Winter 2026 is well underway but I am just starting to cover the season. Sorry for the delay! Jujutsu Kaisen is finally back after three years. This popular staple of the 2020s has become my second favorite fighter-shounen in existence (after Hunter x Hunter 2011). Studio Mappa was again in charge of creating this season and the art and animation are spectacular so far. The music and voice-acting are also god-tier. This blog post covers my thoughts and notes on Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game Part 1 Episodes 1 through 3. Cumulatively, we would say this covers episodes 48, 49, and 50.
Note: I have only read a little bit of the Culling Game arc in the manga, so much of this content will be new to me. I do, however, know what happens to Maki and Mai. I also know about Kirari and am excited to meet her. I’ll try not to ruin these things and keep the spoilers to the episodes at hand.
Episode 48: Execution
Episode Rating: 9/10
As I mentioned in the intro, the visuals were amazing from the colors and intense facial expressions to the fluid action sequences and fantastic fighting choreoraphy. Everything also felt quite cinematic with the camera angles and unique shots. As for the story, Yuji and Choso continued fighting cursed spirits in the city until they were interrupted by the arrival of Naoya Zenin and Yuta Okkotsu. The latter had been sent to execute Yuji Itadori. This is bad news because Okkotsu is almost as strong as Gojo. As for Naoya, this episode is our first time meeting him.
I didn’t notice the music quite as much in this episode, but I paid attention to some of the voice-acting. I immediately recognized the voice of Naoya Zenin as Kouji Yusa, who played Lau from Black Butler and Renzou Shima from Blue Exorcist. I love this man’s voice even though the characters he plays are usually not morally admirable. In this case, he’s playing the complete asshole Naoya: a spoiled, selfish, and deeply sexist young man. I hate men like Naoya, but Kouji Yusa is doing an amazing job with the character, so I must give him credit for being such a great voice actor.
Anyway, Naoya is looking to kill Megumi, who was named as the heir of the Zenin family now that Naobito was dead. Naoya had heard that Megumi was with Yuji, so he went to Tokyo under the pretext of hunting down Sukuna’s vessel. If Megumi died and/or gave up his claim, Naoya would become the Zenin heir. I have no idea why, but Naobito wrote in his will that Naoya would be the heir unless Satoru Gojo became incapacitated. Since Gojo was sealed during the Shibuya Incident, the condition had been met.
(Side Note: Who knows what Naobito was thinking? I have neither respect nor comprehension when it comes to that old man. He was a perpetuator and enabler of the toxic ways of the Zenin clan, even if he did one sort of good thing when he died.)
While Choso fought with Naoya, Okkotsu attacked Yuji. Their battle was intense. Yuji was holding up well against his opponent, who had an enormous amount of cursed energy at his disposal. He was wounded but had broken Okkotsu’s sword with the knife he got from training with Gojo. However, Yuji’s confident charge was cut short by Rika, who grabbed him with both her giant hands. As ordered, she held him there as Okkotsu approached with his broken sword. He drove the blade into Yuji’s heart and said, “Sorry, Itadori-kun.” Has our main character died for a second time now?
Episode 49: One More Time
Episode Rating: 9/10
The Naoya versus Choso fight early in the episode was awesome. Because he was only part human, and a Death Painting, he couldn’t die from blood loss. Thanks to that advantage, Choso overwhelmingly won the battle. However, before he could finish off Naoya, Okkotsu returned, dragging Yuji’s body behind him. Okkotsu kicked Choso aside, knocking him out. Then he healed Naoya, who had been poisoned by the inhuman blood from Choso. In return for the healing, Naoya was sent to report the fact that Yuji Itadori was dead. Okkotsu had fulfilled his duty.
