The World Trigger Season 3 release date has officially been confirmed to be in October 9, 2021, the Fall 2021 anime season. But the third season’s finale will release in early Winter 2022.
The third season will have 14 episodes in total. Originally, only 12 episodes were announced, but Toei Animation really needed to surprise everyone with a World Trigger Season 3 Episode 13 and 14 in order to create a solid stopping point.
On December 23, 2021, the official World Trigger Twitter account confirmed that the World Trigger Season 3 Episode 13 release date was scheduled for January 8, 2022. The World Trigger Season 3 Episode 14 release date was also confirmed for January 15, 2022.
The third season’s finale is World Trigger Episode 99 in the overall series. The anime’s story will continue with World Trigger Episode 100 when the World Trigger Season 4 anime comes out.
But with creator Daisuke Ashihara’s health problems still plaguing him, how will that affect the future of the anime TV series?
The second season was originally announced during Jump Festa 2020. Repeating history, the World Trigger Season 3 anime was officially confirmed during the Saturday morning World Trigger Stage Event at Jump Festa 2021.
It was announced on stage that they decided to make a third season since the story will be divided into two parts. As previously announced, the World Trigger Season 2 release date was on January 9, 2021.
It’s now confirmed that the second season will only be a single cour.
What’s a “cour,” you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons, usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
The first season had six cours with 73 episodes in total, which will be bundled into three Blu-ray volumes released on March 10, 2021. The World Trigger Blu-Ray re-release is intended to commemorate the second season’s broadcast.
The World Trigger Season 2 Episode 6 release date was delayed to February 20, 2021 (effectively February 21 due to new episodes airing in Japan at 1:30 AM JST). Episode 6 was postponed due to local TV coverage of an earthquake in Japan.
The second season was originally supposed to end with World Trigger Season 2 Episode 13 according to the Toei Animation website. But in early April 2021, it was announced that the second season would only have 12 episodes.
That means the second season’s finale, World Trigger Season 2 Episode 12, released on April 4, 2021.
In effect, World Trigger Season 3 is essentially like a split-cour, which is when an anime takes a broadcasting break for several cours. But in this case, the separate cours are being officially titled as separate numbered seasons.
The original main cast will reprise their voice acting roles, with Tomo Muranaka as Yuma Kuga, Yuuki Kaji as Osamu Mikumo, Nao Tamura as Chika Amatori, Yuichi Nakamura as Yuichi Jin, and Nobunaga Shimazaki as Hyuse.
New Japanese cast members include:
- Hisao Egawa as Galin
- Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Ratarikov
- Mie Sonozaki as Wen So
- Kenjiro Tsuda as Koskero
- Ayumu Murase as Reghindetz
- Ryoko Shiraishi as Yomi
- Ryota Takeuchi as Mikhail Cronin
- Mamiko Noto as Yuri Rindou
New characters called the Katori Unit include Megumi Han as the Katori Unit’s leader Yoko Katori, Kenji Akabane as Rokuro Wakamura, Yudai Mino as Yuta Miura, and Reina Kondo as Hana Somei.
The World Trigger Season 3 anime will be produced by Japanese animation studio Toei Animation, which is also releasing the Sailor Moon Eternal movie in 2021.
The main staff for World Trigger Season 3 is returning. Considering the short turnaround time, it’s not surprising that there won’t be too many major changes.
The second season was helmed by director Morio Hatano, known for being the series director for Dragon Ball Super episodes 33 – 76 and the first 51 episodes of Saint Seiya Omega. If the third season is already being planned out it makes sense to have a director like Morio in charge based on his experience.
Several staff members from the first season returned for the second. Writer Hiroyuki Yoshino wrote the series composition. Artist Toshihisa Kaiya was the character designer. Composer Kenji Kawai was creating the music.
The World Trigger Season 3 OP (opening) theme song music “Time Factor” will be performed by rock band Kami wa Saikoro o Furanai, while the ED (ending) “Yearning to Be Above the Clouds (Ungair Doukei)” will be performed by Fantastic Youth.
For the second season, the OP was “Force” by South Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT). Motoko Omori of Mrs. Green Apple wrote the song for the anime. The second season’s ED was “The Endless Future (Mirai Eigo)” by Kami wa Saikoro o Furanai.
- Updated Decembe 23, 2021: Added details about Episodes 13 and 14.
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Updated October 13, 2021: Added new trailer and total number of episodes.
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Updated September 28, 2021: Another World Trigger hiatus due to health problems.
