The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a popular dark fantasy anime series released as a single season in 2017. The enchanting world set in the countryside of England and London was met with interest in the first season. However, the original of the series is a manga series such as many anime. The original manga has been written and illustrated by Korean Yamazaki since 2013. The anime adaptation was made by Wit Studio, which has produced successful content in recent years. We also know the studio from popular anime series like Seraph of the End and Vinland Saga. The Crunchyroll licensed anime was originally published by AT-X, Tokyo MX, MBS, TVA, TVS, CTC, BS11, HBC local broadcasters from October 7, 2017, to March 24, 2018. After the first season of 24 episodes, additional OVA episodes or another season have not met with the audience. Fans are eager for a second season despite the passage of time. So will the anime have a second season?
What is the plotline of the anime?
Chise Hatori is a person who is tired of living and wants to die. She doesn’t want to do anything for herself. But she is actually a sorcerer of the Slay Vega type, which is rare and has powerful magic power. Nevertheless, she goes on sale by auction, not against those who use this situation and want to sell her. Elias Ainsworth, who bought Chise, is a half-human and half wizard. Elias tells her he wants to make him his wife. But he also thinks he has a lot to learn from Chise. Various events that touch human feelings will take place between the two, who come together strangely, and both characters will be in a very different position from where they started.
Chise is a character crushed under the burden of the past. We understand this from the first chapter. That is why it isn’t easy to look to the future with hope for her. Elias, who lends a helping hand to Chise, is an ancient wizard who feels close to neither humans nor wizards because he is a half wizard. He seems to have doomed himself to loneliness, but when he wants to help Chise, he is not hesitating to ask for her help. It is up to Chise to remind Elias, whose human feelings are dulled despite his human side, to remind these feelings.
While all this is happening, we encounter various creatures of the magic world. Throughout 24 chapters, we come across many different spells and wizards, from dragons to fairies, from forest wizards to enchanters. We also notice Chise’s desire to help everyone but himself. Helping Chise is mostly up to Elias. Because even though he is very valuable as a Slay Vega and a very powerful sorcerer, Chise is both ignorant in this field and has a rather weak body.
Will there be a second season of The Ancient Magus’ Bride?
As of June 12, 2022, licensees, Wit Studio, or any related company with The Ancient Magus’ Bride have not yet renewed the anime for a second season. Passed time may be dampening hopes for a new season, but no worries. Long periods for a new season are quite common in the anime world. The last episode of the series was aired in March 2018, and no official announcement has yet been made so far. Although 3-part OVA started to be published in recent years, there is nothing for anime season from official channels. We will speculate about the second season of The Ancient Magus’ Bride by evaluating some main factors that affect the second season’s probability. These are popularity, source material adequacy, disc sales, etc.
Second season possibility in terms of manga status
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, The Ancient Magus’ Bride anime is adapted from the manga written and illustrated by Korean Yamazaki. Published by Mag Garden, the manga series was first published on November 30, 2013, in Monthly Comic Blade. The anime, which continues its broadcasting life in Monthly Comic Garden, consists of 17 volumes, and it is still ongoing.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride’s manga is the main source material of the anime, so the fact that it continues is good news for us to see new seasons. Consisting of 17 volumes in total, the first 9 volumes of the manga were adapted to the anime’s first season. The fact that it consists of 24 episodes and has a fast narrative is among the reasons for using too much volume. In terms of source material available, a few more manga volumes may be required for a new season. However, as the manga continues to air, there will be enough stock material for a second season in the future.
Disc sales (BluRay and DVD) of the anime’s first season
Disc sales are very important for anime. Unless the decision committee considers a second season to be profitable, it is difficult to see a second season, and disc sales directly affect this decision. In general, an anime is expected to sell an average of 4,000 copies to order its new season. Here are The Ancient Magus’ Bride’s first season disc sales figures.
Volume 01: Total 7,043
Volume 02: Total 6,550
Volume 03: Total 5,994
Volume 04: Total 5,900
Average sales: 6,371
As you can see above, anime sales are above the profit threshold, and a second season seems to be highly likely in terms of disc sales.
It was announced in March 2021 that the anime would feature a 3-episode OVA titled “The Ancient Magus’ Bride: The Boy From the West and the Knight of the Mountain Haze”. Although it tells a different background story from the original story, it is still worth watching. Also, OVA episodes are distributed along with manga volumes and we think it has a huge impact on manga sales. One of the factors indirectly feeding the possibility of a new season is this OVA series.
The OVA episodes are animated by Studio Kafka and scripted by Aya Takaha and Yoko Yonaiyama. Below you can see the release dates of the OVA episodes.
| OVA–1 | September 10, 2021 |
| OVA–2 | March 10, 2022 |
| OVA–3 | September 10, 2022 |
When is the second season of the anime?
The series has not yet been renewed for a second season, but we will see a second season with a 60% chance as a result of the above assessment. There was a success in disc sales, and apart from that, the anime’s popularity in online streaming services is quite OK. Anime is ranked 177th in the Myanimelist’s popularity ranking, and it is discovered by new viewers every day, and also Google searches data shows that the anime has an acceptable good search volume. Also, we think that Wit Studio will not say no to a new season decision. The Ancient Magus’ Bride is one of the popular series of the studio. However, at the time of writing, the stock material from manga might be not enough to create a 24-episode second season. And we don’t think there will be an announcement about a new season before OVA-3 is released in September 2022. When the production time is taken into account, we can see a new season late in 2023. Till then, we recommend you to watch Seraph of The End from the same studio and Boogiepop and Others in the dark fantasy genre.