JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 4 has released its first official teaser trailer, offering an early look at the continuation of the Culling Game and confirming an important change behind the production.
The new season, officially titled JUJUTSU KAISEN: The Culling Game Part 2, will be directed by Takeru Sato at animation studio MAPPA. Sato previously served as one of the assistant directors on the third season and contributed directly to its visual direction.
The trailer was unveiled during MAPPA’s 15th Anniversary Lineup Reveal on June 19, 2026. It previews several of the manga’s most anticipated confrontations, including Kinji Hakari’s battle against Hajime Kashimo, Kenjaku’s movements outside Japan and the return of Ryomen Sukuna to the center of the story.
No premiere date has been announced. MAPPA has only confirmed that production is underway and that the anime will continue adapting the second half of Gege Akutami’s Culling Game storyline.
JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 4 Receives Its First Trailer
The first teaser for Season 4 moves immediately into the growing chaos of the Culling Game.
The third season introduced the deadly ritual created by Kenjaku, divided the characters across multiple colonies and concluded after Yuta Okkotsu’s intense battle in the Sendai Colony.
Season 4 will continue from that point, following the remaining confrontations inside the barriers while gradually revealing the true scale of Kenjaku’s plan.
The teaser contains brief glimpses of battles, cursed techniques and characters who will become increasingly important during the next stage of the story.
Rather than serving as a simple announcement video, the trailer includes footage connected to several major events expected to define the fourth season.
Takeru Sato Becomes the New Director
Takeru Sato has been named the director of JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 4.
Sato previously worked as an assistant director on The Culling Game Part 1 alongside Yosuke Takada under director Shota Goshozono.
His promotion gives the production a degree of continuity despite the change in the main directing position. Sato is already familiar with the creative team, visual language and production structure established during the third season.
He also contributed directly to individual episodes and promotional sequences, giving him experience with both action-heavy scenes and the more experimental visual presentation associated with the recent adaptation.
Season 4 will be his opportunity to define the direction of a complete television installment while continuing one of the most complicated arcs in the franchise.
Shota Goshozono Does Not Return as Main Director
Shota Goshozono directed the second and third seasons of JUJUTSU KAISEN, helping establish a more expressive and cinematic style for the anime.
His work on the Hidden Inventory, Premature Death, Shibuya Incident and first half of the Culling Game significantly changed the visual identity of the television adaptation.
For the fourth season, the main directing role has passed to Takeru Sato.
The announcement does not indicate that the anime will completely abandon the style developed during the previous seasons. Sato was already part of the third season’s senior creative team and worked within the same production environment.
The transition may therefore represent an evolution of the recent approach rather than a complete visual restart.
Season 4 Continues the Culling Game
The fourth season will adapt the second part of the Culling Game Arc.
The Culling Game is a ritual created by Kenjaku that forces sorcerers and newly awakened cursed-technique users into a deadly competition across ten barriers known as colonies.
Participants receive points for killing other players. Those points can be exchanged for new rules, allowing the characters to gradually modify the structure of the game.
Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuta Okkotsu, Kinji Hakari, Panda and their allies enter the colonies with several objectives.
They want to rescue Megumi’s sister Tsumiki, find a way to release Satoru Gojo from the Prison Realm and prevent Kenjaku from completing his larger plan.
The first half of the arc established those goals and introduced many of the players. The second half will begin bringing the individual battles and hidden plans together.
Season 3 Ended With the Sendai Colony Battle
The third season concluded with an extended episode centered on the Sendai Colony.
Yuta Okkotsu found himself trapped in a four-way conflict involving some of the colony’s strongest players.
He fought Kurourushi, a powerful cursed spirit associated with cockroaches, before confronting reincarnated sorcerers Takako Uro and Ryu Ishigori.
The battle demonstrated Yuta’s enormous cursed energy, his ability to use reverse cursed technique and the continued importance of Rika.
It also revealed that Yuta can copy the cursed techniques of other sorcerers under certain conditions.
After defeating his opponents, Yuta gained enough points to contribute to the group’s attempt to change the rules of the Culling Game.
Season 4 will move beyond Sendai and return attention to the other colonies, particularly the conflict involving Hakari and Kashimo.
Hakari vs. Kashimo Is Previewed in the Trailer
One of the most anticipated battles shown in the trailer is the confrontation between Kinji Hakari and Hajime Kashimo.
Hakari is a suspended third-year student from Tokyo Jujutsu High who operates an underground fighting club.
Satoru Gojo considers him one of the students with the potential to eventually reach an extraordinary level of power.
