Beginning serialization in 2018 and ending in 2024, alongside Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen is one tentpole of the ‘monster trio’ from the Shonen Jump hit-making stable—three franchises whose successes at the international box office you no doubt heard a lot about in 2025.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s anime adaptation, helmed by studio MAPPA (Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga, Attack on Titan Season 4), has been airing since 2020, with its second season concluding back in December 2023.
The bulk of Season 2 is the ‘Shibuya Incident’ arc, one of the most seismic events in Akutami’s story. This is where the balance of power tips in the villains’ favour, leaving not only the sorcery world in turmoil, but all of Japan. It’s also simply a masterclass in exciting shonen storytelling from Akutami, brought beautifully and inventively to television by a studio at the absolute peak of its powers.
Apart from two compilation movies – Hidden Inventory/Premature Death and The Culling Game, Part 1 – fans have had to endure a roughly two-year wait for the two-part Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 premiere. So, you’d be forgiven for needing a refresher on some of the important story beats, character deaths (sob), and where we’ll be picking up in Jujutsu Kaisen’s eagerly anticipated third season. So, let’s expand that recap domain!
Geto’s Return and Gojo’s Imprisonment—Setting the Stage For the ‘Shibuya Incident’
Season 2 begins with the ‘Hidden Inventory / Premature Death’ storylines—a five-episode mini-arc that acts as a prelude to the aforementioned ‘Shibuya Incident.’
The episodes focus on the school days of Satoru Gojo—the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and a character so magnetic that isolated clips of him breathing are enough for viral otaku fodder. In particular, these episodes tell the story of how an assignment gone awry created an insurmountable rift between him and his best friend, the almost equally powerful Suguru Geto.
Geto serves as the main villain in the Jujutsu Kaisen prequel movie, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, in which he tries to gain control of a Curse with unlimited energy, Rika Orimoto. Rika is the deceased girlfriend of the film’s young protagonist, Yuta Okkotsu, who makes a notable return in Season 3. More on him later!
Gojo, who also makes an extended appearance in the 0 movie to suavely save help save the day and take Yuta under his wing, ends up having to kill Geto at his own request, an act which obviously weighs extremely heavily on him and maybe goes some way to explain how much of a mask his goofy disposition really is. That mask slips when the two come face-to-face in the ‘Shibuya Incident.’
Along with the transfiguration Curse, Mahito, and volcanic Curse, Jogo, Geto successfully baits Gojo into entering a near-impenetrable barrier erected around Shibuya station, severely limits his abilities with human cannon fodder, and finally, capitalising on his shock at seeing the literal dead, seals him in a cube-shaped (and handily transportable) Prison Domain.
Of course, like any archnemesis worth his exorcism salt, he takes a moment to explain his miraculous return: this isn’t the real Geto but ‘Pseudo-Geto,’ a flesh puppet controlled by the brain of a centuries-old sorcerer called Kenjaku. (The Frankenstein scar on the forehead is the not-so-subtle giveaway.)
With the sorcerer world’s most prominent protector boxed up, Geto and his allies are confident nothing can stand in the way of bringing about a new ‘golden age’ of sorcery through the evolution (read: eradication) of humanity.
Wins, Losses, and Sakuna Unleashed—Who Lives And Who Dies During the ‘Shibuya Incident’
As soon as news spreads via, hilariously, Jujutsu Kaisen’s main hero Yuji Itadori yelling out from the Shibuya rooftops that his mentor Gojo has been boxed, the sorcerers deployed to the area go into panic mode. From this point on, the fight is less about containment and more about survival. And credit where credit is due, Jujutsu Kaisen isn’t afraid to spill blood. Lots of blood.
The most significant casualties are fan-favourite salary man (and Daddy kink ponytail-puller) Nanami Kento, who barely survives a surreal beach battle inside an octo-Curse’s Domain before he’s half-crisped by Jogo’s fire technique. It’s an out-of-nowhere execution that happens in a split second, setting a chilling tone for the rest of the season.
The other victims are Zen’in patriarch Ogi, leaving a power vacuum at the top of the famous sorcerer clan that will come into play in Season 3, and seemingly his daughter Maki. Nanami clings to life long enough to finally be put down for good by Mahito, right in front of an increasingly traumatised Yuji Itadori.
Itadori’s closest classmates, Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki, are also put through the wringer. After being faced with another ghost of the past, his deceased and estranged father, Toji, an exhausted Megumi is then pushed to the brink of death when Sakuna, the ‘King of Curses’ who lies dormant within Itadori, is awakened by the latter being fed ten more Sakuna fingers.
Megumi’s Hail Mary is summoning the Divine General Mahoraga using his Ten Shadows Technique, an untamable Shikigami that gives even the most powerful living Curse a spot of bother. Sakuna eventually overwhelms and overpowers it with his Domain Expansion, sparing Megumi out of curiosity over his unique ability, before challenging Jogo to a death match, which he also wins. RIP, volcano head!
