Lately, the two they like to bring up a lot are Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. Both of which I watched only recently due to my aforementioned distrust of normie anime fans.
Now, as the title suggest, I didn't finished Demon Slayer. I got to episode 7 before feeling like I've seen enough. Due to my reaction to Demon Slayer, I thought my reaction to JJK would be the same. And after a slightly underwhelming first episode, I resigned to a likely possibility that it will suffer the same fate.
But then, I ended up binging the entire first season in only a few days.
Granted, weed and two snow days played a major role. However, I think it's also that both of these shows posture themselves in very different ways. One show postures themselves as having a fundamental understanding of making a good serialized story, and the other is Demon Slayer. In short, I can give three reasons why I dropped Demon Slayer but binged JJK. And maybe through explaining these reasons, maybe I can teach you normies what a good television show looks like, so you can be more consistent with recommending shit to me next time.
BUT, I'll be gracious. I understand I'm writing this under incomplete information. I imagine y'all Demon Slayers will say "oh but it gets soo good at episode __" . And yeah yeah yeah, I don't care. All I trust are my instincts, and I'm not going to spend my short time on this Earth watching an underwhelming show that might be good eventually.
Reason 1: Don't Put Your Narrative Eggs in One Narrative Basket
Now, I got to episode 7 of Demon Slayer. For those with not-so-great deduction skills, that means I kind of liked the show to at least watched up to episode 7. I would have gave up on the show much earlier if the show was fundamentally flawed. Lord knows, I didn't reach episode 7 of Velma.
It's because early on, Demon Slayer is pretty good. You got a main character pushed into this exciting albeit grim adventure. You watch him grow as a demon slayer. He's got a great motivation which ties into an interesting relationship with his sister. You are strung along a series of set pieces that inform those dynamics. You get a nice picture of how the world works. Solid stuff.
Unfortunately, once his training is complete, That thread you were so invested in is gone. He completed his training. He's become the thing he wants to be. Now what?
It leads to a sudden halt in its momentum. You enter a new part of a story with a less interesting main character and barely one thread to be intrigued by. What's next? Oh a basic anime fight followed by a villain with a weak personality and a dynamic that's awfully familiar to another famous Shonen anime? Yeaaaah, that's a pretty simple way to rapidly decrease my confidence in you.
Now, let's cut back to JJK. I said I didn't care for the first episode. What changed? Well, a fucking lot.
I won't go into spoilers yet, so I'll be vague. But once you get into episode 2, the show shows that it has a lot more to work with. You are introduced to a new important character with his own set of personality and motivation. You are given a long term goal for the story to string its series on. And, Yuuji, who started as a underwhelming protagonist, is presented with an interesting situation that will inform his character and his relationships for the rest of the story. The villain doesn't automatically make me feel I'm watching Full Metal Alchemist again. You are given so much meat to chew on.
A common piece of financial advice is to have multiple revenue streams. The idea that multiple small revenue streams is better than one large one.
It applies to narrative as well. Sure, you can probably make a show with only one thing to keep you watching. But, if that stream runs dry. Well, you get Demon Slayer. JJK understands how multiple ways to intrigue your audience can not only cast a wider net but give your narrative a better foundation to build a long story on. If I were a financially saavy person, I would be more confident in how JJK invests its resources than ol Demon Slayer over there.
Reason 2: Have A Gojo Satoru in Your Series
I love this character. He's not the most unique or innovative character. I mean he feels like a fusion of Brock from Pokemon and Sonic the Hedgehog. Yet, he is the garlic that gets this pasta sauce working.
The single moment that got me hooked on the show is in episode 2.
Uhh, how can I avoid spoilers, ah fuck it. It's only episode 2. Alright (spoilers for episode 2 of a show everyone already watched)
So in episode 2, we are introduced to our main villain who in an fun gimmick is housed in Yuuji but can't possess him. Gojo as a test asks Yuuji to let him be possessed for a single minute. And in that minute, Gojo toys with the villain before Yuuji changes back.
It's a single fight that's less than two minutes. A chunk of that fight is just Gojo doing his stretches so he doesn't have soreness when he goes to bed that night. And yet, there is more information conveyed in this short span of time than entire episodes of other series.
There is a term I like to call storytelling duties. It's the idea that stories require a bit of set up in order to ensure your audience has everything they need to know in order to be properly moved by the emotional touch points in the story. After all, you got to know in order to care. Common story telling duties are things I mentioned throughout this blog. There's character personality, motivation, inciting incidents, and relationship dynamics. Others include stakes for failure, obstacles, and setting.
In Shonen, there is an additional duty of establishing power hierarchies. Shonen literally translates to boy. And if you are a boy, there is nothing more important than finding out who's stronger, how you can get stronger, and how to be cool so it's easier to talk to girls. So naturally, you want to establish that information as well.