His cursed technique is connected to gambling and probability. Through his Domain Expansion, Hakari can trigger a jackpot that grants him an overwhelming temporary advantage.
Kashimo is a reincarnated sorcerer from centuries in the past. He entered the Culling Game because he wants to fight Sukuna, whom he considers the only opponent capable of satisfying his desire for battle.
Kashimo’s cursed energy possesses electrical properties, making even ordinary physical attacks extremely dangerous.
The battle between Hakari and Kashimo is unusual because both characters possess abilities that allow them to survive damage that would immediately kill most sorcerers.
Their confrontation is expected to become one of the largest action sequences in the fourth season.
Hakari’s Domain Expansion Will Be Important
Hakari’s Domain Expansion, Idle Death Gamble, is based on the rules and visual presentation of a pachinko machine inspired by a fictional romantic drama.
The technique creates a complicated sequence of probability events that can eventually produce a jackpot.
When Hakari wins, he receives an effectively unlimited supply of cursed energy for four minutes and eleven seconds.
During that period, his body automatically performs reverse cursed technique, healing even catastrophic injuries without requiring conscious effort.
This temporary state makes Hakari almost impossible to kill.
Animating the technique will be a considerable challenge because the battle combines conventional combat, rapid healing, gambling imagery, music and detailed rules.
The teaser suggests that MAPPA is preparing a highly energetic presentation for the fight.
Hajime Kashimo Searches for Sukuna
Kashimo entered the Culling Game after making an agreement with Kenjaku hundreds of years earlier.
During his original lifetime, he defeated many opponents but remained dissatisfied because he never encountered someone capable of pushing him beyond his limits.
Kenjaku told him about Sukuna and offered him an opportunity to return in a future era.
After being reincarnated, Kashimo immediately began killing players and collecting points while searching for Sukuna.
His interest creates a direct connection between the colony battles and the curse living inside Yuji.
Kashimo is not interested in politics or saving anyone. His primary objective is to experience the strongest possible fight.
Panda Faces a Devastating Battle
Before Hakari confronts Kashimo, Panda encounters the reincarnated sorcerer inside the Tokyo No. 2 Colony.
Panda is not an ordinary animal. He is a Cursed Corpse created by Masamichi Yaga and contains multiple independent cores.
Those cores include his Panda form, his older brother Gorilla and a sister whose full abilities have remained largely unexplored in the anime.
Kashimo’s overwhelming strength places Panda in one of the most dangerous situations of his life.
The confrontation is expected to explore Panda’s internal relationship with his siblings and the emotional consequences of Yaga’s death.
Although Panda often provides humor, the new season will place him at the center of one of the arc’s most painful sequences.
Kenjaku Travels to the United States
The trailer also previews Kenjaku expanding his plans beyond Japan.
Using Suguru Geto’s body, Kenjaku has manipulated jujutsu society, cursed spirits, politicians and reincarnated sorcerers for centuries.
His objective is not limited to creating the Culling Game. The ritual is part of a larger experiment involving cursed energy and the forced evolution of humanity.
During the next stage of the story, Kenjaku approaches foreign political leaders and reveals the existence of cursed energy.
He attempts to convince the United States and other countries that Japanese sorcerers could be captured and studied as a powerful new energy resource.
This development transforms the Culling Game from a hidden supernatural conflict into a potential international crisis.
The Culling Game Becomes an International Conflict
Until this point, the world of jujutsu has operated largely outside public awareness.
Ordinary people cannot normally see curses, and the existence of sorcerers has been controlled by secret institutions.
Kenjaku’s contact with foreign governments threatens to destroy that secrecy.
By presenting cursed energy as a potential source of power, he encourages military forces to enter the colonies.
Those soldiers do not understand the true nature of curses, barriers or the ritual they are entering.
Their involvement serves Kenjaku’s objectives by adding more cursed energy and human suffering to the colonies.
The development also raises a larger question about what would happen if the entire world learned that Japan possesses people capable of supernatural destruction.
Sukuna Returns to the Center of the Story
The trailer concludes with imagery connected to Ryomen Sukuna, signaling that the King of Curses will once again become central to the narrative.
Sukuna has remained inside Yuji since the beginning of the series, but his long-term objectives have never been completely explained.
He has shown a particular interest in Megumi Fushiguro and the Ten Shadows Technique.
During the Shibuya Incident, Sukuna used his temporary control of Yuji’s body to fight Jogo and Mahoraga, causing destruction on an enormous scale.
The consequences left Yuji carrying intense guilt over actions he was unable to prevent.
In Season 4, Sukuna’s plans involving Megumi are expected to move into a far more dangerous phase.
His return will dramatically alter the balance of power inside the Culling Game.
