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Episode Notes
TV Anime JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 4: The Culling Game Part 2 , Now in Production!JUJUTSU KAISEN”, the blockbuster manga created by Gege Akutami, depicts the battle between “curses” born from negative human emotions and “jujutsu sorcerers” who exorcise them through jujutsu.The series began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) in March 2018 and concluded in September 2024, bringing its six and a half year run to an end.
The manga has surpassed an astounding 150 million copies in cumulative worldwide circulation (including digital editions).In September 2025, a near future spin off of JUJUTSU KAISEN titled “JUJUTSU KAISEN ≡ (Modulo)”, written by Gege Akutami and illustrated by Yuji Iwasaki, ran as a short term series in Weekly Shonen Jump.The TV anime adaptation premiered on the MBS/TBS network in 2020. In 2023, Season 2, “Hidden Inventory / Premature Death” and “Shibuya Incident,” aired to tremendous acclaim, generating significant global impact beyond Japan.In 2025, a theatrical project was launched to revisit the world of JUJUTSU KAISEN in chronological order.
In May, “JUJUTSU KAISEN: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death , Theatrical Compilation” was released. In October, “JUJUTSU KAISEN 0”, which achieved a worldwide box office gross of 26.5 billion yen, was returned to theaters.In November, a special theatrical release combining the “Shibuya Incident” special edited version with Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 3, “The Culling Game Part 1”, premiered under the title “JUJUTSU KAISEN: Execution”, creating major excitement.Furthermore, Season 3 of the TV anime was broadcast on the MBS/TBS network in January 2026, and the story moves into Season 4, “The Culling Game Part 2”. The intense saga surrounding curses begins to move once again. Support The Podcast!
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Reader Version
In this episode, Roos dives into one of the most anticipated battles in the Jujutsu Kaisen universe: Hakari versus Kashimo, a fight that stands out not just for its animation potential but for its thematic depth. While many fans focus on the series’ biggest names like Yuji, Megumi, or Sukuna, this matchup offers a fresh perspective by pitting two contrasting philosophies against each other. Hakari embodies chaos, luck, and gambling, relying on improbable jackpots within his domain expansion to survive and thrive. Kashimo, on the other hand, represents precision, raw power, and lethal intent, a reincarnated sorcerer from the Heian era who seeks worthy opponents to test his strength.
Hakari’s cursed technique, Idol Death Gamble, is based on pachinko, a gambling game, and when he hits a jackpot, he enters a state where his cursed energy floods his body for exactly 4 minutes and 11 seconds. During this time, he gains an automatic healing ability through a reverse cursed technique, making him nearly invincible. Roos emphasizes that Hakari’s strength lies not just in his power but in his mentality, he fights with confidence and thrives under pressure, turning potentially fatal blows into momentum. This makes him a unique and unpredictable fighter who doesn’t fit the traditional hero mold. Kashimo contrasts sharply with Hakari.
His cursed energy is electric, making every punch a dangerous shock that builds toward a lethal discharge. Unlike Hakari, Kashimo doesn’t rely on flashy techniques or luck; he is a straightforward, deadly combatant who wants to end fights quickly and decisively. His experience and focus make him a formidable opponent who quickly understands Hakari’s domain and the timing of his jackpots, turning the battle into a strategic war of timing and precision. The fight itself is a clash of styles and strategies. Kashimo aims to land a killing blow during the brief windows when Hakari’s luck runs out, while Hakari uses his gambling instincts to manipulate the battlefield and extend the fight.
Roos highlights a clever twist where Hakari drags the fight toward water, exploiting Kashimo’s electric cursed energy as a liability. This move shows that Hakari’s success isn’t just luck but also intelligence and risk management, reinforcing the idea that gambling is about understanding and leveraging odds rather than randomness. Despite the intense battle, Kashimo never appears weak. He adapts creatively and nearly kills Hakari multiple times, proving his strength and resilience. The conclusion is satisfying because Hakari wins without completely breaking Kashimo’s pride; instead, he earns his respect.