Establishing these things are technically not required, but you need a delicate storytelling hand to pull that off. And if you are merely telling an exciting fantasy story, there's little reason to complicate the storytelling process by ignoring storytelling duties. While it's not exactly the most interesting part about your story, it's nonetheless as important. Those "hype moments." That term that JJK fans like to use a lot are only hype because JJK is considerate to its storytelling duties.
What I like about JJK is it's very efficient with fulfilling its storytelling duties. That single fight shows...
1. That Gojo is probably the strongest character you will see in a long while.
2. That Gojo's occupation is one that has existed for centuries.
3. Both the protagonist and antagonist have the potential to match or even surpass Gojo.
4. Gojo has a cocky personality which may foreshadow his downfall.
5. That stretching is important in this universe as it is in real life.
What makes Gojo great is the same reason most great characters are great. Sure, he has a fun personality, but he is also extremely useful as a storytelling tool. He conveys so much information but does it in a way that's fun and engaging. No time is wasted, and the creativity from the creative team is on full display. That's how you get me invested in a television show.
Essentially, you don't need a Gojo exactly to make your show work, but there is a clear advantage of having a character or device that can achieve multiple storytelling duties at once. It's good for pacing and it will impress the screenwriting nerds.
Reason 3: Signal Depth As Soon as You Possibly Fucking Can
I'm referencing episode 2 of JJK again. It's a good case study of good serialized writing. But more importantly, it shows that there's no such thing as being too early when it comes to establishing depth in your narrative.
Depth comes in many forms, so many that it would be impossible to explain in written form. But for simplicity's sake, let's describe depth in the literal sense. Imagine you are in the shallow end of a swimming pool. I assume you have functioning eyes, so you peer to the other side and see the deep end. In that regard, that is signaling depth. You are not in the deep end, but you know it's there and will get there eventually.
Shows tend to shy away from signaling depth out of fear of revealing too much of their hand, so there is this drip feed of content that is very frustrating to watch. Granted, I understand the realities of television can hamper this. You got five episodes of story, but the higher ups asked for 12 in the contract, to name an example. However, then I see shows like JJK doing this wildly unprecedented practice of not wasting my fucking time, and it's all better for it.
A great scene that signals depth is in the scene where Yuuji meets the principal of the school he will be training at. It's actually a perfect scene to demonstrate this so thanks JJK for making my job easier.
It's perfect because it starts off rather cliche. The principal, an imposing and serious looking man, is subverted as we see him surrounded by cute plushies. Admittedly, it's an obvious pull from a trope book. But then, something interesting happens, and I feel that contrast accentuates the depth the show is about to convey.
Before this scene, there is a pivotal scene where Yuuji's grandfather passes away. And as his dying request, asks Yuuji to help people which informs his decision to embark on this journey. It's simple. But hey, it's the kind of "if it ain't broke" kind of device I can get behind.
What I didn't expect is for that show to have a character, whose not a villain by the way, outright reject Yuuji's sincere motivation as not good enough. The whole scene is practically the thesis of the show, and the principal carefully explains how Yuuji's mindset would perish under that thesis. In other words, you got an archetypal character clueing the audience in on the type of show they are getting into. One that's complex, dangerous, and will challenge the hero in a profound and upsetting way. But also, we get to see the main character making that same discovery and seeing him rise to the occasion. That's signaling depth. We get a perfect understanding of the show's deeper elements and are reassured that the show will not waste your time.
Conclusion
A theme you can say this review evokes is the importance of building trust. TV Shows don't exist in a vacuum. They're thousand of shows constantly competing with each other in order to get your precious attention and time. Hell, shows aren't just competing with other shows. Anything that wants your attention has to settle it in Smash whether it be TikTok, that book you've been meaning to read, that concept album your friend won't shut up about. Sure, you can try to accommodate with playing things in the background, buying that fourth monitor, that Netflix 2x speed feature. But at the end of the day, something will be excluded.
It's why it always bothers me when I watch a show that takes my time for granted. I'm giving you the luxury of my time, and the best you can do is "ehhh, it will be good later." They think they're Steins Gate when really they're being...well like Demon Slayer.
Jujutsu Kaisen puts its best foot forward and understands the importance of earning the audience's trust. So if in an event where Jujutsu Kaisen hits a slump. Let's be honest, not every show is going to be good 100% of the time. If Last Airbender can have bad episodes, no show is safe. The first season of JJK ends in kind of a slump to be fair. Not that it's bad, but it had to follow one of the most pop-off anime fights I've seen in a while. It doesn't end the show on its highest note.
Jujutsu Kaisen puts its best foot forward and understands the importance of earning the audience's trust. So if in an event where Jujutsu Kaisen hits a slump. Let's be honest, not every show is going to be good 100% of the time. If Last Airbender can have bad episodes, no show is safe. The first season of JJK ends in kind of a slump to be fair. Not that it's bad, but it had to follow one of the most pop-off anime fights I've seen in a while. It doesn't end the show on its highest note.
Yet, because I trust this show, a slump like that isn't a detriment. There is plenty of good will left in the tank that Im happy to extend more patience. If JJK says "it will be good later," I will trust it will.
