The fan-favorite shonen action series Jujutsu Kaisen can be a pretty hard watch from time to time, with brutal death scenes, horrifying monster designs, and tragic characters making the show one of the darkest shonen out there.
Thank goodness, then, that almost every episode ends with a short comedy sketch, or "Juju Stroll," introduced by a chibi-style Sukuna looking as cute as he ever gets. These segments allow the audience to see a lighter side of the characters, as well as how they act outside their daily battles, and some of them can be funny enough to rival any comedy anime out there.
10 Episode 8: Mai Goes To A Takada-Chan Handshake Event
Todo being in love with the sweet idol Takada-Chan is hilarious enough on its own, but throw the normally imperious Mai into the mix and things get even better. The sight of Mai queuing up for a handshake event and having to surrender her gun along the way is brilliantly incongruous. The gag would be good enough if it stopped there, but the best part is that she actually likes it and comes away secretly as enamored as Todo. Perhaps none of the characters are immune to Takada-Chan's charms.
9 Episode 11: There's A Heated Cooking Competition
The Juju Stroll from Episode 11 is completely different from any other in the series and is all the more unexpectedly funny for it. Rather than a quick comedy sketch, it appears to be a trailer for the next episode, complete with dramatic editing and voiceovers. Except, rather than the horrors of curses, the characters in this alternate universe seem to be dealing with a cut-throat cooking competition.
It's a brilliant, affectionate send-up to shows like Food Wars and will definitely get a laugh out of fans of that show. Undeniably the best moments were Megumi dramatically looking back at an empty stove and Inumaki driving a combine harvester.
8 Episode 10: Dress-Up With Tokyo Jujutsu High
This is one Juju Stroll that just gets funnier as it goes on. First, Panda pretends that Nobara's jacket fits him. Then Inumaki does a dramatic pose in Mai's skirt. And finally, Gojo strikes a pose in Nobara's skirt, while doing his best impression of her. Like Megumi says, this Juju Stroll is quite chaotic. Nobara might never forgive the boys for their escapades, but the audience certainly got a laugh out of them.
7 Episode 19: DIY With Juzo Kumiya
It makes sense that Juzo Kumiya, an ally of Geto and one of the most sadistic characters in the series, would provide Jujutsu Kaisen with one of its darkest yet funniest Juju Strolls. Juzo can generally be heard talking about how much he wants to make the bodies of his enemies into coat-racks, and at the end of Episode 19, the audience finally sees what one of them might look like.
That would be straight-up horrifying if it wasn't presented in such a cheerful, Bob Ross-style manner. And it ends with a cheerful "No one needs it!" from Mahito as a perfect piece of comic timing.
6 Episode 7: The Villains Join Forces To Play Soccer
It's always fun to see what villains get up to when they're not busy fighting the heroes, and the clashing personalities of Geto, Mahito, and the other Curses make this even more true than usual for Jujutsu Kaisen. Episode 7's Juju Stroll allows these characters to take part in some serious silliness, as they play soccer with the severed head of their ally, Jogo. Well, they are villains, after all.
This scenario also allows the creative team to have a lot of fun parodying tropes from sports anime. Maybe one day, Mahito and Geto will go to nationals.
5 Episode 21: Panda Gets Upset After A Question About Rice Or Bread
By Episode 21, Juju Strolls were starting to get meta. The one from Episode 20 seemed like a one-and-done skit: everyone from Tokyo Jujutsu High says whether they're a cat or a dog person, and then Panda gets upset that no one said they were a panda person. However, the next one continued the joke.
This time everyone gets asked whether they prefer rice or bread. The audience expects there to be a different punchline, but instead, Panda gets upset again, for a completely nonsensical reason. "They're out of ideas," notes Yuji. It's always nice when a show can poke fun at itself.
4 Episode 18: A Villainous High School Reunion
The idea of recasting the main villains of Jujutsu Kaisen as the high school protagonists of a shojo anime might not have occurred to many viewers, but, luckily, that's what creative teams are for. They even put Mahito in a sailor uniform.
Not only is this segment a brilliant and funny parody, but it also has a little element of sweetness, when a tsundere Jogo shows that he really does like Hanami. It almost makes the audience root for their team in canon.
3 Episode 22: A Trip To A Chinese Restaraunt
This Juju Stroll is so good because it tells a whole story of a day in the lives of the Tokyo Jujutsu High trio. There's a little skit about Megumi getting all the praise from a woman whose stolen purse they recovered even while Yuji and Nobara are the ones holding the guy down.
Then, just when the audience thinks the segment has wound down with a gentle scene of the trio hanging out in a Chinese restaurant, there's a perfectly-timed bit of comedy as they walk out of the shop and down the street, smiling serenely, before admitting how awful the food was.
2 Episode 9: Gojo's Very Important Message For Nanami
Gojo Satoru might be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the series, but he definitely has the sense of humor of a middle school student, and his fans wouldn't have it any other way. It also makes him the perfect match for the straight-laced, super-serious Nanami, whether in battle or not.
The doodle that Gojo slips into Nanami's pocket may be crude, but it's the way this work of art is presented that really sells it, complete with a dramatic zoom-in and Nanami's incredible facial expression.
1 Episode 23: Megumi's Great Romance
The scenario of Yuji, Nobara, and Gojo all trying to ruin Megumi's chances with a girl would easily be enough to support an entire episode's worth of hijinks, but Episode 23 manages to cram all of that hilarity into one short segment. Highlights include Nobara immediately dropping everything when she hears about the situation, as well as Gojo going into full bishonen mode.
And then, of course, it all turns out to have been a misunderstanding anyway. This is the last Juju Stroll of the series for now, and the writers definitely pulled out all the stops.
0 Comments