The Kill Bill of Anime! Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 4 Review!

In the previous Jujutsu Kaisen episode, Yuji and company learn about the Culling Game and how to free Gojo by finding one of the players, The Angel, and we are introduced to another new player, the Comedian Fumihiko Takaba.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 4 and the 53rd overall episode is titled, “Perfect Preparation”

As predicted in our Episode 3 preview, this episode will adapt the entire Zenin Clan Massacre from Chapter 148: “Perfect Preparation” to Chapter 152: “Perfect Preparation Epilogue”, which is the shortest chapter in the series at 9 pages, for a total of 47 pages.

This is the longest Jujutsu Kaisen chapter to date, with a full 28 minute runtime, including the 3 minutes for both opening and ending, meaning a total of 25 minutes of content instead of the usual 20 minutes.

These added 5 minutes are meant to give as much room as possible for the full adaptation.

The episode is notable for having a more naturalistic flow of dialogue, with Maki’s monologues or speech interrupting other characters or the narrator without confusing the listener.

Set Beginning and End

The episode begins with Maki walking into the Zenin household, intending to acquire weapons from the Cursed Weapons Warehouse.

Like in the manga, Naoya sits by the piano when he interrogates Maki.

When he brings her memories of how he used to bully her, we see that seemingly play out exactly in the present, a creative way to assert that it is present and ongoing, both between the twins and Naoya and the women and men of this clan, since it takes place in the main grounds.

The Scream

When her mother screamed for her to “come back”, this is where the Scream by Edvard Munch is referenced from the opening, Aizo.

This captures the full existential dread she has been experiencing all her life.

While she expresses frustration and regret at birthing her “defective” twins, when we find out what is beyond the Cursed Warehouse, it was clear her Scream moment was out of concern, not wanting to lose her daughter.

It is especially the case that when Maki does enter, he finds her scornful father Ogi, who had also found and beaten up Mai.

Heading South

Notice how Maki and Mai end up in a beach, a realm of dreams, at the exact moment Mai dies by sacrificing both their Cursed Energy to Construct the Split-Soul Katana.

Jujutsu Kaisen uses Domains to represent the person’s inner world of the mind but you could also say this foreshadows the biggest death in the entire series.

The New Toji

In the manga, it is a side-by-side comparison while the anime makes it a one-second flash, with an outline of Toji emerging out of Maki to represent Ogi’s fear of Toji.

This fear of Toji is present as Ranta tells Jinichi that the reason the Zenin Clan is thriving is because Toji chose not to kill them.

This highspeed approach is done on purpose to set up how the anime intends to present Maki’s movement as way beyond the Jujutsu norm.

We also see multiple cuts of birds like in the manga and this symbolism is important.

The flapping of the wings timed to the sudden, quick motion of Maki cutting off her father’s scalp.

Maki is now free of Cursed Energy, free of the connection of all life to Fate.

But not quite.

The imagery never settles, only coming in odd flashes.

Whether or not this will be corrected in the Blu-ray, it is awkward that the birds are “floating”, caught in still frames but they do represent how Maki has only begun to be free.

A Complete Kill Bill Homage

Even from the main trailer itself, the Kukuru Unit’s attack on Maki was already hinted to be a much clearer homage to Kill Bill than the manga.

This is because of its movement and color script.

The entire 3 minute sequence is a 1:1 homage of the scene of the Bride killing the Crazy 88, especially the first 6 seconds following everything to a tee.

The blood showers, which are a norm for Jujutsu Kaisen and any anime, are something Kill Bill also does, especially when it comes to the sound.

By the first minute, things turned to black and white for over two minutes.

In Kill Bill Volume 1, it was when the Bride took out one of the goon’s eyes but for Maki, it was when she stabbed one Kukuru man on the head.

A more censored take from the intended scene.

This reinvention is more anime-like with the quicker movements, flashy slashes and the like, so there are deviations but it flows more or less like the original scene but shorter (the original scene was 8 minutes long) and with added creative choices, such as turning the blood pink to contrast the monochrome.

