One of the great joys that anime fans have experienced in 2026 is the return of Jujutsu Kaisen. The beloved series returned for its third season, bringing fan-favourites like Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro back to the screen as they competed in the Culling Game in the hopes of breaking Satoru Gojo free from his prison. And yes, it's been as epic, ambitious, and compelling as it sounds.
This season has been all about the Culling Game, as our sorcerers had to compete in oder to gain the necessary number of points - and, as fans of the manga will expect, the fights aren't pretty. From domain expansions to four-way tournaments, viewers have seen it all these past few months. And yes, it is only the beginning for JJK's current story. The only issue is that it's going to be some time until we see the next chapters.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 will now go on a lengthy hiatus
If you're eagerly awaiting Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episode 13 on Crunchyroll this coming Thursday, we have some bad news for fans. The third season has officially completed its first cour. That unfortunately means that there is going to be a lengthy wait for the second half of the season.
This isn't a delay per se, just a requirement of the format. See, as anime fans are well aware, the seasons are often split into two acts known as cours. The seasons are also pretty long, so this allows the creative teams to plan the storyline in two parts, all while allowing the show to take a hiatus in the middle of its run. It's very much like the notion of midseason finales in US broadcast TV shows; a show will run on US TV all year around (September to May in most cases) but it will still take a winter hiatus for the holidays before it returns in either January or early Spring.
With Jujutsu Kaisen, however, the wait for new episodes will be a lot longer than just a few weeks. Standard anime cour breaks can last between 3-4 months, as it generally allows the studio enough time to put the finishing touches on the remaining episodes of the season. With that in mind, Jujutsu Kaisen could theoretically return in summer 2026, with July perhaps being the most likely release window of that timeframe. However, there might be another issue to account for.
According to a new report, the show's home broadcast network in Japan, the MBS/TBS nationwide network, may have booked all available anime slots through the remainder of the year for other anime shows. If that proves to be the case, fans are speculating that we could be looking at a January 2027 return instead. Obviously that would be somewhat unheard of for a midseason break, so it's understandable that fans are hoping that won't be the case for the fan-favorite TV show.
The second half of the season will indeed be known as The Culling Game, Part 2 and it will escalate events much further. We will get to see more of Yuta Okkotsu as he deals with the fallout of his battles in the Sendai Colony while Panda and Kinji Hikari will search for a legendary sorcerer from the past who is longing for a battle with Sukuna - who we all know has a "special" connection to Yuji himself. The stakes only get higher for JJK from here.
So, while it's clear that there are more adventures ahead for Itadori, Fushiguro, and Gojo - and the rest of our beloved Jujutsu sorcerers - it might be a lengthy wait for The Culling Game, Part 2.