The Culling Game: Everything To Know About Jujutsu Kaisen’s Current Arc

The Culling Game is the current arc of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series, which is written and illustrated by Gege Akuntani. The serialization of the manga began on March 15, 2015, and is still ongoing with 16 volumes and more than 170 chapters. The series also has a 24 episode anime adaptation produced by Mappa studios that aired from Oct 2020 to March 2021. There is an upcoming prequel movie as well that will come out on December 24.

The Culling Game was introduced in the Post-Shibuya arc & now it has finally begun the “Tokyo no.1 colony Arc.” Only a few chapters have come out so far, and the excitement has already risen on a new whole level. So, what is the Culling Game, and what are its rules? Keep on reading to know everything needed about the latest arc of the Jujutsu Kaisen series.

What Is The Culling Game?

The Culling Game is simply another scheme of Kenjaku to achieve his goals after sealing Gojo Satoru. The game is simple; players would gather in the colony or zone and then kill each other to gain points like a battle royal. But Megumi already knows how sinister this game is. Every sorcerer including the people who have just awakened their cursed powers will have to join the game, or else they’ll lose their power along with their life.

There are ten colonies within a radius of 5-6 kilometers across Japan, where the game will take place. Barriers will surround these colonies and connect them. The colonies at various places form a line through the entirety of Japan, except for Hokkaido.

Each player is assisted by Kogane, which is a bug-like interface for the Culling Game. It has information on every player, such as their points and location. Anyone who enters these zones will be considered a participant after the game begins. The colony that was shown in Chapter 160 is the very colony where Itadori used to live with his grandfather, Sendai.

All the civilians were given a chance to get out of the colonies before the game began. Kenjaku appeared in a space between dreams and reality of civilians like Sasaki to tell them to flee from the zone. In every colony, there is a starting point where a player is transported after entering and beginning of the game.

The factions of the game are divided into two by the points. The Shamans have 5 points and normal people have 1 point on their heads. There is a Game master as well, who looks over the game and makes sure it goes smoothly and nobody breaks any rule. The culling game will end when all the players are dead, or all the players refuse participation and die.

Rules Of The Culling Game

After awakening a cursed technique, players must declare their participation in The Culling Game at a barrier of their choice within 19 days.(Simply put- whoever has now cursed power has to participate in the game with the zone of their choice within 19 days.)
Any player who breaks the previous rule shall be subject to cursed technique removal. (Those who don’t participate in the Culling game after getting powers will have their power taken away.)
Non-players who enter the colony become players upon their entrance and shall be considered to have declared participation in the culling game. (Those who didn’t participate (the civilians) in the game but were in the zone of the game after the beginning, they would also be considered as players.)
Players score points by ending the lives of other players. (Points can only be scored after killing other players.)
Points are determined by the game master and indicate the value of a player’s life. As a general rule, sorcerers are worth 5 points, and non-sorcerers are worth 1 point. (Killing Shamans will get a player 5 points and killing a civilian will give them 1 point.)
Excluding the point value of a player’s own life, players can expend 100 points to negotiate with the game master to add one new rule to the culling game. (The player who had scored 100 points can add a new rule if the game master approves, but he can’t get the point on his head canceled, i.e., he won’t be able to become a 0 point player)
By the previous rule, the game master must accept any proposed new rule, unless it has a marked and long-lasting effect on the culling game. (The Game master will accept any rule, but following previous rule conditions the new rule shouldn’t have any long-lasting effect.)

If a player’s score remains the same for 19 days, that player shall be subject to cursed technique removal. (Those who didn’t score anything till the end of the game shall have their power taken away.)
Players shall have access to information on other players, such as name, points, the number of rules added, and the current colony. (Simply put no player can hide and will have their location and everything exposed by any player.)
Any newly added rules (which was added by Hajime Kashimo in search of a worthy opponent).

The process of removing anyone’s cursed techniques will cost the sorcerer his life. Hence, if anyone breaks any rule, then he will certainly die during the cursed technique removal process.

Goal Behind The Culling Game?

What is the motive behind the Culling game? Geto hinted at the idea of awakened sorcerers fighting each other in Chapter 136 of the manga. He also explained his plans to Yuki Tsukumo. Kenjaku had already planned this game a long time ago along with the plan of sealing Gojo.

Kenjaku’s purpose behind the game can be his obsession. He wants to see humans push their limits and witness the evolution in them. The possible outcome of the game is the survival of the fittest for him. He wants to see the strongest sorcerer.

Kenjaku’s aim to evolve humans greatly is dependent on merging them with Tengen. The merging with the star plasma vessel was stopped as Toji killed the vessel. Hence, Tengen ascended to a higher state which created a possibility of creating something stronger. Tengen stated that Kenjaku lacks the cursed energy to evolve the whole of humanity using Idle Transfiguration and Tengen’s barrier, which ultimately gives birth to the plan of the Culling Game.

So is Kenjaku looking for a new Curse that is stronger than anyone by the end of the game?

Or he just wants to trigger chaos which ultimately leads to human evolution? The answer to this question is yet to be revealed by Gege Akutami in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series. But one thing is certain that fans will soon witness some great action with several twists and turns in the manga series.