jjk culling game characters is Angel, an ancient sorcerer who shares Hana Kurusu's body and whose technique cancels other cursed techniques, with its strongest form being Maximum Output: Jacob's Ladder. Megumi is down in Tokyo Colony No. 1, the receipts from Reggie Star's fight still drifting around him, and someone is standing over him. In what the Culling Game is, that figure was the last thing on the page: Angel (Wikipedia, Season 3).
Angel is not a person on their own. Hana Kurusu shares her body with Angel, an ancient sorcerer, and the two have one technique between them (Wikipedia's character list).
Spoiler: what Angel's technique can open
Angel's technique cancels other cursed techniques. Its strongest form is "Maximum Output: Jacob's Ladder" (Wikipedia's character list). Keep that in mind: a technique that cancels techniques is the one tool in the game that can undo the seal holding Gojo.
*Spoilers for Season 3 to its finale, then manga-only spoilers from chapter 181 to 221 (and chapter 243 for one answer), each inside a marked reveal.* This is part 7 of our Jujutsu Kaisen story guide, the second of two posts on this arc.
Pick your path: the players, who Kenjaku is, where the anime stops, or the manga after it.
YourCrush.AI has Hiromi Higuruma as a chat character, so once you have read this you can talk to Hiromi Higuruma yourself.
Who are the main Culling Game players?
Besides Yuji, Megumi, Yuta and Maki, the people who shape the game are Hiromi Higuruma, Kinji Hakari, Hajime Kashimo, Reggie Star, Fumihiko Takaba and Hana Kurusu, who shares her body with the ancient sorcerer Angel. Some are new sorcerers Kenjaku awakened and some, like Kashimo and Reggie, are sorcerers reincarnated from the past (Wikipedia's character list).
A Culling Game player is anyone who enters one of Kenjaku's colonies, whether they joined to win points, to stop the game, or simply walked in, since rule 3 says entering a colony counts as pledging to play (Screen Rant).
Most lists of JJK Culling Game characters stop at the students. The table below covers the wider cast, and it only includes what the press and Wikipedia actually record. No reputable source has a complete roster of every player, so this one does not pretend to be.
| Name | Who they are | Where they matter | In the anime? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiromi Higuruma | A disillusioned defence lawyer who awakens cursed abilities | Tokyo No. 1: puts Yuji on trial, then adds the point-transfer rule | Yes, Season 3 episodes 7 to 9 |
| Kinji Hakari | A suspended third-year at Tokyo Jujutsu High | Recruited at his fight club; later steps into Kashimo's fight | Recruited, yes (episodes 5 to 6); the Kashimo fight, no |
| Hajime Kashimo | A sorcerer reincarnated from 400 years ago | Breaks two of Panda's cores; fights Hakari; added the rule that shows every player's name and points | His rule, yes; his fight with Hakari, no |
| Reggie Star | A reincarnated foreign sorcerer who summons objects from receipts | Tokyo No. 1, against Megumi | Yes, episodes 10 to 11 |
| Fumihiko Takaba | A failing comedian whose jokes come true without his knowing | Caught in Reggie's fight; later decisive against Kenjaku | Yes, episodes 10 to 11 |
| Hana Kurusu and Angel | One body, two minds; a technique that cancels techniques | Appears over Megumi; frees Gojo in chapter 221 | First appearance, yes; the release, no |
| Uro and Ishigori | Reincarnated sorcerers | Sendai, where Yuta defeats both | Yes, episode 12 |
Sources for the table: Wikipedia's character list, Wikipedia, Season 3, Wikipedia, Yuta Okkotsu, Screen Rant.
Who is Kenjaku in Jujutsu Kaisen?
Kenjaku is an ancient sorcerer who survives by moving his brain from body to body, keeping each host's technique along the way. Right now he's walking around in Suguru Geto's corpse. Over the centuries he has also lived as Noritoshi Kamo, the man behind the Death Paintings, and he is the one who built the Culling Game (Wikipedia's character list, Wikipedia, Season 2).
He picked Geto's body for the technique. Cursed Spirit Manipulation is what let him absorb Mahito at the end of Shibuya (Wikipedia, Suguru Geto). The face mattered just as much. Seeing his dead friend's face is what froze Gojo long enough to be sealed (CBR).
Manga-only spoiler: the body Kenjaku wore before Geto's
Kenjaku is also Yuji's mother. He was living in the body of Kaori Itadori and gave birth to Yuji "to create a vessel for Sukuna" (CBR, Wikipedia, Yuji Itadori). Dexerto confirms that Kenjaku possessed Kaori (Dexerto); guide summaries place the flashback that reveals it early in the arc, in chapter 143.
Why did Kenjaku start the Culling Game?