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Updated September 8, 2021: Added OP/ED info and new cast info.
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Updated August 15, 2021: Exact World Trigger Season 3 release date confirmed! Added trailer.
- Updated August 3, 2021: Added World Trigger Season 3 key visual.
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Updated April 5, 2021: World Trigger Season 2 Episode 12 release date confirmed to be the finale. Added World Trigger Season 3 anime spoilers.
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Updated March 29, 2021: Added World Trigger hiatus for April 2021 (Jump Square May 2021 issue).
- Updated March 27, 2021: World Trigger Season 3 release date confirmed for October 2021.
- Updated February 17, 2021:
World Trigger Season 2 Episode 6 delayed.
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Updated January 28, 2021: Added World Trigger hiatus problems.
- Updated January 25, 2021: Season 2 number of episodes confirmed with 13 episodes.
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Updated December 19, 2020: World Trigger Season 3 anime confirmed!
This article provides everything that is known about World Trigger Season 3 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Daisuke Ashihara’s health problems and manga hiatus influencing the anime production?
When the second season premiered in January 2020, there were already enough manga chapters available for at least three cours, perhaps even four assuming there is a new filler arc (see the manga comparison section below for more details). So, why does the second season need to be only a single cour?
The elephant in the room is manga creator Daisuke Ashihara’s health problems. The mangaka has suffered from a variety of physical problems, including cervical spondylosis (wear and tear affecting the spinal disks in the neck) and intestinal issues resulting from a gall bladder removal.
Only a month into 2021 a World Trigger hiatus was announced in late January 2021. The manga went on break so a new chapter did not appear in Jump Square magazine until February 4, 2021.
The official World Trigger Twitter account revealed that the author was suffering from a “sudden illness” but assured fans that he had not caught COVID-19.
“The March issue of Jump Square released on February 4th will be suspended due to the author’s sudden illness. The medical condition is not the new coronavirus (COVID-19). Ashihara-sensei is currently resting. The latest manga Volume 23 will be released on February 4th as scheduled. It will also be published in the April issue of Jump Square. Thank you.”
The longest hiatus was from November 2016 through October 2018, but in 2019 Daisuke took two breaks that were a month each.
In 2020, Chapter 197 was initially released in early June 2020 as a rough draft and then Daisuke took another hiatus until August 3, 2020, when Chapters 198 and 199 were released. Chapters 200 and 201 were similarly released in the same magazine issue on September 3, 2020.
Daisuke returned to his monthly schedule and was up to World Trigger Chapter 205 by January 3, 2021.
On March 29, 2021, another month-long World Trigger hiatus was announced due to the author’s ongoing health problems. The World Trigger manga did not appear in the Jump Square magazine’s May 2021 issue, which released on April 2, 2021, but returned for the June 2021 issue that released in May. The announcement by Jump Square was quick to say that Daisuke did not have the new coronavirus COVID-19 and that he was recovering.
On September 27, 2021, Jump Square announced yet another World Trigger hiatus due to a “sudden illness” experienced by Daisuke. This time the manga artist took a month-long break in October 2021 due to problems with his head and neck.
Assuming Daisuke doesn’t take any more breaks for the remainder of 2021, it made sense to schedule the World Trigger Season 3 release date for Fall 2021 at the earliest so the manga author can get further ahead of the anime.
It’d also make sense for Toei Animation to plan a TV broadcasting break around a new filler story arc.
World Trigger Season 3 English dub
The World Trigger English dub for the first season was not immediately released. The World Trigger dub premiered in early 2017, a year after the first season’s finale had already aired.
Toei Animation has not yet announced any plans for dubbing the second season. Therefore, it’s likely that the series will be streaming with English subtitles only at first. Then the World Trigger Season 3 English dub will come out later.
Is this really the World Trigger Season 4 anime?
Counting anime seasons can be a tricky thing. There are split-cour anime, where an anime takes a long broadcasting break yet it’s still considered the same season. Even then, there are instances like the Overlord anime where seasons 2 and 3 were released within months of each other (the Overlord Season 4 anime has been said to be “extremely likely”).
Netflix U.S. confuses the picture even worse, often declaring seasons differently from the Japanese standard. For example, The Seven Deadly Sins Season 5: Dragon’s Judgment is actually the fourth season and Netflix’s Great Pretender Season 3 anime would merely be the second.
The reason that the third season could be considered World Trigger Season 4 us due to the anime-exclusive story arc called the Fugitive From Another World arc (World Trigger: Isekai Kara no Tobosha). Initially announced in the summer of 2015 as a spin-off, the Fugitive Arc broadcast as episodes 49 through 63 of the main series.
