Two delays, a $1 billion budget, and a November release date Rockstar won’t move on.
Fifteen years in, MAPPA still knows how to land a surprise. Fans tuned in to the studio’s anniversary livestream expecting a night of highlights. They got the first teaser trailer for Jujutsu Kaisen season 4 instead.
A trailer no one expected at MAPPA’s anniversary
The celebration, marking 15 years since the studio’s 2011 founding, opened with an introduction by Kenjiro Tsuda, the voice actor behind Kento Nanami, before Junya Enoki and Megumi Ogata addressed the audience. Enoki voices Yuji Itadori and Ogata voices Yuta Okkotsu. The two brought news that a teaser for season 4, which carries the subtitle The Culling Game Arc Part 2, had arrived. No release date was attached, but the quality and length of what MAPPA showed suggest the production is further along than most fans had assumed.
What the Culling Game trailer revealed
The teaser offered a look at some of the arc’s most anticipated confrontations. Kinji Hakari and Hajime Kashimo stand out as two of the most formidable figures currently competing in the Culling Game, and their fight is expected to produce the kind of elaborate visual spectacle that Jujutsu Kaisen has established as its signature. Hakari’s technique in particular has always seemed built for unpredictable, inventive animation. The trailer also showed Kenjaku continuing to orchestrate events in the background before moving toward a direct confrontation with Yuki Tsukumo and Choso, a clash that readers of Gege Akutami’s manga have long been waiting to see animated.
JJK SEASON 4 NEW TRAILER !!!
Chief Director: Shouta Goshozono
Director: Takeru Satou
Character Design: Yousuke Yajima, Hiromi Niwa, Souta Yamazakipic.twitter.com/LZI6xV3UhU— d0nut2x 🏴 (@d0nut2x) June 19, 2026
New MAPPA leadership steps in for season 4
Season 4 brings a shift behind the camera. Takeru Sato, who served as assistant director on season 3, moves into the director role for the new installment. Shota Goshozono, who directed the previous season, steps up to chief director. Hiroshi Seko continues to oversee series composition alongside Yosuke Yajima. Hiromi Niwa handles character design and is joined by Sota Yamazaki. Yoshimasa Teuri returns to compose the score. Crunchyroll streams all three existing seasons of the series, as well as Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the feature film.
Where the franchise stands heading into season 4
Jujutsu Kaisen as a manga concluded on September 30, 2024, closing a run that began in March 2018 and spanned six and a half years across 30 volumes. Volumes 29 and 30 arrived together on December 25, 2024. VIZ Media holds the English license. A spinoff titled Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in September 2025 and finished in May 2026 after three volumes.
MAPPA used the event to share updates across its broader slate. Developments on the Chainsaw Man International Assassins Arc, a third season of Dorohedoro, and coverage of Attack on Titan Final Season, Oblivion Battery and Ranma 1/2 also featured throughout the event. Season 4 of Jujutsu Kaisen had already been confirmed after the first Culling Game arc concluded, and Wednesday’s teaser was the clearest signal yet that an official release window announcement is coming.