You're listening to the After Hours Arc, your
new anime podcast. My name is Eotai, and I'll
be your host. Join me as I review, recap, and
relive anime, one arc at a time. And as always,
these are all from a manga -free point of view.
Welcome back to our final Jujutsu Kaisen Season
3 Recap. This is episode 12 in the first part
of the core. It was a good closure for the first
12 episodes, I feel like. I was very happy with
it. It was very action -packed right from the
start all the way till the end. It really felt
like it was non -stop. I was so here for it.
In the last episode, we had Fushiguro, who had
beat Reggie, was going to kill Remy. And then
heard his sister's voice and then didn't. But
then he ends up collapsing. That is when we got
introduced to the angel sorcerer. But briefly,
we still don't know anything about her. I cannot
wait to find out more. And we also finished with
Yuta killing Daruv. So we are now picking up
in the Sendai colony with Yuta. Again, the goat.
I love him so much. So like right after he kills
Daruv. He is thinking about what he needs to
do next because he's basically like his friends
are tired and hurt. And he brings up how Shibuya
really wore them out. And I keep forgetting that
it's not like it was years ago, like it was so
recent. And I keep forgetting that. So I'm glad
that they had Yuta reflecting on all of that.
His plan is to move all of the civilians to a
safe spot, specifically an auditorium somewhere.
And he's going to have his little curse Shikigami
Rika protect them. And this matters because the
Sendai Colony is not just fighters fighting.
People are getting caught in the middle. And,
you know, I think the episode did a really good
job making that clear right away. Seeing Yuta
in protector mode did so many things for me,
but I am biased because I'm a huge Yuta fan.
The first threat that we have to deal with is
this swarm of roaches. So that Kuro Ushi cockroach
curse spirit thing that they had briefly touched
on in the last episode, it uses this swarm to
try to overwhelm and defeat Yuta. See, what I
like is Yuta wasn't going full power with him
instantly. He knows that there are two other
high -level opponents in that colony. And he
doesn't want to reveal anything that he doesn't
have to. But Kuroushi doesn't give him that luxury.
The fight is gross. I hate bugs. And he's a cockroach.
I also thought he was supposed to be dormant.
So I was a little confused, but Yuta takes damage,
and then the curse uses the swarm to apply pressure,
and it's using its own weapon, and the pacing
is just chaotic. At one point, Kuroushi inflicts
wounds. There were like maggots and bugs forming
immediately from the severed limb. It was so
gross. But Yuta ends up having to use his reverse
curse technique offensively to finish Kuroushi
at extremely close range. And it was so gross.
Yuta literally bit this cockroach. At first,
I thought he kissed him. And I'm like, there's
no way. He definitely bit him. But Kuroushi was
trying to strangle him. So he flooded it with
energy until it basically detonated from the
inside out like a bomb. I was like, what is happening?
Did you really just do that? It was so gross
to me. But at the same time, I mean, he did that
thing. So gotta do what you gotta do. But Yuta
doesn't even get a moment to breathe. As soon
as it's clear that he can use a reverse curse
technique. that ura woman shows up and she's
the one who can manipulate the sky it's basically
like she's distorting space it was very entertaining
to watch and i wasn't i still really wasn't sure
exactly what it could do but it was very very
satisfying and yuta can't hit her normally his
arms keep stretching and the fight becomes all
about positioning and these weird angles And
it was wild because Yuta is like adjusting and
talking and engaging with her while he's figuring
out her rhythm. It seems that she knows him or
at least his bloodline. I don't know the full
story, but she did not like him right off the
rip. There was no negotiating with her. But then
Ryu Ishigori steps in and he makes the entire
situation worse. Because he is not waiting for
a turn. He sees two strong targets and treats
it like an opportunity to take them both out.
I really enjoyed him. He blasts them with this
concentrated, cursed energy beam. And it immediately
shifted the whole fight's pace. Yuta is still
thinking about the civilians, even with all this
chaos happening. And he recognizes the risk of
those blasts reaching them, even with Rika protecting
them. See, this is a big part of why this episode
worked for me. As much as Yuta is a beast and
he is fighting like an absolute monster, he is
also fighting like someone who is responsible
for everybody else. And I really appreciated
seeing that. It was very on brand for Yuta. From
here though, the episode became this chain of
exchanges where Uro's technique was keeping Yuta
from landing any real hits. Ishigori keeps trying
to overwhelm them with raw output. And our boy
Yuta is just constantly adapting. It was just
non -stop. I couldn't believe it. It was amazing.
