Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Simulcast Split Fuels Western Frustration

One of the most anticipated anime of Winter 2026, Jujutsu Kaisen season 3, The Culling Game Part 1, will be simulcast on Netflix on Jan 9, 2026, but only in select Asian regions. The update, confirmed with an official X (formerly Twitter) post, on Jan 2, 2026, generated a strong reaction among fans from North American and European regions.

Meanwhile, the dominating anime streaming platform, Crunchyroll, continues to hold the global streaming rights of the show. JJK season 3 will globally premiere on Jan 8, one day before Netflix starts simulcasting. This territorially split simulcast model stands in contrast with the strong global demand of Jujutsu Kaisen franchise as one of the most commercially impactful anime properties of the 2020s.

It also highlights persistent challenges in anime licensing for global streaming markets. CBR highlighted that Jujutsu Kaisen’s second season is also not available on Netflix in North America and European regions. Therefore, for fans in these regions, Crunchyroll is the only medium available for streaming the series, as of now.

As per Crunchyroll’s update, it will release JJK season 3 in Europe, Central America, North America, South America, the Middle East, CIS, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and India at 9:00 a.m. PT. Netflix will release the anime in select Asian markets, including Japan, Singapore, and India. The release timing will vary region-wise for Netflix.

The release strategy underscores that a few Asian regions will have the facility of both platforms, while other regions will have to rely on Crunchyroll.

Frustration Over Fragmented Streaming of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3

Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 adapts the “Culling Game” arc from the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, with high-stakes character developments and narrative escalation that have been central to the IP’s popularity. Its release strategy could therefore impact both audience reach and platform competition.

According to data analytics farm Demandsage’s report from Dec 5, 2025,  Netflix dwarfs Crunchyroll with roughly 301.6M global paid subscribers and roughly 81M in the U.S. alone. In contrast, Crunchyroll holds a 17M paid subscriber base globally, as claimed by a Deadline report, which is only a fraction of Netflix’s user base but one highly concentrated in anime fandom communities.

For U.S. viewers specifically, where Netflix commands millions of subscribers, in contrast with Crunchyroll’s smaller niche audience, the absence of Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 on Netflix outside Asia is being interpreted as a missed opportunity for the broader reach of the anime. Especially after the platform boasted 4.4B viewing hours for anime within the first six months of 2025 and earned almost twice as much as Crunchyroll’s revenue from anime in 2023, as reported by Anime by Numbers and Parrot Analytics, respectively. 

Crunchyroll, meanwhile, has positioned itself aggressively for the Winter 2026 anime slate, anchoring Jujutsu Kaisen alongside other high-profile titles including Oshi no Ko Season 3, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2, and My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2.

Jujutsu Kaisen season 3, directed by Shōta Goshozono and produced by MAPPA, will feature “Itadori’s Extermination,” “Perfect Preparation,” and the Culling Games Arc. These narratives follow the fallout of the Shibuya Incident and set up critical confrontations impacting the series’ primary protagonists, leading to the fight with the main antagonist, Ryomen Sukuna.