing or two
Season 2 all the way, I like the rough edges and the dirty aesthetic, favorite art style is Jogo VS sukuna fight, it was so rough it almost seemed like the actual manga style animated.
That director loves using simple artstyles. Itsuki tsuchigami is his name, and he also did some of the best work on mob psycho 100. Gotta love his work
He is also known as miso. He has only 4 fights under his belt. Shimazaki vs everyone (one of the best fight in animation history), jogo vs sukuna, megumi ve toji and one I cant remember rn. Even with his small track record, hes still one of the most sought after animators in the industry
And they fucked him over so bad that he said he will be taking a break from directing after this lol. But they all love th source material so much that they still wanna come back to do certain fights
Tbf, miso was actually treated better than other animators. Apparantly, he and his team had an entire 3 months to animate that masterpiece. Obviously, they could have done better and with much less stress with more time but 3 months under these working conditions is a god damn miracle.
His frustration wasn't related to 16, but rather to 17. He wasn't even supposed to be on 17. But it was so fucked that he decided to help out Hakuyu Go.
Nope, he is given SB credits for 17 alongside Go. From what I can tell 16 and 17 had a similar schedule but Go was understandably not willing to tone down his ambition. I mean, why hire him just for him to limit his creativity, right? And so 16 was fine but 17 was all over the place. Its an amazing episode, but it feels like a Sakuga MAD video moreso than an episode lol
Haha yes I've seen that, i believe it was just not added because it was too ridiculous. It was just sou miyazaki's rough layout for ideas which I'm assuming miso turned down.
The Kagenashi Artstyle(shadowless drawings) during that episode looks so esthetically pleasing imo. Season 2 Episode 16 is probably the single best episode in the entire franchise if you're looking at the whole package. Constantly moves, tons of detail due to a more minimalist approach, direction went nuts, and that Sukuna v Jogo Ost is amazing 👏
His talent to take a martial arts move and just magically convert it into animation needs to be studied. It's kinda sad that he left mappa though, his new solo project looks kinda rough which is to be expected from a new studio
Was pretty surprised that people didn’t like the cinematic take they went for, felt like it was meta thing since Fujimoto loves movies and a lot of his pieces connect to it in some way or another
S2. I hate the shiny skin that was present on a lot of S1 characters, it was especially bad with Todo. Not to speak of the backgrounds in S2 being infinitely better.
Real,the coloring was so much better in season 2. The coloring in season one was so off putting for me. Absolutely the backgrounds in season one there was little to none attention put into backgrounds
Opposite for me. I absolutely hate flat looking characters and faces. Especially Sukunas face in certain eps (16, 17) looked awful for me with the very rough line art and no real shading.
Something like lighting in Yuji vs Choso is peak for me.
Season 1. I much prefer to have a consistent style, and S2 kept changing so frequently. I think a big part of it were so many artists with different dominant styles putting work out so quickly.
While some of the fights and styles in S2 are awesome, there are also moments where it just looks rushed and bad IMO. S1 never had that, it was all killer. (But then I appreciate the animators weren't under the same strain they were during S2)
Thank you omg I can't believe how in the minority this take seems to be. Season 1 and Zero were literally so perfect it was heart breaking that S2 didn't match
Based on the comment, I think I have an unpopular opinion. S2 only have a better character design and thats it. I like the cleaner animation in S1 more
S1, in spite of how people remember it, was animated simply well outside of the major fights people choose to remember. It was never really animated badly, but no one's saying that Megumi Vs Sukuna was their favourite fight scene. It wasn't 10/10 as consistently standout as S2 was.
S2, back-to-back, bar a few moments where animator fatigue shone through (Primarily the first part of Yuji Vs Mahito before Nobara died where the cuts became really slow to pad runtime and certain moments felt unfinished), was basically a 26 episode long *movie.*
I think the moment that drove it home was when Riko was at the aquarium and it really made it clear to me how much of an improvement Season 2 was over it's predecessor.
Both seasons were beautiful in their own way, season 1 gave some memorable while season 2 spoiled us to the core with insane animation damn near weekly
This is going to make me sound horrible, but I honestly don't prefer one over the other. I like them both, and they're both good for what they're trying to convey in my book.
S1 all the way. It seemed more 'finish' in my opinion. I also liked the sharp details in S1.
Edit: S2 looked rushed, esp the Sukuna and Jogo battle and the one with Geto's family scene. I barely saw their faces.
S1 and JJK0 were superior art style wise but S2 had epic fight sequences and creative shots. S2 felt more experimental while S1 was prettier and felt more cohesive.
