JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 3: The Culling Game Part 1

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 is the start of the Culling Game, one of the biggest story arcs in Gege Akutami's hit manga. Studio MAPPA made it, and Shota Goshozono directed it. The season aired in Japan on MBS and TBS from January 9 to March 27, 2026. It has 12 episodes, and the first two aired together as a one-hour special. King Gnu sings the opening song, "AIZO," and Jo0ji sings the ending song. Crunchyroll streams it outside Asia, with an English dub as well. This season covers only the first half of the arc, and a second part has already been announced.

This season picks up right after the Shibuya Incident from Season 2. In this story, jujutsu is a kind of magic. Jujutsu sorcerers use a power called cursed energy to fight cursed spirits, which are monsters born from bad human feelings. In Shibuya, things went very badly. Many people died, and the strongest sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, was locked away inside a magic prison. Japan is now full of danger, and the old rules no longer protect anyone.

The villain behind all of this is Kenjaku, an ancient sorcerer who is using the body of Suguru Geto. Kenjaku starts a deadly contest called the Culling Game. It takes place in closed-off areas across Japan called colonies. Many people suddenly wake up with new powers, and some sorcerers from long ago come back to life. All of them are pulled in as players. Players earn points by fighting, and there are strict rules. Players can add new rules, but that costs points. The game will not end on its own until almost everyone is gone, so the heroes must find a way to stop it and free Gojo.

Yuji Itadori, the main hero, carries the curse king Sukuna inside his body. He feels deep guilt about the many deaths in Shibuya, so he stays away from the jujutsu school. Instead he hunts cursed spirits with Choso, a strange ally who now treats Yuji like a little brother. Meanwhile, the jujutsu leaders decide that Yuji must be put to death after all. They send Yuta Okkotsu, a very powerful special-grade sorcerer, to do the job. Yuji's friend Megumi Fushiguro also has his own reason to fight: he needs to protect his stepsister Tsumiki, who is caught up in the game.

The season is dark and full of action. It feels a bit like a battle royale story, where many fighters with different goals clash in the same place. New characters and strange powers appear in almost every episode, and the fights are big and fast, as fans of MAPPA's animation expect. At the same time, the story keeps asking hard questions about guilt, duty, and what a person owes to others after a disaster. It is a violent show for older viewers. Since this is the third season, new viewers should watch the first two seasons and the movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 first, because the story builds directly on them.