Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3: Episode 4 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2026-01-25 14:05:02 +0000 UTC
Comments
The Maki arc was CRAZY – it’s just an insane ride for ONE episode; at least it was extended! The “Destroy it All” with Mai no longer there is heartbreaking…and all these Zen’in clan jerks there is so sad, especially with their attitude towards the twins in the first place. MAPPA feels the same about Naoya as we all do, hahahaha! Iconic, indeed! I’m glad that with Mai and Maki it was more…sibling-coded in the end. I do like that Maki has grown immensely strong – I guess I just wanted her to wait until…you know…after the Culling Game had begun, so we could count those bodies and then used that wish to help the cause? Especially since we got ZERO tools to help Gojo out of the box (since the tools were sent away by the Zen’in clan before she got there). Regardless, I am glad Maki’s had a power up! Thank you for the comment!!
Romaniablack
2026-02-05 21:20:04 +0000 UTCThe Maki arc is here, and it's as beautiful as I had dreamed they were going to make it. Seriously, this is one of the arcs I wanted them to animate the most, and it did not disappoint at all. It's devasting and so hype in all the right ways. Mai telling Maki to destroy it all will never not break my heart. Knowing that Maki could only do it because Mai is no longer with her makes the victory of seeing the jerks of the Ze'nin clan destroy so bittersweet. I can't believe that MAPPA actually did 4 frames of Maki beating the tar out of Naoya so we could enjoy it from all angles xD That's iconic. Oh, gosh, I watched the episode with my brother and he, too, thought that there was going to be a bigger yuri moment between Maki and Mai, but I didn't see it. It's nice to know he wasn't the only seeing it xD I didn't, mostly because I was too wrapped up in the tragedy of the moment, but I can totally see why it looked like that. While I agree that Maki just killing everyone in seconds can feel anticlimatic, I think that's the whole point, to show how much more stronger she is now and how big a treat she is at her full power that she can decimate these guys who should have possed a threat to her and a struggle. She is supposed to be Toji's second coming, and they say in the episode how the Ze'nin clan only exists because of Toji's whim; if Toji had wanted, he could have decimated the clan on his own - he fought Gojo one-on-one and almost won - but for whatever reason he never wanted to. Well, Maki had plenty of reasons to actually do it, and she did.
Alexandra Q
2026-02-04 04:34:53 +0000 UTCThank you! Yes, sometimes, it’s nice to do cosplay without having to worry about a wig! Maki’s VA was incredible in this episode! I love the yin-yang of her and her sister there – I was not expecting Mai to die this way AT ALL, so it was such a shock! Also, yessss, the idea of all these brothers/uncles being scared of Toji is WILD! I was not sad at the Zen’in clan massacre – except for Mai, Maki’s heart, and well, the punching bag that is Naoya! The Kill Bill references were SO great in this! The Zen Garden and the blood above it is suuuuuuch good symbolism, yes! And Jinichi just decapitated and giving GOT flashbacks! Wild! The headphone warnings were JUSTIFIED in this episode, for sure! Love the full circle symbolism of Naoya not only getting his butt kicked by a woman, but getting killed by one as well. Also, how dare they give us doomed Yuri double-dipped this episode?! The OST was also really great – the use of silence! Yes! I thought it really helped to add to the atmosphere and cinematic feel of the entire episode. Akutami’s take on twins is also so interesting! I like to make fun of the twincest bit as a moment of levity in an otherwise heartwrenching situation - I’ll wait to see what the manga looks like with that scene. 😛 But yesss – in an Omegaverse AU, Maki is for sure the Alpha and Okkotsu is the Omega, and he is 100% fine with that! 😀 Speaking of Omegaverse and Naoya - ha ha ha - I just can’t see him as completely down and out – not when he had SUCH an introduction. If Toji can get resurrected…could Naoya? I don’t know how or the context, but I’d be interested to see what would go down! *nervous laughter* The only part I am groaning about is how Maki could have been in the Culling Game an established that rule – which is why I thought this part of the story could be saved for later, in case something like that happened where she’d have to fight sorcerers…now…it feels like Justice for Maki, but also, kind of a waste considering otherwise. Thank you so much for the comment and kind words!
