Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 10 Review & Recap: Megumi's Turn

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 10, titled Tokyo No 1 Colony Part 4, does something the last two episodes deliberately avoided: it moves fast. Ep 57 (in total) picks up from the Reggie Star encounter teased in JJK Season 3 Episode 8's review and recap and runs through roughly 3.5 chapters of manga material without stopping to breathe.

Where Episodes 8 and 9 were slow, psychological, and anchored by two characters talking in a bathhouse and a courtroom, Episode 10 drops Megumi into a 3-on-1 ambush and lets the choreography do the heavy lifting. MAPPA adapted the back half of Chapter 167, all of Chapters 168 and 169, and the opening pages of Chapter 170. The pacing is aggressive, but it works because Megumi's fight is structured around problem-solving, not spectacle. It is also, frankly, the most lighthearted episode of the cour so far. There is a Looney Tunes quality to the action here, in the best possible way: Max Elephant punching people through walls, falling pianos, baseball-batting explosives out of the air. When Gege Akutami swings with the absurdist side of his power design, he has a whole lot of fun, and MAPPA clearly had fun animating it.

This is also the first episode of the Culling Game arc where Megumi gets the full spotlight. After being sidelined since entering the Tokyo No. 1 Colony barrier in Episode 7, he has been a background presence while Yuji's confrontation with Higuruma took centre stage. Episode 10 corrects that balance, and it does so by throwing Megumi into a situation that is measurably worse than anything Yuji faced. Yuji fought one person in a controlled Domain, while Megumi fights four in an open street.

Megumi vs Reggie Star: How the Ambush Begins in the Culling Game

The episode opens with Megumi and Reggie continuing the conversation from Episode 8. Reggie lays out his theory about the Culling Game: that the skill gap between players is intentional, that Kenjaku wants the weak eliminated early, and that once a stalemate between strong players is reached, Kenjaku plans to do something drastic with the survivors. This is the same theory he hinted at earlier, and Megumi listens carefully. He does not dismiss it.

But Megumi is not here to form alliances. He tells Reggie that a new rule allowing point transfers will be added soon (a rule he is counting on Yuji to secure through Higuruma). He then demands that Reggie's group hand over all their points. Reggie has 41. Hazenoki has 35. Chizuru Hari has 28. Remi's point total is negligible, but their combined score crosses the 100-point threshold Megumi needs.

Reggie does not accept. The conversation ends.

What follows is one of the most chaotic opening salvos in the series. Hari attacks Megumi from behind. Megumi slips into Hari's shadow, deploys Divine Dog: Totality on Reggie, grabs Hari, and has Nue slam him into the ground below. In the span of about ten seconds, Megumi reveals that he had Nue patrolling the entire time he was talking. He was never not ready for a fight.

Reggie, though, is unharmed. He stops Divine Dog by jamming two kitchen knives into its mouth, a trick that becomes much more alarming once you understand where those knives came from. They materialized from receipts attached to Reggie's clothing.

Reggie Star's cursed technique Contract Re-Creation explained

Reggie Star's technique is called Contract Re-Creation. It allows him to materialize any physical object listed on a receipt he possesses. A receipt for a kitchen knife produces a kitchen knife. A receipt for gasoline produces gasoline. The technique is limited by what Reggie has actually purchased (or at least obtained receipts for), but that constraint is the whole point. He is a sorcerer who fights with inventory management.

The implications of this become clear fast. During the ambush, Reggie throws receipt papers at Megumi that transform into gasoline mid-air. Hazenoki, standing three storeys above, then detonates his own teeth (which he has severed from his jaw) to ignite the fuel. The combination of Reggie's receipts and Hazenoki's body-part explosives makes them a terrifyingly coordinated pair.

Hazenoki's technique is worth calling out separately. Iori Hazenoki can turn any severed body part into an explosive. He rips out teeth, plucks out his own eye, and launches them as projectiles. The body parts regenerate through what appears to be a reverse cursed technique. It is grotesque, inventive, and animated with the kind of gleeful detail that makes you wonder how MAPPA's production team feels about drawing a man pulling out his own teeth in slow motion.

Remi, for her part, has a scorpion-like hair technique that she uses to stab Megumi in the back at the worst possible moment. She is not strong, but she is persistent, and Megumi's frustration with her is one of the episode's best small character beats. He tells her bluntly that Reggie's group will never protect her. The explosion that just nearly killed them both is proof: Reggie and Hazenoki did not care whether Remi was in the blast radius.

