As the second season started airing I thought I was not even going to continue Jujutsu Kaisen anymore, but after seeing memes around I got hooked again. After forgetting so much of the plot I decided to give this a rewatch after 2 years. As I watched it I started to appreciate this anime more.

There are so many things different from other shounen anime in Jujutsu Kaisen, at least compared to the classic ones.

Taking the cliche tropes and improving them

• Generally, almost all the characters starting from the protagonist to a supporting character have broken some cliches. (For example: Aoi Todo - a himbo but a genius, Yoshinobu Gakuganji - uses an electric guitar even though he is a traditional closed minded man)
• Something like wholesome moments with the villains is a small but unique thing I never recall seeing in other shounen.
• R rated shounen is also another plus if the viewer enjoys some darker themes, some messed up topics are brought up like Cursed Womb: Death Paintings.
• About the whole "main character shield" issue at the start. It is one of the most cliches but here at least it was a solid reason. Yuji Itadori has to make a deal with the Sakuna to continue living. So it's not some nonsense like the power of friendship reason he lives.

A few things I appreciate

• The comedy in the show is funny (I don't find anime funny usually)

• Juju Strolls. Sometimes at the end of an episode, we get short stories with the characters in a day to day life and most are pretty fun to watch, and we get to see more of the characters outside the action.

Characters

I watched almost every character analysis done by Ohara https://www.youtube.com/@Ohara-the-Fox if not for him I might have looked past some neat things!

Yuji Itatori As a protagonist, he wins the non annoying and not a blank canvas looking one. His reasons for fighting are typical Shounen's protagonist but at least the way he thinks about killing other potential humans is something he tries to understand as something he needs to do.Megumi Fushiguro "The gloomy best friend/rival for the protagonist" is what I thought at first sight but he has more to that than just this. In the past, he was shown to be a troublemaker while currently, he is so much more mature that gives him more depth. It feels like he is just as important as Yuji as a main character sometimes he feels like the real protagonist. According to Sukuna, Gojo, and Noritoshi, he has a lot of potential. That makes him more interesting and I want to see him unlock his full power.Nobara Kugisaki One of the first female protagonists that isn't a love interest or useless like in other shounen. She doesn't have the time to listen to some nonsense and just does whatever she wants. She doesn't even get sentimental over random people dying like Yuji does. This is something I truly appreciate when it comes to female writing.Gojo Satoru Finally someone other than a protagonist who is way more powerful than everyone in the show. His modern thinking and ideas that teach the youth to become just as strong as him are something to admire. His silly antics never fail to make me laugh. Never thought I would see someone flirt with their enemy, that "tender" hand holding with Jogo was so funny.Nanami This depressed man decided to change his life. Don't we all feel stuck sometimes? Well, Nanami is relatible in that. He is also an important father figure to Yuji. The clashing outlook in life with Gojo and him is interesting to see.Aoi Toudou One of the highlights of this season. Who can forget a guy who is about to challenge you in a fight and the first thing he asks is "What woman is your type?" The weirdness of him trying to convince Yuji they are besties is hilarious. Even if he looks like a dumb himbo he is quite the opposite. He claims to have an extremely high IQ. He was an important person for Yuji to learn.Maki Zenin She has a lot of great potential as a female character. I love that when the two groups were fighting everyone mostly wanted to fight for her sake, that was wholesome.Sukuna One of the best villains in history simply because he is entertaining to watch every time he is on the screen.Mahito Chilling villain, he is well written in my opinion because he causes the viewer to feel extreme disgust, annoyance, and anger towards him. Just what his origin is from - human hatred.

Character relationships

I am a sucker for some character interactions so here ill just talk about my favorite ones.

Yuji Itatori and Gojo Satoru
They are just like siblings they get each other's humor and Gojo always looks out for Yuji as a big brother would

Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki
Truly, big sister and little brother energy. Love that they always tease Megumi or always get worried for him together. They fight just like siblings too.