In an interesting revelation, animator Sota Shigetsugu, who was involved in the creation of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17, took to Twitter on Nov 16, 2023, to share a behind-the-scenes tidbit on the setting of the battle between Sukuna and Mahoraga.
In the tweet Shigetsugu disclosed that a building which got destroyed during the fight between the two actually exists in Shibuya. However, due to the unavailability of interior layout or photos of the building, he opted for an interesting approach.
Instead of trying to create an ideal interior layout, he confessed to using MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaisen production floor instead for being destroyed in that scene, citing its perfect size.
Shigetsugu noted that this choice led the staff members to rejoice, describing it as an inside joke among the team.
This comes in the wake of the recent the break down of the Jujutsu Kaisen animators on social media, shedding light on the poor working conditions in MAPPA and for not being compensated fairly.
Checkout the translation of his tweet below:
It’s a small joke or rather an inside joke.
The building that collapses in this scene actually exists in Shibuya, but since I couldn’t find the floor plan or photos of the interior, I decided to demolish MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaise production floor instead, as it had the perfect size.
The reception from the staff was very good.
Shigetsugu has previously worked as an animator on One Piece & One Piece Film Red, Mushoku Tensei and even the final season of Attack on Titan.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 17 aired on Nov 16, 2023. Hakuyu Go, Itsuki Tsuchigami and Harumi Yamazaki were in charge of storyboarding and directing the episode at MAPPA.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 cour 1 aired from July 6 to Aug 3, 2023, and cour 2 started airing on Aug 31, 2023.
Tatsuya Kitani performed the opening theme song “Ao no Sumika”, while Soushi Sakiyama performed the ending theme song “Akari”.
Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It is currently being serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since March 2018. The Jujutsu Kaisen chapters are collected and published by Shueisha, with 23 tankobon volumes released as of July 2023.
Season 1 of the anime adaptation by MAPPA aired from October 2020 to March 2021.
A movie adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen prequel, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 premiered in Japan in December 2021.
Source: Twitter
