All anime lovers know that the ‘Isekai‘ genre has a special place in Japanese culture. Another important product of this genre, which includes many popular animes such as Overlord, produced by the same studio, is No Game No Life, adapted for TV in 2014. We say adapted because although it is known for its anime, it is adapted from Yū Kamiya’s light novel series running since 2012. The successful studio Madhouse is animating the series directed by Atsuko Ishizuka. We already know the studio for popular anime series like Overlord or Chihayafuru. Sentai Filmworks licensed anime was broadcast on many local channels such as AT-X, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS, TV Aichi, BS11 between April 9, 2014, and June 25, 2014. Although it has good popularity and has gained viewers worldwide, a second season has not been aired so far. So, can the anime defy time and get a second season? Let’s remember the series first and then take a look at the details of the new season.
What was the plotline of No Game No Life?
The older brother and sister, Sora and Shiro, are extremely antisocial. The reason for this asociality is that they constantly play games. These two brothers are an inseparable duo both in real life and in the game world. These two, who never lose the games they play, form a group and begin to become famous in the whole game world. This group is known by everyone as mysterious and invincible.
One day, this group receives an e-mail from a hidden person. In this e-mail, the hidden person states that he wants to play an online chess game. As usual, our brothers also beat this game of chess. This mysterious person offers them to come to his world. Everything in this world is decided by games. After the brothers accept the offer, they meet their secret rival, “God Tet”, the god of their world. Let’s see if Sora and Shiro can save the human race, the Imanity, which is considered the weakest race.
We know that there are 16 intelligent races living on Disboard. Each race has a representative chess piece assigned to them by Tet. If the chess piece assigned to a race is lost, that race loses both its place in Exceed and the protection of the Ten Oaths and leaves vulnerable to attack, enslavement, or slaughter by other races. All races of Exceed are bound by the Ten Oaths Tet took after he declared himself the One True God.
Will there be a second season of No Game No Life?
As of January 5, 2022, at the time of writing Madhouse or light novel publisher Media Factory has not yet renewed the anime for a second season. The last time, a movie called ‘No Game No Life: Zero‘, prepared by the same studio as the anime was released in 2017. After the movie, the team remains silent and has yet to announce a second season. But no worries, it can take many years for animes to renew for a new season, and there’s no cancellation yet. Animes usually get a new season approval based on some key factors. Manga/Light Novel source material availability, exclusive distributors, popularity, disc sales directly affect new season decisions. We have speculated about a second season under these key factors and evaluated whether there will be a new season of No Game No Life. Let’s see together.
Light Novel
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is adapted from a light novel series written and illustrated by Yū Kamiya. The light novel, which Media Factory started to publish on April 25, 2012, also meets readers in English. (by Yen Press in Northern America). The series has reached 10 volumes in total, and the 11th volume will be published on November 25, 2021. It’s been a while since the last volume, but Kamiya said on Twitter that he is continuing to write the next volume of the light novel. So the good news is the series is still ongoing.
On the other hand, the first 3 volumes of the No Game No Life’s light novel were adapted into the anime’s first season. At the time of writing, the remaining stock material is 8 volumes with the volume will be published soon. It seems that the light novel situation will not block a new season decision, and there is enough source material.
Disc Sales
Although disc sales have reduced their influence on the second season decisions in recent years, it is still good to see the popularity in Japan. Also, when the first season of No Game No Life was released, the interest in discs was higher than today, and the sales figures at that time show how much the company was making a profit financially. First season (6 volumes) disc sales figures were 8,293 sheets on average. Besides, Movie box office revenue was 700 million YEN (shown at 61 theaters nationwide and eventually expanded to 178 theaters). First of all, regarding the disc sales of the first season, the result is well over 4,000, one of the standards for sequel production. In addition, the box office revenue of the movie exceeded 700 million yen, which was a big hit in the late-night anime movie. (For reference, the box office revenue is higher than the movies of “Toaru Series” and “Bakemonogatari Series” that have been animated in multiple periods.)
Popularity
No Game No Life’s disc sales and movie revenues show that popularity in Japan is doing well. So how is the situation worldwide? To talk about the current known, despite it has been decreasing in recent years, the Google search volume of the anime is still high. It has a better search volume than many beloved animes such as Kekkai Sensen and is just as hit as popular anime like Dorohedoro and Goblin Slayer. Meanwhile, the anime’s Twitter follower count is 136k and that’s not bad.
The light novel has surpassed 5 million copies in total circulation, making it one of the highest-selling light novels. Prior to the anime’s release, it was under 1 million and had a huge impact on the anime’s light novel sales as well. Also, the anime is distributed by major distributors such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. (Also U-NEXT and D anime store in Japan). When all these data are put together, it is not difficult to interpret that the popularity is quite high and everything looks good financially.
When is the second season of the anime?
There is no renewal or cancellations yet, but we speculated about a new season above, considering the main factors influencing the second season decision. As a result, we think a new season of ‘No Game No Life’ is inevitable. A serious fan base is still waiting for the new season, and the light novel provides enough source material. Animes usually have a production period of one year. We may see a new season in 2023-2024. But before that, there must be a season confirmation. Till then, we recommend you to watch similar isekai genre animes such as Isekai Quartet and Overlord. We will update our article as more official data comes. Stay tuned!