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 16:51:09 +0000 UTCI’m glad I could help make the stroll around town better! :D Thank you for the comment! Ooohhh, I did not know that about Mai’s VA and I love that – I will have to re-watch this episode with that in mind to “Hear Armin!” 😀 Oooh, I could see the Kubo influence in this - and I’m so glad that Kubo has voiced their appreciation for that fight - having someone you admire praise your work? What better compliment could there be?! I went back after this episode and re-watched that scene of her and Yuuta - it’s such good foreshadowing! Love that, too! It’s such an epic scene! I agree, I think that it’s all impactful and works – I would personally have liked to have seen all this later on in the series and not the first thing that happened in the Culling Game, but it’s all good. It doesn’t take away from my enjoyment! I love that notion of Toji, too, and that he just “let” the clan exist. That’s great to point out! And your note about Maki is SO valid in comparison to Toji! Thank you so much for the comment and kind words - I’m so excited to see where this goes to from here!
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 16:11:12 +0000 UTCThanks for the comment and clarification! Several pointed this out, so that was helpful! Gege loves to twist a knife in things, doesn’t he?
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 16:04:21 +0000 UTCI love the Kill Bill compilations that have come out since this - there’s been some shared on the Discord and they are so cool! I love the reference! Also, I had heard about the “taking off of shoes” being a reference to suicide, but I hadn’t known about the connection to the beach and walking into the ocean – now, thinking back, watching *Ping Pong* that makes me re-think some scenes in THAT series differently! Thank you for the comment and that information!
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 15:24:07 +0000 UTCYes, the connections to 9 months of gestation is interesting, too, in all that! Oh yeah, that is good to callback to as well – hmmm…they definitely do look like larger embryos after each stage. And oooohhhh BIRTHING THE EXPERIMENT. DAMN. OKAY. That’s crazy - thanks for that comments!
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 02:38:27 +0000 UTC*SLURPS TEA VERY LOUDLY*
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 02:35:22 +0000 UTCYes! That's such a great point to bring up!! I forgot about Momo defending Mai, then, but you're so right -- Gege setting up these ships and waiting for the right moment to blow them up, y'all. *sigh*
Romaniablack
2026-01-29 02:35:09 +0000 UTCHahahaha, you've really shown me the light with this unrequited ship! Thank you for the comment!
Romaniablack
2026-01-28 21:45:25 +0000 UTCThis is probably the only episode I’ll comment on but the scene on the beach reminded me of this very unfortunate fact. In Japan a common way to commit suicide is taking off your shoes and walking into the ocean. I’m sure you already know this. This scene it made my cry so much. Also I saw a beautiful kill bill x jjk edit and yeah they definitely referenced it during the fight scene.
Icy
2026-01-26 23:50:43 +0000 UTCNo, that would cursed yuri, as they are sisters (twins no less). Kiki's delivery service x Mai was the doomed yuri couple
Tycchi
2026-01-26 05:59:10 +0000 UTCmaki×mai doomed yuri
no nickname
2026-01-25 18:26:31 +0000 UTCGreat reaction and discussion - thoroughly enjoyed this while scrolling around the town haha for a couple of hours. A couple of fun facts: 1. Not sure if mentioned in the past but Mai’s VA is Marina Inoue a.k.a the VA of Armin in AOT. I felt like we could hear a bit of Armin in this episode, however the voice is quite different in Mai’s sassier moments in Season 1 and the fight with Maki during the exchange event. 2. Tite Kubo’s favourite fight and part of JJK is Maki vs the Zenin clan. As Gege is a Kubo fanboy you can imagine how validating this is haha and Kubo has taste for sure. Now, in regards to the episode - I quite like how all of this was foreshadowed in JJK 0 in Maki’s conversation with Yuta before Geto comes to the school - this is probably the first time that Maki feels validated and valued in a way as Yuta says he wants to be strong like her - her line “I’ll make them cry and destroy the Zenin clan from within” really undersold what she meant by that haha later on so I love that. Additionally, this is my favourite part of JJK after Hidden Inventory/ Premature Death so for me it was awesome to finally see animated and I enjoyed the reaction even more. Now, onto some of the criticism that you sort of try to justify knowing Gege at this point - I think we got just enough screen time of Mai, Naoya and the whole Zenin clan throughout the story to make this impactful regardless. As ultimately at this point down the line, Gege expects us to put things together without the hand being held or the things being spelt out - which me, as a writer, I quite like as while I’d have loved to see more character stuff , this is just the wishful thinking - it is just fine without seeing that. Additionally, a key thing to point out is that ultimately Toji had the power to kill all of the Zenin clan back then and end it all but instead he left, got married and separate himself because he couldn’t be bothered - which is essentially what this line is about about his “whim”. As a Toji fanboy I really enjoy the links between Toji and Maki but also thinking about it her power up and unlocking the heavenly restriction happened in a much more tragic way - with bearing the weight of the patriarchy, misogyny and loosing her sister in the process. She goes through the ultimate catharsis in this and it’s a great development for her character that I’ve loved since Day 1. Thank you again for the long discussion and exciting reaction! Looking forward to more JJK in the coming weeks.
