Kemono Jihen was one of the expected anime series of 2021. The anime was announced at Jump Festa ’20 on December 31, 2019, and was released on January 10, 2021. The anime met the expectations of the manga’s followers, written by Shō Aimoto since 2016, and received positive reviews. The dark fantasy anime created by Ajia-do Animation Works, which we know from Ascendance of a Bookworm, is licensed by Funimation. The anime originally aired on Tokyo MX, YTV, and BS11 local networks as 12 episodes between January 10, 2021 – March 28, 2021. So will the anime be renewed for a second season?
- 1 What is the plotline of Kemono Jihen?
- 2 Will there be a second season of Kemono Jihen?
- 2.1 Manga status
- 2.2 Popularity and disc sales
- 2.3 Studio status
- 3 When is the second season release date of Kemono Jihen?
What is the plotline of Kemono Jihen?
In a remote mountain village, corpses of animals begin to appear, rotting overnight. Inugami, a detective, specializing in supernatural matters from Tokyo, is summoned to investigate the case. While working on the event, he befriends a strange boy who works in the field every day instead of going to school. Excluded by his peers and nicknamed “Dorota-bou”, living in the mud, Kabane helps Inugami uncover the truth behind the deaths. As he gets closer to the truth, Inugami will realize that the only superhuman thing in the child is not the nickname “Dorota-bou”.
Will there be a second season of Kemono Jihen?
As of November 27, 2022, at the time of writing, Ajia-do Animation Works or any related company has yet to renew the anime for a second season. When we look at the studio’s other works, we know that they get new season approval for Ascendance of a Bookworm and How Not to Summon a Demon Lord. All we can do right now is hope it happens for Kemono Jihen too. Since there is no official announcement yet, we speculated about the second season of the anime under some key factors such as manga source material availability, disc sales, and popularity. We have some concerns about if there will be a new season of the anime. For a new season, the decision committee makes a similar assessment as we did. At the end of the article, you will learn the possibility of the new season with reasons.
Manga status
The manga series written and illustrated by Shō Aimoto began airing on Jump Square by Shueisha on December 2, 2016. The manga series, which reached 17 volumes in total, continues to be published at the time of writing and the latest volume was released on September 2, 2022. In the first season of Kemono Jihen, the first 6 volumes of the manga were adapted. The remaining source material is quite sufficient for the second season.
There’s also good news for manga. Previously, the anime did not have an English publisher, and readers worldwide were not happy about it. Finally, Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the manga and will be publishing the manga with the first volume in August. This is news that will increase the popularity of anime and increase the possibility of a new season. Kemono Jihen Manga is very popular in Japan and has more than 4 million copies in circulation so far.
Popularity and disc sales
Disc sales of the anime started on March 25, 2021. Disc sales figures for the anime are very valuable because there are no big exclusive distributors such as Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu that the anime can generate extra income, and it does not have a smartphone game either. Therefore, it should reach 4,000 copies, which is shown as the general target in disc sales.
However, Kemono Jihen only sold 244 units in disc sales. When we look only at disc sales, we see a great disappointment. However, the series is not without undeniable popularity. So hopes for a second season remain regardless of disc sales.
On the other hand, when we look at the current popularity, we see that the anime ranked 621st on Myanimelist based on their popularity ranking. This ranking is ideal for a recently released anime series. 79k people on Twitter already follow the anime account. There is a good interest in anime in Japan, we can say that animes with this follower number are promising in renewals.
Finally, let’s look at worldwide popularity with another metric. When we look at the search volume about anime in Google searches, we see that it attracted serious attention when it was first published, but recently the current popularity has decreased to average levels. It seems that anime is a little above average in terms of popularity. However, considering that only a limited number of animes get a new season chance, we can say that it needs more than that.
Studio status
Ajia-do Animation Works is the anime’s creative studio. It may make sense to compare it with the studio’s other work. Ascendance of a Bookworm was renewed for a third season, and How Not to Summon a Demon Lord was renewed for a second season. How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is a really popular anime, but Kemono Jihen stands out from the popularity comparison of Ascendance of a Bookworm with Kemono Jihen. It means that the studio may not say no to the second season of Kemono Jihen as well.
When is the second season release date of Kemono Jihen?
The anime’s first season has just been aired in 2021, and a confirmation has not yet happened for a second season. Above, you can see the result of our evaluation for the new season and the possibility of renewal. We may have to wait for a new season of anime for years. However, it seems that the source material is sufficient, and a new season can be prepared with a production period of one year on average. It is possible to see a new season around 2023, but for this, the anime must first be renewed.