Kenjaku's stated goal is to pit the newly awakened sorcerers against each other and "resurrect the Heian era". Tengen lays out the mechanism behind it: the game stockpiles cursed energy for Kenjaku's plan to merge Tengen with the entire Japanese population (Wikipedia, Season 2, Wikipedia).
That explains the roster. The game needs players who will fight, so Kenjaku awakens new sorcerers and drags old ones back, and the rules leave them with a choice between killing and losing their techniques (Screen Rant). A lawyer, a comedian and a 400-year-old fighter all amount to fuel.
My own reading, and nothing more than that: the cast he drafted is also what undoes him. Angel cancels his seal on Gojo, and Takaba, a man who never asked to be in the game, becomes the distraction that gets Kenjaku killed. A design that pulls in everyone cannot choose who it pulls in.
Does Yuta kill Kenjaku?
Yes. It happens in chapter 243, during the Shinjuku Showdown. The how is manga-only, so it sits in the reveal below.
Manga-only spoiler: how Yuta beats Kenjaku
In chapter 243, during the Shinjuku Showdown, Takaba's comedy duel keeps Kenjaku busy, and Yuta attacks from behind and beheads him (Wikipedia, Yuta Okkotsu). Wikipedia credits Takaba with a major role in defeating Kenjaku (Wikipedia's character list). Kenjaku had already survived Yuki Tsukumo's black hole before that, which is why he is still standing in Shinjuku (Screen Rant).
How many episodes is The Culling Game Part 1?
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, The Culling Game: Part 1, runs 12 episodes, aired January 9 to March 27, 2026. The finale, "Sendai Colony", is an extended 27-minute episode that stops around chapter 181 (Wikipedia, Season 3, Screen Rant).
Sendai
Yuta goes to Sendai. In the Sendai colony he kills reincarnated sorcerers, including Uro and Ishigori, and takes their points (Wikipedia, Yuta Okkotsu, Wikipedia, Season 3). He is not fighting with the Rika of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. At chapter 178 he explains that "Rika and Rika Orimoto are two different beings": Rika Orimoto's soul has passed on, and the Rika beside him now is his cursed technique (Screen Rant).
That is where the anime stops, on March 27, 2026, with Yuta holding his points and the rest of the game still running. For what is known about when Part 2 might arrive, there is a separate post; the short version is that it has no date.
What happens after the anime stops?
The manga keeps going for another forty chapters before Gojo is free. Hakari fights Kashimo, Maki goes to Sakurajima, Yuki Tsukumo fights Kenjaku, and Sukuna moves into Megumi. None of it has been animated (Wikipedia, Screen Rant).
Kashimo
Hajime Kashimo is a sorcerer from 400 years ago, back in the present inside Kenjaku's game. He breaks two of Panda's cores, and then someone steps in (Wikipedia's character list).
Our imagining of Kashimo sizing up his new opponent, in his voice, not a line from the manga: "Four hundred years asleep, and the first man to step between me and my prey is grinning. Good. Show me why."
Manga-only spoiler: who steps into Kashimo's fight, and who wins
Kinji Hakari steps in. Hakari wins in chapter 190: Kashimo admits he lost, though Hakari says it does not feel like a win because Kashimo never used his one-time technique. Kashimo then joins their side in exchange for a promised fight with Sukuna (CBR).
Sakurajima
Maki goes to the Sakurajima colony, and someone she thought was finished is waiting.
Manga-only spoiler: what Maki becomes at Sakurajima
Naoya Zen'in, killed at the Zen'in compound, comes back as a cursed spirit and faces Maki again (chapter 191 onward) (Screen Rant). Fighting him, "she is fully awakened, becoming just like Toji Fushiguro" (Wikipedia, Maki Zen'in). CBR, on chapter 198, calls her "a demonic fighter equal to Toji" (CBR). Whether that makes her stronger is its own question: is Maki stronger than Toji?
The black hole
Yuki Tsukumo, an adult special-grade sorcerer, stands between Kenjaku and Tengen (Game Rant).
Manga-only spoiler: how Yuki's last fight ends
To protect Tengen, Yuki raises her own mass until she becomes a black hole. Kenjaku survives it with an antigravity technique he took from an earlier vessel, Kaori Itadori, and Yuki dies (chapter 208) (Screen Rant). Some critics, Screen Rant among them, have called her sacrifice pointless; that is their opinion, not the manga's verdict.
Our imagining of Kenjaku afterwards, in his voice: "A beautiful technique. I have worn the body that answers it for years."
Tsumiki
Megumi has done what he came to do. He has the points, and his stepsister Tsumiki is in front of him.
