English Dub Review: Jujutsu Kaisen: “To You, Someday”
Overview: Yuji (Adam McArthur) attempts to knock some sense into Junpei after his attack on the school and throws down with the special grade cursed spirit, Mahito (Lucien Dodge), who has been puppeteering Junpei from behind the scenes.
Our Take: The downward spiral of Junpei meets its end in “To You, Someday,” ends as Yuji’s worst fears about him come to life. The cards him and his mom have been dealt have been anything but fair. In truth, you really can’t blame the guy for going berserk the way he did or even his logic about the human heart, which is present in no small thanks to that patchworked prick, Mahito. That gut wrenching pain that is at the boiling point just dissipates by something as simple as talking to Itadori about it. Something as simple as that is yet so difficult and critical and the only thing he needed was a friend who would hear him out and establishes him as the kindred spirit we can all relate to at one point or another, if not now, in our lives. Too bad it came a second too late. Junpei pays the ultimate price for trusting the wrong person, or thing, and becomes but a flicker of his former flame and then simply dies. The English voice actor who plays Junpei (his name currently eludes me despite my extensive internet searches), while did a fine job, would have benefited from going a bit farther in terms of his emotional breakdown to Yuji. But from there, things really lit up.
Adam McArthur is suburb this episode as he too reaches his own breaking point from the sudden loss of his friend along with Sukuna mocking him for groveling for his help. McArthur does a hauntingly chilling job of showing Yuji’s intensity. This is only elevated further from gorgeous deep inky black lines dragging and draping all over him as a visual for his scalding hot anger. The fight that ensues between Itadori and Mahito is epic. I love the brute force mentality Yuji has in laying the whoop-ass on Mahito. I also appreciate that while Yuji’s techniques and fighting style is simplistic he never just charges into a fight without using his noggin like the conventional Shonen protagonist. The little things go a long way. Mojito’s diverse power set also helps in making the fight fun as hell.
As Nanami comes into the picture and teams up with Yuji at the end, episode 13 promises to display an even more badass brawl than the phenomenal one we got in “To You, Someday.” Also RIP Junpei. You will be missed buddy.
