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 created by 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 also featured on Hulu TV is now known all over the world. 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?
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 cell phone. Yuki is even more surprised as the events are 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. With such small details, not knowing each other, blind spots, and mind games, the anime deepens. 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?
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 production of the anime. As of May 20, 2022, the anime’s studio Asread, manga publisher Kadokawa, or any related company has not yet renewed ‘The Future Dairy’ for a second season. 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 speculated about the new season decision under the key factors such as manga status, popularity, etc.
Manga status of the anime
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.
Anime covers the entire manga, with the 26 episodes aired and the OVA episode released afterward. What about side manga? Sakae Esuno has published a short 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 of the anime. If the anime can only have original content, a second season can be created, but this seems impossible considering the time passed.
The other key factors
In fact, after seeing the result in the manga situation, other evaluations do not matter. However, to give additional information for those who are curious. Future Diary has a popularity score of 99,2%. Ranked 21st in the Myanimelist, anime still holds a strong place in Google search volumes.
The other productions of the series
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.
The manga ‘Future Diary: Radial’, which contains clues about the continuation of the series: We mentioned that 3 different additional story manga series were released after the release of the manga. We recommend Radial, one of them, because it contains some details about the continuation of the series. It does not seem sufficient to create a new season, but a second season may meet your needs a little.