JJK Season 3 Culling Game Arc Characters Introduction

I have refreshed Crunchyroll weekly in anticipation of Season 3, and having finally read the chapters of the Culling Game, I am excited and dreadful. The sooner January 2026 the better. Wondering who these new faces are and what Gege Akutami is going to do to us? get us some coffee, we are about to blow out this arc.

The New Faces You Need to Know

Kinji Hakari: The God of Gambling.

First up, Hakari. Gojo said that this guy can be a rival to him, and this is what already made me raise eyebrows. He is a suspended 3 rd year who operates an underground fight club (naturally he does), and his cursed way is nothing but straight-up pachinko gambling.

The cause of his lunacy in this case is his Domain Expansion, Idle Death Gamble, which is a slot machine indeed. When he strikes one of the jackpots of which incidences are not so rare as you might suppose he has the benefit of unlimited energy so far the curse will endure, which is, 4 minutes and 11 seconds. In the window time, he is virtually invulnerable.

The catch? His kingdom delivers a three page guidebook to those who oppose it on how it all works and it appears useful until he realizes it is psychological warfare. You are trying to take in the gambling mechanics, meanwhile Hakari is senselessly beating you.

I wonder what MAPPA will do to make those pachinko pictures move. It will be either one hype or one mind-blowing.

Hiromi Higuruma: The Lawyer Who Turned Deadly.

I am intrigued by this character. Higuruma was a defense lawyer who only realized that he was a sorcerer weeks before the commencement of Culling Game. Even though he is new to jujutsu, he scored 20 + kills before he met Yuji. Not by chance, that is intellectual property.

His device, Deadly Sentencing, sets up a special judicial territory in which he takes you to trial literally. His shikigami Judgeman is scrutinizing your most recent actions, accuses you of a crime and in case of conviction, the cursed technique is seized by his shikigami. Worse? When you have done something dreadful, Higuruma receives an Executioner Sword which can kill you immediately on hitting you.

The frightening thing is not the power but that this method does not take into account the strength of a person. But your uncivilized expletive nature can do you no good should you be a bit weak in morals. The system of fighting is so unique and I am betting his combats will be some of the most unpredictable fights of Season 3.

The Ancient Powerhouses

Now we have the reborn sorcerers, and they are on other plane:

The Edo Period sorcerer was Hajime Kashimo who now holds the highest number of points in the whole game. The lightning-oriented approach, as well as his unbelievable preoccupation with having Sukuna as an enemy are what makes him a time bomb in the walking. His fight with Hakari will be bloody-two entirely different fighting ideologies rubbing shoulders against each other.

Ryu Ishigori belongs to the 400 years past and she has the biggest energy output of the cursed energy in history. His method is comically simple, since he simply throws energy beams that are devastating but with the ability to cause a city block of devastation with a single shot, you do not need complexity. Yuta and Rika, even they had difficulties against him.

Takako Uro is a captain of a death squad in Heian Era, her skills left Yuta in a big problem in Sendai Colony.

Reggie Star may not appear as dangerous as he employs his Contractual Re-creation method (he uses receipts to create things) but he is dangerous because of his tactical intelligence. Megumi had to find out the difficult way.

The Wild Cards

Kurusu Hana/Angel possesses, probably the most shattered power in the show Jacob Ladders that can disarm any curse technique. Prison Realm, Domain Expansions, even the techniques of Sukuna. She plays a crucial role in the whole arc since she is the key to liberating Gojo.

Yorozu is a sorcerer of the Heian Era, who is obsessed with Sukuna who enters the body of Tsumiki. This structure manifests tragedy in the character development of Megumi, and that is emotionally unready to me.

What to Expect from Season 3

The Tournament Structure

The Culling Game is dissimilar to the concentrated melee of Shibuya. This arc occupying ten colonies in the whole of Japan occur concurrently with battles. There are players of modern sorcerers, ancient powerhouses and those who have just woken up, fighting to earn points and survive.

It’s messy. It’s sprawling. It is deliberately daunting and this is what the characters are going through. There were complaints about the time in the manga, and I believe this will be different when the manga is binged through in the absence of weekly breaks.

Character Growth

Yuji comes to this arc with the trauma of Shibuya and responsibility of the actions of Sukuna. It is going to be strong to see him come up with new techniques as he discovers his purpose as a protagonist. The strategic role of Megumi is expanded in time when he tries to save Tsumiki and liberate Gojo. And Maki? She is undergoing a change in which she is having a total transformation.

In a tease at Anime Expo 2025, MAPPA team said that the action was on a different scale. The Yuji/Choso vs. Yuta fight is already underway to be animated and to be honest, I am excited how they treat Hakari domain and Higuruma courtroom scenes.

FAQ: Explanations of the Rules of Culling Game.

What do the point system and how does it actually work?

Players get points by killing other players- sorcerers get 5 points, non sorcerers get 1 point. It is as follows: you have to manage to get at least 5 points in 19 days after entering or you will die. It’s automatic execution. The game makes one to be always involved.

It cannot be placed in the reeds and left. Having reached 100 points, however, you unlock something gigantic: an option to add new rules to the game itself, which becomes extremely important to the strategy of our main characters.

Would you not accept the Culling Game?

Yes technically no realistically. And when you become a awoken player whose cursed method was bound by the vows of Kenjaku, you will have 19 days to announce membership after awakening. Failure to claim and join a colony within the said period results in the execution.

In the game, it is not your choice but one is forcibly a newly awakened sorcerer which means he or she must engage in the battle royale against their choice and preference.

Read:

One Piece Live Action Season 2: What I’m Hyped And, Honestly, A Little Worried About Too