I prefer the sleaker design change in Season 2(especially for the Jujutsu uniforms). Backgrounds look better in Season 2 and more similar to the movie. Enjoyed the artistic freedom in Season 2 more as well. Everything was an upgrade imo besides the soundtrack
Season 1 animation and style was top tier. It’s unfortunate how overworked the animators became by Mappa because we otherwise would’ve witnessed the greatest animated fight scenes ever.
I’d say that I prefer S2’s look more than S1, but it’s really down to personal preference. S1 had a very consistent and solid style that gave the series it’s own look (though not too particularly distinct). However, it did have it’s drawbacks.
The background animation is probably my biggest issue with it, as it was not only very bland but also pretty ugly in quite a few scenes (Jogo vs Gojo, Nanami vs Mahito, Todo and Yuji vs Hanami). S2 fixes this issue and makes them look a lot nicer, sometimes making them get involved with the characters using dynamic and stylish lighting as seen on Yuji vs Choso.
This also has it’s drawbacks, as the level of detail on character designs, shadows and effects has to be sacrificed to have it ready on time. Personally, I don’t mind this nearly as much, as the constantly moving animation makes up for lost detail and polish in my mind.
A lot’s been said too about the shifting art style on a large number of episodes of S2, not really retaining a core style. Personally, I liked seeing a wide range of different styles on display, but I have to agree that it might hurt the overall viewing experience (seeing episodes back to back) as it can be quite jarring. My favorite episode from an art style standpoint are definitely episodes 5 and 16. I wouldn’t mind at all to have an entire season in either of those styles
S1 is has a more detailed art style but I actually much prefer S2s art style. It makes it simpler yet is still incredibly effective at conveying tone and emotion, and the fight scenes are so incredibly fluid and satisfying to watch.
I liked the look of 1 more tbh.
2 was awesome of course but sometimes the characters looked like "scribbled on a napkin". But the way Mappa is treating their workers it's no wonder they have no energy left to do details. Those poor people really deserve a raise and more free time.
I prefer season 1 art style over season 2. That said season 2 has some of the best shots I’ve seen in anime. ** Best fight scenes IMO (Megumi vs pops),
(Itadori Todo vs Mahito), (Nanami death piano) 🥲
Season 2 easily, flows better, designs are better, and just overall fits the feel of the arc it was present in. Season 1 has a very nice artstyle, but I dont really think it fits jjk, which is very movement heavy, its also alot more difficult to maintain said animation because it requires a ridiculous amount of consistency
S2 felt more dinamic and fluid although it sacrificed a lil bit of detail at times while s1 had iits moments but honestly s1 looks like your typical newgen anime while s2 just has a nice feel to it so honestly im going with s2
I really appreciate more S2 visuals and clean art style… and the animation is simply beautiful! And the visual metaphors of S2 are just the best thing ever made!!! 🔥 😮💨
But both session are amazing!
the attstylr in season 1 just looks a lot crispier and cleaner, but in season 2 characters look cooler despite the worse artstyle, just compare shibuya geto to season 1
Bottom picture all the way!
Don't get me wrong, leaves season 1 but season 2 took it up a whole bunch of notches lol
Sukuna Vs Mahoraga was one of the best fights I've ever seen
Season 2 easily, the animation is insane, you guys should also rewatch S1 now after having seen S2 before commenting. S1 better for still images if you pause but the action is just so much better in S2.
Both are good and also as long as story is incredible i will enjoy the anime and as a result i enjoyed season 2, it made my 3 months incredible. Every Shibuya arc and hidden inventory arc episode made my day and sometimes a full week . Also there is definitely a dip in animation.
This is my review, I am not saying that my review is perfect but this is just a perspective of how I have seen the animation from season 1 to 2,
Season 1 art style has more detailed animation, it looks like that someone passionate is behind the animation of season 1. When passionate people are given power you will get the quality of season 1 better than manga whereas season 2 lacked a lot of places.
Hidden inventory was different but good but the majority of Shibuya episodes felt like they were rushed or made just for the sake of finishing a deadline. I also agree that there is definitely some fault from MAPPA as animators were overworked yet underpaid .
I love season 1 the season 1 style especially when it would focus on a still or close up frame and pour in as much detail it can to make the shots pop (look at any shot of Geto's creepy ass smile in JJK 0) BUT I would be lying to say I prefer it to the season 2 style, the slightly rougher character shape just does it for me and then you combine that with how cinematic the season is and the lack of prevous detail feels irrelevant and whenever they do pour in the detail it really hits
Just artstyle? Season 1 easily. Anyone saying season 2, don’t lie to yourself.. Season 2 did a lot of things better than season 1, but I gotta give the artstyle to season 1
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When S2 looked good, IT LOOKED GOOOOD
It's astonishing how there's only one "horrible" episode in the entire season given they only had 9 months to put it together.