This outcome sets the stage for larger story developments involving Sukuna, Kashimo’s true target, making the fight not just a victory but a recruitment and a warning. Roos argues that this fight exemplifies what makes Jujutsu Kaisen battles compelling: the combination of unique powers, strong personalities, and outcomes that depend on more than just brute strength. The matchup between Hakari’s luck and Kashimo’s lightning is a perfect metaphor for uncertainty versus certainty, chaos versus precision.
Roos believes that once fully animated, this fight could become one of the most talked about moments in the series, showcasing the creative storytelling and dynamic character interactions that define Jujutsu Kaisen at its best.
Automatic Transcript
What's going on people, it's your boy Roos and welcome back to another episode on the podcast. The title of this video is called Hakari vs Kashimo, titled Luck Against Lightning. Okay, if you're new here, please, please, please make sure to tune in and follow the podcast. We're all about anime and manga. And yeah man, let's just get into this video. So, you see when people talk about the colouring game, they usually bring up the biggest names first, such as Utah, Yuji, Megumi, Kenjaku, Sukuna. But, from the trailer that we had watched today and I had made a video on, just previously before this one, there is a fight that feels like it was built basically just to explode online.
And that fight is Kenji Hakari vs Hajime Kashimo. Now you would have seen a small glimpse within the episode on the trailer, I said episode, I lol, within the trailer, a little segment. And honestly, this fight is not just hype because of the animation potential. It is hype because it is one of the cleanest examples of what makes Jujutsu Kaisen battles so different. This is not just two characters basically throwing stronger and stronger attacks at each other. This is a clash of philosophies, okay. Hakari is chaos, rhythm, gambling, confidence and just impossible luck. His odds to winning, to hitting the jackpot is just crazy low, but he hits it every time in his domain.
Kashimo is practically precision, violence, experience and just raw killing intent. So you can see that one fight like this is that they are betting their whole life on the next role. The other fights like he has been waiting centuries to fight someone that's just basically worth killing. And in this case it is Sukuna, but more on that detail maybe in another video. You see, Hakari is introduced as someone who does not fit neatly into the Jujutsu high system. He is suspended, rebellious and he is honestly quite kind of shady. But that is honestly just what makes him interesting. He does not carry himself like in quotations a traditional hero.
He feels more like a high stakes gambler who has already accepted the possibility of just losing everything. His cursed technique reflects that perfectly as his domain expansion titled Idol Death Gamble is just a ridiculous thing on the surface. It is based basically around Pachinko, you know the gambling where you press the button and the balls fall down. Yeah that. Romance, drama visuals, probability, jackpots and even like bonus rounds. But underneath all the flashy nonsense, it is just genuinely terrifying. Once Hakari hits a jackpot, right, he enters a state where cursed energy floods through him for 4 minutes and 11 seconds. And you can imagine within a fight how long 2 minutes is even within UFC.
So imagine 4 minutes of just back and forth going back and forth with each other. But during that window, right, his body, best part about it, has an automatic feature where it heals with reversal cursed technique. He is not actually like carefully thinking about how to do it or needing to do it. It is just something that happens due to his domain expansion and his jackpot rhythm. His body just does it. So that's honestly what makes Hakari so scary. He is not immortal forever, obviously. He still heals like a human being. He still lives life like a human being. He still ages like a human being. But his domain expansion is far from being normal.
I wouldn't even say he is like god level like Gojo's or Yuta's maybe. Or even just top tier form of cursed domain special effects. So basically, it basically turns him now into like a monster. So, oh my gosh, I'm sorry. So basically, he's not immortal forever. I almost lost track of what I was saying. During that bonus round, he fights like death simply does not apply to him. And it really just doesn't. He can't die within that 4 minutes and 11 seconds. And he's basically infinite in those type of minutes and seconds. So then now, let's move on to Kashimo. You've got this so called lightning guy. But calling him that almost undersells him. Hajime Kashimo. This guy is a reincarnated sorcerer from the past.