The scene cut to Yuji waking up by a campfire with Okkotsu. The powerful boy explained that he healed Yuji’s heart with reverse cursed energy right after he stabbed it. Since Yuji’s heart did stop for a few seconds, he was technically killed. It was enough to satisfy the binding vow that Okkotsu took when directed by the higher-ups at Jujutsu high. To be put it simply, Okkotsu did all this to buy time for Yuji by making everyone believe he was dead for a few days. When asked why he went so far, Yuta said it was because Yuji was precious to people who were precious to him. It’s great to have Okkotsu around and I love the seiyuu who does his voice. (It’s Megumi Ogata – most famously the voice of Shinji from the Evangelion franchise.)
(Side Note: We also saw a brief dream/memory of Yuji when he was unconscious and healing. In the memory, he was a little baby being held by his father, Jin. Nearby, his grandfather was saying that the wife, Yuji’s mother, was dangerous. Jin refused to listen, and the scene ends with the mother briefly appearing and asking what was wrong. It’s already clear that this woman was a body being controlled by the brain of the evil sorcerer Noritoshi Kamo, who will be called Kenjaku starting in this arc. Apparently, Kenjaku gave birth to Yuji with that woman’s body.)
Yuta and Yuji were soon joined by Fushiguro. He immediately took Yuji by the wrist and asked for his help. Kenjaku’s culling game had started and Megumi’s sister, Tsumiki, would be forced to participate. Megumi wanted to save Tsumiki and also find a way to defeat Kenjaku and end the culling game. In order to do this, they would need to meet with Tengen, the mysterious entity that controlled all the barriers of Jujutsu Sorcerers. Yuji was reluctant to help at first because he didn’t think he deserved to be around Megumi and the others when Sukuna had killed so many people in Shibuya.
Fushiguro reminded Yuji that Jujutsu sorcerers are not heroes and that nobody can judge them. But that wasn’t what convinced Itadori. It was the way Megumi asked to be saved, so clearly full of frustration and desperation. Yuji agreed to join Fushiguro on the condition that Okkotsu came along and killed him in the event that Sukuna resurfaced. Yuta said he’d do his best. When Itadori dared asking about Kugisaki, he saw Megumi make a grim face and dropped the subject. We’re supposed to believe Kugisaki is dead now, I suppose. I still think it was vague enough to leave doubt. Regardless, that was a heavy and difficult moment for Itadori and Fushiguro.
Choso reappeared and said he would help. Thus, the group went back to Jujutsu High through a secret passage and reunited with Maki Zenin and Yuki Tsukumo. It was good to see Maki again. Her burn scars looked bad-ass. Yuki explained that they needed to talk to Tengen by picking the right door out of thousands that would lead to the Star Cult chambers and to Tengen. Thanks to Choso, choosing the correct door was easy. Within the Star Cult chambers were the remains of six of Choso’s “brothers” – other cursed wombs. With his ability, Choso could sense the presence of his family. He used that to lead the group.
(Side Note: I’ve been immensely enjoying the character of Choso and his interactions with Yuji. It is heartwarming and inspiring to know that there are caring, loyal men like Choso. His philosophy is so simple and genuine. He’s also not afraid of showing emotions in a variety of animated ways. It was great when Itadori called him his big brother and Choso metaphorically exploded, shouting “YUUJIII!” xD )
The group proceeded into a large open white space. Yuki said Tengen was rejecting them but she wasn’t sure if her presence was the issue. In front of the group, there appeared a strange figure in white robes with a tall, rectangular head and four eyes. It was Tengen. I don’t know if Tengen has a gender, but since it’s being voiced by a woman, I’ll call the entity by she/her pronouns for the time being. To be continued.
Episode 50: About The Culling Game
Episode Rating: 8/10
As the title suggests, this episode was largely exposition. That means it was less exciting and less engaging from a character writing standpoint. However, as someone who doesn’t always follow things well (and someone who often watches anime stoned), I appreciated this exposition episode. It’s good to have everything laid out. It will also be easy to go back and reference this episode if I get confused. The only annoying issue was that the informative summary text was written all in Japanese Kanji, which I can’t read to save my life. I had to rely on captions and my ears a lot. Let’s go over some key points that were covered as the group talked with Tengen.