I was not expecting this episode to literally
just be one giant fight, but that's what it was.
It was so good. It becomes clear, though, that
Yuta cannot keep surviving this three -way battle
without committing harder. So he puts on his
ring and we fully materialize Rika. And Rika
still creeps me out, but Rika replenishes his
energy and... He ended up getting this armor
like glove. I don't even know what it was. But
it was very strong and it was able to withstand
a lot of Ishigori's blasts. But basically, once
Rika is fully present, Yuta's ability stays for
like five minutes. It's now no longer Yuta versus
the colony. It is Yuta and Rika versus everybody.
It was a real deadlock. He didn't want to walk
into this to survive. He walked in to take control.
So his whole mindset going into this fight is
completely different than what we've seen throughout
the season. The part that really blew my mind,
though, was all three of them at the same time
and combined do their domain expansion. It was
so interesting, I couldn't believe it was happening.
I was definitely interested, but it didn't last
long. Because then all of these cockroaches come
back. Kuroushi isn't dead, even though Yuta apparently
exercised him. But apparently, the conditions
must have been met when all three of them activated
their domain at the same time. So then the domain's
done, they're all free, and now we have a four
-way battle. So the fight has just been, like
I said, insane right from the rip. I love how
they used all these blues and purples, and visually,
it was a lot different than a lot of the other
fights we have just gotten. The Higuruma fight
and the Reggie and Fushiguro fight were very
dark. They were very heavy. This is more of a
very high stakes fight. And I could feel a total
shift in tone and energy throughout this whole
episode. And what I also loved was Yuta can also
shoot a condensed beam of cursed energy. So him
and Ishigori are basically a good matchup. And
I was very interested to see how their whole
situation was going to play out. They ended up
looking like they were having so much fun by
the end. We had Yuta just smiling. And I still
couldn't believe that Kurushi was still actually
alive. And I mean, he ended up taking one of
Uro's arms. Ishigori ends up seeing his opening
and he takes it. He hits them with a blast that
knocks Uro out. and also kills Kuro Ushi. As
far as I know, I mean, he already died once,
so this cockroach is probably going to come back.
But the episode basically cleared the board with
one violent sweep, because then it was literally
just Yuta and Ishigori. And this is the moment
I knew this was going to be the last fight of
the episode. Ishigori didn't waste any time though.
He starts the offense and fires a massive beam
at Yuta. And this is where Yuta does something
that is like pure survival. Yuta uses Uro's technique
to redirect the beam upward. And I didn't even
see this happening until it came back down and
fucking got him good. This detail mattered though
because it showed That Yuta is not just strong.
He adapts. He is collecting solutions as the
fights are going on. But there's always a cost.
He cannot keep using it. Because he doesn't have
the strength to keep Rika with him. He only has
full power for five minutes when she's materialized.
So this turns into a raw hand -to -hand stretch.
Where both of them are just beating on each other
so hard. It was so satisfying. They were a good
matchup I feel like. In the end Ishigori ends
up agreeing to give Yuta his points. And I believe
Oro did the same. Because he ended up leaving
with 190 points. Which is insane to me. He easily
has the highest level of points in the Sendai
colony. But Yuta is dealing with enemies that
he doesn't fully comprehend. And this is the
final taste that the episode left in my mouth.
Even when Yuta wins, the story is trying to tell
me that the game is so much bigger than what
I currently understand in this moment. The end
of this episode is basically Yuta committing
folly. The fight escalates to domains. The episode
has a rug pulling moment with Kuroushi still
being a factor. Again, I was really confused
by that. I'm still confused by that. But maybe
in 2027 when it comes back, I'll figure it out
or I'll probably forget about it by then. Let's
be real. But Yuta wins with such a smart setup.
It is not just brute force. It's all about strategy.
It was just such a great episode. And towards
the end, they are showing all of the players
and we have Angel flying away with Fushiguro.
I'm pretty sure we saw Casimo and Yuji. I don't
know who else was in the screen. I didn't really
pay a lot of attention. It did look like Yuki,
Chozo, and Tengen were like having tea or something.
So they're still doing their thing. All in all,
episode 12, I think, was a really good closure.
It didn't give me too much of a cliffhanger to
make the break unbearable, which I appreciated.
