Yuji Itadori has officially entered the Culling Game in Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episode 7. Titled “Tokyo Colony No. 1,” the episode follows the aftermath of Yuji’s battle of wills against Kinji Hakari, who agrees to help our hero’s allies during the game. Hakari’s cooperation is crucial because of his gambling-based cursed technique, Private Pure Love Train, which can potentially go head-to-head with the strongest sorcerers who are a part of the ongoing death match.
While the dangers of Culling Game have loomed over season 3 for quite some time, episode 7 finally brings us inside the arena. But before any cursed techniques get unleashed, Kenjaku reveals an uneasy truth about Yuji’s parentage in the episode’s opening.
[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for season 3 episode 7 of Jujutsu Kaisen]
The episode opens with a character that’s easy to forget: Setsuko Sasaki, who was a part of the Occult Research Club along with Yuji and Takeshi Iguchi at the very beginning of the series. Kenjaku awakens Setsuko in the middle of the night, explaining that she can either wake up inside the Culling Game’s barrier or leave freely. This exchange takes place in a realm between dream and reality, but Setsuko understands that she must take Kenjaku’s hand to wake up outside the barrier. While they walk, Kenjaku thanks Setsuko for being friends with his “son,” who is revealed to be none other than Yuji.
This isn’t exactly a bombshell reveal, since the season premiere included a brief flashback showing Kaori Itadori, Yuji’s mother, with a familiar-looking scar across her forehead. While Gege Akutami’s acclaimed manga delves deeper into the nuances of Yuji’s lineage, the anime has yet to explore how it all fits into Kenjaku’s grand plan for jujutsu society. The flashback already made it clear that Kenjaku used his notorious Brain Transplant technique on Kaori. With this technique, Kenjaku can transplant his brain into any host (even if they’re dead), and use the body like a puppet to achieve his goals. While it’s clear that Kenjaku used Kaori’s body to conceive and then give birth to Yuji, it’s interesting that he claims parentage with a sense of affection.
Considering Kenjaku’s irreverence towards the sanctity of life, this urge to confide in a non-sorcerer (and thank her, no less) feels ominous. While Kenjaku does have a vested interest in Yuji’s existence due to his status as Sukuna’s vessel, one might imagine the attachment is purely scientific, like that of a mad genius who takes pride in a successful experiment. The violation of Kaori’s body (and autonomy) adds an unsettling layer to it all.
Yuji has bigger priorities at the moment, however. After discussing strategy with Hakari, Megumi, Panda, and Kirara, he heads to Tokyo Colony No. 1, where the newly-awakened jujutsu sorcerer, Hiromi Higuruma, awaits. Apart from the 400-year-old Hajime Kashimo, Higuruma is the only other participant with 100 points. They plan to negotiate with him to create a new rule in the Culling Game that can help save Megumi’s sister, Tsumiki, and potentially stop the game.
Despite entering Tokyo Colony No. 1 together, Yuji and Megumi get transported to separate places within the zone. Yuji quickly incapacitates a sorcerer named Hanyu with hair that transforms into a jet plane. This leads to a kinetic aerial fight between Yuji and Hanyu’s partner, Haba, who has the Helicopter Hair technique. This fight is short but sweet, allowing MAPPA to flex its fluid animation, where vast spaces are put to great use to convey high stakes and dramatic scale. Haba’s haphazard, instinct-first approach works to his disadvantage, as he’s unable to anticipate Yuji’s strategic punch to his head, which is the source of his powers. After Haba is defeated, Ren Amai appears, claiming to have been Hanyu and Haba’s “gofer,” and offers to help Yuji find Higuruma.
Elsewhere, Megumi meets a sorcerer named Remi, who claims to know how to find Higuruma. The episode ends cutting back and forth between Ren and Remi as they finally reveal where Higuruma is hiding, but they say different locations: Ikebukuro and Shinjuku. It’s a fraught cliffhanger that raises so many questions. Who’s lying? Are they both lying and working together to manipulate Yuji and Megumi? Who’s really pulling the strings here?
MAPPA delivers yet another exciting episode that ramps up the ante for the more vicious fights to come. With ancient sorcerers thrown into the mix, Kenjaku’s death match might end up achieving more than his ultimate goal to merge humanity with Master Tengen. Jujutsu Kaisen is already starting to feel a lot more tragic.
New episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 release every Thursday on Crunchyroll.
