In Jujutsu Kaisen, the Culling Game arc immediately follows the intense Shibuya Incident arc. Here, we explain what the Culling Game is in Jujutsu Kaisen, which is only getting more intricate with each chapter.
The Culling Game is sort of a battle royale that often feels like a purge between sorcerers and non-sorcerers.
These sorcerers and non-sorcerers are called players in the game, and the players gain points by killing each other.
Before we get more into the nitty-gritty of the Culling Game, let’s first understand the origin of this unique and mind-boggling game.
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How Did the Culling Game Start?
After the Shibuya incident, a curse is placed over Japan to initiate the evolution of humankind.
Kenjaku, who is termed as the main architect of the Culling Game, awakens a cursed technique and remotely casts Idle Transfiguration to activate two types of non-Jujutsu sorcerers he marked.
The first kind includes people who have ingested cursed objects, such as Yuji Itadori. And the second kind is people with cursed techniques whose brains were that of non-sorcerers like Junpei Yoshino.
Apart from activating the curse, Kenjaku also breaks the seal on all the cursed objects that have been ingested by a vessel.
Kenjaku has already marked the participants who are chosen to participate in the Culling Game.
It is to be noted that Kenjaku initiating the game is an unprecedented act of Jujutsu terrorism.
Kenjaku is confident that the Culling Game will result in the advent of the Golden Age of Cursed Techniques.
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What Is the Culling Game?
When Megumi Fushiguro learns that his sister is forced to be a part of the Culling Game, he asks Itadori for help.
Fushiguro forms a team of allies (Itadori, Fushiguro, Yuta, Maki, Choso, and Yuki) and contacts Master Tengen to learn more about the game.
They eventually meet up with Master Tengen who tells them that Kenjaku’s aim is to execute the forced evolution of all humans throughout Japan.
However, he lacks the amount of cursed energy to implement his plan. Kenjaku then chooses the merger of humankind and Master Tengen to kickstart the evolution.
If Kenjaku succeeds, it would create creatures that are far more powerful than the Jujutsu sorcerers.
Master Tengen goes on to explain the Culling Game. He reveals that the Culling Game uses the cursed energy of the players and the barriers where the battles take place for a ritual to prepare the humans for their union with Master Tengen.
In order to fulfill the ritual, Kenjaku has taken a few binding vows.
One of the vows is that he is not the game master, and this seems like a masterstroke because if someone kills Kenjaku, the game will continue until all the players perish or refuse to participate.
There are 10 barrier colonies spread across Japan and they are all connected to each other.
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What Is Megumi Fushiguro and His Team’s Plan of Action?
Fushiguro and the rest want to protect Master Tengen from getting killed by Kenjaku.
The team wants to open the back of the Prison Realm using Hana Kurusu’s cursed technique which has the ability to extinguish any cursed technique.
Fushiguro believes that if they can unseal Satoru Gojo from the Prison Realm, all the mess of the Culling Game can be stopped for good.
The next step is to convince Hakari and Kirara to cooperate during the Culling Game. The team also has to collect cursed tools stored in the Zenin Clan’s warehouse.
What Are the Rules of the Culling Game?
In the beginning, there were eight original rules in the Culling Game:
- As soon as a player has awakened their cursed technique, they have no choice but to declare their participation in the Culling Game at a colony of their choice within 19 days. This includes players awakened by Kenjaku at midnight on October 31. And Tsumiki Fushiguro (Megumi's sister) will have until November 19 to announce her participation.
- Any player who breaks the first rule will be subject to cursed technique removal. If the cursed technique is removed, it would result in the death of the player. However, these two rules won’t really work on non-Jujutsu sorcerers.
- Non-players who enter a colony automatically become players and will be considered to have declared participation in the game. However, the civilians who are trapped inside a barrier at the beginning of the game will be given a chance to exit safely.
- Players score points in the Culling Game by killing other players.
- The game master ascertains points and they are indicative of the value of a participant’s life. The sorcerers are worth five points while the non-sorcerers are only worth one point each.
- Excluding the value of a player’s own life, participants can use 100 points in exchange for adding one new rule to the Culling Game.
- Taking the previous rule into consideration, the game master needs to accept any new rule with the exception that it does not have a long-lasting effect on the game.
- If a participant’s score remains the same for 19 days, that player will get his cursed technique removed.
As the Culling Game progresses, there are two new rules added by the players:
- After the addition of this rule, the player can view the information of other players such as their name, points, number of rules added, and current colony. This rule was proposed by Hajime Kashimo.
- Players can now transfer their points to another player. This rule was added by Hiromi Higuruma.
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Who Are the Players in the Culling Game?
Tokyo No. 1 Colony
Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Hiromi Higuruma, Fumihiko Takaba, Rin Amai, Hanyu, Haba, Hana Kurusu, Reggie Star, Remi, Iori Hazenoki, and Chizuru Hari.
Tokyo No. 2 Colony
Charles Bernard, Hajime Kashimo, Kinji Hakari, Momo Nishimiya, and Panda.
Sendai Colony
Yuta Okkotsu, Kasumi Miwa, Dhruv Lakdawalla, Takako Uro, Ryu Ishigori, and Kurourushi.
Sakurajima Colony
Maki Zenin, Noritoshi Kamo, Cursed Naoya, Rokujushi Miyo, and Hagane Daido.
Find out what happens next in the Culling Game, Jujutsu Kaisen's most complex story arc yet!