Jujutsu Kaisen season 4 will be "The Culling Game Part 2", following season 3 that aired from January 9 to March 27, 2026. MAPPA has confirmed the project, and the first teaser visual, showing Sukuna rising from water, was revealed at Juju Fes on August 29, 2026, but no air date has been announced.
While you wait, here are 10 anime that share what Jujutsu Kaisen fans tend to look for: brutal fights, a dark atmosphere and characters who pay for their power. The list is split into three groups so you can pick by taste.
When The Price Of Power Is Always High
Gachiakuta
The story follows Rudo, a teenager falsely accused of murder and exiled to the polluted ground beneath a floating elite city. There he discovers he is a "Giver", someone who can channel life force into objects to turn them into weapons, and joins the Cleaners, who fight creatures born from trash.
The unique power system and the protagonist's rebellious spirit mean every fight comes with a cost. Kei Urana's manga has run in Weekly Shonen Magazine since February 2022 and won the 50th Kodansha Manga Award in the shonen category in 2026. The anime was made by Bones Film, directed by Fumihiko Suganuma, with 24 episodes from July to December 2025 on Crunchyroll, and a second season has been announced.
Hell's Paradise (Jigokuraku)
In the Edo period, Gabimaru the Hollow, a condemned ninja, and his executioner Sagiri head to the island of Shinsenkyo to find an elixir of immortality alongside nine other death row convicts, each paired with an executioner. Survival matters more than grand ambition.
Yuji Kaku's manga ran on Shonen Jump+ from January 2018 to January 2021 in 13 volumes with over 4 million copies. MAPPA's anime is directed by Kaori Makita: season 1 has 13 episodes (April to July 2023) and season 2 aired from January to March 2026, on Crunchyroll and Netflix in Asia-Pacific. One review described it as bloody, classic shonen action with uncommonly sincere emotional depth.
Attack on Titan
The anime that paved the way for dark storytelling in the past decade, mixing life-and-death battles with gradually revealed secrets. Its serious tone is very close to Jujutsu Kaisen.
Hajime Isayama's manga ended on April 9, 2021 with 34 volumes and over 140 million copies; Wit Studio made the early seasons and MAPPA the Final Season from December 7, 2020. It won the 2011 Kodansha Manga Award, the 2012 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the 2014 Harvey Award.
Berserk
If Jujutsu Kaisen still feels too light, Berserk is a much darker version. Guts, a swordsman, hunts Griffith, leader of the Band of the Hawk, after the Eclipse, in a brutal medieval world. Guts is driven more by protecting those he cares about than by seeking power.
Kentaro Miura's manga debuted in 1989; after his death in May 2021 it continued under Kouji Mori's supervision with Studio Gaga, and passed 70 million copies by August 2025. The anime include the 1997 series (25 episodes), the 2016–2017 series (24 episodes) and three Golden Age Arc films (2012–2013).
Tight Plots And Memorable Characters
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric attempt forbidden alchemy to revive their mother and pay dearly: Edward loses an arm and a leg while Alphonse's body vanishes, his soul bound to armor. They search for the Philosopher's Stone to restore themselves and uncover a government conspiracy involving homunculi.
Made by Bones and directed by Yasuhiro Irie, it ran 64 episodes from April 5, 2009 to July 4, 2010 and follows Hiromu Arakawa's whole manga. It holds 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and was top-rated on MyAnimeList, Anime News Network and IMDb until Frieren overtook it.
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Gon Freecss takes the Hunter Exam to find his father. The anime is known for tight pacing, highly rated arcs and fights that rely on strategy more than raw power. Characters often face hard choices with no simple right or wrong.
Yoshihiro Togashi's manga has run since March 1998, with 39 volumes and over 100 million copies as of June 2026. Madhouse's 2011 anime runs 148 episodes (October 2011 to September 2014), directed by Hiroshi Kōjina. Note that the manga is often on hiatus; the latest run was June 29 to September 7, 2026 before another break.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Tanjiro becomes a demon-slaying swordsman to save his sister Nezuko, on a journey of loss that fits modern shonen tastes. It is one of the anime that defined the 2020s, with Ufotable's stunning fights.
Ufotable's Infinity Castle film, directed by Haruo Sotozaki, grossed $820.4 million worldwide and is the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Monsters, Absurdity And Sudden Turns
Chainsaw Man
Often compared with Jujutsu Kaisen as a dark supernatural shonen. Denji merges with the Chainsaw Devil Pochita, and the story leans on the absurdity of its world and existential unease more than mere fighting.
MAPPA made a 12-episode anime (October to December 2022), the Reze Arc film grossed $191.4 million, and Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga has passed 36 million copies.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
A 10-episode story about David Martinez, a street kid in Night City who joins a crew of augmented mercenaries. Hope and despair intertwine with relentless tragedy, and the sudden tonal shifts will feel familiar to Jujutsu Kaisen fans.
Studio Trigger made it with CD Projekt Red, directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi; it premiered on Netflix on September 13, 2022, holds 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and won Best Anime Series at the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. The sequel Edgerunners 2 arrives on October 20, 2026.
Kaiju No. 8
Kafka Hibino, a kaiju cleanup worker, ingests a parasitic creature and can turn into a kaiju while joining the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force to keep a childhood promise. The anime has a lighter tone than Attack on Titan but plenty of monster battles.
Production I.G made it with Studio Khara supervising: season 1 aired April 13 to June 29, 2024 (12 episodes) and season 2 July 19 to September 27, 2025 (11 episodes). Naoya Matsumoto's manga has ended after 16 volumes and over 19 million copies.
What To Watch First?
For fast combat and survival, start with Gachiakuta or Hell's Paradise. Those wanting a tight plot should pick Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Hunter x Hunter, and anyone wanting even darker has Berserk. See also our Jujutsu Kaisen review and the news on the Culling Game Part 2 teaser.
Sources: Wikipedia, AniList, Juju Fes 2026 information. As of September 26, 2026.