On January 8, the new season of the anime "Jujutsu Kaisen" with the subtitle "Culling Game" premiered. Three episodes have been released, and the title has already created a mixed impression. What kind of battle royale is coming, what is its essence,...
"Jujutsu Kaisen" is one of the main anime projects of the decade. Alongside "Chainsaw Man" and "Demon Slayer". The title about the confrontation between shamans and curses even made it into the Guinness World Records in 2024 as the most popular anime. Currently, the series is adapting a controversial and large-scale manga arc — "Culling Game". Viewers are in for a battle royale with complex internal rules.
Plot and Recap of Season 2
Yuji Itadori, an ordinary high school student, became the vessel for the greatest curse — Sukuna, by eating his finger. Now all the magical community's attention is fixed on the boy. Some believe the teenager should be executed immediately, others use him as Sukuna's vessel. Despite the risks, Itadori consumes the evil spirit's fingers one by one. But not only Yuji and other sorcerers are after the artifacts. High-grade curses also want to get them to release Sukuna and restore the balance of power in the world.
The second season ended with the "Shibuya Incident" arc. Geto (Kenjaku) along with other curses arrives at a subway station, taking thousands of people hostage. Several barriers with different functions descend on the district. One prevents citizens from leaving, another specifically restrains Satoru Gojo, and so on. Sorcerers arrive in Shibuya and try to save people.
This summer, the second season of the very popular anime "Jujutsu Kaisen" began airing. It has already passed the halfway point and amazes viewers with the epic events happening, so we
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Checklist of Important Events in Season 2 of "Jujutsu Kaisen"
It's important to recall the key moments of the second season finale of "Jujutsu Kaisen". After that, you can safely go watch "Culling Game".
1. Tokyo is partially destroyed due to the released Sukuna.
2. Geto released the curses, and they now roam freely throughout Japan.
3. Satoru Gojo, although he arrived at 20:31, lost the battle and was sealed. He is also considered involved in the incident, resulting in his expulsion from the sorcerer community.
4. Casualties: Mechamaru/Kokichi Muta, Kento Nanami, Tokyo Jujutsu High principal Masamichi Yaga, Mahito.
5. Unknown: whether Nobara Kugisaki is alive.
6. Yuji Itadori is sentenced to death.
What Is the "Culling Game"
After Shibuya, Geto (Kenjaku) shakes the sorcerer world once again. He announces the start of the "Culling Game" — a battle royale aimed at transforming humanity. Barrier colonies (game zones) form across Japan. Sorcerers are now forced to participate and earn points by killing.
Rules of the "Culling Game":
1. After awakening a cursed technique, players must declare their participation in the Culling Game at their chosen colony within 19 days.
2. Any player who violates the first rule will have their cursed technique removed and be killed.
3. Those who pass through a colony become players at the moment of entry and will be considered as having applied to participate in the Culling Game.
— Non-sorcerer civilians already inside a colony at the start of the game will be given at least one chance to safely exit.
4. Players earn points by killing other participants.
5. Points are awarded by the game administrator and determine the value of a player's life; as a general rule, sorcerers are worth five points, and non-sorcerers are worth one.
6. A player can spend 100 points, including points for their own life, to make a deal with the administrator and add one new rule to the Culling Game.
— Rules cannot be changed.
7. According to rule six, the administrator may accept any proposed new rule as long as it does not have a noticeable and lasting effect on the game.
8. If a player's point total does not change for nineteen days, they will have their cursed technique removed and be killed.
How the Season Started
The animation quality in the "Shibuya Incident" arc declined from episode to episode. Episodes were made under tight deadlines, animators couldn't fully refine the visuals, and MAPPA was involved in multiple scandals over employee working conditions. This affected fan reviews and the final product. Therefore, before the release of "Culling Game", there were concerns about animation quality.
So far, the studio has surprised. The opening scene of the first episode is done in an artistic style. Itadori tries to wash the blood of his comrades off his hands. The backgrounds are blurred, sometimes "glitchy", and his hands never become clean. The visuals are a metaphor for guilt and the impossibility of forgetting. For "Jujutsu Kaisen", MAPPA uses several animation styles, not just 3D. The main characters and curses are drawn differently. This approach conveys the difference and the peculiar "fabricated" nature of the monsters. Unlike the previous season, dynamic scenes no longer hurt the eyes. On the contrary, they evoke delight. Take, for example, the battle between Choso and Naoya Zenin. There's no sense of hackwork; character movements are smooth and fast, and the fight doesn't look boring. So far, it's one of the best scenes of the third season.
This time, the studio took a more serious approach to production. But even that didn't eliminate all flaws. Sometimes static shots appear that last five to seven seconds of screen time. In the series, this is explained by the desire to cheapen and speed up work on the project. The static here doesn't fit the atmosphere; it doesn't create tension, as it did, for example, in the elevator scene in . It's more like the final episode of "The Sopranos". When the screen goes dark and it seems the episode has turned off. So in "Jujutsu Kaisen", you check if the site is glitching. Sometimes, on the contrary, frames appear for less than a second and are hard to make out.
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In the battle between Itadori and Yuta, shadows are sometimes absent. The characters fight in a dim concert hall. Light falls on the seats but not on the characters for some reason. It turns out something akin to the battle between Naruto and Pain, but only for a few seconds and not with a complete absence of shadows. However, the ninja fight had an astonishing number of frames compared to the battles in "Jujutsu Kaisen". Another "notable scene" was Yuji descending the stairs. They showed six almost identical frames, as if a GIF was inserted during editing. Minor flaws are typical for any anime, and unlike "Shibuya Incident", the animation of "Culling Game" is so far of a high level.
The band King Gnu recorded the soundtrack "Specialz" (the opening of the second season), which is considered one of the favorites among fans. The new Aizo, in contrast to the pompous previous one, turned out dynamic and unconventional. The frames change quickly, showing the expected frantic plot. Among the battles and walkthroughs, the intro features stylized references to famous artists (Munch, Klimt, Millet, etc.), Japanese mythology, and iconic anime ("Ghost in the Shell"). All in MAPPA's style.
It's hard to predict the season's development. The plot moves briskly but without fuss — each scene is in its place. In three episodes, we saw several battles, Megumi became the head of the Zenin clan, a global massacre began, and new characters appeared. But on the other hand, only by the end of the third episode is the meaning of the Culling Game, its rules, and the future actions of the heroes revealed. There have already been minor discrepancies with the manga. For example, part of the Itadori and Yuta fight was cut. As a result, the battle looks quick, and Yuji seems suspiciously weak.
The main concern is the pacing of the narrative. The arc contains about 140 chapters. Fitting it all into 24 episodes won't work. The first and second seasons combined adapted only 136 chapters. Most likely, the story will be split, and (spoiler!) the battle between Sukuna and Gojo will only be seen after the fourth season.
The start of "Culling Game" showed a more measured approach from MAPPA compared to the second season finale. The studio manages to balance stylistic experiments with maintaining visual quality, albeit not without flaws. The main question is pacing: will the arc fit into one season, or will viewers face a cliffhanger? The first episodes successfully fulfill their task. They immerse you in the new harsh rules of the game and make you anxiously await the development of the most ruthless arc in the history of "Jujutsu Kaisen".
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