Megumi’s Mission Is to Save Tsumiki
Megumi Fushiguro entered the Culling Game primarily to save his older stepsister, Tsumiki Fushiguro.
Tsumiki was placed under a curse before the Shibuya Incident and later awakened as a participant in Kenjaku’s ritual.
Megumi believes that adding an exit rule will allow her to leave the game safely.
This objective influences nearly every decision he makes during the arc.
Although Megumi is normally calm and strategic, the threat to Tsumiki makes him more willing to take extreme risks.
The second half of the Culling Game will force him to confront information that changes his understanding of his sister’s situation.
Yuji Continues Carrying the Weight of Shibuya
Yuji entered the Culling Game while still emotionally devastated by the Shibuya Incident.
He blames himself for the deaths caused when Sukuna controlled his body and increasingly sees his own life as expendable.
His battle against Hiromi Higuruma in the third season forced him to admit responsibility for what happened, even though he did not consciously commit the massacre.
Higuruma recognized that Yuji was carrying punishment for something outside his control and ultimately decided to help him.
Season 4 will continue testing Yuji’s belief that his only purpose is to serve as a disposable component in the larger fight.
Sukuna’s renewed activity will make that internal conflict even more painful.
Maki Zenin’s Transformation Continues
Maki Zenin underwent one of the most dramatic transformations in the third season.
After the death of her sister Mai, Maki lost the remaining cursed energy that had limited her Heavenly Restriction.
She gained physical abilities comparable to Toji Fushiguro and destroyed the forces of the Zenin clan.
Despite that enormous increase in strength, Maki has not yet completely understood how to use her new body.
The next stage of the Culling Game will place her in another major battle and force her to recognize the difference between raw physical power and complete freedom of perception.
Her development will become essential to the characters’ ability to survive the escalating conflict.
Noritoshi Kamo Returns to Battle
Noritoshi Kamo will also return during the second half of the Culling Game.
The Kyoto Jujutsu High student lost much of his political position after Kenjaku took control of the Kamo clan.
His name was originally given to him because the historic Noritoshi Kamo was considered one of the most infamous sorcerers in history.
The revelation that Kenjaku was responsible for the crimes associated with that identity further complicates Kamo’s relationship with his family and inherited technique.
He joins Maki inside the Sakurajima Colony, where both confront a curse connected to the consequences of the Zenin clan’s destruction.
The Trailer Signals Several Major Battles
The teaser suggests that Season 4 will contain a particularly high concentration of action.
The second half of the Culling Game includes battles with very different visual identities and rules.
Hakari’s fight relies on gambling imagery, probability and continuous regeneration. Kashimo uses electrically charged cursed energy and relentless close-range combat.
Maki’s storyline focuses on physical perception, speed and weapons rather than conventional cursed techniques.
Kenjaku’s actions introduce political tension and large-scale manipulation, while Sukuna’s involvement changes the arc into something far more catastrophic.
Takeru Sato and the MAPPA team will need to give each conflict a distinct visual language while maintaining a coherent season-wide direction.
MAPPA Continues Producing the Anime
MAPPA remains responsible for animation production.
The studio has produced every television season of JUJUTSU KAISEN as well as the theatrical prequel JUJUTSU KAISEN 0.
The franchise has become one of the studio’s most internationally successful productions and was prominently featured during MAPPA’s 15th anniversary celebration.
The Season 4 trailer was revealed as part of the studio’s lineup presentation, alongside updates for several other major projects.
MAPPA has not yet revealed the complete production schedule or the number of episodes planned for the new season.
The Main Season 3 Staff Established the Current Style
The third season was directed by Shota Goshozono, with Hiroshi Seko handling series composition and scripts.
Yosuke Yajima and Hiromi Niwa served as character designers, while Yoshimasa Terui composed the music.
Takeru Sato and Yosuke Takada worked as assistant directors.
The production continued the expressive approach established during the second season, using experimental layouts, dynamic camera movement and animation styles that changed depending on the emotional state of each battle.
The complete Season 4 staff has not yet been fully detailed, so it remains unclear which members of the third-season team will return alongside Sato.
Confirmed Season 4 Information
- Official title: JUJUTSU KAISEN: The Culling Game Part 2
- Format: Television anime
- Director: Takeru Sato
- Animation production: MAPPA
- Original creator: Gege Akutami
- Premiere date: Not yet announced
- Episode count: Not yet announced
- International streaming: Not yet formally detailed for the new season
The Release Date Remains Unknown
The first trailer does not reveal when Season 4 will premiere.
The anime is officially in production, but no broadcast year, season or exact date has been confirmed.