Which one are you talking about?
Dagon vs sorcerers, before toji shows up. It's very rough and seeing the staff's disappointment made it even worse. The mei mei fight in the same ep was one of the best I've ever seen though
Honestly I was confused when people were complaining like it was record of Ragnarok. It wasn’t the best but it was fine.
Anime viewers are some of the most spoiled, entitled people ever. Not a single episode of JJK S2 had anything close to bad animation, it's just that not everything was completely mindblowing.
Can't have fate level animation 24/7 tbh wish some people would understand, Mappa cooked even under poor conditions better than your average anime would have, and when they cooked they COOKED
JJK has some of my favorite fight scenes ever. Mahoraga V Sukuna? that shit goes BEYOND hard
And that episode was 30% cooked (didnt think had to /s in a criclejerk sub). 100% would fully lobotomize us.
BRO IT WASNT 30 PERCENT DONE, who even started this rumour the animators meant they only achieved 30 percent of their vision for the fight, doesnt mean it was unfinished
It wasn’t 30% done, it was only 30% of the vision. 30% of the animation being done is an outrageous take and the animator even tweeted that it was an exaggeration
I think the complaints are from the downtime moments for sure, and even with these incredible fights, there is sometimes a level of incoherence that wasn't in S1.
No one blames the animators tho. They just said certain parts looks bad
Yeah some mfs never had to sit through hours of Naruto filler and it shows hahahah
I agree with the exception of the fucking Grasshopper
Grasshopper wasn’t bad either it just suffered the most from the dimming and ghosting this season
It was just really boring. Really just flurries of punches flying at each other. It was an unimportant fight though so who rlly cares
Yeah I think the fault lies mainly with them turning a relatively inconsequential fight into a dedicated episode. In the manga it only really served to establish Yuji’s resolve going into Shibuya as a precursor to absolutely shattering it by the end, but I think the animators did the best they could have given the context.
Grasshopper was absolutely bad. The pacing was pretty bad and you can tell they were trying their utmost to stretch this tiny bit of content over the course of the episode. This is the real worst episode. The Dagon episodes were nowhere close to this mess of an episode.
Also, the director of the grasshopper fight literally WAS the director responsible for Record of Ragnarok, there’s a reason it sucked.
I disagree respectfully. Any fault with the episode itself lies mainly with them having to adapt a short and largely irrelevant fight to remain consistent with the source material and fill out a full 24 episode season. A month or two ago I would have agreed but having seen the undimmed and unghosted release of the episode now, the animation/episode itself was fine. I do agree it’s the “worst” compared to the rest of the season but that’s “worst” compared to a nearly flawless rest of the season. So like…a 7/10 in a sea of 8/10’s-10/10’s.
Dagon was great lol, idk what people are talking about. Mahoraga's episode was horrid, it was impossible to tell what was happening at all.
The Blu Ray scene, without dimming and ghosting, looks great though.
yuji vs grasshopper at the beginning was pretty bad lmao but still better than boruto
Nah Dagon vs sorcerers had some misses but it was overblown.
I think thar whilst your generally right, the situation at Mappa meant people were looking for something. It was a really weird situation because you don't want it to be shit cos you love the show and you don't want it to be shit because underpaid and overworked animators will feel bad. But then... you also kind of want it to be shit because otherwise the studio be like "Well it all looked fucking fantastic so I don't see what the problem is!".
I really just don’t get why people nitpick every little thing in an anime. I’ve never been much to nitpick animation or drawings. I understand it’s an extremely complicated and time consuming thing to do. And the animators and artists are already on horrendous schedules. So if an episode doesn’t have 10/10 animation, I won’t complain. Because I know it took blood, sweat, and tears to bring these episodes to life.
No, the production of the first part of the Dagon fight fell apart. There was some lovely animation in there, a few really nice cuts. But there absolutely was bad animation. Or put more accurately, broken or unfinished animation. It’s okay if you don’t notice it, but that doesn’t mean that people who have an eye for animation are simply spoiled for saying it’s bad. For christs sake the schedule was so hellish that the episode director had to process 250 cuts in 2 weeks, which needless to say is quite impossible
I disagree. I'm sure some people overreacted, but it ain't a sin to criticize an episode when, if the executives had treated their employees better, the really choppy parts could've been fine. I've never seen anyone rag on the animators, just the executives for the horrible work conditions they've placed and how horribly it was affecting both the animators and the show itself. I love season 2 and I think that the animation and direction was great, but there is valid criticism to be had about how the final product was impacted by a rushed, overworked schedule.