The double axe throw from the film is replicated through the double kunai throw, a much quicker scene, especially as she only throws back one kunai at the thrower.

However, the anime does follow a bit more from the film with how Maki “turns off” the black and white filter, namely by killing the last Kukuru survivor, as if switching the lights back on, which is what happened when a woman turned on the circuit breaker after the monochrome shifted to blue screen doors.

And of course, when the color turns back on, we get the same aftermath as when the Bride steps on the rails as she watches the survivors of her massacre rise from the blood pools.

Even the title card, with the words “Jujutsu Kaisen” all over the screen, are a homage to Kill Bill through the yellow color, almost like Gosso is telling the audience this whole episode is a mini-Kill Bill movie.

A Bruce Lee Homage

Midway into the massacre, Maki even lands a Bruce Lee one-inch punch, resulting in the fodder being thrown in the pool of blood.

Of note, this move was also used by the Bride in Kill Bill Vol 2.

Kung-Fu Hustle and Yutaka Nakamura Tribute

Jinichi’s Cursed Technique is inspired by Kung-Fu Hustle’s Buddhist Palm technique.

While anime is no stranger to giant hand techniques that palm-shaped craters (see Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’s Ichibei Hyousube as a recent example), the fact Chapter 150 is loaded with classic martial arts film reference means there is a clear connection with Kung-Fu Hustle as well.

It also helps that Chojuro formed giant hands to separate Maki for Jinichi’s attack.

Given that Yutaka Nakamura is most famous for his works on My Hero Academia and One Punch Man, it makes sense that Jinichi’s technique also resembles Deku’s multiple air punches against Overhaul in Season 4 (which is Nakamura’s work).

We also see multiple Yutapon cubes (a style of animation by Nakamura) formed from the impact, with the punches themselves and even the smoke forming a cube shape.

This makes the entire cut a homage to Nakamura as well.

All those Missile Fists destroyed the entire Zenin Clan compound and yet the result is Jinichi losing his head and Ranta losing his life, leaving Naoya the only one remaining standing and unaffected by all the carnage.

Almost like he was pleased or did not even bother to care that his “useless” relatives all passed away.

Sukuna vs Mahoraga Tribute?

Notice throughout these fights we see Maki “standing midair in a still frame”, which occurs during her fights with Nobuaki and Naoya.

This style was seen in Sukuna vs Mahoraga as well.

In fact, much of this fight imitates the form of that legendary battle.

Nobuaki’s fight was similar to the initial standoff as both Sukuna and Mahoraga stood in mid-air before landing on a building.

Projection Sorcery At Its Peak

We explore in our Episode 1 and 2 review how Projection Sorcery evolved via the anime’s interpretation of Naoya’s moves as onion frames.

Speaking of onions, the idiom “onion skin” means “overly-sensitive”, which also fits Naoya’s personality.

Maki’s use of sumo to catch Naoya as he dashes through the mountain actually sets up her “freedom arc” later in the second cour.

Ultimately, Maki was able to read every “beat” of Projection Sorcery, counting down in the middle of narration and eventually deconstructing the entire technique, noting that it is essentially an illusion of speed that breaks down one movement into 24 beats.

NAOYA FATALITY

The anime made Naoya’s CRUSHING Defeat even more brutal as Maki’s final punch actually obliterated his skull, breaking it into a hundred pieces, which should have killed a normal person on impact.

Considering the brain is the source of Jujutsu, it is surprising Naoya was still even alive to crawl out of the Earth arena made by Chojuro’s Earth Manipulation but then again it is also for this reason that Naoya could not produce any Cursed Energy.

Naoya was right about one thing: she did a sloppy job with killing him.

As she lacked Cursed Energy, while she was free, by murdering a Sorcerer without using Jujutsu, she has ironically cursed Naoya to a different life.

Essentially, the woman reborn free of Samsara is responsible for sending another to reincarnate.

Especially as the one to finish him off is Maki’s mother, the woman driven mad by the sexism of her world.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 5 is titled, “Fever” and will be released on January 29, 2026.

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