Megumi kills Chizuru Hari after Rule Ten is added to the Culling Game

The turning point arrives via Kogane. Mid-fight, the announcement comes through: a new rule has been added to the Culling Game. Rule Ten allows players to transfer points to other players.

With that confirmation, Megumi's priorities shift. He no longer needs to accumulate points himself. Tsumiki, his stepsister, will not have to participate in the killing to survive. Megumi can now fight to win rather than fight to collect.

He moves on to take on Hari instantly. Max Elephant forces Hari out of the building. Nue dives. Megumi strikes with the hilt of his sword, then slashes Hari across the face with the blade. Hari is eliminated.

This is a significant moment for Megumi's character. He has killed someone. The episode does not linger on it the way Yuji's Shibuya guilt was explored in JJK Season 3 Episode 9, but there is a brief pause where Megumi questions what he is doing. He refocuses by reminding himself of Tsumiki. The kill was necessary, and he accepts that.

The Zenin blood in Megumi is showing. This is the same kid who, in Season 1, hesitated to use lethal force even against curses. Maki's massacre of the Zenin clan in Episode 4 proved that their bloodline does not hesitate when it counts. The Culling Game is changing Megumi the same way.

Fumihiko Takaba debuts in the Culling Game: who is the comedian sorcerer?

Just as things look bleak for Megumi (down to a 2-on-1 against Reggie and Hazenoki, injured, and running low on options), a newcomer steps in front of Hazenoki's explosive tooth and takes the blast to the face.

The newcomer is Fumihiko Takaba. He has zero points. He is a 35-year-old aspiring comedian. He claims that cowardly attacks deal zero damage, despite bleeding heavily from his head.

Takaba was teased in Episode 3, and manga readers have been waiting for this moment. His debut is played almost entirely for comedy, and MAPPA extends the awkwardness beyond what the manga panels suggest. The result is something that feels genuinely human. Takaba is not doing a bit. He is a man who sincerely believes he is funny, standing in the middle of a death game, committing fully to the joke. He tells Megumi he can judge whether someone is good or bad by their face, then looks at Megumi and says he has a bad face. He attempts to tell a joke ("mind your own wi-fi") and gets dead silence from everyone, including Megumi.

But then Takaba dropkicks Hazenoki through a building wall. The shift in cursed energy output is massive. Reggie notices it immediately and recognizes that Takaba is actually strong. This is not a comedian who wandered into a death game. This is something else entirely.

Manga readers know exactly what Takaba's cursed technique is, and why it is one of the most broken abilities in the entire series. The anime has not revealed it yet, and the episode wisely keeps that card hidden. For anime-only viewers, all you need to know right now is: pay attention to Takaba. His comedy is not a gag. It is the technique.

Megumi activates Chimera Shadow Garden against Reggie Star

With Takaba's help, Megumi is able to separate the two opponents. He tells Takaba about Hazenoki's explosive body-part technique (a conversation that gets awkward because Takaba stands way too close while listening) and asks him to take Hazenoki and try to get his points.

Takaba accepts on the condition that whatever he does remains entertaining. Megumi does not care what Takaba does as long as he wins. The partnership works precisely because neither of them fully understands the other, but both recognize the tactical opportunity.

Megumi then checks his Kogane to confirm Higuruma was the one who added the new rule. With that verified, he pulls his sword from his shadow and tells Reggie to back off. He is done in the Tokyo No. 1 Colony. He has no reason to fight anymore.

Reggie refuses. Hari's death cost his group points, and Reggie needs to make up the deficit. The fight continues.

What follows is Megumi at his tactical best. He deploys Max Elephant to pressure Reggie on a narrow road. Reggie avoids the water, but Megumi is already above him, diving down with Rabbit Escape as cover. Reggie sees through it and counters, but the sequence shows Megumi cycling through shikigami at speed, testing Reggie's responses, cataloguing his patterns. This is how Megumi fights. He does not overpower opponents. He outthinks them.

The episode ends with Megumi luring Reggie into a gymnasium. The space is enclosed, spacious, and structurally sound. Megumi opens his incomplete Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden. The gymnasium's walls function as the barrier he cannot yet create on his own.

It is a cliffhanger, and it is the right one. The domain has been teased since Season 1 and briefly used during the Death Painting Arc, but this is the first time Megumi is deploying it as a calculated strategy rather than a last resort.

