Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 just did something no anime has done in years — it didn’t just dominate the charts, it obliterated them. With 9.4 million views on Netflix alone, a 9.9/10 IMDb rating for its finale, and a Season 4 already in production, The Culling Game Part 1 has cemented itself as the undisputed king of 2026 anime. If you still haven’t watched it, here’s why you’re missing the most explosive season in modern shonen history.
The Culling Game: Kenjaku’s Thousand-Year Plan Unleashed
After the devastating events of the Shibuya Incident — where Gojo was sealed, Yuji was framed, and jujutsu society crumbled — the stage was set for something even darker. Enter Kenjaku, the ancient sorcerer wearing Geto’s body, who finally pulled the trigger on a plan he’d been building for over a millennium.
The Culling Game is exactly what it sounds like: a death tournament of catastrophic proportions. Kenjaku used Idle Transfiguration to awaken Cursed Energy in roughly 1,000 descendants of ancient sorcerers across Japan, then trapped them inside colony barriers with one brutal rule — kill or be killed. Players who don’t score a point within 19 days are executed by the barrier itself. No mercy. No exits. No exceptions.
But here’s where it gets brilliant. The game isn’t just a bloodbath — it’s a strategic puzzle. Rule 3 allows players to spend 100 points to add new rules to the game, as long as they don’t contradict existing ones. Yuji, Megumi, Yuta, and their allies aren’t just fighting to survive — they’re gaming a system designed to kill them, all while Kenjaku’s true endgame looms: using the massive outpouring of Cursed Energy from thousands of sorcerers fighting and dying to fuel a ritual that merges humanity with Master Tengen.
The Five Fights That Broke the Internet
MAPPA didn’t just animate the Culling Game — they perfected it. Here are the moments that had fans around the world screaming at their screens:
1. Maki’s Awakening — The Zenin Clan Annihilation
This was the moment that defined the entire season. After Mai’s sacrifice stripped the last trace of Cursed Energy from Maki’s body, she fully realized her Heavenly Restriction — becoming as powerful as Toji Fushiguro himself. What followed was one of the most cathartic killing sprees in anime history. Maki didn’t just defeat the Zenin clan — she erased it. Every member, every ounce of bigotry, every chain that ever held her back. The animation was visceral, the choreography was flawless, and the emotional payoff was years in the making.
2. Sukuna Takes Megumi — Yuji’s Darkest Hour
The King of Curses finally revealed why he’d been so interested in Megumi Fushiguro since the very beginning. Sukuna’s takeover of Megumi’s body was a gut-punch of biblical proportions, and the ensuing battle between Sukuna, Yuji, and Maki across Tokyo was a masterclass in animated combat. The sheer horror of watching Yuji fight his best friend while bloodied and broken remains one of the most emotionally charged sequences in the entire franchise.
3. Kenjaku vs. Yuki and Choso — Special Grade Warfare
When Kenjaku moved to acquire Master Tengen, he met resistance from two of the series’ most powerful fighters. Yuki Tsukumo and Choso brought everything they had against the ancient sorcerer, resulting in a battle that showcased what Special Grade combat truly looks like. The fight had major moments for every character involved and ended with a bittersweet farewell that left fans in tears.
4. The Sendai Colony Three-Way Battle
Yuta Okkotsu’s entrance into the Culling Game was nothing short of spectacular. Thrown into a colony with two ancient sorcerers — Ryu and Uro — who had centuries of combat experience, Yuta had to fight on multiple fronts while hiding his true identity. The three-way battle was a visual spectacle that pushed MAPPA’s animation to its absolute limits.
5. Hakari’s Infinite Mode — The Rule-Breaking Wildcard
Hakari’s Cursed Technique, which activates during a pachinko-style jackpot, gave us some of the most creative and unpredictable fight choreography of the season. His ability to enter an infinite, unkillable state made every one of his fights a rollercoaster of tension and release.
Netflix Records Shattered — And Season 4 Is Coming
When Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 hit Netflix worldwide on July 22, 2026, it didn’t just perform well — it made history. With 9.4 million views, it became the most-viewed anime season on the platform, more than doubling Demon Slayer’s Hashira Training Arc, which managed just 4.1 million. The series also topped Japan’s Winter 2026 anime rankings, tied with Frieren Season 2, and Episode 12 closed out the season with a near-perfect 9.9/10 on IMDb — the highest-rated anime episode of the entire year.
And the momentum isn’t slowing down. Season 4: The Culling Game Part 2 was officially announced right after the Season 3 finale in March 2026, with a teaser trailer dropping on June 19. MAPPA is returning, Takeru Satō is stepping in as director, and the second half of the Culling Game promises to be even more devastating than the first. No release window has been confirmed yet, but if the production schedule holds, fans can likely expect it in early 2027.
Why This Season Matters
What makes Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 special isn’t just the animation or the fights — it’s how it balances spectacle with genuine emotional depth. Maki’s liberation is a story about breaking free from systemic oppression. Yuji’s loss of Megumi is a story about the cost of being a hero. Kenjaku’s plan is a story about the hubris of trying to force evolution on humanity. Every battle has weight, every death has meaning, and every victory comes at a price.
Gege Akutami created something rare in the Culling Game — a battle royale that’s actually about something. And MAPPA brought it to life with some of the most ambitious animation the medium has ever seen.
So the question is: have you watched Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 yet? And if you have — which Culling Game fight hit you the hardest? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