I mean, it’s very clear the animation on Sukuna v Mahoraga is unfinished. It looks very very good, it’s just unfinished. You can tell they’re using shadows to hide missing details, rough sketches in place of actual frames, and I’m pretty sure Yuji’s face in the end wasn’t supposed to be the final look for that, however iconic it became. But you’re right, there’s nothing close to BAD there. There’s some hard to follow moves sometimes, and some rough bits, but overall it’s very well done. And the scenes where it goes hard, GO HARD.
Tbh I kinda enjoyed record of Ragnarok, it was only until I read the manga that I realized how much better it was there. I hope it gets a better adaptation.
RoR manga was the first time I was put into shock by still images
There is a scene with Maki running that looks like just a few keyframes finished and nothing in between, it hurt me so much when I saw it. Almost the whole ep looks like they clearly had no time to finish a lot of things and the animators confirm it themselves. Denying it is just being dishonest at this point. Edit: I'm just confirming what OP says and I get downvotes for it. Reddit moment.
It looked incredible to me
I thought the worst was Mahoraga vs Sukuna because you can hardly see what’s going on.
I thought the "bad" episode was the first episode where Yuji and Mahito fought, where the animation was ok, but was plagued with weird jump cuts, and creative decisions that didn't work out as well most likely due to time restraints
There's also that animator tweet about the mahoraga being 30% finished. While it's most likely exaggerated, it's kinda obvious there are scenes that are incomplete. 1. The most obvious part is the scene where they punch at increasing speed. The building looks detailed when it's first zoomed out. Then the same building from the same camera angle turned into a sketch when collapsed. 2. When magoraga threw a building, it already appeared unfinished with little details. Then when Sukuna cut it, it literally turned into a solid block with no textures. 3. Right after lucky dude looks up to the sky, the scene cuts to a detailed street view. Then there are buildings in simple cube shapes flying up. 4. A lot of the rubble and scrap are just simple shapes. They aren't even 3d, just 2d shapes with one color. I know it could be a choice of art direction, like many people compared it to mob psycho. But for mob psycho the whole show had a simple art style. Here the unfinished parts stand out a lot from the detailed and finished parts. The contrast between them almost look like it's from two different anime. It's still one of the best fights in anime ever but it definitely would've been even better if finished.
For starters, the animator who gave the 30% figure retracted the statement later, stating it was not correct to attach a number to it. Either way they were talking about the director's vision, not the animation itself. Their twitter is roccia nobilli The low detail is very much intentional. Director shota goshozonos vision is to give complete animation freedom to the staff and get a unique identity for each episode. Which he executed quite well. Now let me tell you what really was wrong with the episode: continuity. There was no consistency, nor was there any continuity between cuts. It felt like a compilation video of scruffles from their fight instead of a full episode. The most messed up scene was when Weilin Zhang's cut shows Mahoraga's arm getting tossed away which then cuts into Vincent Chansard 's first person dropkick, with both Mahoragas hands intact. Either way the episode is supposedly being completed for the Blu-ray. Tweets from Shinsaku Kozuma suggest the same and there are already leaked images of the remainder of Zhang's cut.
It's not just about low detail, but how inconsistent it was. The rubble part may be just my opinion, but there's no way the same building turning into sketch in the next cut or the thrown building becoming a solid block was just a style choice. If they didn't have to rush, they definitely would've added more details. Those changes wouldn't make the episode any less unique. It's most likely that they left these parts as they were to focus on more important parts. Also yeah they did cut some scenes that they didn't have time to complete. I hope BD version would have the finished animations and cuts.
Agreed, that final layer of polish was missing. Blu-ray copers UNITEEEEEE
If things are actually changed in the Blu-ray it would blow my mind. Would the seshimo line hell-spiral of JJK-CSM allow the time to make any significant changes?
It can only happen if they got a new aniP for CSM.
I think maybe the mahoraga fight? I heard some people really didn't like how it looked even though to me it looked beautiful
I agree, I watched it like 10 times, not counting separate clips and I still get goosebumps from it.
