Will we ever get ‘No Game No Life Season 2’ yet? Why there is no second season yet? When will it release? Here are all the latest updates.
Are you surfing on the internet for No Game No Life Season 2? Well, not only you, millions of fans across the globe are waiting for the next season of the Isekai anime. No Game No Life is a popular Isekai anime based on a novel of the same name. The first season composed of 12 episodes started airing in Japan on April 9, 2014, and concluded on June 25, 2014. It has been a long nine years since the first season of No Game No Life premiered, and fans have been eagerly awaiting any updates from the studio.
Despite the anime’s huge following and high ratings on MyAnimeList, the studio has remained silent, and no updates in the last nine years mean that fans are now losing hope.
Fans are questioning why there is no sequel even after nine years since the hugely successful season 1 premiered. Without the second season, we will never get to know about Sora and Shiro’s battle against other races of Disboard or see if they succeeded in defeating the God of games Teto.
Why there hasn’t been a second season of No Game No Life?
While many other average anime series receive sequel announcements and older series are being remade, fans of No Game No Life have been wondering why the second season of their favourite anime hasn’t been announced yet.
After nearly a decade of anticipation, the loyal fans of the wildly popular Isekai Anine series have finally received a long-awaited update regarding No Game No Life Season 2.
In a recent Twitter post, Yuu Kamiya, the original light novel author, directly acknowledged the frequent requests he receives from passionate fans worldwide, inquiring about the possibility of a sequel season to the No Game No Life anime adaptation produced by Madhouse.
“I have been asked: ‘Will there be a second season of No Game No Life?’ so many times from all over the world, that now I can even know when they are asking me even without having to translate it. The answer is always the same: ‘I as an author would also like to know (as well).’”
When a fan raised a question about the intentional differences between the anime adaptation’s ending and the original light novels, potentially affecting the possibility of continuing the story in a second season, Kamiya responded with additional insight:
“I talked about this some years ago, but at that time the director asked if there was a possibility of adding an eccentric ending, since he didn’t know what would come next. I immediately proposed the ending of the sixth volume of the novels, which I was writing at that moment. In a sequel, you can go back in the chronology or even change the story, so that is not the problem.”
Kamiya then concluded with the following statement:
“So I cannot tell you what is the reason why there is no second season, but it is not a problem of money, much less with someone else. Perhaps the problem is that ‘it was done too well’, so much so that it is difficult to make a second season with the same quality.”
Kamiya’s explanation provides fans with much-needed insight into the absence of a second season for No Game No Life. It appears that the main concern isn’t related to funding, but rather the desire to maintain the exceptional quality exhibited in the first season. The fear of not replicating that success might be what has caused studios to hesitate in investing in the project, thus prolonging the fans’ wait for the beloved series’ return.
Will there be No Game No Life Season 2?
The best way to find out if there will be another season of an anime is by having a look at its source material, sales, and buzz and hype (trend). We have analyzed these factors for No Game No Life. Based on our research, here is what we feel about the possibility of its second season. Let’s discuss all major factors in detail:
Is There Enough Source Material For No Game No Life Season 2?
Almost every anime has its source material in the manga, light novels, games, etc. For No Game No Life, the source material is a light novel series. No Game No Life also has two manga series based on the light novels series. We have to find out how many volumes of light novels have been released to date, how many volumes the first season adapted, and how many volumes are expected to release.
How many volumes of No Game No Life light novel have been released?
At the time of writing, there are 12 light novel volumes available. The light novel series written by Yū Kamiya and published by Media Factory started publishing on April 25, 2012, and the last volume was released on Feb 25, 2023.
Besides, it also has two manga series, of which the other manga is a spin-off. Written and Illustrated by Yū Kamiya, the manga series was first released on November 23, 2013, and the last one was released on February 23, 2018.
How many volumes of light novel series were covered in the first season?
No Game No Life Season 1 aired from April 9, 2014, to June 25, 2014, adapted Volume 1 to Volume 3 of the light novel series. Also, the movie, No Game No Life covered the whole sixth volume of the light novel series. It means 8 volumes are still available for adaptation to anime series.
Is the No Game No Life novel still ongoing?
The author Yū Kamiya has written two books, one in 2016 and the other in 2018. After a gap of three years, Volume 11 was released on Nov 25, 2021. The recent one was released on Feb 25, 2023. So, the novel is going on.
Eight volumes of ‘No Game No Life’ novel series are still left to be adapted. This is more than enough source material considering that the first season used only 3 volumes.
No Game No Life Season 2: Sales & Profit Information
Profit and sales of an anime series are important factors in predicting the future of the anime series. An anime series should drive adequate profit to its makers, and if it doesn’t, it demotivates the makers to go for another season and incur such high expenses.
For No Game No Life, we only have one season released yet. So we just have to focus on how the season performed and how much profit/loss it made for makers. Anime creation requires a lot of investment. Anime series like No Game No Life requires an investment of around 2.5 to 3 Million dollars.
Many anime series fail badly and do not even manage to recover the investment. For example in the case of Tokyo Ravens hence there is no Tokyo Ravens season 2 to date. The same is the case with Chivalry of a Failed Knight season 2.
Blu-Ray Sales for No Game No Life
Blu-ray is not much popular nowadays. Very few people these days purchase Blu-ray disks as most of the animes are available on OTT platforms. No Game No Life was released on six disks in Japan, and each sold, on average, around 9,000 copies.
