English Dub Review: Jujutsu Kaisen: “Narrow-minded”

Overview: While Nanami (David Vincent) focuses his attention on the special grade cursed spirit, Mahito (Lucien Dodge), Yuji (Adam McArthur) stays on Junpei forging a connection with the young man whilst he is manipulated by the very same curse.

Our Take: After Nanami decides to get serious after he is forced to go into overtime what ensues is, simply put, brief but beautiful. The battle between the jujutsu sorcerer and the cursed spirit, Mojito, is a good omen for the real fight that will ensue later on. We are given but a glimpse of Nanami and Mahito’s true capabilities leaving you with an itch you can’t quite scratch and acting as a bit of double edged sword. Again the animation is top notch like it always has been. The only drawback being it’s incredibly short lived and merely acts a prelude for things to come in the next few episodes. So while I greedily wanted more, it also gets the job done in that it creates major hype. 

That’s not where the focus lies, however. The real core of “Narrow-minded” is in the relationship established between Itadori and Junpei. For a one and done developmental episode, it succeeds in establishing a bond between the two teens, despite the shorter runtime. Their shared love of films is heartwarming and, in my case hits pretty close to home, and because of that was even more impactful than it could have been for others. The ‘Wilson’ reference is just one of many others after the various entertainment easter eggs that have either been not so secretly referenced or sneakily snuck in. As a pop culture fan, I can’t help but get a kick out of them and haven’t found them out of place or intrusive either. But just like the fight between Mahito and Nanami, this too also serves as a tease for Yuji and Junpei’s conflict to come in the next episode. To be fair though, it’s handled much better in all the time we get to spend with Junpei and his mother. Establishing their close relationship and therefore making you feel for him even more so after her tragic death and understanding his grief. The sympathy is only amplified as we see Mahito pulling the strings and watering the seeds of hate that were already planted in Junpei. With a rematch on the horizon and a standoff between fast friends, “Narrow-minded” sets up it’s actors not for a musical but a tragic tale of despair.