What manga chapters does JJK Season 3 Episode 10 adapt?

The episode covers the back half of Chapter 167 ("Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 7"), picking up from where Reggie's conversation with Megumi was interrupted by the ambush. It then adapts Chapter 168 ("Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 8") in full, covering the Hazenoki/Reggie combination attack, Remi's betrayal, and the Kogane announcement. Chapter 169 ("Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 9") introduces Takaba and covers the splitting of the fight. The episode closes partway into Chapter 170 ("Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Part 10"), ending on Megumi's domain activation.

That is roughly 3.5 chapters of material, which is slightly more than the 3-chapter pace of Episode 9. The faster pace fits. This is an action episode, not a character study, and the fight choreography carries the momentum naturally. There are no wasted scenes. The season has already topped Japan's Winter 2026 anime initial rankings, and the consistent quality across episodes like this one is the reason why.

One structural note: the Kenjaku scene that appeared briefly in Chapter 167 (Kenjaku negotiating with foreign officials) was partially adapted in Episode 8's post-credits tease. Episode 10 does not revisit the Kenjaku thread. MAPPA appears to be saving it for later in the season.

JJK Season 3 Episode 10 animation, direction, and the Naruto reference

Every scene in this episode is meticulously crafted. That is not hyperbole. The direction, the cinematography, the panic cam during Megumi's 3-on-1, the slowed explosions as Hazenoki's teeth detonate mid-air: MAPPA is operating at a level that consistently surpasses the previous episode's standard, week after week. After the Season 2 production criticism, the studio appears to have taken the feedback personally. Season 3 has been their response, and Episode 10 is another piece of evidence that they outdid themselves. With series director Shota Goshozono rumored to be exiting after this cour, every episode feels like the team is leaving nothing on the table.

The animation operates differently from the previous two episodes. Episodes 8 and 9 were about mood, atmosphere, and deliberate pacing. Episode 10 is about movement and spatial awareness. The camera tracks Megumi through buildings, across rooftops, and into shadows. The fight choreography prioritizes clarity: you always know where Megumi is relative to his opponents, which matters in a multi-enemy encounter.

Megumi's theme making a comeback here is a welcome touch. It has been absent for most of the season, and its return coincides with the moment Megumi decides to stop holding back. The music team knows exactly when to deploy it.

The standout moment, production-wise, is Takaba's debut. His dropkick on Hazenoki is animated with a sudden, jarring shift in energy that mirrors the narrative shock. One frame he is bleeding and telling a bad joke. The next frame he is launching a grown man through a concrete wall. The contrast is the entire point of his character, and MAPPA nails the timing.

There is also a Naruto reference that will make the rounds online. During Takaba's fight with Hazenoki, Takaba performs what is essentially the "One Thousand Years of Death" technique from Naruto: a two-fingered poke aimed at Hazenoki's rear end. It is played as physical comedy, but it is also a genuine tactical move that creates an opening. Gege Akutami loves this kind of thing. JJK has always worn its Naruto and HxH influences openly, and this is one of the funnier callbacks.

JJK Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Final verdict

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Episode 10 is a really good episode, but it is not the best of the cour so far. That is not a criticism. It is a lighthearted, action-dense entry that functions as the calm before a storm that manga readers know is coming. The Sendai Colony battle, likely arriving in Episode 12, is one of the most anticipated fights in the entire Culling Game arc, and Episode 10 is doing the necessary work of positioning the pieces before that payoff lands. There are also unconfirmed reports that the Season 3 Part 1 finale will have a longer runtime than usual, which, if true, would be the right call for the material MAPPA needs to cover.

As a standalone episode, it leans into what Megumi does best: read the battlefield, adapt faster than his opponents, and deploy his shikigami with the precision of someone who has been thinking three moves ahead since the conversation started.

Reggie Star is a worthy opponent. His receipt technique is absurd on paper and lethal in practice. Hazenoki's body-bomb ability is disgusting in the best possible way. And Takaba's introduction is perfectly calibrated: funny enough to break the tension, mysterious enough to keep manga readers grinning.

It is a genuine delight to experience this adaptation week by week. The animators at MAPPA have earned every bit of praise they are getting. With Chimera Shadow Garden activated and two episodes remaining before the mid-season break, the first cour is building toward something that should be worth the wait.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix.