Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3's Naoya battle 'suffers' from fantastic animation

The animation quality on Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 for Naoya Zenin's appearance was, quite frankly, gorgeous, and that's the reason for some conflict amongst the community. When a franchise uses its best resources to animate a character that many fans hate, it creates an internal conflict of admiration for the animation versus hating the character.

The fans didn’t hold back their thoughts on how they feel about the vile and horrible Zenin clan member, Naoya. Most fans had hoped that MAPPA would not spend as much money and time on his scenes, but instead spent more money and time than anyone else in the series producing his fight scenes, including the fight he had against Choso was incredibly detailed.

Naoya Zenin is one of the most hated villains for many manga fans in the series. From the beginning, Naoya had depicted toxic masculinity and an inherent hatred or disdain for women, all while doing it with a superior attitude about himself.

From the get-go in the first episode of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, we see just how gross Naoya is as a person. We get to see through his awful comments about women and his condescending attitude towards other sorcerers that he is someone we are expected to hate. This is clearly done for the purpose of creating an enemy that is so awful that it will be great to watch him lose.

MAPPA's technical mastery on display in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3

Even though this character has pretty terrible morals, MAPPA spent a lot of time animating Naoya's Projection Sorcery technique. Since it's a speed-based combat style, it presents a huge challenge to animating and implementing it, but the studio provided for that challenge.

The Choso vs. Naoya fight showcases the full potential of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 when the animation crew goes all out. Every frame bursts with kinetic energy, and Naoya moves so fast around Choso that it’s hard to tell he’s moving at all. The level of detail in his attack animations adds to the effect by making it look like he’s freezing his targets in place while he’s attacking them.

Viewers remarked that Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 filled out Naoya's fight choreography compared to what was laid out in the manga. The manga gave a baseline, but the anime went on to create extra sequences that showed off what both fighters could do.

The animation quality paradox

Many people in the community are conflicted because while they appreciate great craftsmanship, there's also a preference for characterization. Conversations surrounding this on social media indicate that fans think the work is amazing, but they would rather see it go elsewhere. This creates an overall theme in the way studios have been utilizing their animation budget over the course of the season.

It looks like MAPPA might have favoured the Naoya fight over other parts of the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 opening. A lot of fans are saying after seeing the 'scrapped' scene from Yuta vs. Yuji that it looks like some resources were taken away to give Naoya a more extended scene.

Setting up the inevitable fall

Story-wise, good animation for Naoya boosts his stature strategically. A stronger and more visually powerful opponent's eventual defeat will produce a more profound effect. Those who read the manga understand that the arrogant sorcerer will soon meet his end, so creating a powerful build-up now increases the payoff later on.

Naoya's clash with Choso showcases his fighting skills and smart strategizing. It also shows the Blood Manipulator that Naoya is a serious contender in the power hierarchy of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3.

"I was watching this thinking “I don’t remember reading this shit," a manga reader commented

"It doesn't matter we know his time is coming," one commentor knows what next for Naoya

"The villain has to be intimidating on some level for it to be narratively satisfying for them to lose." Another commented

This also sets up some nice ways to see Naoya and Megumi clash in terms of clan leadership and their rivalry over who gets Megumi's family as the next head, which gives more than just fighting a purpose. In order to show these developments properly, more time and comic drawings are needed on-screen and animated.

Conclusion: Quality creates its own controversy

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Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 is at a stage where great work is so great of a great deal that people are arguing over it! The way MAPPA handled animating the Naoya sequences is some of the best they have ever done.

Even if fans think that MAPPA should have used these resources differently, the fact is that it adds to how important Naoya's eventual outcome will be. A lot of energy and thought go into establishing his presence, so when you see his eventual fate, it will carry more weight than it would have if he were just some guy.

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