Paco.Stil
2026-01-25 18:17:34 +0000 UTCI'm glad I'm not the only one to think there was something between Mai and Momo. Wayyy back in season 1 during the exchange event, Momo tried really really hard to defend Mai and justify her actions, and overall they seemed to be very close.
Mathπ
2026-01-25 18:07:47 +0000 UTC"Any woman who can't walk three steps behind a man should be stabbed in the back"... - Some short lived misogynist.
Mathπ
2026-01-25 18:06:32 +0000 UTCAbout your discussion on the death womb paintings at the beginning : You talked about why Gege chose the number 9 for it, and said it was because of the number of stages of decomposition in this japanese art form, but it's also certainly linked to the 9 months of pregnancy. Reminder that the Death Paintings were created by Kenjaku by (forcefuly) impregnating a woman with a cursed spirit, and then aborting each embryo (which is why they were still foetuses. I think I mentioned in season 1 or 2 that the choice of translation for english "womb" is kinda weird and misleading, but in french for example they are clearly said to be "foetuses". Anyway I digress...) He probably did the abortions at different months of the pregnancy. As we can see at some points in season 1 and 2, the death paintings look like increasingly large embryos. I think it's a really cool parralel, especially with Yuji being kind of the next "stage" after aborting a 9 month old foetus, AKA actually birthing the experiment...
Mathπ
2026-01-25 17:36:26 +0000 UTCLoving your Kaori cosplay. Always good to have a cosplay you don't need a wig for too! The shock I felt at Mai dying like that is unreal. Especially knowing that she gave her life for her older twin to have a chance at surviving and becoming stronger 🥺 But hats off to Komatsu Mikako, Maki's seiyuu, because she portrayed Maki's heart-wrenching grief so well. The yin-yang image of Maki with Mai's dead body though is also a mirror of the image of them as foetuses when Mai is talking to Maki about jujutsu society considering twins to be inauspicious. But Akutami really wasn't letting me have a moment for that shock to sink in before them hitting us with Ogi's death. Really didn't think Maki would oneshot him like that, but damn I was applauding her for it. Also got chills when Ogi was feeling fear because he was reminded of Toji's presence in that moment. It's upsetting that Maki is finally able to reach the same potential as Toji (possibly even surpass him) because of Mai's sacrifice. Loved all the Kill Bill references, including having the title card for this episode in Kill Bill yellow and black 🤩 I have to say that one of my favourite shots from this episode is the floor covered in blood and Maki calmly walking towards her next victim, meanwhile beneath her feet is the Zen garden. The garden is visible but untouched by the violence and death occurring in the building above it. Zen gardens are created to imitate the essence of nature but also can be used as an aid in meditation. Both I'd consider to have quite a calming effect, which is the opposite of all the mayhem above it...yet perfectly describes Maki's demeanour as she bodies the entire Clan. The reveal of Jinichi's death was so good! I do like that they didn't even show us Maki beating his ass. Just seeing her be so blasé as she walks passed holding his head is enough to show off what a badass she is. I let a scream of happiness out of me just like you when I saw Maki beat Naoya's ass, and then I immediately thought "Headphone warning is definitely gonna be needed for Romania's reaction" 🤣 We've only had Naoya a few episodes and yet this was a truly satisfying beatdown. But it's true comeuppance for Naoya to get stabbed in the back, especially by a woman who did adhere to the misogynistic ways of the Zenin Clan, and especially after him spouting about how a woman should walk behind a man. Leaves your back wide open to such an attack as this. Them suddenly hitting me with Nishimiya's grief over Mai was truly not a nice thing for them to do. It's a great way to calm the episode down again after the absolute bloodbath, but just tears into your emotions instead. Another thing I need to praise this episode for is the sound crew. I loved the OSTs they used throughout the episode. But I also