Gege Akutami Unveils New Cursed Technique From Gojo’s Era

Jujutsu Kaisen is currently one of the biggest shonen series in all of Japan. The success of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime can be largely attributed to MAPPA, which gave it a significant boost upon the release of its first anime. However, its manga by Gege Akutami is just as amazing, if not even better. Gege’s Jujutsu Kaisen ended two years ago now, in September 2024, but as far as popularity goes, it is still going strong. JJK remains one of the highest-selling manga in the country despite ending two years ago, behind only One Piece. With so much success behind it, Jujutsu Kaisen is still getting new content reveals from the author even today.

As Juju Fest 2026 unfolded on August 29 and 30, all the focus went to the new Key Visual for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 4. However, alongside it, we also got the reveal of a new Cursed Technique from Gojo’s generation, called Steam Sorcery. This new Cursed Technique belongs to a long-dead sorcerer named Yuu Haibara. Unfortunately, he never got to reach his full potential in the story.

Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade Officially Adds Haibara After Juju Fest Reveal On August 30

The Jujutsu Kaisen franchise has an extremely popular anime series which initially kicked off in 2021 and, until today, is handled by Studio MAPPA. The anime of Jujutsu Kaisen has greatly popularized the franchise, and as such, new projects have followed over the years. On November 21, 2023, we saw the release of the very first Jujutsu Kaisen video game, known as Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade. Phantom Parade is an officially licensed game that was created by Sumzap for Mobile gaming, and it is a gacha-style game with the expansive cast of Gege Akutami’s characters. The game is still adding new content, which includes brand-new story arcs and new characters of the Jujutsu Kaisen universe.

Most recently, during Juju Fest 2026, which unfolded on August 29 and August 30, 2026, Phantom Parade officially announced their newest addition, Haibara. Haibara was a character who had a significant impact on the beginning of JJK Season 2, as his death was a major turning point in the events that would take place afterwards in Gojo’s Past Arc. Now, he is finally available to play for fans.

Through this new addition in Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade, we got new information about the somewhat popular character from Gojo’s generation, which includes his Cursed Technique. To top it all off, for this new addition to Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade, Haibara also got his first illustration from Gege Akutami in a long time. This new illustration features him and his activated Cursed Technique, making it fully canon.

Gege Akutami Reveals Haibara’s New Cursed Technique Called Steam Sorcery

As mentioned before, Juju Fest 2026 was full of surprises, and Haibara’s Cursed Technique is definitely something that no one expected to be revealed during the event. To be specific, Haibara’s Cursed Technique is not a game invention. Instead, the lore for it is sourced directly from Gege Akutami himself, who aided the game developers in creating an accurate representation of what Haibara’s fighting style would be. In other words, this was always Haibara’s fighting style, and it is canon to the original story. It’s simply something that Gege Akutami didn’t get the chance to explore in the manga.

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With that in mind, Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade officially reveals Haibara’s Cursed Technique to be named Steam Sorcery. To keep it simple, Steam Sorcery allows him to heat up his Cursed Energy and turn it into steam itself. This steam then powers up his whole body, including giving him more physical strength, as well as defensive capabilities. Thus, Haibara’s fighting style is that of a straight brawler, akin to Yuji Itadori, who also specializes in close combat. This comparison between Haibara and Yuji might go on to explain Nanami’s interest in our protagonist, which led to him becoming his mentor and protecting him, no matter the cost.

“Steam Sorcery”

A cursed technique that constructs a steam engine within the user’s body. Cursed energy serves as the water, while the cursed technique serves as the fire, allowing the user to explosively enhance their physical abilities with the cursed-energy steam they create.

It has poor fuel efficiency and makes the user hungry easily.

The new JJK reveal also describes Haibara’s Cursed Energy as being like water, which is what allows his Cursed Technique to heat up and evaporate it. This hints towards it being specifically a Cursed Energy trait, similar to Kashimo’s electric Cursed Energy, although that is yet to be confirmed. Haibara is the first and only character known to possess Steam Engine, and that will likely remain the case with the story having ended.

It was also revealed through Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade that while Steam Sorcery is able to boost Haibara’s powers, it is extremely cost-ineffective. The ability drains all the energy from Haibara, and consequently, he requires massive amounts of food to recover. Interestingly enough, it is possible that Haibara’s Steam Sorcery is inspired by Luffy’s Gear Second, as Gege Akutami was greatly inspired by other shonen before him, especially with how similar the two abilities are.

This ability and its side effects were teased previously in Jujutsu Kaisen, although only briefly, which goes further to show that this ability was planned all along and not a last-minute addition by Gege Akutami. When asked what kind of girl he likes, Haibara said his type is girls who love to eat, which ties in with his high energy consumption of his Cursed Technique.

Steam Engine’s Full Potential In Jujutsu Kaisen

As many fans of Jujutsu Kaisen know, Haibara’s potential was killed in Jujutsu Kaisen’s Hidden Inventory Arc. That is because, on a mission with Nanami, he was killed. Haibara’s death is attributed to a battle against a Special-Grade Curse. His death impacted everyone around him, especially Nanami, whom he was extremely close with. What’s most unfortunate is that we will never get to see Steam Engine reach its full potential. This new cursed technique is definitely an interesting concept that could’ve been made even more exciting in the future.

From what we know, Haibara only used it to power himself up momentarily and bash enemies to pieces. But this could have been his downfall against a Special-Grade. Using up all your energy and being left defenseless against a Special-Grade is a terrible tactic. However, had Steam Engine been given more room to grow, it could have been a far more destructive power. It is also exciting to think of what a Steam Engine Domain Expansion would have looked like. Haibara could have potentially been able to boil off his opponent’s cursed energy, depleting them of power quickly. It could have also allowed him to get in sure-hit, powered-up punches.

A power like Steam Engine in the hands of someone like Gojo would’ve completely changed the game for this technique. Gojo with the Six Eyes is able to efficiently use cursed energy without wasting a single drop. Someone with cursed energy control on the level of Gojo would make Steam Engine a top-tier ability. We definitely hope to see more new information from Gege Akutami about the beloved Jujutsu Kaisen characters. Luckily, the next expo for JJK is taking place in December 2026. There, we will see new, never-before-seen information revealed by the creator himself, once again.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Phantom Parade is available to play on Mobile