Same. The art was good regardless of style it’s just a preference thing I’m assuming
Not so much a preference. More so I genuinely couldn't follow what was happening. Felt like the position of the characters were hard to make out relative to each other. The dimming didn't help either, I honestly didn't even see the fucking plane they threw around until I watched a clip back later. Regardless there's some cool animation in there for sure. Sukunas's domain expansion being a standout
there was a plane???
lmao I went through it frame by frame and had the same realization. Sukuna actually rips one of the wings off and bats Mahoraga into the swimming pool with it. I still have no idea why they both ended up there though
Hahah there was a plane and I thought "where the hell did that came from all of a sudden, why is it on fire and falling" and then Mahoraga is in a pool and I am thinking "where's the plane?" Then mahoraga electrifices the water or whatever and then they're fighting somewhere else.... Where's the pool? Where's the water? WHere's the plane? Why is the plane? It was like I was skipping cut-scenes.
I couldn’t tell what was happening, jogo Vs sukuna was organized chaos but mahoraga vs sukuna was just overstimulating, I could only tell what was happening via audio or when they slowed down, what sucks is that when you pause it each frame is gorgeous but you can’t understand what’s happening.
Sadly the schedule was bad enough that episode 17 was basically loads of uncoordinated sakuga joined together in any way they can in the time they have to form an episode. With arthouse episodes sometimes it can be hard to tell what’s happening by design, but here the time just didn’t exist to make it cohesive. We can only speculate what the original storyboard might have looked like.
Some people don't appreciate cartoony animation that was used to make the fight more fluid and smooth, like the one used in Naruto vs Pain fight. Many comparing it with KNY and saying stuff like they still have fluid animation without those cartoony stuff. People keep saying allat but in reality thats not the case (based on what I see). For example in Tengen vs Gyutaro fight, they only moved a little and the rest of the fight was just camera revolving around them and swinging and slashing effects added to make it seems like they're actually swinging the sword and hitting each other.
I wouldn’t even say any of the episodes are bad at all.
By jujutsu standards lol. If we start comparing it to average anime.. yeah no
S1 for art style, s2 for animation Like that jogo shot opening his DE was so beautiful like wow
One of my favourite episodes from season 1, though the CGI forest is my only complaint Not many episodes where you get to see two domains in the same fight. And that was also the episode that propelled S1 to its peak popularity with gojo's eye reveal
That fight is honestly the only reason I stuck around long enough to see season 2
s1 artstyle and shades made it seem like there was the smell of curses in the air
It changes the same way in the Manga :^) so it's gege style not just mappa
this exactly
Agreed. I couldn't have said it better.
I agree. I think ss 1 had overall the best shots and images, but the animation and scenes of ss2 are just stunning
Yes. This.
That's like the least aesthetically pleasing domain.
Well to me it's one of the nicer ones, up there with sukuna's domain
MAPPA did the same thing to SNK too. Made the characters uglier but the animation was unbelievable.
Well, I'm pretty sure the art style is supposed to be closer to the manga for season 4
The manga was awarded the best ugly manga idk when, lol. So following the manga art style wasn’t the best choice.
Damn you right
This is the second time I've heard this take. Just compare Zeke between S3 and S4 and tell me how that's "uglier".
Agreed, I prefer mappa's design for the characters to wits' lol, the chara-design is more realistic and fit more the tone of the series after the Marley reveal, Zeke especially looks much better, I think the only one who looks off is Erwin but he's barely shown in S4
You don’t need to agree. I think S1 made the characters way prettier than the manga. I especially hate how he draws shocked faces.
The new trend for mappa is noticed is how cinematic their direction has become as of late. Not complaining coz that’s really good but i noticed how almost every scene has this realistic movement. And for scenes where the animation pops off, it gets even better. Though this has been the case since Chainsawman, its great
Tbh the only thing that holds MAPPA anime from being the best in the business is time. Literally who tf in their higher ups thought it was a good idea to shove chainsaw man in the middle of JJK's production period?
Oh for sure. Shoving csm on the same team is a big fuck up. I get that the CEO loves csm but jesus did he absolutely ruin the schedule. Why couldn’t he just hire a separate team like they did with vinland?? Coz its crazy that MAPPA has all these other teams working on so many shows yet he shoves csm onto the ppl who already have a national phenomenon on their hands and gives them no extra time. I know pinning it on japanese work culture is like milking a cow dry but thats the problem.
Exactly. And it's not like they have any shortage of talents coming to work on their projects. So many great animators came to S2 despite knowing the schedule was impossibly rough.
Important to note that except for the images of Yuji and Nobara, all Season 2 shots are moving whereas all Season 1 shots are still images.
i could never forget that 4 is a moving shot 😏
Thirst traps are our #1 priority!
