Season 3 feels like a collection of random scenes without context

Jan 23, 8:54 AM

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Nov 2020

Something has been feeling off about S3 since the very first episode, and I think I know why. There are a lot of really good scenes, but there is pretty much nothing in between. Nothing to lead from one plot point to the next. Stuff just happens randomly and there's no flow to any of it.

This season feels more like an art exhibition than a continuation of S2. I feel like I'm watching a summary instead of the actual anime. New characters appear as if we know them, drop their backstory in one or two sentences and just die again. There's zero build-up to anything. It's as if they've cut out all exposition, while at the same time having WAY too much exposition. I've never seen anything like it.

You have scenes that go by so fast and leave 0 impact. There are so many random cut-in frames for whatever reason that I have no idea what they are supposed to show. Then you have these random lore dumps as giant text blocks across the entire screen. It's like they couldn't stand the fact that they would actually have to explain their story and find a good flow that leads from scene to scene. So they just dump everything on there at once and rush through it like there's no tomorrow. Which makes the entire anime feel like a best-of Youtube short.

I really don't remember the other seasons being like this. I feel almost no connection to the characters anymore and don't see how events follow from previous ones. It's just a bunch of random ideas thrown at you one after the other, and I'm not sure I like it.

Jan 23, 9:11 AM

Fenrir_01

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Aug 2022

124

Yep that’s the culling game for you! Even in the manga this arc was a mess. I remember reading it and saying to myself that a lot of plot point and characters introduced in this arc should have been introduced way sooner in the story.

Jan 23, 9:24 AM

Headpatts

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Dec 2020

1521

Yeah I feel the same I just hope it gets better from here.

Jan 23, 9:28 AM

Ahohite-killer

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Dec 2024

1815

ya kinda idc personally as long as they dont wrong my boy Hakari

Jan 23, 9:29 AM

Hannan2008

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Aug 2024

yepp it's so because they are cutting content from the manga

Jan 23, 9:32 AM

Fenrir_01

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Aug 2022

124

Headpatts said:
Yeah I feel the same I just hope it gets better from here.

Oof don’t get your hopes up, cause story wise it’s only gonna be downhill from now on.

Jan 23, 9:49 AM

Phantom_373

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Aug 2022

2854

I agree somewhat honestly

Jan 23, 9:51 AM

legionofbees

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Nov 2025

i agree that there's a lot of people being introduced, but there is one connecting plot, the Culling games. All the new and old characters will converge in the games, they're just making pit stops before we start

Jan 23, 9:58 AM

Tithain

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Dec 2022

158

Hannan2008 said:
yepp it's so because they are cutting content from the manga

What did they cut? I'll tell you: nothing.

I don't really get these complaints. Everything that's happened so far follows a logical line. Yuta comes back to kill Yuji, but he was just pretending so they join forces to help Megumi's sister. To decide what to do, they speak to Tengen who explains the situation. Then they split: Yuta goes to fight in the game, Yuji and Megumi go to find Hakari and Maki goes to the Zenin clan to retrieve cursed tools.

What is so confusing?

Jan 23, 10:01 AM

#10

Apratim

Offline

May 2021

3473

Masternap said:
Something has been feeling off about S3 since the very first episode, and I think I know why. There are a lot of really good scenes, but there is pretty much nothing in between. Nothing to lead from one plot point to the next. Stuff just happens randomly and there's no flow to any of it.

This season feels more like an art exhibition than a continuation of S2. I feel like I'm watching a summary instead of the actual anime. New characters appear as if we know them, drop their backstory in one or two sentences and just die again. There's zero build-up to anything. It's as if they've cut out all exposition, while at the same time having WAY too much exposition. I've never seen anything like it.

You have scenes that go by so fast and leave 0 impact. There are so many random cut-in frames for whatever reason that I have no idea what they are supposed to show. Then you have these random lore dumps as giant text blocks across the entire screen. It's like they couldn't stand the fact that they would actually have to explain their story and find a good flow that leads from scene to scene. So they just dump everything on there at once and rush through it like there's no tomorrow. Which makes the entire anime feel like a best-of Youtube short.

