You shouldn’t lose hope if your favorite anime doesn’t have a sequel announcement immediately — fans of these series waited for way longer.
The renewal of interest in Blue Exorcist caused a mild shock in the community. Fans aren’t unhappy with it, but many questions are asked, including why it is made and what it is going to cover. Furthermore, many otaku are holding their breath for sequels to anime like No Game No Life. While that one is not very likely, cases of sequels coming out years after the original exist — and some of them even match the quality of the original.
Bleach’s anime is currently in its final arcs. The Thousand-Year Blood War Arc was widely criticized in the manga, but the reception of the anime is a polar opposite. It’s understandable: after so many years, Bleach fans want some sort of conclusion to the anime, and the sequel is providing exactly that. It also looks epic: yes, the original anime looked far from bad, but the new anime looks arguably better than the peaks of the original. Needless to say, fans are very pleased with that fact.
The Toaru franchise is a curious case. Both A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun got their third seasons many years after their respective S2’s. The former was ultimately panned — it adapted way 10 light novel volumes, most of which were really long, into 26 episodes, and looked subpar visually — both unfortunate examples of production committees meddling with J.C.Staff (One Punch Man S2 also suffered from that).
Railgun T, the third season of the series, was praised, however — the first arc is one of the best in the franchise, and the anime dropped the annoying habit of adding a filler arc into the second half. Oh, and it looked great, even though it was hit by the pandemic delays.
After the original InuYasha anime finished in 2004 with over 150 episodes, it still wasn’t concluded. Obviously, it upset many fans — and only 5 years later, they finally got their sequel. It tied the unfinished plot lines and was widely considered an example of a shounen series ending perfectly. Funnily enough, InuYasha arguably deserves to appear on the list twice — Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi), an adaptation of a sequel manga, came out much later in 2020.
Aria
The Aria franchise is a stellar example of an iyashikei anime. While many otaku find slice-of-life shows boring, to others, the serene, soothing atmosphere of Aria is just what they crave for after a long working day. The original trilogy ended with Aria the Origination, which is considered by many to be one of the best final seasons in anime. In that sense, the sequel trilogy (Avvenire, the 2015 OVA, and Crepuscolo and Benedizione, two 2021 movies) isn’t necessarily needed — but with the series’ nature, more content is always welcome. The atmosphere in the sequels is on point as well, and that’s what mattered to fans, after all.
Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory
Invisible Victory (or IV) is the fourth season of Full Metal Panic! — if you count the spinoff, Fumoffu, of course. It’s just as good as the first two (Fumoffu is also great, but it’s different in tone, being a comedy), but it went unnoticed by most otaku. It’s understandable: the series, which was a staple of the 00s, faded into irrelevance by the end of the 2010s, with many fans of it retiring from anime altogether. Despite this, the sequel is great, although the series requires one more season to be completed — and so far it looks like we are not getting it.
You shouldn’t lose hope if your favorite anime doesn’t have a sequel announcement immediately — fans of these series waited for way longer.
The renewal of interest in Blue Exorcist caused a mild shock in the community. Fans aren’t unhappy with it, but many questions are asked, including why it is made and what it is going to cover. Furthermore, many otaku are holding their breath for sequels to anime like No Game No Life. While that one is not very likely, cases of sequels coming out years after the original exist — and some of them even match the quality of the original.
Bleach’s anime is currently in its final arcs. The Thousand-Year Blood War Arc was widely criticized in the manga, but the reception of the anime is a polar opposite. It’s understandable: after so many years, Bleach fans want some sort of conclusion to the anime, and the sequel is providing exactly that. It also looks epic: yes, the original anime looked far from bad, but the new anime looks arguably better than the peaks of the original. Needless to say, fans are very pleased with that fact.
The Toaru franchise is a curious case. Both A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun got their third seasons many years after their respective S2’s. The former was ultimately panned — it adapted way 10 light novel volumes, most of which were really long, into 26 episodes, and looked subpar visually — both unfortunate examples of production committees meddling with J.C.Staff (One Punch Man S2 also suffered from that).
Railgun T, the third season of the series, was praised, however — the first arc is one of the best in the franchise, and the anime dropped the annoying habit of adding a filler arc into the second half. Oh, and it looked great, even though it was hit by the pandemic delays.
After the original InuYasha anime finished in 2004 with over 150 episodes, it still wasn’t concluded. Obviously, it upset many fans — and only 5 years later, they finally got their sequel. It tied the unfinished plot lines and was widely considered an example of a shounen series ending perfectly. Funnily enough, InuYasha arguably deserves to appear on the list twice — Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi), an adaptation of a sequel manga, came out much later in 2020.
Aria
The Aria franchise is a stellar example of an iyashikei anime. While many otaku find slice-of-life shows boring, to others, the serene, soothing atmosphere of Aria is just what they crave for after a long working day. The original trilogy ended with Aria the Origination, which is considered by many to be one of the best final seasons in anime. In that sense, the sequel trilogy (Avvenire, the 2015 OVA, and Crepuscolo and Benedizione, two 2021 movies) isn’t necessarily needed — but with the series’ nature, more content is always welcome. The atmosphere in the sequels is on point as well, and that’s what mattered to fans, after all.
Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory
Invisible Victory (or IV) is the fourth season of Full Metal Panic! — if you count the spinoff, Fumoffu, of course. It’s just as good as the first two (Fumoffu is also great, but it’s different in tone, being a comedy), but it went unnoticed by most otaku. It’s understandable: the series, which was a staple of the 00s, faded into irrelevance by the end of the 2010s, with many fans of it retiring from anime altogether. Despite this, the sequel is great, although the series requires one more season to be completed — and so far it looks like we are not getting it.
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