The first season was originally only announced for 50 episodes. The Fugitive arc was really filler episodes that introduced a week-long timeline gap between the B-rank battles arc. Even though the Fugitive arc was not officially called World Trigger Season 2, some fans considered it to be a sequel.
To this day, Anime News Network still lists in its database the Fugitive arc as “TV 2” while the World Trigger 2021 anime is considered “TV 3”. Thus, depending on how you count, World Trigger 2022 might be considered World Trigger Season 4.
World Trigger manga compared to the anime: New filler arc likely?
The story for the anime series is based on the World Trigger manga series by writer and artist Daisuke Ashihara. Started serializing in Weekly Shonen Jump in early 2013, the manga moved to Jump Square in December 2018.
As of June 4, 2020, the manga has been collected into 22 volumes (which includes up through manga chapter 196). The World Trigger Volume 23 release date should be in early 2021.
The official English translation of the manga series is being released in North America by VIZ Media. As of November 2020, the English version was up to Volume 21, with the World Trigger Volume 22 release date scheduled for May 4, 2021.
The first season of the anime series left audiences hanging in the middle of the B-Rank rank battles story arc. As previously mentioned, episodes 49 through 63 were an anime-original filler story arc. Episode 64 picked up the story again with Chapter 104, while Episode 72 adapted up through Chapter 121.
The first season’s finale, Episode 73, was a bit of an oddball ending since it adapted pieces of chapters 121 through 124 while also dipping into Chapter 136. The final episode skipped several scenes while also adding several anime-only scenes in an awkward attempt to provide some sort of resolution.
If you remove the 14 episodes of the Fugitive arc, the first season adapted roughly 125 chapters with 49 episodes. That means the anime’s pacing has averaged 2.55 chapters per episode.
The World Trigger Season 2 anime picked up the story again with Chapters 121, 123, 124, and 125, the beginning chapter of Volume 15.
Daisuke finally finished B-Rank rank battles story arc with Chapter 199. That means there are 74 chapters for the second and third seasons to adapt before a good stopping point is reached.
Assuming the anime’s second season increases the pacing to three chapters adapted per episode there is exactly enough source material for about 24 episodes or two cours split between the second and third seasons.
By World Trigger Season 2 Episode 6, the anime was already up to Chapter 142. And, sure enough, the anime’s pacing was averaging 3 chapters per episode.
That meant World Trigger Season 2 Episode 12 finished off around Chapter 160.
The World Trigger Season 3 anime will pick up the story again in the middle of the B-Rank Rank Battles arc.
The third season could be the last season for a time. The problem is that the Expedition Selection Exam arc is only a handful of chapters.
Therefore, it’s also possible that Toei Animation will once again introduce filler arcs after the B-rank battles.
The good news is that filler arcs would allow for World Trigger Season 3 to be more than a single cour. The only bad news is that the anime would still catch up with the manga series once again by 2022.
In that scenario, World Trigger Season 4 will begin adapting Chapter 200 and the Expedition Selection Exam story arc. But the wait for the real fourth season could be a long one again.
World Trigger Season 3 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: These spoilers assume World Trigger Season 3 Episode 1 will begin by adapting Chapter 160.
After Hyuse concludes the mock battles against Ikom and Tachikawa, he returns to Tamakoma’s base to officially join the team as their fourth member. Tamakoma’s senior members, Yuri Rindo and Mikhael Cronin return and introduce themselves to the team.
Hyuse was originally supposed to be disguised as Cronin’s son, but it’s decided to have him act as a nephew, instead.
Tamakoma Second is now ranked B-Rank #4 with 30 points. They then choose their triggers and discuss the upcoming matches with the top B-Rank teams: Kageura Unit, Azuma Unit, and Suzunari First.
When Osamu finds an old picture of Commander Kido in his old room, Yuri explains the history of Border and how the past impacted their leader. It turns out Tamakoma Branch used to be Border HQ. Kido used to be happy and smiling, but after a conflict with Neighbors, 10 people died, with some becoming Black Triggers.
After that horrible experience, Kido became his current serious self. Kido doesn’t believe that it’s possible for a friendship to exist between Earth and the Neighbors.
Hyuse and Yuma have a sparring session, with the latter winning 12 to 8. Afterwards, Yuma travels to Border HQ with Chika, who will undergo joint sniper training.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the World Trigger Season 3 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!