loved that at times they just left it in silence, or gave us almost ASMR sound effects. They utilised sound and silence perfectly to really highlight certain parts of this episode, and leave the viewer hanging on for more. And to bookend the beginning and ending with the sound of Maki's footsteps was fantastic. For the twins part it explains, at least to me, why Mimiko and Nanako (Geto's daughters) didn't have the same issue with their cursed energy/Cursed Techniques. Given their looks I figure they're fraternal twins, so because they developed from two separate eggs and two separate sperm jujutsu doesn't consider them as one egg and sperm that becomes two foetuses. Whereas Maki and Mai as identical twins do have this issue. It's definitely an intriguing inclusion of real life biology from Akutami. The twincest bit I feel is in the way they animated Mai's hand tracing down Maki's chest. It would have felt less incestuous if Mai had just placed her hand on Maki's chest to check her heartbeat. The almost kiss I can totally see as being just siblings saying goodbye, rather than any romantic connotation to it. Just with it coming immediately after the somewhat suspicious hand animation moment it does colour that scene in a bit of a different light. I did have to giggle at your tangent into omegaverse AU. But 100% agree that in such an AU Maki is definitely the Alpha and Okkotsu is an Omega. Definitely with you on being unsure if this means Naoya is dead. But it also feels very strange to introduce a character like him and then just kill him off like this. I did not consider using the deaths of all those Zenins for the Culling Game. Like Maki probably could have earned 100 points in that one massacre. The decimation of the Zenin Clan is also not what I thought of when I mentioned a Player potentially going on a spree kill in order to attain the 100 points needed to make a new rule 😅
Anime Annie
2026-01-25 17:32:02 +0000 UTCDon’t comment much, but I do want to make one correction. Mai and Maki didn’t fuse the way you put it — it’s actually the opposite, and that’s where the tragedy comes from. In season 1 and in this episode, Mai confirms during the beach scene that they were already one and the same while both were alive. Jujutsu literally considers twins as a single person, so technically they were “fused” since birth. This is basically Gege doing the opposite of what a typical shounen does, where characters get stronger through some kind of fusion. That’s why Maki couldn’t get stronger before, and it answers a question a lot of people had: why was Maki weaker than Toji? even though both of them had the same Heavenly Restriction since birth? The answer is Mai. Mai was born with cursed energy and a technique, and because twins are one person in jujutsu, her existence interfered with Maki fully realizing her Heavenly Restriction because Mai having cursed energy meant Maki had cursed energy since jujutsu considered them the same person which made Maki’s pact incomplete — not because it was different from Toji’s, but because it was being held back because of Mai. that's why Maki had a little bit of cursed energy still despite having a Heavenly restriction while toji didn't have any cursed energy at all because of his Heavenly restriction And this is where the tragedy comes in. For Maki to be complete, the opposite of fusion had to happen. They had to defuse. Mai had to die. That’s why Mai says on the beach that she’ll take all the cursed energy with her when she dies. Since they’re considered the same person, if Mai, the one who carries cursed energy — dies first, she takes it all with her. Only then can Maki’s Heavenly Restriction finally be complete. So Maki didn't get stronger because of fusion, that's the tragedy and twist that i love that gege did That’s also why the moment with Naoya hits so hard at the end. When he tells Maki, “How cruel… don’t you have a heart?” and Maki responds, “No. She took it with her,” it hits so hard because if they really did fuse, she would have it with her but no, Mai was erased, only thing left of her was the cursed tool she created for Maki in the end
Complex City
2026-01-25 17:13:18 +0000 UTCahhh yes....finally my sinfull ship Toji x Naoya. I love it so much
AnNaNN
2026-01-25 15:18:04 +0000 UTC
