The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, Episode 4, which is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
After the info-dump that was Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, Episode 3, a lot of us were eager for a bit more action. Fortunately, Episode 4, “Perfect Preparation” gloriously delivers on that front. With the jujutsu world falling apart at the seams after Shibuya, the three clans at the center are scrambling for some kind of order. In the middle of that scramble, we find the Zen’in.
Maki and Mai Zen’in have been major side characters since Season 1, especially Maki. Second-year Jujutsu High students attending rival schools, the Zen’in twins are primarily known as the disgrace of their family. The twins’ rivalry and heartbreaking past has been leading to “Perfect Preparation” all along. Episode 51 finally provides anime fans with an explanation about why Mai and Maki are so weak, just before Maki goes whole hog on the entire Zen’in clan.
The Zen’in Twins Were a Bigger Clan Embarrassment Than Toji
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What little information Jujutsu Kaisen anime fans have about Maki and Mai preceding this episode is given through their hateful rivalry. From the moment fans meet Mai, during the Kyoto Sister School Exchange arc, it’s impossible to find a single redeeming quality in her. She’s a mean girl to her core, and there’s no one she hates more than her own twin sister. Personality-wise, Maki is rough around the edges at times, but Mai is downright ruthless.
Eventually, we learn that a lot of their animosity comes from Maki leaving home. She more or less abandons her younger twin, leaving her alone with the cruel Zen’in and her fear of cursed spirits. Maki, born with a Heavenly Restriction, had no cursed energy at all. Mai, on the other hand, was born with just enough cursed energy to succeed at the bare minimum. Top that off with the fact that they were females, and the Zen’in had no use for either of them.
Bullied and abused, all Maki and Mai had was each other. When Maki leaves, it shatters any trust they share between them, turning them into bitter rivals. The thing is, they’re still sisters. Twins. No matter how much they claim to hate each other, deep down they are two halves of the same whole.
Maki’s Homecoming In Jujutsu Kaisen Is a Bloodbath In Waiting
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The first person Maki encounters when she arrives is the yuckiest sorcerer in all of Jujutsu land: Naoya Zen’in. Of course, he’s an absolute monster to her. She’s ugly now that’s all scarred with burns and missing an eye. What good will she be to anyone. It’s not like she has any uses without cursed energy.
As he fondly remembers bullying her as a child, he keeps calling her trash. Telling her to answer him: What is she going to do now? For anyone hoping Naoya meets a hideous end soon, buckle up because wishes do come true. For those simping over him, I apologize in advance for your impending loss.
Completely ignoring him, Maki makes her way toward the clan vault. Despite it being forbidden to her, she has permission from the newly named head of the Zen’in clan. When Naoya reminds her that’s him, she corrects him. Megumi Fushiguro accepted the position, which we see in a flashback, but only until Maki herself can take over.
The True Cruelty of the Zen’in
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Unfortunately, Maki’s father, Ogi Zen’in, is already inside the vault. They anticipated her coming and emptied it of all the cursed tools. We cut to another flashback, this time of Jinichi and Naoya. They discuss a plot to kill Megumi, Maki, and Mai as traitors trying to free Gojo from the Prison Realm. When Naoya asks how old man Ogi feels about this, Jinichi confirms it was his idea.
As Maki approaches, Ogi’s standing over Mai. Lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood, she curses her sister for coming. Just as the vault doors close behind her, Maki pulls out Dragon Bone and begins stalking toward them. He begins by asking her why Naobito was the head of the clan and not him. Because he fathered two disgraceful daughters with no cursed energy. She comes in for the attack, breaking his blade, but Maki misjudges her father’s attack. Getting too close, he manages to stab her.
He’s next seen dragging both of his disowned daughters by their hair, a double bloody trail in his wake. Planning to lock her and Mai away to be devoured by curses, he doesn’t even look back. This family is seriously the worst.