Which means a Heian era where Jujutsu sorcerers were just all over the gaff. They were all over the place and they were just erratic. He's not in the calling game just to basically survive. He's there because he wants to smoke with the strongest. His entire personality is built around the search for worthy opponents. Kashimo's cursed energy has the properties of electricity. Meaning even his basic attacks are dangerous. Every punch carries a shock. Every exchange builds towards lethal discharge. He does not need a flashy domain to feel dangerous. He turns hand to hand combat into a countdown until your body just actually gets fried. So that is why this matchup works so well.
Hakari is hard to kill because of luck and regeneration. Kashimo is dangerous because he specializes in killing fast and clean. Hakari wants to keep the gamble going. Kashimo wants to end the game before the next jackpot saves him. The first thing that stands out about the first fight is how quickly Kashimo understands the rules. A lot of characters in Jujutsu Kaisen lose because they panic when faced with a strange technique. Kashimo doesn't. He studies Hakari's jackpot, realizes the time limit and understands that Hakari is most vulnerable in the gaps between bonus rounds. That instantly turns the battle into a timing war. Kashimo does not just need to overpower Hakari.
He needs to land the killing blow at the exact moment Hakari's luck runs out. But Hakari's biggest strength, in saying so, is not just the jackpot. It is his mentality. He fights like someone who becomes stronger when the situation gets worse. Every time Kashimo lands something that should be fatal, Hakari comes back smiling, swinging and talking like the whole thing is just pure entertainment. That is what makes him so frustrating to fight. Kashimo is doing real damage. He is not being outclassed. In a normal fight, Kashimo's attacks would end most opponents. But Hakari keeps turning lethal movements into momentum. Visually, this is why the trailer frames probably hit so hard when we watched it.
You have the perfect contrast, Kashimo's sharp electric energy against Hakari's recklessness, almost dance like confidence. Kashimo looks like a storm given human form. Hakari looks like someone who is partying inside a death match. One character is actually just all focus and the other is just all fever. The fight reaches another level when the environment becomes part of this strategy. Hakari eventually uses the battlefield itself, dragging the fight towards water. This is all spoilers I'm going off of. Because Kashimo's electricity becomes a liability there. That is a brilliant twist because it shows Hakari is not just lucky, he is smart.
His entire aesthetic is gambling, but gambling is not random when you understand the odds. It is just leverage. Hakari knows when to take risks, when to stall, when to push and when to change the board completely. Kashimo, although very strong and quite smart, however, refuses to feel like a loser. Even when the situation turns against him, he keeps adapting. He loses the properties of his cursed energy in creative ways and nearly, as I say nearly, kills Hakari more than once. So that is what makes the conclusion satisfying. Hakari wins, but Kashimo does not look weak. In fact, the fight makes both of them look stronger. I can't lie.
Hakari proves he can survive against one of the deadliest coloring game players. Kashimo proves that even against someone who is temporarily unkillable, he can still likely create real danger. And that is the biggest difference between them two. Kashimo represents certainty. He believes in strength, direct combat and the thrill of finding someone powerful enough to justify his existence. Hakari represents uncertainty. He's actually just the living embodiment of risk. He does not need every second to be safe. He just needs one jackpot, one opening, one moment where the odds flip. By the end, Hakari does not completely break Kashimo's pride though. Instead, he earns his respect in the series.
Kashimo survives, accepts the result and becomes connected to the larger goal, which then involves Sukuna, who is his real target. So, the battle is not just a victory for Hakari. It is a recruitment, a statement and a warning. For me, Hakari vs Kashimo is one of those fights that proves Jujutsu Kaisen is at its best when the powers are weird. The personalities are loud and the outcome depends on one or more than strength. It is lightning vs luck. A killer from the past vs a gambler of the present. A man trying to kill the unkillable vs a man who keeps betting his life and somehow just keeps winning.
And when this, quite honestly, gets fully animated, I think it has the potential to be one of the most talked about fights in the entire series. Listen, yeah. For the lore, for the details, Hakari's jackpot states that it lasts for 4 minutes and 11 seconds and it gives him his automatic reverse cursed technique, while Kash