Future Diary is one of the most popular anime of all time. The anime, also known as Mirai Nikki in many countries, is a mystery and psychological thriller genre anime series released in 2011. The anime, which marked its time of publication, is gaining new viewers even years later, and viewers are curious about the possibility of a second season. Many of us got to know it through its anime, but the series is based on the manga series written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno. Future Diary was animated by the Japanese animation studio Asread. We know the studio from another beloved series ‘Arifureta‘. Anime licensed by Funimation originally aired from October 10, 2011, to April 16, 2012. The anime was also broadcast on big streamer Hulu TV and got the chance to be recognized worldwide. We haven’t seen a new episode of the anime after the OVA episode, which was last released in 2013. We have seen that many anime are returning to the screens with a second season, despite the years that have passed. Could this be true for Future Diary, will there be a second season of the anime soon? Let’s remember the series and check what we know about the second season.
What was the plotline of the anime?
Amano Yukiteru (Yuki) is an asocial person, unable to communicate with those around him, spending all day writing diaries on his cell phone and talking to his imaginary friends. He wakes up one morning, and everything that will happen during the day is already written on his phone. Yuki is even more surprised at the events written on his phone occur. Then he realizes that his imaginary friend is real, and this friend is actually Deus, the god of time. Then, Yuki joins Deus’s contest. Yuki learns that there are 11 other people like herself, and a death race begins. Only one of these 12 will survive, and the winner will be the new god of time.
Each competitor has a phone like Yuki’s, and each phone has its own advantages/disadvantages. These are the points that make anime interesting. It tells about what will happen around someone’s phone and how others might run away in the future. The anime deepens with such small details, not knowing each other, blind spots, and mind games. How will the people who see this future by making moves and counter-moves kill each other?
Will there be a second season of The Future Diary?
The anime’s first season aired from October 10, 2011, to April 16, 2012. As of September 4, 2022, at the time of writing, the anime’s studio Asread, manga publisher Kadokawa, or any related company has not yet renewed Future Dairy for a second season. However, despite the passage of many years, we see anime that have renewed for new seasons. There is no official announcement for a new season yet. However, there are some key factors that we can evaluate the probability of the second season. We reviewed some key factors such as manga status, and popularity to do this.
PS: At the end of 2021, a Netflix drama series with the same name met with the audience. A second season also aired for the series, which caused confusion among anime fans in their searches. However, we regret to state that except for the similarity of the name this series has no connection with the Future Diary anime/manga franchise.
Future Diary Manga
As we mentioned at the beginning of our article, the anime follows the manga series of the same name that Sakae Esuno started writing 15 years ago. The manga series published by Kadokawa was published on Monthly Shōnen Ace between January 26, 2006 – December 25, 2010. The manga series, consisting of 12 volumes in total, also met with the readers in English by Viz Media. However, the last two volumes of the series, the 11th and 12th volumes were not published in English and the story was left unfinished for English readers. There is also a change.org campaign created recently on this issue.
Unfortunately, Future Diary anime covers the entire manga series, with the 26 episodes aired. What about the side manga? Sakae Esuno has 3-volume side-story manga series devoted to some of the characters. However, these side stories will not be the right choice for creating a new anime season. It is also not long enough to create an anime on its own. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be enough source material for a second season. If the anime can only have original content, a second season can be created, but this seems impossible considering the time passed.
The popularity of Future Diary
More than ten years later, Future Diary is still a popular anime that attracts the attention of new viewers. So much so that, according to Myanimelist, it is still among the 50 most popular anime of all time. Obviously, this is a great success, but it should not be forgotten that old animes are always more advantageous in the Myanimelist ranking algorithm.
It’s clear that anime was pretty popular in the past, but is it still like that? When we look at Google searches volumes to see the current popularity, we see that it still has above-average popularity. Anime is searched more than recent anime like Bofuri on Google, and Bofuri was renewed for a second season.
Even though Future Diary has a Twitter account, we can’t say it’s active anymore. Social media popularity has declined over the years, and only 13k people currently follow its Twitter account.
Mirai Nikki disc sales began in the Fall 2011 season. The anime, which sold 9 volume discs in total, sold 1,957 units on volumes’ average. Considering the period, we cannot say that this sales figure is very good. A dark fantasy anime we can recommend even today, “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, which went on sale in the same year, managed to sell 71,061 units, and those years were quite good in terms of disc sales. However, when we look at it today, we can say that Future Diary is more popular than this anime. Future Diary might still have a chance for a new season if enough source material was available. However, unfortunately, the source material is the first requirement for an anime renewal.
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Conclusion for a second season
Although anime is popular even today, there is no chance of a new season because there is no written source material, manga, or a light novel that can be a source material to adapt. However, the series is not just about manga and anime. If you want more about this series, you can check out the live-action TV drama released on Fuji TV in 2012. Although it was not as popular as its anime, the TV drama also managed to get user-passed votes. On the other hand, The 3rd volume of the side manga, released on July 26, 2013, and titled “Future Diary: Radial” contains clues about the continuation of the series.