Jujutsu Kaisen Explains Why Maki & Mai Can’t Reach Their Full Potential
As Maki lays bleeding out, Mai musters the last of her strength to cradle her twin’s face. In a state between life and death, the two of them stand on the shore before the sea. Terrified as she watches Mai walking into the water, Maki calls out for her to wait. Mai begins explaining why twins are so inauspicious among Jujutsu Sorcerers. They aren’t considered to be two separate people, but a single person. That means their potential was divided between them.
Maki gained the strength of a Heavenly Restriction. Mai got the cursed energy and ability to see curses. Separately, they could never achieve any great heights. But if Mai sacrifices herself, Maki will finally be whole. She takes the last of their cursed energy and creates a replica of Toji’s blade using her construction technique.
All Mai wants in return for her sacrifice is for Maki to destroy it all. To tear the Zen’in clan apart from the inside out and finally put an end to the suffering. For her little sister, Maki will do whatever it takes. And now that she’s sacrificed her cursed energy, her Heavenly Restriction’s full power becomes available to her. Maki Zen’in is officially on par with Toji Fushiguro now.
Jujutsu Kaisen Gloriously Gives Us a Zen’in Clan Torn Asunder
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There is no redemption for monsters like the Zen’in. Every single one of them is irredeemable, even her own mother. Where Maki once thought of reshaping it to create a place for Mai, now all she wants is to see them all fall. We get a full gory display in the second half of the episode of everything Maki is now capable, thanks to her Heavenly Restriction.
With the Kukuru Unit gathering to take Maki down, they think it’ll be a piece of cake. With her newly constructed sword in hand, however, she slices through every single one of them like the true master she’s become. And then she moves on to the Akashi. One of the most epic things about this episode is this particular battle, which is animated in black, white, and grey. Red is used as the only distinguishing color. There is so much red. If the word bloodbath didn’t occur to anyone yet, there is an actual scene of Maki bathing in blood when the clan’s strongest sorcerers, the Hei, arrive to take her down.
Among the Hei is Naoya, and this is where things go completely off the rails in the best way imaginable. Not even the Hei are a match for full-potential Maki, including Naoya. For anyone who didn’t respect the Sorcerer Killer before, what Maki does here puts her on the same level as Toji. The almighty powerhouse manages to subvert Naoya’s cursed technique, delivering a blow so hard it shatters his skull. The way this moment is animated is sheer brilliance.
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And Then There Were Two Clans
How Naoya is still alive after that, I’ll never know, but he’s not dead just yet. Maki knows it’s only a matter of time, so she walks away. There’s other business to attend to.
Heading inside to face her mother, Maki knows it was her mother who drew her back to the clan so Ogi could kill his daughters. With little fanfare, she kills the last rotten member of her family. The woman who should have protected her and her sister, who should have loved them, doesn’t deserve to live.
As we see Naoya attempting to crawl away, he’s in a state of complete disbelief. Maki’s dying mother stumbles into the room where he’s collapsed. Stabbing him in the back, she falls on top of him, and they both die. So much for the yuckiest sorcerer in jujutsu land. (Again, so sorry for your loss.)
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, Episode 4 On a Scale of 1 to 10
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If you think I’m rating this episode a 10/10 simply because Naoya was brutally murdered, you’re only half-right. The animation in this episode was amazing. From the absence of color save for red during the big showdown to the heartrending final moments between sisters, everything about “Perfect Preparation” is Jujutsu Kaisen at its finest. It’s tragic and gory, baring the horrific underbelly of jujutsu society and shining a huge spotlight on its flaws. People like Maki’s family are the reason things are so unhinged in their world right now.
After last week’s massive info-dump, Episode 51 was a refreshing change of pace that restored my hope for the first half of the season. There was no Choso-watch, but I’m hoping we see him again next week. Watching Maki finally break free from the restraints holding her back was both beautiful and heartbreaking. It comes at a loss that will haunt her for the rest of her days, even as her newfound power grants her the strength to see things through to the bitter end of the battle ahead.
