Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Is Now Airing — The Culling Game Arc Begins

The Culling Game Has Begun

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 premiered on January 8, 2026, with a special one-hour broadcast on Japanese television networks MBS and TBS, featuring the first two episodes back-to-back. The season is streaming weekly on Crunchyroll, with new episodes dropping Thursdays at 8:30 AM PT.

MAPPA returns as the animation studio, with Shota Goshozono directing after helming the acclaimed Shibuya Incident arc in Season 2. The core creative staff and voice cast have been retained.

Split-Cour Structure

Season 3 is being released in multiple parts. The first cour, titled "Culling Games Part 1," spans 12 episodes and concludes on March 26, 2026. A second cour has been confirmed to continue the Culling Game arc, though specific dates haven't been revealed.

This split approach allows MAPPA to maintain the high production quality that made Season 2's Shibuya Incident arc a landmark achievement in anime, while managing their packed studio schedule during their 15th anniversary year.

What Season 3 Adapts

The season covers manga chapters 159 through 221, encompassing three key story beats:

• Itadori's Extermination — Yuta Okkotsu returns to Japan with orders to kill Yuji Itadori, creating a tense conflict among allies
• Perfect Preparation — The surviving sorcerers regroup and prepare for the Culling Game, with crucial power-ups and alliances forming
• The Culling Game — A large-scale battle royale orchestrated by the ancient sorcerer Kenjaku, designed to forcibly evolve cursed energy users across Japan

Theatrical Lead-Up with "Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution"

Rather than a standard recap, MAPPA produced a theatrical film called Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution that covered the final events of the Shibuya Incident before transitioning into Season 3's opening episodes. The film served as both a recap for returning viewers and a cinematic event in its own right.

Global Dubbing

Crunchyroll is offering subtitled episodes at launch, with dubs rolling out on a staggered schedule in English, Latin American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Italian, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Arabic — reflecting JJK's massive global audience.

What's Coming in June

MAPPA has teased exciting new announcements for June 2026, coinciding with the studio's 15th anniversary celebrations. Updates on JJK, Chainsaw Man, and other projects will be revealed on MAPPA's official YouTube channel. There's strong speculation that the Shinjuku Showdown — the manga's final arc — could receive a theatrical movie treatment similar to Demon Slayer's approach.

The Manga's Legacy

Gege Akutami's manga concluded in September 2024 with Chapter 271 after a five-year serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. With over 90 million copies in circulation, JJK remains one of the best-selling manga of all time. The anime still has significant source material to adapt, likely requiring 2-3 more seasons or a movie series to complete.