This blistering two-parter is the longest and deadliest demonstration of Sakuna’s superiority (he even fetches popcorn while fighting Megumi). Like his heroic counterpart Gojo, Sakuna is used in action by Akutami as sparingly as possible, making these instances where he’s off the leash feel that much more earned.
Despite being taken out of commission, it’s an important moment for Megumi to assert himself in the story’s big leagues, which is more than you can say, unfortunately, for Nobara. While she battles valiantly against a Mahito clone, the sting is taken out of this match by the clone being less powerful than the original, which Itadori simultaneously takes vengeance on for Nanami’s death. Nobara rushes to Itadori’s location in the subway, only to receive a single deadly touch from Mahito as she rounds a corner. It’s just as shockingly quick as Jogo’s evisceration of Nanami, Ogi, and Maki, and while a flashback affords her some more screentime, it certainly feels as though the series’ most prominent female character is given short thrift at this point. Her fate going into Season 3 is unknown.
Itadori’s Reckoning—Brotherhood and Right and Wrong
Itadori’s arc during Season 2 can be defined by his shift in allies during the ‘Shibuya Incident.’ In the wake of Sakuna’s battles with Mahoraga and Jogo, Shibuya is almost entirely leveled, and Itadori is left with Mahito as the season’s Final Boss. The Special Grade Curse takes huge delight in the teen’s shattered spirit, recognising that his faith in doing things for the ‘right’ reasons has evaporated now that he sees the damage Sakuna can bring about with his hands. It’s a good moment of moral reckoning for a shonen hero, as he realises the things he’s been thoughtlessly killing feel equally justified in their attempts to kill him.
Itadori eventually defeats Mahito with the help of his ‘brother’ Aoi Todo, the hulking sorcerer student—and closet idol fan—whose magic claps apparently don’t need two hands to work. Lucky!
However, while the Mahito fight is a satisfying victory during a scrappy tournament-esque arc where our heroes are constantly on the backfoot, it’s the earlier bathroom battle between Itadori and Choso that’s my favourite of the season. Choso is a half-human, half-Curse, and the younger brother of fellow Death Painting Womb brothers Eso and Kechizu, whom Itadori dispatched at the end of Season 1. When Choso arrives to take his revenge in Episode 13, ‘Red Scale,’ Itadori leads him into a Shibuya station bathroom to water down his deadly Blood Manipulation technique, as well as give himself the advantage as a melee specialist.
While the Sakuna battles offer the kinds of motion-blurred, soaring fights that shonen fans expect from beings who can defy gravity and punch through buildings, ‘Red Scale’ delivers the frenetic, close-quarters action reminiscent of watching the fight choreography in the Bourne films for the first time: the linework is clear, the motion is solid, the lighting contrasts in blues and reds, the score crackles with an offbeat, jazzy urgency… The feel of it simply electrifies the screen.
Like Todo, Choso finds that beating the crap out of Yuji Itadori is a path to enlightenment. Struck by memories of the two apparently sharing parentage—in a sense, through Kenjaku using Itadori’s mother and Choso’s parent spirit as vessels—he embraces Itadori as his half-brother and vows to protect him. And so, as Itadori hardens himself to being a “cog” in the war machine against Curses, rather than fighting for his own ideological reasons, he moves from having the mega-watted jock at his side to the arty goth kid instead. (Look, I’m not saying it’s a good metaphor…)
Itadori has been broken in mind, body, and spirit, and another huge battle is right around the corner…
‘The Culling Game’ Begins As Itadori’s Death Sentence Looms
The real set piece for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 s Geto’s instigation of what he calls ‘The Culling Game’. Using the devastated Shibuya as Ground Zero, Japan is gradually swallowed by cursed energy in footage eerily similar to the spread of post-nuclear fallout. Sorcerers must compete in battle royale events with a detailed rule and point system (finger on that pause button to read them all!), attempting to rescue the likes of Tsukumi Fushiguro, recover Gojo, and ultimately, try to defeat Geto/Kenjaku. Imagine The Hunger Games meets Marvel’s Battleworld, and you’ll get the gist. (I have to admit I find Jujutsu Kaisen’s magic system convoluted at the best of times; adding ‘Culling Game’ subclauses to the mix may cook my aging Millennial brain for good.)
To make matters worse, the sorcerer world is more divided than ever: defeated, scattered, and hung up on petty family drama while the world burns.
One final note: As well as Season 2, you may also want to check out the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 film I mentioned earlier for more background on the show’s latest protagonist, Yuta. As per the Season 3 synopsis, the Special Grade Sorcerer is deployed to carry out Itadori’s execution following the Shibuya attack. The prequel movie establishes his origin and the special relationship he has with the Curse Rika, as well as his ties with both Gojo and Geto. You can certainly go into Season 3 without that knowledge, but it makes his reappearance in the franchise feel far more consequential.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 will be stream on Crunchyroll beginning January 8, with new episodes every Thursday.