I really don't remember the other seasons being like this. I feel almost no connection to the characters anymore and don't see how events follow from previous ones. It's just a bunch of random ideas thrown at you one after the other, and I'm not sure I like it.

finally someone spoke facts. The pacing is so off and every scene looks so disoriented

Jan 23, 10:16 AM

#11

Breeze_disrupt

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Aug 2021

244

just wait till we actually join the culling games

Jan 23, 10:39 AM

#12

Lichikal

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Jul 2024

108

I feel the same way but i didnt know how to put it to words, u described it perfectly

Jan 23, 11:15 AM

#13

Lionel13927

Anime Emperor

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Jan 2019

352

Yup, you've said it very well yourself - it's the lack of build-up. Fights, deaths and pretty much everything in anime and other media is more impactful when there's more context. This makes you really feel the stakes. In this particular last episode, we haven't learned much about Maki and Mai's father, his brother, and even Naoya - they just appeared for some brief moments and all died in the same episode. The battles were flashy, but there wasn't any tactics to them - just pure strength and power from Maki. We also didn't get any insights as to what did Mai's sacrifice actually grant Maki, so we couldn't even feel the extent of her power. Naoya also just got his a*s whopped 2 eps ago, so it's not like he was some unbeatable last boss. Furthermore, the episode between his fights were an enormous info dump - and while people enjoy when the world is built upon, it wasn't achieved at a gentle pace. When you put all those issues together, you get exactly what you and other people in this thread described - a fast-paced action where a lot of things happen fast but it's like nothing important happens.

And for the record, as other people mentioned - it's the same in the manga. It's kind of a fan consensus that it's... not the greatest JJK arc.

Jan 23, 11:52 AM

#14

certifiedbinger

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Jan 2021

2072

I think the writing itself isn't to blame here.
It's the direction that's throwing you off. The anime has opted for a cinematic style that's probably not going to feel right for everything in the story.
The cut aways, the abruptness of scenes- 'new' JJK is all about that. I have mixed opinions about it.

Jan 23, 12:04 PM

#15

QKunai

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Jul 2010

339

Tengen pulls iron man projectors out of it's ass to explain culling game rules that came out of Kenjaku's ass and then the episode ends with a random failing comedian having a mental breakdown. And then the next episode out of nowhere Maki is at Zenin clan and it feels like you somehow skipped an episode.

Jan 23, 12:54 PM

#16

ktg

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May 2016

2418

Both the writing and directing are pretty weak.
On the writing end - as others said - there's no build-up. They killed the whole Zenin clan, but killing one of the top of the Zenins was as satisfying as killing the stormtroopers because they had no introduction. To us, even their powers were a mystery in most cases, so we don't even know what it means that Maki beat them.
On the other hand, the directing is also lacking. It's one thing that Goshozono doesn't know how to adapt exposition-heavy scenes, but he's also bad at adapting action-heavy scenes, because he doesn't know how to highlight scenes with proper pacing.

We need Sunghoo Park back with more freedom to actually make an enjoyable adaptation.

Jan 23, 1:09 PM

#17

Uspher

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Apr 2021

I feel the same way, episode four came out of nowhere

Jan 23, 1:13 PM

#18

CheliosX

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Dec 2022

2953

I just started the season yesterday and have seen ep 1 and 2 and I honestly agree. I, of course, I understand what they want to do but the scenes feel so...unconnected? disoriented? they just flash by, well most of them, without any connection whatsoever. lol, I was wondering if it was just me tbh.

Jan 23, 1:25 PM

#19

MadanielFL

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Feb 2021

7501

Honestly that's why for me season 1 was the best season, specially the first few epiosdes, the second and third season have cool fights but way too much going on that it's hard to understand.

Jan 23, 1:47 PM

#20

creaturelogic

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Dec 2024

Yeah the pacing feels a bit disjointed. If I hadn’t read the manga, it would be really jarring.

Not that the pacing is that much better in the manga but atleast with the manga you can choose how much time you spend in a scene with your own reading pace.

Your point about it feeling like an art exhibition is interesting considering the opening sequences is literally a reference to a bunch of famous paintings. So maybe it’s an international storytelling choice?

There’s going to be SO much this season so I do wonder if any of the breathing room scenes were cut for time.

Jan 23, 2:01 PM

#21

FreeshorVost

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Oct 2019

Reply to QKunai

QKunai said:
And then the next episode out of nowhere Maki is at Zenin clan and it feels like you somehow skipped an episode

??? Half of last episode was literally dedicated to what everybody will be doing, it was established that the main 4 would be splitting up and completing objectives on their own. You're just getting Maki's POV first in retrieving the Cursed Tools (which was established in the previous episode).

