Jujutsu High student and vessel of the King of Curses, Yuji Itadori, is dealing with the aftermath of the Shibuya Incident. He’s plagued by guilt over what happened that night as he hunts the cursed spirits unleashed on Tokyo. But spirits aren’t the only ones being hunted: the Culling Game has started, and no sorcerer can escape it. Yuji isn’t alone in this fight, making new allies and reuniting with old friends as they look for a way to stop Kenjaku. Let’s talk about everything that happened in Episode 3 of JUJUTSU KAISEN ! The Culling Game is here, and Tengen has prepared some helpful visual aids to go over the rules for the sorcerers – and us. WARNING: Full details for JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 3 Episode 3 follow. Seriously, spoilers ahead! Kenjaku’s Goals Immortal sorcerer and barrier keeper Tengen introduces themself to Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushigoro, Choso, Yuta Okkotsu and Maki Zen’in. (Tengen and Yuki Tsukumo have met before.) They tell the sorcerers that the being who once called himself Noritoshi Kamo and now resides in Suguru Geto’s body is named Kenjaku. Yuji can’t help asking about Tengen’s strange appearance, and they reply that while they are immortal, they are not ageless. Their aging accelerated since the death of the Star Plasma Vessel and they no longer have an identity as an individual. Tengen can tell them about Kenjaku and how to release Satoru Gojo from the Prison Realm , but they ask for two sorcerers to remain behind for protection in return. Kenjaku’s objective is to force the evolution of humanity. He intends to use the Cursed Spirit Manipulation technique to assimilate mankind with Tengen, who is now more cursed spirit than human. People would become something more than sorcerers, and their shared existence would spread evil across the world. His motives for this turn of events, however, are still unknown. Bound by Fate Yuki asks why Kenjaku is enacting his plan now. Tengen replies that themself, the Star Plasma Vessel and the bearer of the Six Eyes technique are connected. The user of Six Eyes stopped Kenjaku before, so the wily sorcerer sealed the current bearer – Gojo – as there can only be one Six Eyes at a time. Additionally, Toji Fushiguro’s assassination of the Star Plasma Vessel destroyed their shared fate and forced Tengen to evolve. After obtaining both Geto’s body and the Prison Realm, Kenjaku had everything he needed to enact his plan. So why create the Culling Game? It’s the warm-up, Tengen says. Rules of the Culling Game The Culling Game pits all sorcerers – existing, recently incarnated, and awakened by Kenjaku with Idle Transfiguration – against each other in a battle royale. It makes use of ten battle zones across the country, called “Colonies,” to stock up cursed energy and galvanize humanity’s assimilation with Tengen. (Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, is excluded.) Creating this ritual required that Kenjaku form several pacts with the players, used as the rules of the game. RULES OF THE CULLING GAME After awakening their Cursed Technique, players must go to a Colony of their choice within 19 days and pledge their participation in the Culling Game. Players breaching the first rule shall be stripped of their technique. While not explicitly stated, “stripped” presumably involves the sorcerer’s death. Non-players shall become players upon entering a Colony, and their entry shall be taken as pledging to participate in the Culling Game. Players will receive points upon ending the life of another player. Points shall be designated based on the value that the Game Master gives their life, and fundamentally, a sorcerer will be worth five points and a non-sorcerer will be worth one point. By spending 100 points, not counting the initial point value assigned to them, players may negotiate with the Game Master to add an additional rule to the game. The Game Master must approve any additional rules requested under Rule 6 above, except when the Rule would significantly hinder the continuation of the Culling Game. Players who do not show a change in points within 19 days of joining or acquiring points shall be stripped of their technique. Next Steps Choso and Yuki decide to stay behind and guard Tengen. Choso hopes to slay Kenjaku himself and save his other brothers, while Yuki wants to keep chatting with Tengen. The ancient sorcerer has in their possession the back door of the Prison Realm, a way to gain access to Gojo. But they’ll need the help of a Culling Game player, Hana Kurusu, the Angel, to break it open. The sorcerers only have ten days until Tsumiki and the other awakened sorcerers are forced to participate. Yuji is dismayed that he’ll have to kill more people, but Megumi has some ideas. They begin to plan their next moves. Maki will retrieve the cursed tools in the workshop of curse user Juzo Kumiya and the ones in the Zen’in vault before finding Panda and heading to the Culling Game. Yuta will begin participating and gathering information in a Colony. Yuji and Megumi will find Kinji Hakari, a third-year Jujutsu High student, to recruit him. Elsewhere, a comedian named Fumihiko Takaba performs in front of a silent audience. The theater manager rudely tells him to give it up, but Takaba’s friend Ken suggests that some performers can delude themselves into believing they’re funny. The comedian doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to be a player in the Culling Game… Are you ready for the Culling Game? Stay tuned to JUJUTSU KAISEN to find out, right here on Crunchyroll!