Kenjaku and His Objective: The evil sorcerer Noritoshi Kamo will be called Kenjaku from here on. It’s the name he chose for himself, if I’m understanding correctly. This makes sense because he has existed since long before the time of Noritoshi Kamo. His objective is to accelerate the evolution of mankind. He plans to do this by having Tengen “assimilate” with all the people of Japan. Tengen used to be able to combine her consciousness only with the Star Plasma Vessel, but she has evolved significantly over the last twelve years since the murder of Riko. Note: There was no second vessel.
Kenjaku’s Gender and Name Trivia: Strictly speaking, Kenjaku would be genderfluid since he functions using the bodies of men and women alike. Since he currently possesses Suguru Getou’s body, I’ll just use him/him pronouns. As for Kenjaku’s name, it sounds interesting. I wasn’t able to find a better source than Google AI or Reddit, but it seems that Kenjaku is a reference to Buddhist mythology. “Fukukenjaku” was the name of a holy rope used by the Goddess Kannon to restrain evil. The name is ironic because this irredeemable villain named himself after a sacred item of salvation.
Tengen Assimilation: Tengen is an entity that exists in multiple places at once as more of a force than a person. Humanity’s “assimilation” with Tengen would probably therefore link the consciousnesses of everyone and get rid of the need for bodies. Since it sounds like the Human Instrumentality Project from Evangelion, I’ll call this plan the Tengen Assimilation Project. Tengen believes this will end the world if it happens, because evil will immediately spread to all consciousness. This could lead to all Japanese people becoming evil, omnipresent curse users with a hive mind. They would surely destroy the rest of the world, too.
The Colonies and the Ritual: Kenjaku set up ten Colonies around Japan where the Culling Game battles will take place. The arrangement of the spiritual barriers around the Colonies form a pattern needed for a huge Jujutsu ritual. Its purpose is to “ferry human souls to the other side.” The entire Culling Game is a test or a warm-up for the even larger ritual needed for the Tengen Assimilation Project.
The Culling Game Rules: I’m not going to type or copy-paste the whole list, but a great reference is this Culling Game Rule List from the Jujutsu Kaisen Fandom Wiki. The wiki has spoilers in some sections, but just referencing the rule list here shouldn’t be an issue. The most important notes are the following four points. 1) Players score points by ending the lives of other players. 2) Tsumiki and others like her have 19 days before they are removed from the game for not participating. The removal process results in the death of the player. 3) Players with 100 points can add a new rule to the game so long as it doesn’t hinder the game’s continuation. 4) We don’t know the identity of the Game Master who presides over the rules, but we know it’s not Kenjaku.
Group Objective 1: Guarding Tengen. Since Tengen’s recent evolution, she has become more similar to a cursed spirit than a human. As a result, she can be targeted by Kenjaku, who has Suguru Getou’s power to absorb cursed spirits. It is essential to guard Tengen to prevent even more power from going to Kenjaku. Yuki Tsukumo and Choso agreed to stay behind and guard Tengen while the rest work on other missions.
Group Objective 2: Find the Angel who can open the Back Door cube and free Satoru Gojo. Somewhere in Japan is a powerful and mysterious player who looks like a classic Angel. Tengen told the group to find this person because she can open the Back Door to the prison realm in which Gojo is trapped. The Back Door is a small, cubelike item much like the main prison realm cube now held by Kenjaku.
Group Objective 3: While getting 100 points to add a rule to save Tsumiki, they must also recruit Kinji Hakari. This person is a third-year Jujutsu High student who was suspended. Yuta said that he’s amazingly strong when he gets serious. Itadori and Fushiguro will go to one of the Colonies and look for Hakari. Okkotsu will also be participating in the Culling Game right away, but at a different Colony to avoid clashing. As for Maki, she will be on a mission to acquire a certain cursed tool from the Zenin family before reuniting with Panda and joining the game.
There’s definitely more information covered in this episode, but I’ve already written nine paragraphs for a single episode, so I think that’s enough for now. I’m excited to be covering Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 and I would love to know any reader thoughts in the comments, provided you don’t give manga spoilers. Sayonara until next time!
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 