Like your comment and this whole thread just comes off as people not paying attention to the show then complaining afterwards that there's no context.

FreeshorVostJan 23, 2:06 PM

Jan 23, 2:08 PM

#22

feyyazu35

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Jan 2021

342

Reply to ktg

@ktg

My friend, they don't need to do any promotion; nobody who reads the manga cares about the Zenin family members who died because they're unimportant. They were characters introduced to showcase Maki's power, and that was the purpose of the manga, and the anime portrayed it that way.

Gosso's directing was absolutely superb; apart from showing Naoya Zenin's bullying of Maki from a distance, the action sketches, the direction, everything was perfect.

Meanwhile, Park is terrible, he's such a mediocre director that his return would be a huge downgrade for JJK

Jan 23, 3:31 PM

#23

daxwithoutflower

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Mar 2021

Yup, while the animation wasn't bad although nowhere near first season's, if last episode feels terribly rushed even for people who have not seen the manga, that's how bad it its context-wise. It felt like watching plasticine stickman fight. Yeah you throw a bit of Maki's past and her sister's thing here and there but even then it feels plastic. Pity, should've enjoyed even more the first season if I knew it would get to this, thankfully it was always a one-ride experience per season though.

Jan 23, 5:04 PM

#24

ryzxgum

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Apr 2022

8510

that is indeed one of the reasons i never cared much for this arc.

Jan 23, 5:18 PM

#25

ktg

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May 2016

2418

feyyazu35 said:
@ktg

My friend, they don't need to do any promotion; nobody who reads the manga cares about the Zenin family members who died because they're unimportant. They were characters introduced to showcase Maki's power, and that was the purpose of the manga, and the anime portrayed it that way.

Gosso's directing was absolutely superb; apart from showing Naoya Zenin's bullying of Maki from a distance, the action sketches, the direction, everything was perfect.

Meanwhile, Park is terrible, he's such a mediocre director that his return would be a huge downgrade for JJK

And if you fail to showcase the enemies' power beforehand, then they won't work when you want to showcase the strong character's power.
Because we - anime only viewers - don't know anything about the Zenin clan's strength, to us, Maki wasn't powerful at all. We didn't see anything that would indicate this clown show, called the Zenin clan, was even on the level of Megumi and I haven't mentioned Gojo yet.

No, Goshozono is below average when it comes to directing. We can see that with how he failed at directing EP3. Even a mediocre director would have tried to do something visually engaging or steal from shaft's style, but he couldn't even do that.
Even EP4 was pretty weak when it comes to directing. Only the animation was good.

Jan 23, 5:21 PM

#26

Oongbuh

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Apr 2021

1782

Reply to daxwithoutflower

daxwithoutflower said:
while the animation wasn't bad although nowhere near first season's

Are you being for real? Most of season 2 and so far pretty much all of season 3 by now are much more impressive and visually appealing than season 1 by a mile.

Jan 23, 7:28 PM

#27

Old_Greggu

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Oct 2020

354

Tithain said:

Hannan2008 said:
yepp it's so because they are cutting content from the manga

Just give up, some people are hopelessly lost. I’m not even a manga reader, and I feel fine.🙈

Jan 23, 8:16 PM

#28

lalindu

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May 2023

229

Reply to Oongbuh

daxwithoutflower said:
while the animation wasn't bad although nowhere near first season's

Are you being for real? Most of season 2 and so far pretty much all of season 3 by now are much more impressive and visually appealing than season 1 by a mile.

@Oongbuh s3 is already shaping up to be one of the best animated seasons of anime

Jan 23, 8:17 PM

#29

lalindu

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May 2023

229

Reply to feyyazu35

@feyyazu35 park is an amazing action director but gosso elevates every part of the manga

Jan 24, 12:01 AM

#30

Zarutaku

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Sep 2016

25355

Sounds about right, I like it though, not every anime needs to have conventional storytelling.

*kappa*

Jan 24, 4:56 AM

#31

Gator

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Apr 2013

38880

Well said, I feel the same way. So far this looks like a random mess of events to me with no chance to connect with any of these characters.
Maybe this will change with the actual culling game (whatever it is) coming up, but so far most manga readers seem to imply that it only goes even more downhill from here...