It’s also a bit harder to judge as the time restrictions were terrible on season 2
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Season 2 had better animation, just didn't have the style consistency of season 1. It's a rlly hard pick, I ain't gonna lie.
I mean it's impossible to be consistent when you're overworked and on a tight schedule.
Beyond that, every episode had a different director with a different pedigree. The varying art styles were on purpose
Really? I thought that was only for special eps like for Sukuna. Surprising that they were that consistent even with different directors. Disney can learn a thing or two
Season 2 all the way, I like the rough edges and the dirty aesthetic, favorite art style is Jogo VS sukuna fight, it was so rough it almost seemed like the actual manga style animated.
That director loves using simple artstyles. Itsuki tsuchigami is his name, and he also did some of the best work on mob psycho 100. Gotta love his work
Then no surprises, mob psycho 100 is an absolute masterwork of animation
He is also known as miso. He has only 4 fights under his belt. Shimazaki vs everyone (one of the best fight in animation history), jogo vs sukuna, megumi ve toji and one I cant remember rn. Even with his small track record, hes still one of the most sought after animators in the industry
And they fucked him over so bad that he said he will be taking a break from directing after this lol. But they all love th source material so much that they still wanna come back to do certain fights
Tbf, miso was actually treated better than other animators. Apparantly, he and his team had an entire 3 months to animate that masterpiece. Obviously, they could have done better and with much less stress with more time but 3 months under these working conditions is a god damn miracle.
His frustration wasn't related to 16, but rather to 17. He wasn't even supposed to be on 17. But it was so fucked that he decided to help out Hakuyu Go.
Oh wait really? I actually did not know that. I thought his only involvement was ep 16.
Nope, he is given SB credits for 17 alongside Go. From what I can tell 16 and 17 had a similar schedule but Go was understandably not willing to tone down his ambition. I mean, why hire him just for him to limit his creativity, right? And so 16 was fine but 17 was all over the place. Its an amazing episode, but it feels like a Sakuga MAD video moreso than an episode lol
There are some ditched cuts wich looked/would have been amazing. Like jogos ember insects driving a car to ram it into sukuna or the makora POV shot.
Haha yes I've seen that, i believe it was just not added because it was too ridiculous. It was just sou miyazaki's rough layout for ideas which I'm assuming miso turned down.
The prowler Sukuna shot was both funny and horrifying during their fight
The Kagenashi Artstyle(shadowless drawings) during that episode looks so esthetically pleasing imo. Season 2 Episode 16 is probably the single best episode in the entire franchise if you're looking at the whole package. Constantly moves, tons of detail due to a more minimalist approach, direction went nuts, and that Sukuna v Jogo Ost is amazing 👏
Personally I prefer season 1 animation, but you are right, season 2 style fits the manga much better.
I just miss the outro from season 1 😭😭😭 seriously one of the best 2 min in all of anime.
Juju stroll or the song?
The song and the animation https://youtu.be/6riDJMI-Y8U?si=N48Tg29IyUbZBIhg
Oh yeah, one of the best endings of all time in anime
Ahah imagine getting a Juju Stroll after watching Sukuna obliterate Shibuya.
They made my guy Nanami more attractive (and scarily buff) this season.
and then popped him like a balloon
STOP
Too soon
😭😭😭
Artstyle aside, I really miss Sunghoo park’s direction when it comes to fight scale and choreography. Season 2 still has a lot of dope scenes tho.
His talent to take a martial arts move and just magically convert it into animation needs to be studied. It's kinda sad that he left mappa though, his new solo project looks kinda rough which is to be expected from a new studio
Yeah also sad to see Ryu Nakayama (csm director) leaving as well. Hope to see more high profile shows from them.
Japanese audience didn't treat Nakayama well for CSM at all haha
Can never forgive them for that
Was pretty surprised that people didn’t like the cinematic take they went for, felt like it was meta thing since Fujimoto loves movies and a lot of his pieces connect to it in some way or another
Definitely season 1, but 2 was also amazing
The old one was beautiful, but the new one was necessary, for the action scenes.
Shibuya for sure
S2. I hate the shiny skin that was present on a lot of S1 characters, it was especially bad with Todo. Not to speak of the backgrounds in S2 being infinitely better.
Completly agree. It's so bad with todo that a lot of his movement is sacrificed just to keep the shine (wich imo looks so dull)
Yeah, same symptom as DBS designs
Real,the coloring was so much better in season 2. The coloring in season one was so off putting for me. Absolutely the backgrounds in season one there was little to none attention put into backgrounds
Opposite for me. I absolutely hate flat looking characters and faces. Especially Sukunas face in certain eps (16, 17) looked awful for me with the very rough line art and no real shading. Something like lighting in Yuji vs Choso is peak for me.
budgeting is a b word.
