The Grasshopper Fight: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Animator Benjamin Faure Uses Real Life Footage Of Himself As Reference

The fight sequence between Itadori Yuuji and the grasshopper curse Ko-Guy was something that the manga enthusiasts had been waiting to see for a long time. The fight was a major part of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 8, and the fans had mixed reactions to the animation due to several reasons.

Some fans found the animation to be underwhelming, while others appreciated the animator staying true to the manga. However, the recent clip of the animator Benjamin Faure made the fans appreciate the fight scene more and acknowledge his hard work and dedication. 

Benjamin Faure, who has animated some of the best scenes in the anime, revealed that he used the real life footage of himself as a reference for the fight scene’s animation. The clip went viral, especially because it managed to showcase the animation process of that particular scene in great detail.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 animator Benjamin Faure used real life footage of himself to create the grasshopper fight scene!
byu/TheSiZaReddit inJuJutsuKaisen

The Grasshopper Fight in Episode 8 was covered in the Shibuya Arc, where Yuuji fought against the grasshopper curse Ko-Guy, who was guarding the commission station inside Meiji-Jingumae Station. Yuuji was in the team being led by Mei Mei, who used her skill to navigate what was happening inside the second curtain.

That particular curtain prevented any of the sorcerers from entering B5F. Mei Mei and Yuuji ended up splitting at that point because there were too many civilians trapped inside the curtain, and she had already determined that the caster was hiding somewhere between B1F and B2F.

Yuuji stepped inside B2F to find the caster and stop him before more people got hurt, while Mei Mei went to B4F to prevent any casualties. When Yuuji entered B2F, he found the grasshopper curse Ko-Guy eating a man’s head and we also learn that the curse was “smart” since it was somewhat capable of speaking.

Ko-Guy revealed that he was there to protect the curtain, and Mahito was somewhere down below. We also saw a talisman-covered stake in the ground, and Yuuji realized that it was the source of the curtain. That is when the fight between Ko-Guy and Yuuji began, who was very determined to take the curtain down.

The fight was tough for Yuuji, who had to fight against a four-limbed creature with just two hands. The fans were disappointed initially since the animation was blurred and dimmed, which made it look very bland. On the other hand, some also acknowledged that the animation was manga-accurate.

The undimmed version of the fight was later released, and fans could finally appreciate the hard work that Benjamin Faure had put in for the action sequence. 

About Benjamin Faure

Benjamin Faure is a French animator who began working exclusively for MAPPA after his contribution to Chainsaw Man anime. He used to work as a 3-D animator for Illumination before becoming an inhouse 2-D animator for MAPPA during Chainsaw Man’s production. 

Benjamin has animated some iconic scenes in both Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 and Chainsaw Man. One of his best works is the extremely well-animated table tennis match between Mei and Todo. Not just that, he also referenced his real-life footage to animate the Kishibe Kick in Chainsaw Man. 

He mentioned that he wanted to try performing the kick himself since he wanted to see how much the coat would fly during that. We can see that the realistic portrayal of fight scenes is because of his own dedication and ambition to make the scenes look perfect for the viewers.

Other than that, some of Benjamin’s other notable works include the Power flashback sequence in Episode 4 of Chainsaw Man, the aquarium scene in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 3, and his contribution to animating the giant mech in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 7. 

[LAYOUT] アニメーターとして「呪術廻戦」#44 参加しました。こちらが描いたシーンです。どうもありがとう MAPPA! ⚡️⚡️

Here are the cuts [LAYOUT] I've done for Jujutsu Kaisen #44. As a very expressive character, I really enjoyed drawing Mahito one more time ! 😈⚡️

This is now my last… pic.twitter.com/jIX2aJK7yn

— Benjamin Faure (@Bfaureart) December 8, 2023

The real-life footage of Benjamin Faure doing martial arts and boxing went viral, not just because of the well-animated scene but also because his experience and mastery in them were clearly visible. Most people could tell that he had received some training in boxing due to his impressive punches.

Benjamin Faure recently shared layouts he had done he had done for Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 44. He mentioned that he loved working on Mahito since he is a very expressive character. Along with that, he also revealed that it would be his last participation in animating Jujutsu Kaisen.