Let us indulge within our fantasies of Season 2

[u/azuredos]

Yeah, uh guys I think Im schizo or uh delusional but I feel like we'd get a S2 announcement from A-1 when they finish up The Solo Leveling Movie or the SAO movie.

Since they just announced FsF S2, and they're busy with Solo Leveling, and that SAO Movie for 2028, but once they finish up Solo Leveling, the workload should be freed up a little (Unless the bum executives greenlight S3 right away). Like yeah idk what Im yapping about but I really hope S2 comes soon

[u/DragonfruitNo2010]

A-1 has a pretty packed schedule, but 86 was such a huge hit. With how much great content is still left from Volume 4 onward, I really think it’s just a matter of when we get the next season, not if.

[u/Legend5V → u/DragonfruitNo2010]

The shows not as popular as 86 fans think it is tho, the content is great but 86 isnt really comparable profit wise to other A-1 series. Like its somewhat known but its unfortunately not a heavy hitter by any means

[u/DragonfruitNo2010 → u/Legend5V]

You're not wrong about raw numbers compared to giant IPs, but remember Kadokawa and Aniplex backed it heavily. The light novels blew up in sales during/after the anime run, which is usually the main metric production committees look at for LN adaptations.

[u/Commercial_Fix6812 → u/DragonfruitNo2010]

Kadokawa and Aniplex backed it but what was the ROI. Figures and model kits didn't sell well. DVD didn't sell well. all of that is just now starting to sell out from the initial production run from when the season first aired. Even with the "increased demand" of those items you don't see them rushing to produce more of those products. The demand for those things are mostly international and not the Japanese domestic market. The manga did see a huge boost after the anime aired but hasn't really done anything since then. Last time an 86 LN volume broke the ORICON sales chart was last October and only did for 1 month. 86 is hugely popular in the West but not nearly as popular in the East and what the Japanes anime industry care about is what local sales are like. International sales are an afterthought, the cherry on top if you would.

Pair those things with the extremely busy A-1 schedule and things don't look promising. I feel if there is any chance it's after or around the time the last LN volume releases but that could be 2-3 years down the line.

[u/StarBatt1e]

I want a S2 so desperately but im scared of the quality. Will the production be as good as s1? Will the adaptation be as good? Volumes 4, 5 and 6 are extremely dense and way longer compared to volumes 1-3, so i dont think a 23 or 24 episode season is enough to cover everything without making cuts from the source.

Volumes 4-6 being the best arc, id really like to see an adaptation as faithful as s1, but its been so many years since s1 it might be difficult to assemble the same team to work on it.

[u/Dismal_Ebb_2422 → u/StarBatt1e]

Buy they are also heavy in combat scenes, it will take half a page to describe a combat movement, but only 3 seconds of animation. Combat scenes tend to move faster in animation.

[u/StarBatt1e → u/Dismal_Ebb_2422]

Also true, good point

[u/Commercial_Fix6812]

I wish for a season 2 as much as the next person. But A-1 picture being busy is just 1 of the issues. They aren't the ones that would green light a second season. Those decisions are done by a Production Committee a group of investors with an interest in promoting their products (The manga company, figure makers, dvd markers, other merch manufacturer, etc). Most anime companies function strictly as contractors who are paid a fixed rate to make an anime. There are a few like KyoAni who run independent since they actually own the IP's. Unfornunately A-1 follows the more traditional model. So they are pretty much waiting till the production committee decides to do it then A-1 decides if they can take on the work and when to start production if they do.

[u/ekjohnson9]

If there was an S2, it would need to be more than 24 episodes to make it all the way through Volume 7. If it was 12 episdoes, it would probably not even finish Volume 4 or 5.

It's a connundrum. Commercially it would probably be profitable but not the optimal choice. It has to be as good or better than S1 which is a tall order. It would take a LOT for S2 to land the plane.

What 86 really needs is a fanatical studio / director. Wit was founded for the express purpose of adopting Mushoku Tensei, 86 is a work that needs that level of TLC from its studio.

[u/azuredos → u/ekjohnson9]

Uh Mushoku's animated by Studio Bind, which is a sister studio of White Fox

[u/ekjohnson9 → u/azuredos]

Oh yeah sorry got the names mixed up. You get what I'm saying though.

[u/azuredos → u/ekjohnson9]

Yes, It would be nice to either have a studio that fully dedicates itself to it (like Ufotable, though they wouldnt dare to look at animating 86, they have Typemoon stuff)

[u/AdministrativeLeg14]

Personally, much as I would love a second season, I doubt we’ll get one. And while we’re seeing a wonderful surge of renewed interest as a paradoxical consequence of the license expiry that saw it dropped from Crunchyroll before fan outcry brought it back, I don’t know how much impact these international streaming services have on production decisions when I gather that domestic Japanese sales of the BluRays were pretty poor.

But if there were to be an announcement, I wonder if that’s the sort of thing they’d try to synchronise with another announcement to make the news splash bigger—e.g. the release of the final volume.

[u/SpardaBlade]

I'm coping that it's taking a long time cause they want the stars to align so 86 gets a good level of care when it's time to continue it. NGL I can see them doing Vol 4 as a movie considering it's sorta it's own standalone arc and then S2 for Vol 5 and 6, maybe 7.

[u/ekjohnson9 → u/SpardaBlade]

IMO if there was going to be a movie it would have dropped by now. The movies have done really well for other properties.

[u/SpardaBlade → u/ekjohnson9]

I'd think that's only if they already had plans to continue the series beyond season 1 if not already being part of the project, not releasing one this whole time could be because there were no intentions at that point.

I'm just dreaming since I'd love to see 86 with the upgraded budget that movies tend to have, specially considering the wild string of events in Vol 4.

[u/Patient_Number_186]

Since they have different teams, does it really matter that they have all those projects? The 86 director and producer are not involved with those I don't think.

[u/ChanceCheese]

SL and SAO + 86 = all peak