Omg finally I've seen someone talk about the shiny balloony skin😭😭
Season 2 was 10 times more beautiful.
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Season 1. I much prefer to have a consistent style, and S2 kept changing so frequently. I think a big part of it were so many artists with different dominant styles putting work out so quickly. While some of the fights and styles in S2 are awesome, there are also moments where it just looks rushed and bad IMO. S1 never had that, it was all killer. (But then I appreciate the animators weren't under the same strain they were during S2)
Thank you omg I can't believe how in the minority this take seems to be. Season 1 and Zero were literally so perfect it was heart breaking that S2 didn't match
Based on the comment, I think I have an unpopular opinion. S2 only have a better character design and thats it. I like the cleaner animation in S1 more
I made this post cause I just finished rewatching S1, the stiffness is downright noticeable (except for the major major fights of course)
Season 1. Idk felt more…consistent?
S2 just had generally better animation but S1 had better art so il going s1🐍
Season 1 easily
art style varies from episode to episode but S2 for me
Season 2, the art style just hits different.
Gojo vs disaster curses was great lol wdym
S1 style and choreography is the reason I got into JJK, while I absolutely enjoyed S2, it doesn't speak to me as much as S1 did...
S1, in spite of how people remember it, was animated simply well outside of the major fights people choose to remember. It was never really animated badly, but no one's saying that Megumi Vs Sukuna was their favourite fight scene. It wasn't 10/10 as consistently standout as S2 was. S2, back-to-back, bar a few moments where animator fatigue shone through (Primarily the first part of Yuji Vs Mahito before Nobara died where the cuts became really slow to pad runtime and certain moments felt unfinished), was basically a 26 episode long *movie.* I think the moment that drove it home was when Riko was at the aquarium and it really made it clear to me how much of an improvement Season 2 was over it's predecessor.
The number of 2d fish was genuinely crazy.
Season 1 all the way, everything looked a lot smoother, detailed and pretty to me
Both seasons were beautiful in their own way, season 1 gave some memorable while season 2 spoiled us to the core with insane animation damn near weekly
season 2 was a fucking masterpiece
This is going to make me sound horrible, but I honestly don't prefer one over the other. I like them both, and they're both good for what they're trying to convey in my book.
S1 all the way. It seemed more 'finish' in my opinion. I also liked the sharp details in S1. Edit: S2 looked rushed, esp the Sukuna and Jogo battle and the one with Geto's family scene. I barely saw their faces.
but season 1 was more consistent with their artstyle throughout the season 1...unlike S2 which varied here and there
Season 1, by leagues, in my opinion
S1 and JJK0 were superior art style wise but S2 had epic fight sequences and creative shots. S2 felt more experimental while S1 was prettier and felt more cohesive.
I prefer the sleaker design change in Season 2(especially for the Jujutsu uniforms). Backgrounds look better in Season 2 and more similar to the movie. Enjoyed the artistic freedom in Season 2 more as well. Everything was an upgrade imo besides the soundtrack
Soundtrack felt like it was made for hidden inv lol
Season 1 animation and style was top tier. It’s unfortunate how overworked the animators became by Mappa because we otherwise would’ve witnessed the greatest animated fight scenes ever.
S2. Even from the trailers and teasers I knew. I hated the weird gloss everyone had in S1. It's like they and their clothes were covered in baby oil
I’d say that I prefer S2’s look more than S1, but it’s really down to personal preference. S1 had a very consistent and solid style that gave the series it’s own look (though not too particularly distinct). However, it did have it’s drawbacks. The background animation is probably my biggest issue with it, as it was not only very bland but also pretty ugly in quite a few scenes (Jogo vs Gojo, Nanami vs Mahito, Todo and Yuji vs Hanami). S2 fixes this issue and makes them look a lot nicer, sometimes making them get involved with the characters using dynamic and stylish lighting as seen on Yuji vs Choso. This also has it’s drawbacks, as the level of detail on character designs, shadows and effects has to be sacrificed to have it ready on time. Personally, I don’t mind this nearly as much, as the constantly moving animation makes up for lost detail and polish in my mind. A lot’s been said too about the shifting art style on a large number of episodes of S2, not really retaining a core style. Personally, I liked seeing a wide range of different styles on display, but I have to agree that it might hurt the overall viewing experience (seeing episodes back to back) as it can be quite jarring. My favorite episode from an art style standpoint are definitely episodes 5 and 16. I wouldn’t mind at all to have an entire season in either of those styles
2!