Also, the series got a BD-Box on February 24, 2016. It sold around 1,000 copies. The chances of getting a continuation are much more if the series Blu-ray sales cross over 10,000 copies per disk.
No Game No Life Light Novel Series Sales
Volume 10 released in 2018 sold around 170,000 copies. Volume 9 of the series, released in 2016, sold over 160,000 copies. The sales of the Light Novel Series are terrific, to say the least. In fact, it is in the top 5 best sellers by volume along with series like Overlord.
No Game No Life Merchandise and Movie Profit
The series has 45 figures available as merchandise that includes Schwi, Izuna, Stephanie, Jibril, and Shiro. Merchandise sales are also pretty good and it definitely gives a good chance for No Game No Life season 2.
The movie No Game No Life: Zero, an adaptation of volume 6 of the novel series, was released on July 17, 2016. It earned ¥700,000,000 i.e. around $6.5 Million. The film also sold approximately 40,000 Blu-Ray copies in Japan, which was a massive success. So, the movie actually turned out a profitable venture for the studio.
Other than these sources, No Game No Life also makes a profit from the international license for Crunchyroll, streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and other platforms, collaboration with advertisers, and other collaborations.
No Game No Life franchise made a good amount of money for its creators through novel series, manga, movie, and merchandise. So, profitability shouldn’t be a reason for creators to stop producing season 2.
Buzz and hype for No Game No Life Season 2
In deciding the destiny of an anime series, the most important is to have a look at its buzz and hype. In most cases, sequels are less popular than the first season. There are occasions when there is no buzz or hype for another season. This generally happens when the first season fails to meet the expectations. That’s what happened to Tokyo Ravens and why there is no Tokyo Ravens Season 2.
We can check the buzz and hype for an anime by looking at its official website, Google Trends, Social Media Handle, and new merchandise.
Google Trends
At the time of its release in 2014, the popularity of the anime was at its peak. Since then, there is a huge drop in the trend of No Game No Life. When the movie No Game No Life: Zero was released, the trend went up by 30%. Still, No Game No Life term has an average monthly search of around 185K worldwide.
Social Media Handles and Website
Having 124,000 followers, the official Twitter account of NGNL was newly updated with a post of NGNL on Abema TV in March 2020. The anime has a superb ranking on MyAnimeList with more than 1,890,000 members.
New Merchandise
Some new merchandise figures were announced at WonFes in 2020. These figures were of Shiro, Jibril, and Schwi. It is excellent news that when the series has been slowed down, new merchandise is being announced. This increases more chances of getting a Season 2.
Even after six years of the first season’s release, No Game No Life is popular among fans. So, popularity shouldn’t be an issue with the creators.
Is there a release date for No Game No Life Season 2?
As of July 2023, there is no official update on the second season of No Game No Life. Kamiya’s recent update offers loyal fans a small ray of hope that their beloved series isn’t lost forever.
Moving to the most important factor, profit and sales, we found that the series has made a satisfactory profit through Blu-ray copies, Light Novel Series, Movie, and Merchandise sales. The only barrier in the sales and profit section is Blu-ray sales, not that wasn’t bad either.
Coming to the popularity of the series, it has a big fan base but the fans are leaving their support as a matter of time. It’s have been a very long time since the anime and the movie got released. The anime is slowly deleting from everyone’s memory. However, new merchandise helps it a lot, and the movie as well pulled up the trend for the series.
We can say that all you have to do is to wait. At present, fans must maintain their patience and optimism, holding onto the hope that eventually, studios and producers will discover a path to surmount the various obstacles in the second season. The challenge is big to produce a second season as good and impactful as the initial season.
Also, the studio which produced the first season, Madhouse, is busy with the production of other anime shows and movies. Madhouse has these four projects lined up for this year.
- My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 (2023)
- The Gene of AI (2023)
- Frieren (2023)
- Chi: On the Movements of the Earth (TBA)
There is a 30% chance that there will be No Game No Life Season 2 though there is a 70% chance of not getting it.
No Game No Life Plot
The anime series follows a group of human gamers seeking to beat the god of games. They are trying to do so through a series of board games in order to usurp the god’s throne.
No Game No Life Characters
A look at lead characters and their voiceover artists:
Sora and Shiro: Sora is an eighteen-year-old male who is a genius in making strategies while his eleven-year-old stepsister, Shiro, excels at calculations and logic.
Suno | Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese); Scott Gibbs (English)
Shiro| Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese); Caitlynn French Gibbs (English)
Stephanie Dola: Stephanie is a teenage girl and granddaughter to the previous king of Elkia, a nation inhabited by humans. She has a lot of knowledge but lacks the intuition to win games.
Stephanie Dola | Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa (Japanese); Sara Ornelas (English)
No Game No Life English Dub
You can stream the English dubbed episodes of ‘No Game No Life’ on Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. You can also stream it on Netflix with its original Japanese audio and English subtitles. No Game No Life: Zero movie is available with subtitles on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HiDive.
No Game No Life (12 Episodes, Dub/Sub) is now on @netflix!https://t.co/MrLWwujy9V pic.twitter.com/lDkdBvW7lC
— Netflix Anime U.S (@AnimeOnNetflix) February 1, 2020
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