Any release window circulating without an announcement from the official anime team should therefore be treated as speculation.
Future updates are expected to reveal a key visual, additional staff members, returning cast members, theme songs and the Japanese television schedule.
A longer promotional trailer will likely arrive closer to the premiere and provide a clearer look at the completed animation.
Expected Returning Voice Cast
The complete Season 4 cast list has not been reannounced, but the continuation is expected to feature many of the performers heard during the Culling Game’s first half.
- Junya Enoki as Yuji Itadori
- Yuma Uchida as Megumi Fushiguro
- Megumi Ogata as Yuta Okkotsu
- Mikako Komatsu as Maki Zenin
- Tomokazu Seki as Panda
- Kazuya Nakai as Kinji Hakari
- Yuki Sakakihara as Kirara Hoshi
- Takahiro Sakurai as Kenjaku
- Junichi Suwabe as Ryomen Sukuna
Additional cast announcements will be necessary for characters who become more prominent during the second half of the arc.
What Is JUJUTSU KAISEN About?
JUJUTSU KAISEN takes place in a world where negative human emotions create supernatural monsters known as curses.
Jujutsu sorcerers use cursed energy and inherited techniques to eliminate those creatures and protect people who cannot normally see them.
The story begins when high school student Yuji Itadori swallows one of the preserved fingers of Ryomen Sukuna.
Yuji becomes Sukuna’s vessel but unexpectedly retains control of his body.
Jujutsu authorities sentence him to death, although the execution is postponed so he can consume the remaining fingers and allow Sukuna to be destroyed permanently.
Yuji joins Tokyo Jujutsu High and trains under Satoru Gojo alongside Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki.
Their missions gradually reveal a conspiracy involving curses, conservative jujutsu leaders and Kenjaku’s centuries-long attempt to transform humanity.
The Manga Has Already Reached Its Conclusion
Gege Akutami’s original JUJUTSU KAISEN manga began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in March 2018.
The main story concluded in September 2024 after more than six years of publication.
Because the manga is complete, the anime production has access to the full storyline when deciding how to structure future seasons and films.
The Culling Game Part 2 will not complete the entire remaining story. Several major arcs and confrontations still follow the material expected to appear in Season 4.
The franchise will therefore require at least one additional major animated production after the fourth season.
Season 4 Will Be a Major Turning Point
The fourth season begins as a continuation of the colony battles, but the story will gradually transform into something much larger.
Kenjaku’s international strategy expands the conflict beyond the secret world of Japanese sorcerers.
Hakari and Kashimo demonstrate new extremes of cursed energy, while Maki continues developing abilities comparable to Toji Fushiguro.
Megumi’s effort to rescue Tsumiki becomes increasingly desperate, and Sukuna moves closer to executing the plan he has been preparing since the earliest stages of the series.
These developments change the position of nearly every major character and prepare the story for its final phase.
Why the New Director Matters
A change in director can significantly affect the pacing, visual language and emotional presentation of an anime.
In this case, Takeru Sato’s previous involvement reduces the risk of a complete creative break between seasons.
He already understands the production methods used during the Culling Game’s first half and has worked with the artists responsible for the adaptation’s recent style.
The greatest challenge will be maintaining that continuity while giving Season 4 its own identity.
The material becomes increasingly chaotic, emotional and visually complex, especially as the story moves from individual colony battles to events affecting the entire jujutsu world.
The first trailer suggests that Sato intends to preserve the speed and intensity associated with the franchise while emphasizing the increasingly unstable atmosphere of the Culling Game.
What to Expect From Future Announcements
The next update will likely provide a release window and a full key visual.
The production may also announce the complete staff, including series composition, character design, music, art direction and animation producers.
New cast members connected to the remaining colonies and Kenjaku’s international plans are also expected to be revealed.
A future trailer should provide longer footage from Hakari and Kashimo’s battle, Maki’s storyline and the events involving Tsumiki and Sukuna.
Opening and ending theme performers remain unannounced.
Final Thoughts
JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 4 has officially released its first teaser trailer and confirmed Takeru Sato as the new director.
The season will continue adapting the Culling Game, beginning after Yuta Okkotsu’s victory in the Sendai Colony.
The trailer previews the highly anticipated confrontation between Kinji Hakari and Hajime Kashimo, Kenjaku’s attempt to involve foreign governments and the return of Sukuna to the center of the story.
MAPPA remains responsible for animation production, while Sato moves from his assistant-director position on Season 3 to lead the fourth season.
A premiere date has not yet been announced, but the first footage confirms that production is progressing on one of the most consequential stages of Gege Akutami’s story.
