Jujutsu Kaisen season 4: everything MAPPA has admitted so far — and the one thing they still won't say

That was five months ago. Since then the studio has been talking. A lot. In the specific way studios talk when they want you to know things are happening without telling you when.

So here's the full ledger of what they've actually said out loud, followed by the thing they keep walking past.

Admitted: it's called The Culling Game Part 2

Season 4 picks up the Culling Game where the finale left it, which is to say mid-catastrophe. For manga readers, that's roughly chapters 181 through 221, the back half of the arc that pushes toward the endgame. For anime-only viewers: brace yourself, and don't read the comments.

Admitted: production is real, and there's footage

On June 19, at MAPPA's 15th anniversary showcase, the studio did something it hadn't done for Season 3 at the equivalent stage: it put out a teaser with actual animation. Nearly a minute of it, including glimpses of the Hakari–Kashimo clash that manga readers have been waiting to see move.

The official line is that the season is diligently in production. Which is a phrase that means "yes" while carefully not meaning "soon."

A teaser with real footage is MAPPA's way of saying "we're not lying to you." A teaser without a date is MAPPA's way of saying "but we're also not committing."

Admitted: there's a new director in the chair

This one's substantial. Takeru Sato, who was assistant director on Season 3, has been promoted to director for Season 4. Shota Goshozono, who steered Seasons 2 and 3 and is a large part of why they look the way they look, moves up to chief director.

Sato's statement on the announcement was appropriately terrified. He talked about "the weight of the responsibility of being entrusted with such an important title" and drawing on the team that got the series this far. Correct energy. The Shibuya arc was a benchmark. The Culling Game so far has been a benchmark. Nobody wants to be the guy who dropped the ball.

Admitted: a visual, a festival, and an exhibition

The last few days delivered more:

• August 29: the franchise's fifth-anniversary event, Juju Fes 2026, kicked off at K-Arena Yokohama with a new "super teaser" visual of Sukuna reaching out of the dark toward the viewer. Manga readers immediately started pointing at details in it. Anime-only viewers immediately started asking what they were pointing at.
• Also confirmed: a final exhibition running December 25, 2026 to January 25, 2027 in Japan, with new art by Gege Akutami himself.
• Elsewhere: Season 3 landed on Netflix worldwide in July, so the on-ramp for new viewers is wide open.

Cast members turned up. Theme-song artists performed. It was a whole thing.

Not admitted: the date

Here's what didn't happen at Juju Fes, or at Anime Expo in July, or at the anniversary showcase in June, or at any point since March: a release date. Not a month. Not a season. Not "2027" in an official capacity, even though every observer on earth has done the math and landed there.

• Previous seasons have been about two years apart.
• Season 4 is the second half of an existing arc, not a fresh one, so the prep should be lighter.
• The Japanese TV slots the show usually occupies are booked through the end of this year.

All of which points at 2027, probably early. But "points at" is not "announced," and MAPPA knows exactly what they're doing by making us say it for them.

The studio has told us the title, the director, the chapters, the exhibition dates and what Sukuna's hand looks like. The only thing missing is the only thing anyone asked.

Until then, the teaser is on YouTube, Season 3 is on Netflix and Crunchyroll, and the rest of us are refreshing a Twitter account run by a company that has never once been in a hurry.