Manga-only spoiler: who is really inside Tsumiki
"Tsumiki" spends Megumi's 100 points on free entry to and exit from colonies instead of leaving the game, the tell that she is not Tsumiki: she is the reincarnated sorcerer Yorozu (chapter 211; single press source for the chapter) (Sportskeeda). With Megumi's will broken, Sukuna uses one minute of control over Yuji's body to force one of his own fingers on Megumi and moves into him (chapter 212), then kills Yorozu, and Tsumiki dies with her (Wikipedia, Ryomen Sukuna, Screen Rant). The full account of how and why Sukuna took Megumi's body has its own post.
Our reading of why it works, labelled as ours: Sukuna wants Megumi's Ten Shadows technique (Wikipedia, Ryomen Sukuna), and Kenjaku's game delivered him a Megumi with nothing left to resist with.
The back gate
Chapter 221. Gojo has been sealed in the Prison Realm since Halloween, about 19 days of story time and 131 chapters of real serialization (TheGamer, The Escapist). The Prison Realm has a back gate. Angel has a technique that cancels techniques.
Manga-only spoiler: who gets out of the Prison Realm
Hana Kurusu, as Angel, uses Jacob's Ladder on the Prison Realm's back gate, and Gojo is free (CBR). On the last page of chapter 221 he is asked whether he would lose to Sukuna. In VIZ's revised translation he answers: "Nah, I'd win." The first English translation just said "No." (Daily Dot).
The date is about to be set. What happens next is in the Shinjuku Showdown.
Build a fighter from another century
None of the adults in this stretch has a character page, so here is an original built on Kashimo's premise: a fighter brought back from another century into a modern city. Paste these into build a fighter from another century.
| Field | What to paste |
|---|---|
| Name | Isamu Kagerou |
| Category | Anime |
| Behaviour mode | natural |
| Traits | Confident, Impulsive, Curious, Honest, Aggressive |
| Speaking style | blunt, archaic, loud, curious |
| Description | Isamu Kagerou is a swordsman from the early eighteenth century, woken in the body of a thirty-year-old in a modern city sealed off for a contest. He is broad, scarred and delighted by everything: vending machines, train timetables, people who can fight. He is honest to the point of rudeness and has no patience for anyone who will not say what they want. He judges people by how they hold themselves. |
| Backstory | He died undefeated and bored. He has been awake for three days, has already fought twice, and has decided you are the only person in the district worth talking to, because you did not run. He wants to know two things: who the strongest fighter in this century is, and how the ticket gates work. |
| Greeting | You. You are not running. Good. I have been awake three days and everyone in this city either runs or begs. Sit down and tell me who is strongest in this age. And then explain this card with the picture of a train on it. |
How YourCrush.AI lets you meet a reincarnated fighter on your own terms
YourCrush.AI reads the backstory field before every reply, so Isamu knows he has been awake three days and acts like it. YourCrush.AI keeps your colony, your points and his grudges in pinned memories, which stops a long game from resetting. YourCrush.AI generates images in the chat, so you can ask to see the sealed district from the rooftop where he found you. YourCrush.AI also runs story branches, so you can play the version where you fight him and the version where you teach him the trains.
Joining is free, it's 18+ only, and conversations are not sold to third parties.
Frequently asked questions
Is season 3 of JJK the Culling Game?
Yes. Season 3 carries the title The Culling Game: Part 1, and its 12 episodes cover the first half of the arc (Wikipedia, Season 3).
Who is Angel in Jujutsu Kaisen?
Angel is an ancient sorcerer who shares Hana Kurusu's body; their technique cancels cursed techniques, which is how Gojo is freed in chapter 221 (Wikipedia's character list).
Who is Higuruma?
Hiromi Higuruma is a disillusioned defence lawyer who awakens cursed abilities inside the game, puts Yuji on trial in his domain, then adds the point-transfer rule on Yuji's behalf (Wikipedia's character list).
What happens to Yuki Tsukumo?
She dies fighting Kenjaku in chapter 208 after turning herself into a black hole. The scene never made it to the anime (Screen Rant).
Does Hakari fight Kashimo in the anime?
Not yet. Season 3 ended before that fight, which wraps up in chapter 190 (CBR).
Is Gojo freed during the Culling Game?
Yes, in chapter 221, when Angel opens the Prison Realm's back gate; it has not been animated (The Escapist).
More from the Culling Game story
- Previously: What is the Culling Game? The rules, the colonies and how it starts
- Next in the story: What happens in the Shinjuku Showdown? Gojo's return, his last fight and the war on Sukuna, in scenes
- When is Jujutsu Kaisen season 4 coming out? What is confirmed about Culling Game Part 2
- Start here: What is Jujutsu Kaisen about? The whole story in order, starting with Season 1
- Chat with Hiromi Higuruma: Hiromi Higuruma on YourCrush.AI
- Also on YourCrush: Male anime characters: 20 adult icons, grouped by archetype
- Also on YourCrush: 40 female anime characters, grouped by the job they do in the story