One of the most beloved anime series of the decade so far is about to head into its third season, but not before being the next big name in the medium to hit the silver screen. A month before its debut, to remind fans what the hell was happening in Shibuya last season and offer a peek at the first of season three, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution is premiering in theaters today.
Following feverish response from Japanese viewers after the release of the film overseas a few weeks earlier in November 2025, fans of the English dub are eager for the return of their favorite sorcerers in theaters around North America. The Shibuya incident has left the team broken and beaten, but there’s still some fight left in them for the story’s next major arc: The Culling Game, a fight to the death between new and returning sorcerers, all masterminded by ancient antagonist Kenjaku.
What’s Coming In The Culling Game?
Ahead of Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution’s debut, I spoke with some of the English cast over Zoom. Adam McArthur stars as go-getter protagonist Yuji Itadori, Robbie Daymond plays mysterious classmate and fellow sorcerer Megumi Fushiguro, and Ray Chase gives voice to not only the demon king Sukuna, but blood manipulating half-human curse Choso as well.
Chase tells me he has a secret for balancing both roles. “When it says Sukuna on the line, I do the Sukuna voice, and then when it says Choso, I do the Choso voice.” Thankfully, there’s a bit more to it than that. “But for real, I rely on the director for this, Kirstie Simone, who’s come into this project with so much gusto and love for the material.” He emphasizes that everyone involved in the production of Jujutsu Kaisen are fans of the story as well, and that they’re always aiming to pay its characters as much respect as possible in dubbing.
With the show starting production during the manga’s serialization, Chase says he initially tried out for major antagonist Sukuna but read for Choso during the audition as well. At the time, he and the team figured this to just be another incidental voice in the show, but like other fans of the series, Chase has gotten attached to the creepy character since.
“The Culling Game stuff was still being written when we were doing season one, and I don’t think Choso was tapped to be a major character yet. It was just luck of the draw that I got him.”
“Sukuna never raises his voice; he only spits out catchphrases,” he says, telling me fans often ask him to neg them in Sukuna’s voice when he appears at conventions. “But Choso’s mouth moves like crazy, man! I prefer Choso as a character, but I prefer dubbing [for] Sukuna.”
Choso will be the more forefront of Chase’s roles for the upcoming film, teaming up with Yuji and giving our pink-haired protagonist another bizarre accomplice yet again. Though he gives nod to comedic moments with the bombastic buddy he’s made in Xander Mobus’ Aoi Todo, McArthur says he’s really enjoyed exploring the dynamic between Yuji and Choso, two characters who were mortal enemies until only recently.
“There’s a moment that happens between Yuji and Choso that we’ll see in this that is just so funny. You still have moments of levity, even when it’s tough, and one of those moments will happen in the movie with Choso.”
McArthur has described Itadori as a “sunshine boy” before, but says he knows the story only gets darker from here. “He can’t be happy every single minute of every single day, and he’s going through a rough patch right now.”
He told me the last time we spoke about the character that recording so many dreary scenes means a lot of mindfulness outside of work to shake the dread that comes with it. Even so, the manga wrapped recently, and there’s work to be done. “Now that I know how JJK ends, it makes me understand why certain things happen… You get validation about certain things.”
Looking forward at which other characters we can expect to appear, Daymond laughs and answers without specifics. “There’s a goofy guy that’s going to be coming up in season three that looks like he’s out there having fun. I think his life is pretty dope – I know the backstory and it was maybe not great before this moment, but I love that character.”
Who Will Take Over The Zen’in Clan?
When I ask who everyone’s favorite characters are other than their own, Daymond naming the demon king feels like something of an omen for Megumi.
“I really love Sukuna,” he says. “I feel like a pure villain is so rare, where we [don’t] get all these sympathetic backstories about why he was into it. I’m like, ‘No, man, he just sucks. He’s bad.’ He’s evil, and I think that’s why it’s so fun.”
His career has spanned dramatic and expressive performances like Goro Akechi in Persona 5 to comedic roles like hilarious hangers The Hanks in Date Everything!, but Daymond says he enjoys the confines of voicing a character as restrained and serious as Megumi.
“There’s something fun about operating within a narrower window. For Megumi, you’ve got a limited range of expression, so with your work, if there’s no intent behind it, you’re just boring. You can’t hide behind the broader moments.”
He feels that the limit to Megumi’s regular expressiveness, though, leads to a heavier impact when that limit is removed. “It makes the big moments even more fun because they feel unexpected. You get to let loose in a character that’s been bottling everything up for a season.”
Megumi is but one of the candidates in contention to assume control of one of the country’s most well-known family of sorcerers, the Zen’in Clan. It’s the same one Allegra Clark’s Maki Zen’in has long been seeking to head up one day in an act of vengeance against the family that ousted her, but Megumi is named head of the family on passing of its former elder. This clash of clans serves not only as one center of drama in Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, but to introduce a few new characters for the season ahead as well.
Voiced by Alan Lee, we meet Naoya Zen’in when he begins his mission to find and kill Megumi, incensed at not having been made clan leader as he’d expected. “I know he’s super excited, and it’s cool to get some new cast mates in there,” McArthur says of Lee.
Who Are The Voices Behind The Characters?
Despite the gruesome horror and emotional turmoil for which Jujutsu Kaisen has become known, the actors behind its main characters spend our interview laughing about their answers. It comes not only from the trio’s friendship in real life, but from an experience they share with the fandom as well: a genuine love for Jujutsu Kaisen.
“We care very deeply about this show,” McArthur says. He’s consistently posting social media content with JJK’s other actors (Chase and Daymond often included) and delights in seeing how fans react. “We want to know where the fandom is on their journey with it; it’s fun for us. All three of us are at conventions constantly, and it’s nice when people come up to our table and we know what the heck they’re talking about.”
Chase agrees emphatically. “We’re all excited to be back… We all read the manga; we all love this project.”
“With JJK, we lucked into a property that we all just genuinely enjoy. I always say I’d be a fan of this show even if I wasn’t in it.” Daymond says, a statement supported by roughly a dozen Fushiguro figurines on the shelf behind him on camera. “It’s just so watchable, so cool. There are so many amazing projects over the years that don’t hit the mainstream that I’ve enjoyed also, but it’s really cool to see something deserving get its moment in the sun.”
Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution will get that moment in the sun by enjoying a moment in a theater near you beginning on December 5. The third season of Jujutsu Kaisen will then debut on Crunchyroll on January 8, 2026, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.
- Release Date
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October 3, 2020
- Network
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TBS, MBS, CBC, Tulip Television, BSN, tys, NBC, HBC, RKK, i-Television, SBS, IBC, BSS, MRO, OBS, TUF, RSK, TUY, tbc, RKB, SBC, KUTV, RBC, UTY, RCC, MRT, atv, MBC
- Directors
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Ryohei Takeshita, Masataka Akai, Chie Nishizawa, Daisuke Tsukushi, Tomomi Kamiya, Kakushi Ifuku, Ken Takahashi
- Writers
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Hiroshi Seko
- Franchise(s)
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Jujutsu Kaisen
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Yuichi Nakamura
Satoru Gojo
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Yuma Uchida
Megumi Fushiguro
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Asami Seto
Nobara Kugisaki
