The Shibuya Incident Arc left the Jujutsu Kaisen world in a state of collective shock and utter destruction. With Satoru Gojo sealed away and Grade-1 Sorcerers lost (like Kento Nanami), the status quo has been turned upside down, setting the stage for a much darker, more chaotic era. As the dust settles and the Culling Game begins to loom on the horizon, long-time manga fans have been waiting on bated breath to see how MAPPA Studios will animate the most intricate story arc yet. Now, the wait has finally ended with the release of a stunning new teaser trailer that gave us a look at some of the upcoming new characters such as Hakari, Takaba, and Angel, But, the one that stands out above the rest is perhaps the most beloved and relatable characters in the series: Hiromi Higuruma. As a disillusioned defense attorney and newly awakened sorcerer, Higuruma’s introduction represents a massive shift in the series’ tone, moving away from brute force and toward psychological and moral critique.
This fleeting look at Higuruma, his domain expansion, cursed tool, and the most haunting element of his cursed technique has already set the fanbase abalze, promising that the third season will continue to prove why Jujutsu Kaisen is a global phenomenon.
The New Trailer Gives a Glimpse Into Higuruma’s One-of-a-Kind Domain
A major question that many manga-only fans wondered was just how Higuruma’s unqiue Domain Expansion—”Deadly Sentencing”—would translate into animation. While the manga panels captured the tense and eerie atmosphere of a silent courtroom, glimpsing it in motion, even for a few seconds, brings a whole new layer of dread for our favorite characters and excitment for us as audiences.
Higuruma’s Domain Expansion is inherently linked to his Cursed Technique, and vice versa. One simply cannot exist without the other. The Deadly Sentencing Domain Expansion traps his enemies in a courtroom where their own Cursed Techniques and Cursed Energy is stripped away and any sort of violence is prohibited. His Cursed Technique, “The Judgeman,” is a massive vaguely humanoid all-knowing shikigami with its eyes stitched shut who looms behind Higuruma (the prosecutor) and ultimately decides the fate of the sorcerer on trial (the defendent). If the Judgeman finds the opponent guilty, they face severe penalties such as Confiscation, which temporarily strips them of their Cursed Technique and leaves them vulnerable. In extreme cases involving capital crimes (like those commited by Sukuna), Higuruma can even gain access to the Executioner’s Sword, a weapon that guarantees an instant kill upon contact.
The Judgeman in the trailer looks terrifyingly faithful to Gege Akutami’s original art, with its closed eyes and balanced scales in its hand highlighting its role as an impartial party and reminding those within the domain that justice is blind. The animation style seems to lean into a more cinematic, noir-inspired aesthetic for these scenes, which is a very fitting choice for Higuruma and his powers. In constrast to the bloodshet and energy fans just witnessed in Shibuya and in Jujutsu Kaisen Execution, Higuruma stands calmly amidst the wooden benches of the court wearing a pristine suit. The brief glipmse shows cold and clinical lighting that foreshadows the “trial” that awaits any opponent unlucky enough to be caught Deadly Sentencing’s radius.
For fans who have only seen these moments in black and white, the Judgeman’s color palette and fluid, almost ghostly movements suggest that MAPPA is treating this specific introduction with the gravitas it deserves. Higuruma’s domain is not for fighting; it is a conceptual battle that challenges the very foundation of the characters’ identities and the truth behind any lies.
Higuruma is the Moral Compass in the Frantic and Deadly Culling Game Arc
Unlike many sorcerers who are born into the world of curses or develop/exhibit their powers very early in life, Higuruma was a civilian defense attorney driven by a genuine desire to help the innocent. After the justice system failed an innocent client, Higuruma became completely disillusioned by a system he realized was corrupt. He became a sorcerer the day Kenjaku enacted the Culling Game and became reached Grade 1 status within 2 weeks, even learning how to use the extremely difficuly-to-master Reverse Curse Technique to heal himself, making him one of the most sympathetic and intellectually fascinating “antagonists” introduced during arc.
Higuruma’s powers are just as unique as his backstory, fundamentally changing the very nature of combat in a series that tends to rely on brute force over anythinge else. This shift in dynamics and what “winning” really means is what makes Higuruma’s debut so important to Jujutsu Kaisen as a whole, as he forces the audience to grapple with morality and the flaws of human justice in a world governed by curses.
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