Jujutsu Kaisen Staff Responds to ‘Copy’ Accusations

Just yesterday we reported that a video had become a trend on social networks after showing some scenes from the second season of “Jujutsu Kaisen” which, supposedly, had been copied from other animes. The evidence was quite clear, accusing the production team in MAPPA to recycle or even copy animations from other series like “Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann“, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “One Punch Man“, just to mention a few.

It is possible that the same animators who made the original scenes mentioned were hired by MAPPA to participate in the second season of “Jujutsu Kaisen.” This, coupled with the studio’s horribly tight production schedule, probably led to these animators turning to their previous work under the order to “finish as soon as possible.”

We had also commented on the debate that exists between “reference“, “tribute” and “copy” regarding these types of scenes. The line that separates these concepts is quite a matter of convenience, and generally depends on the perception of each Internet user. In fact, if the person is a fan of the accused series, they will say that it is a “reference” or a “tribute”; but if she is anti-fan or if she just doesn’t care, she will probably say it’s a “copy”.

And this is where the most interesting thing comes in, because it turns out that the animation director “Itsuki Tsuchigami (@vflmsppe)“, who has previously participated in the production of this second season of “Jujutsu Kaisen”, got into the conversation and defended the production team:

• «The director in charge of the storyboard is fully aware of this type of “parody” cuts. The rest simply turned out to be inevitably similar or unconsciously similar. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting the similarity to “Mob Psycho 100”, but when it comes to situations where a strong person easily and slightly avoids attacks, I think it will always look the same no matter who does it.».

According to the director, there are so many previously produced anime that it is impossible not to repeat fight choreography and “unconsciously” one animator ends up repeating the work of another. This is known as “reference” in the art world, so animators have a reference point for their next creations. In fact, there are those who claim that “in art everything is already seen and done” and that artistic creation is totally referential and reinterpretive both in the topics addressed and in the artistic styles.

It is true that over time only a few animators have made transcendental contributions to the world of anime (making their name known to the whole world), with new styles or ways of conceiving animation. In conclusion, the director affirms that what happened within the second season of “Jujutsu Kaisen” was inevitable, and that it will surely continue to happen in the future with other productions.

But fans were quick to comment on it:

• «Well yes, I understand the director’s words, but don’t you think there are too many coincidences?».
• «I don’t know, I understand it with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, but isn’t copying live-actions going too low?».
• «Do all Jujutsu Kaisen fans deny reality like this guy? There are many iconic scenes from other animes that were copied for this second season, that is more than a tribute to being shameless.».
• «Is the guy supposed to be defending his fellow animators or is he defending himself?».
• «If the second season was already showing signs of being a production disaster, start hiring equipment from abroad!».
• «Isn’t it a declaration of defeat for an entertainer to come out and say that “things will stay this way in the future”? It’s like saying that originality no longer exists in anime».
• «Does MAPPA only have retards like this as spokespersons? Don’t they train the intelligence of animators? Don’t they know that the best thing they could do was to stay silent and let the situation pass?».
• «No matter how you look at it, copying is copying. This director is only trying to defend the indefensible».
• «I feel like this guy saw the video and felt personally attacked because there are scenes from some episodes he directed, otherwise he would have stayed silent».
• «In short, they are thieves trying to justify their thefts».
• «So they are doing practically the same thing as the AIs they criticize so much, right?».

Fountain: Yaraon!