The third season of Jujutsu Kaisen, a popular manga and anime series written by Gege Akutami, was highly anticipated by fans all over the world. One of the best episodes in season three was episode 51, “Perfect Preparation.”
To give some background information, Maki Zenin was born into the misogynistic, cruel Zenin clan. Her heavenly restriction stripped away all her cursed energy, but gave her enhanced physical strength in exchange. Maki and her twin sister, Mai, were constantly treated with contempt and underestimated due to the clan’s obsession with power and misogyny. Maki was especially viewed as a reject for not having cursed energy. Maki’s clear goal while training at Jujustu High was to become stronger and annihilate the Zenin clan.
As a kid, Maki wanted power and to train as a sorcerer. On the other hand, Mai was willing to submit to her passive life in the clan alongside Maki, but was ultimately forced into sorcery due to Maki’s decision, a life that Mai did not want. Mai resented Maki for this and for leaving her when Maki went to Jujutsu High. Maki had promised Mai that she would always stay with her but broke the promise, leaving Mai feeling abandoned and alone.
When Maki enters the vault, she runs into her father, who has the intention to kill her. Mai lies injured on the floor. Maki’s fight with her father was deep because it emphasizes the cruelty of the clan; a father would kill his own child because he viewed her as a failure. When Maki is beaten, her father calls her “the sole stain of [his] life,” further showing how Maki was never loved by her parents and viewed as a burden. The twins are thrown into a pit of curses and left there to die, but Mai uses her last bit of strength to crawl over to Maki.
The scene then shifts to a beach, symbolizing the serenity and quietness of Maki and Mai’s final moments together, and their escape from the reality that they were in where their peace was never achievable. The twins are finally able to exist in silence together. In the Jujutsu world, twins are considered as one being, which is why Maki never got to unleash her full potential as long as Mai was alive. Mai did not have the desire to grow stronger, and held Maki’s growth back.
Mai’s cursed technique allows her to materialize simple objects, and she used the last of her strength to create a cursed weapon for Maki to use for her defense against the curses of the clan. Mai wanted Maki to be able to harness her full strength, so as a final act of love and ultimate sacrifice for Maki, Mai died for her.
Before dying, Mai places a reed in Maki’s hand, which possibly symbolized the Japanese proverb about “The Goose Holding the Reed.” To prepare for their long, tough migration, the geese travel with a reed to offer them rest and perfect preparation for their journey, hence the title of this episode. Mai is represented by the reed, offering Maki the perfect preparation for her annihilation of the Zenin clan.
Mai asks Maki to promise her one thing, to “destroy it all,” and the scene shows Maki and Mai as their child selves for a brief moment when Mai repeats, “all of it, you hear?” This moment symbolized Maki and Mai’s cruel childhood and their inability to be free in the clan that failed them.
This scene with Maki and Mai reveals Mai’s love for Maki and her desire for Maki to be free. Now, Maki’s physical strength from her heavenly restriction was fully awakened, and she promised to destroy it all.
Maki is now evidently stronger. She goes on annihilating every member of the Zenin clan, including her father and her cousin, Naoya, by analyzing his cursed technique and overwhelming him with her superior physical strength. She breaks free of the labels put on her by the clan and is finally able to erase her and Mai’s painful childhood. She is emotionally severed and numb as she commits the massacre, saying that Mai took her heart with her. Maki gave Mai her heart, and Mai gave Maki her life, showing the tragic love between the two siblings.
This episode was outstanding, perfectly incorporating symbolism and love to make each scene emotional and heavy. It gave us insight into characters like Mai, who was misunderstood as crude when she just carried heavy emotional burdens from the life she despised, her cruel upbringing, and her feelings of abandonment. The episode of Jujutsu Kaisen also showed Maki’s development into a stronger character, driven by her promise to Mai and her resentment towards the Zenin clan. She was able to overcome the misogynistic, power-hungry system that defined her as a worthless failure.