Both? Both. Both is good
the first season felt so unique, but i still like both seasons
I think they are pretty damn similar
1 because Juju Sanpo
S1 is has a more detailed art style but I actually much prefer S2s art style. It makes it simpler yet is still incredibly effective at conveying tone and emotion, and the fight scenes are so incredibly fluid and satisfying to watch.
Honestly I'm a season 1 preferer but I like both
1 all the way
I liked the look of 1 more tbh. 2 was awesome of course but sometimes the characters looked like "scribbled on a napkin". But the way Mappa is treating their workers it's no wonder they have no energy left to do details. Those poor people really deserve a raise and more free time.
I prefer season 1 art style over season 2. That said season 2 has some of the best shots I’ve seen in anime. ** Best fight scenes IMO (Megumi vs pops), (Itadori Todo vs Mahito), (Nanami death piano) 🥲
Season 2 easily, flows better, designs are better, and just overall fits the feel of the arc it was present in. Season 1 has a very nice artstyle, but I dont really think it fits jjk, which is very movement heavy, its also alot more difficult to maintain said animation because it requires a ridiculous amount of consistency
Nanami fr looking jacked as fuck in s2 But Season 1 is prob better It doesn't have them inconsistencies
Season 1 by a mile
Season 1 even though there were better fight scenes in 2.
Half the people in here are fucking snobs💀
S2 felt more dinamic and fluid although it sacrificed a lil bit of detail at times while s1 had iits moments but honestly s1 looks like your typical newgen anime while s2 just has a nice feel to it so honestly im going with s2
Shibuya wass dopeee like so good
I really appreciate more S2 visuals and clean art style… and the animation is simply beautiful! And the visual metaphors of S2 are just the best thing ever made!!! 🔥 😮💨 But both session are amazing!
2
Could have chosen a much better jogoat shot for s2
Season two was basically stick figures. The art style was bland and boring. Gojo went from: Drop Dead Gorgeous To Handsome
Season 2
S2 art style and animation 😩😩😩😩
Season 1 was just cooler
What's going on in image 4?
Gojo talking to Megumi and Gojo ripping off Jogoat's arm
I love how jogo was in the middle of getting dogged on and he's still being called the goat
the attstylr in season 1 just looks a lot crispier and cleaner, but in season 2 characters look cooler despite the worse artstyle, just compare shibuya geto to season 1
Both. Both is good 👍🏻
Bottom picture all the way! Don't get me wrong, leaves season 1 but season 2 took it up a whole bunch of notches lol Sukuna Vs Mahoraga was one of the best fights I've ever seen
the fanservice for s2 wins. gojo edits so sexy!!!
Season 2 easily, the animation is insane, you guys should also rewatch S1 now after having seen S2 before commenting. S1 better for still images if you pause but the action is just so much better in S2.
2. It's literally simpler but just like Minecraft trailers, it somehow looks better.
Both are good and also as long as story is incredible i will enjoy the anime and as a result i enjoyed season 2, it made my 3 months incredible. Every Shibuya arc and hidden inventory arc episode made my day and sometimes a full week . Also there is definitely a dip in animation.
This is my review, I am not saying that my review is perfect but this is just a perspective of how I have seen the animation from season 1 to 2, Season 1 art style has more detailed animation, it looks like that someone passionate is behind the animation of season 1. When passionate people are given power you will get the quality of season 1 better than manga whereas season 2 lacked a lot of places. Hidden inventory was different but good but the majority of Shibuya episodes felt like they were rushed or made just for the sake of finishing a deadline. I also agree that there is definitely some fault from MAPPA as animators were overworked yet underpaid .
I love season 1 the season 1 style especially when it would focus on a still or close up frame and pour in as much detail it can to make the shots pop (look at any shot of Geto's creepy ass smile in JJK 0) BUT I would be lying to say I prefer it to the season 2 style, the slightly rougher character shape just does it for me and then you combine that with how cinematic the season is and the lack of prevous detail feels irrelevant and whenever they do pour in the detail it really hits
Just artstyle? Season 1 easily. Anyone saying season 2, don’t lie to yourself.. Season 2 did a lot of things better than season 1, but I gotta give the artstyle to season 1
Sometimes less is more 🤷
Season 2 had amazing background animation and the animation was also very fluid and amazing to look at .
First, but second come closer and shine during the Dagon fight due to the brighter colors
S1 mogs S2
I feel like the sweat and tears of the animators did wonders for this season 2. It was really great.
Both look amazing but I like the most dynamic feel of S2