I'm excited to go back and rewatch 1 through
12 now that we're locked in and I can kind of
binge it. So much has happened since episode
1 that it would be nice to have a little refresher
and see it as a whole picture. But giving my
take on episodes 1 through 12, I think the main
central thing that I have loved the most has
been how intense and different each of the fights
that they have been presenting us this season
were. Starting right off from the Yuji and Yuta
fight, along with Choso and Naoa, that really
set the tone for me for an opening season. Especially
where we were given those two episodes right
away, that was amazing for me. I thought the
way they started the season with the sky colors
and the city skylines, I just think it was so
well done and it had my attention immediately.
And as the story continued to progress, as much
as it got very confusing, the game mechanics
of the Culling Games is a shitshow for me. I
have such a hard time keeping up. And I'm sure
I'm not the only one. Maybe I am. Who knows?
But that is the biggest issue that I have had
is that it can be very confusing. But no matter
what, it has had my attention almost every single
episode. The only issue I really had was when
we met Hazanoki, Reggie, Higuruma. Remi, Rin,
like we had six or seven characters that I had
to try to digest in like one episode so I had
a really hard time with that but a lot of these
solo episodes I really enjoyed because like with
Hyogaruma and Yuji's fight I got to really experience
Hyogaruma and get a feel for him. Like getting
to see his courtroom past and how they applied
that to his curse technique and to his domain.
It was so satisfying the amount of detail that
I feel the show has put into some of these sorcerers.
I will say I expected Oro to be a little more
dangerous and intense. She seemed like she was
going to be a full -on menace, but she didn't
really seem as strong as Ishigori. And I mean,
she got de -armed by Kira Ushi. So I was really
looking forward to her because I thought she
was going to be much more of a beast. The Takaba
guy was a surprise for me because I don't really
like characters that are just put in to be a
joke, especially where this is such a heavy theme.
But that is not what he is. And he grows on me
every time I saw him on my screen. I think he's
really funny, and I cannot wait to see him develop
more throughout this series. I love how we've
gotten some allies and people we can't work with.
Like, it's pretty realistic to assume that not
everybody is going to be willing to go on your
team. Like, I wasn't sure if Reggie was going
to switch sides and join Team Fushidori. But
no, he had to be killed off. Whereas Higuruma...
And it seems like this Ishigori dude, they're
on board for helping out. So it's been very interesting
to see what kind of alliances have been forming
throughout this entire season. I feel like they
have so many characters and to have to give them
enough screen time to keep me continually interested
is a big ask. I understand what that is. But
at the same time... By the time we go into the
second part of the core, am I going to forget
everybody? Like, who's going to matter to me
then? But all in all, I am very satisfied with
how well I think everything has been as a whole.
The production, the quality of the material.
This is just assuming. I mean, I try to avoid
the manga panels anytime they pop up on my phone.
It's really hard. Manga readers are really bad
with wanting to ruin the fucking story. Like,
shut up. I don't care. I'm gonna find out eventually
with everybody else. So there are some things
that I have sort of seen that I have just tried
to push out of my mind. I will definitely not
bring up anything like that because I really
enjoy the whole manga -free approach. To me,
that's like telling somebody what the end of
the movie is that you really wanted to see. I
enjoy the concept of manga and I could see myself
becoming somebody who gets the manga after I
watch a series. That's probably the type of manga
reader I am. But I was always a watch the movie
or show versus read the book type of boy. So
that is totally a personal preference, I feel
like. And that's okay. We are all entitled to
enjoy what we enjoy and to do what we want. One
of the other big moments I think from this season
was the whole Kill Bill reference in the Maki
Zenon clan massacre. And I loved that bite. I
immediately knew it looked familiar and then
immediately TikTok was blowing up with side -by
-side comparisons. I really appreciated it. It
was very satisfying to watch. I don't care that
it wasn't necessarily original. I think it was
fantastically done. It was so brutal. And she
is a fucking beast. She was like a female Toji.
I loved every second of it. This season, I can't
say enough good things about it. But I think
that is what I have for my Jujutsu Kaisen season
3 recap. It has been a lot of fun. I have learned
a lot about how to organize my thoughts and really
it has been teaching me to pay a lot more attention
when watching these animes. The next review I'm
planning on doing is for the ICK office worker.
The other world's books depend on the bean counter.
And we're switching up the recap starting next
week with the witch hat at Tellier. So if you
are into some fantasy vibes, then come join me
for that. Until next time, I will see you then.