After 8 Years, Anime Finally Has a New Greatest Battle Tournament

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This new anime features a battle tournament unlike any other, and it’s going to be tough to beat. Anime is already popular for its exciting action, and this tournament takes it to the next level. While different types of action work well – like one-on-one fights or team battles – the unpredictable energy of a battle royale is hard to top. Putting a lot of important characters in a confined, high-stakes situation guarantees unexpected and thrilling events.

I’ve noticed that a lot of the big action-packed tournaments in anime tend to come from shonen series – you know, the ones where conflict is central to the story. A really memorable one was the Tournament of Power from Dragon Ball Super. It was huge, with entire universes on the line and fighters battling for their very existence when it aired back in 2017. We’ve seen a few since then, but the Culling Game in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 feels like the biggest and most impressive tournament arc to come out in a while.

Jujutsu Kaisen’s Culling Game Is the Biggest Battle Tournament Since Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power

I’ve noticed a pattern in anime battle tournaments – until Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Culling Game, most of them felt reasonably fair. Think about the Chunin Exams in Naruto or the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super; they all had rules, supervisors like teachers, and clear reasons for everyone to participate. Even when the consequences were serious, there was a reward at the end that made it feel balanced. But the Culling Game is different. It really stands out as one of the most brutally unfair death games I’ve seen in anime.

Honestly, this Culling Game is terrifying! It’s set up so there’s basically no way to stop it, it just keeps going and going. What makes it even worse is that sorcerers are forced to fight, even if they don’t want to! These huge barriers just popped up all over Japan, and anyone already inside is automatically thrown into the game. Civilians get one chance to escape, but it’s a really cruel trick – it feels like a dream, and if they pick the wrong option, they’re instantly put into a fight against incredibly strong sorcerers… and they don’t stand a chance. They’re just used as cannon fodder, basically.

The Culling Game is particularly ruthless because players must earn points by killing others every 19 days – survival literally depends on eliminating opponents, leaving them with no ethical choice. Things get even worse with the addition of powerful, ancient sorcerers who only want to fight, creating a huge disadvantage for regular players. This forces everyone into difficult moral situations, where weaker characters have to resort to trickery or team up to have a chance. Even the heroes are faced with tough ethical dilemmas, making this tournament stand out as one of the few action-packed battles that genuinely tests the morality of those involved.

Jujutsu Kaisen’s Culling Game’s Darkest Elements Make It Anime’s Best New Battle Tournament

The Tournament of Power arc in Dragon Ball Super featured high stakes, but it was essentially a standard battle tournament. While the characters fought to save their universe, this only motivated them to push their limits without forcing them to make difficult moral choices. Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Culling Game, however, is intentionally built around challenging the heroes’ ethics. The core goal of earning points creates a real dilemma. A key feature of the game is the ability to add new rules by spending 100 points, and because the heroes want to create rules to end the game, they’re driven to collect those points at any cost.

Players in the Culling Game essentially have two options: convince someone with a full score to give them a point, or earn the points themselves. Megumi is so determined to protect his sister that he’s even willing to kill to get them. What makes this game especially intense is that the series isn’t afraid to kill off important characters – meaning no one is truly safe, except for Yuji. Fans should be prepared for any character they care about to face a sudden, tragic end. All of this makes Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Culling Game one of the best anime battle tournaments in years, comparable to Dragon Ball Super‘s Tournament of Power from 2017, and it has the potential to stay that way for a long time.

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2026-02-19 16:13