10 Hidden Details in Season 3 Opening Only True Fans Caught

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 has finally arrived in the winter 2026 anime season, and features an explosive and hyper-stylized opening sequence full of hidden details and visual motifs. It is an absolute visual feast that shows snippets of major events from the manga and anime series that only true JJK fans will instantly recognize. Not to mention, the opening song called AIZO by King Gnu perfectly complements the visuals.

That goes without saying Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 is off to a solid start. Almost every shot in the sequence hides references and meanings that practically spoil the third season if viewers know where to look. The opening packed in a lot of important stuff, but they showed it in a vague way. Let's break them down one by one.

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Volume 19 Cover by Hiromi Higuruma

• The cover of JJK Volume 19 features Hiromi Higuruma holding a sunflower

JJK manga features main and minor supporting characters on the covers of the volumes, and Hiromi Higuruma, the 1st grade witch, is no exception. JJK Volume 19 features Hiromi Higuruma on the cover, holding a sunflower with an intense look in her eyes. This cover can be seen in the opening of JJK Season 3 around the 1:10 mark.

Interestingly, Higuruma is another name for sunflower in Japan, making the flower a direct reflection of Higuruma's identity. Additionally, Japanese lawyers usually wear a sunflower badge as a badge in real life. Higuruma also had a sunflower badge when he first appeared in chapter 143 of the manga.

Yuji Itadori and Gears

• Yuji Itadori has a cogwheel mentality.

Around 1:26 of the JJK Season 3 opener, fans can see the gears turning smoothly. It looks like a reference to Yuji Itadori's iconic declaration to Kinji Hakari in their confrontation in JJK Chapter 157, where he tells him that he is a cog for wizards to continue casting curses.

Of course, Kinji, a man who thrives on feverish passion, found Yuji's reasoning boring. However, Yuji eventually convinces Kinji to fight on their side and helps them in the Culling Games on behalf of Gojo Satoru and the other wizards of Jujutsu High.

Megumi Fushiguro and the Ten Sacred Treasures

• Seven of the ten shadows have already appeared in the JJK anime.

As fans know, Megumi Fushiguro is a user of the Ten Shadows technique in JJK. The opening of Season 3 made this fact even more visible by showing seven of the symbols of the Ten Sacred Treasures, from the Okitsukagami (Mirror of the Abyss) to the Yatsuka No Tsurugi (Eight-Handed Longsword), representing the seven shadows that Megumi had summoned in JJK.

JJK has already shown Megumi's divine dogs, Nue, Toad, Big Snake, Max Elephant and even Divine General Mahorag. Just recently the anime showed Megumi's Rabbit Escape.

The Kiss painting with Yuta Okkotsu

• Yuta Okkotsu vs Kurourushi will happen in Culling Game.

JJK season 3 opener referenced many paintings in its visual sequence and one of them is Gustav Klimt's iconic oil painting called The Kiss. Instead of seeing the couple hugging, fans saw Kuroroushi and Yuta Okkotsu together.

The Kiss Painting with Yuta and Kurourushi is a direct reference to the final moments of their fight during the Culling Games, specifically in JJK Chapter 175. Yuta literally kissed Kurourushi to death, sending positive cursed energy directly into his head, killing him.

Ryu Ishigori's Granite Blast

• Ryu Ishigori can use a laser beam-like attack called Granite Blast.

It's not hard to spot the laser beam in JJK's new season 3 opener. He appeared around 1:07 and again at 1:24. Those who have read the manga should know that this laser beam is actually Ryu Ishigori's signature attack called Granite Blast.

For more context, Ryu Ishigori is another ancient wizard who has joined Kenjaku's Culling Game. His Granite Blast looks like a laser beam charged with highly concentrated cursed energy, perfect as a weapon of mass destruction.

Maki and Mai in a field of reeds

• In Season 3 of JJK, a significant event occurs between Maki and Mai.

The new JJK season 3 opener featured Mai and Maki in many shots, one of which is them running hand in hand in a field of reeds. The short scene looks like an ominous found footage video where Maki and Maki look so happy together. This is a rare scene considering their ongoing feud.

While Maki and Maki looked happy in that scene, the field of reeds represents an afterlife paradise where, according to Egyptian mythology, pain, sickness and suffering do not exist. Without spoiling too much, this scene is bad news for one of the Zenin sisters.

Flying nuke

• Kenjaku once visited America to deceive the government.

During the opening of JJK Season 3, a nuke is seen flying over the skies of Japan. While some fans would think that the nuke represents the American JJK plot that the series eventually dropped, others believe it represents Kenjaku's explosive plan after the weak wizards died in the Culling Game.

In the words of Reggie Star, “Kenjaku will drop the bomb until only the strong are left,” a quote that gives JJK Season 3's nuclear imagery an unsettling new context. Still, fans can interpret the nuke as an American plot, with Kenjaku tricking the American government into speeding up his plans.

Maki and her bloody knife

• Maki ends the Zenin clan on her own.

Maki Zenin gets huge exposure in the JJK season 3 opening sequence. She probably received the highest number of frames besides Yuji Itadori and Kenjaku, making her a main character in the third season.

One of the best shots in the opening features a still shot of Maki holding a bloody knife and/or dagger. As manga fans know, Maki is about to undergo an awakening that will give her extraordinary strength.

Like Yuji, her hands would be stained with blood, not from innocent people, but from her entire clan. The knife in her hand probably represents her brutal actions towards her clan. However, it could also be the same weapon that Maki's mother used against Naoye.

Painting Dead Mother with Yuji and Kenjaku

• Kenjaku intervened in the birth of Yuji Itadori.

Egon Schiele's 1910 painting The Dead Mother was also mentioned in the opening of JJK season 3. The anime used Kenjaku as the mother, while they used the infant Yuji Itadori as the child around 0:52. The frame looked beautiful and terrifying at the same time, knowing how Yuji was conceived in JJK.

It's no secret that Kenjaku used the body of Yuji Itadori's mother, Kaori, and turned his birth into part of a long-term experiment. This is why Choso considers Yuji to be his younger brother, as they were both born by Kenjaku's intervention.

A painting of a Y-shaped intersection

• Megumi and Yuji will be separated in the Culling Game.

JJK season 3 opening art references also featured a Y-Shaped Crossroads painting by Tadanori Yokoo. This time, JJK placed Rin Amai and Remi at a Y-shaped intersection, apparently referencing their roles in the Culling Game.

While Rin goes left, Remi is on the right path. In the JJK manga, Rin and Remi trick Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro, who are looking for the Angel, Han Kurusu. Instead of helping Yuji and Megumi, Rin led Yuji to Higuruma while Remi led Megumi to Reggie Star and his crew, further delaying their mission.

Release date

October 3, 2020

Network

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

Ryohei Takeshita, Masataka Akai, Chie Nishizawa, Daisuke Tsukushi, Tomomi Kamiya, Kakushi Ifuku, Ken Takahashi

Writers

Hiroshi Seko

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  Yuichi Nakamura

  Satoru Gojo