Writer and Artist: Gege Akutami
Publisher: Viz
Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy
Release Date: April 17, 2024
Price: $11.99
Reviewer: Christopher Patterson
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THE DISPATCH
The Sakurajima Colony section mainly frames this volume, with Maki and Noritoshi serving as our main protagonists. Within the starting part of this volume, Noritoshi comes to the realization that his clan is infiltrated with puppets by Kenjaku. Even with this compelling opening, it doesn’t make up for one major issue with this volume, which even this chapter itself will fall prey to. Tell, not show. This is due not only to the excessive amount of dialogue this whole volume contains but also to the fact that a good amount of it feels unnecessary since there are other ways to illustrate what is being said. Despite this, the one element that makes this entire volume quite readable, though, is the writing behind the action scenes. Due to the abundance of detail, the smallest fights in this series demonstrate a remarkable level of skill. Even with this strong positive, there is quite a lot more holding this volume back.
As the volume goes on, one of my primary issues with this volume escalates. The pacing. From each chapter to the next, the story feels oddly sloppy and poorly put together. What’s shocking about this is that it’s a Maki volume, even from the volume cover artwork. Maki is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling characters in this entire series, but if you read this volume, you would likely disagree. One of the core issues here is how long the action scenes play out. While this was an issue in the past, it really stands out here, as the action scenes feel overly played out to an extreme, and, even worse, the dialogue feels excessive and quite dull. While action is a great tool to entertain an audience, after a while it can become self-indulgent and excessive, as shown here. The main issue with this volume is that, while it could have been interesting as a draft, it doesn’t work well as a volume in general. This all makes this volume a genuine triumph to finish, based on the number of issues that are scattered throughout it.
ART
The quality of the art here varies greatly. At points, the art can be quite stunning. Especially in the action scenes, when we are able to see the damage from an attack. For example, there is this one shot in Chapter 191 that is more of a minor shot compared to others, where we see a mysterious cursed spirit go underground. In the panel, we see the ground explode, and there is a shocking amount of detail in the environment in this one panel, from the cities to the smoke to even the ground itself. It truly shows what the creator, Akutami, is capable of at his best.
Sadly, this isn’t common, as there are many shots in which character designs look unfinished, and some of the designs of these characters feel poorly drawn. This isn’t even the worst. At its worst, the artwork here feels choppy and poorly put together, mainly held down by the lack of it in some panels. There are many panels here in which the artwork is completely missing, and all that it contains is dialogue. This is overused to the point where it becomes irritating to read and feels more like reading an actual novel. A great example of all of this is in Chapter 194, which represents a good amount of the issues with this volume. In this chapter, there is an excessive amount of empty panels dedicated to lengthy dialogue that instead could’ve been used or said in a panel that actually had drawings involved. Even more, Noritoshi throughout this chapter feels horribly designed, with his character model changing from detailed to looking more like a sketch. While it could be said that this is being done to show off the action, it instead just feels extremely rushed and put together, adding in the excessive amount of dialogue and poor pacing.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 22 fails to live up to previous volumes with generally poor writing and paneling. This volume’s art sometimes falls short of previous volumes due to its poor quality or its complete absence, with dialogue filling in for it. One of my biggest gripes about this volume is the dialogue, which becomes extremely overused and boring as it goes on. There are still some threads holding parts of this work together, such as some of the writing for the fight scenes and how they play out. Despite that, generally, this feels like one of the worst volumes in the series, with the worst parts of this series on full display. Despite my issues with this volume, I believe there is much potential for what is to come in this series and what it can offer going forward.