Jan 24, 10:03 AM

#32

feyyazu35

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Jan 2021

342

Reply to ktg

@ktg

When powerful Zenins appear in the episode, they mention them in writing, saying "these are level 1" etc. There's no need for unnecessary 5-minute flashbacks to showcase their powers :)

You can see Gosso's masterful directing in the very first episode; even in the first scenes, the directing and storyboarding of the scene where Naoya talks to his brothers is so good that it immediately immerses you in the atmosphere. Gosso is very successful in this regard. He did the same in the fourth episode; in the conversation between Naoya and Jinichi at the table, they talk without changing the camera angle, and the text continues to scroll. Then we see the animations of the characters as they speak normally, and it's so natural. He uses the camera angle in a very natural and creative way.

We call this Gosso Cinema :)

Mod Edit: Removed baiting.

Twintail_DaemonFeb 23, 8:58 PM

Jan 24, 11:00 AM

#33

NeoSchizo

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Nov 2023

218

bro, episode 4 was an action masterpiece, so what if the pacing is chaotic, it is more memorable and fun that way.

Jan 24, 11:44 AM

#34

Dark_Figures

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Apr 2020

126

Everything from this point onward does not make sense. I started reading the Manga around the time this arc was coming out onward. It genuinly felt forced and rushed. Just throwing a bunch of new characters, showing the main characters here and there just to keep them relevant. I've been saying this since then, from the culling game arc onward, the story is bad. It was visible even in the art style. I think the skyrocketed fame Jujutsu Kaisen gained during quarantine ruined it, honestly.

Jan 24, 12:34 PM

#35

animejas

Offline

Jul 2017

6983

I liked the previous episode but in general since the Shibuya arc for me, the flow of the series hasn't been very good. As good as that episode is, it was one that felt like it was in a vacuum and not something that will carry over to the next episode since this was solely about Maki and after its not. And it's really apparent with the Culling Game onwards as you could feel from the season so far. The writing for the most part is just that shoddy to be honest.

Jan 25, 9:45 AM

#36

Demiurg_de

Offline

Jul 2020

The infodumping of ep 3 was such a turnoff.
Idk, if you activly need to explain to the viewer whats going on, its not good story telling in my opinion.

Jan 25, 12:38 PM

#37

Avarion

Offline

Oct 2012

180

JJK since season 2, has consistently failed to answer "who" and "why", resulting in characters and fights where I simply don't care. It's all very pretty, but that's about it for me.
The narrative feels excessively convoluted, despite an entirely expository scene dedicated to explaining the rules of the game. This is very odd, because I don't feel the plot and world structure requires such an obtuse presentation.

AvarionJan 25, 12:48 PM

Jan 25, 1:38 PM

#38

CLaNLoRrD

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Feb 2020

111

Since Season 1 ended, the narrative of JJK has felt kind of messy, tbh. The narrative feels pretty random at times—sometimes it works really well (mostly during the hype fight scenes), and sometimes it doesn’t. The overall story progression and build-up have been pretty meh ever since S1.

A lot of characters don’t really drive the story forward and mostly feel like they exist for the cool factor, or are introduced just to be killed off quickly. At this point, I’m mainly watching the series for the action, since I don’t really care much about the characters or the story anymore (sadly).

If you win, you live, if you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win.

Jan 25, 1:53 PM

#39

lucjan

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Oct 2009

4228

Other than episode 3 I don't really agree.

Jan 25, 2:07 PM

#40

Conkerovsky

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Nov 2018

Gosso didn't even direct ep 3, lmao. Takumi Ichikawa was the episode director. The manga had 2 whole chapters of long and boring exposition, and the anime team did a great job at making it all not only visually interesting throughout but also easy to understand. The episode was even praised in both Japan and the West as a prime example of how an exposition-heavy episode should be done.

Feb 18, 9:02 PM

#41

Twintail_Daemon

Community Mod

Anime Archivist

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Aug 2019

1666

Thread has been cleaned

Please avoid derailing threads with long arguments that have a bunch of baiting in them. That type of arguing doesn't led to any constructive conversations, and can be annoying to other participants in the thread.

Twintail_DaemonFeb 23, 9:00 PM

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Season 3 feels like a collection of random scenes without context

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