Will Higehiro: After Being Rejected I Shaved and Took In a High School Runaway Season 2 continue the story of the completed Higehiro light novel series? Or is Higehiro Season 2 necessary at all?
The real question is if, not when Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Season 2 will come out. After all, the first season finishes adapting the book series’ final ending provided by Highiro Volume 5.
However, in June 2021 the original creator announced a new light novel called Higehiro: Another Side Story. While it’s not a direct sequel showing what happens to Yoshida and Sayu it does expand upon the story. In that case, a Higehiro OVA episode is possible. (Please see below for more details.)
The first season of the anime TV series was produced by Japanese animation studio Project No. 9, which is also known for making the 2019 CHOYOYU!: High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! anime and the Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! anime.
In 2021, the studio also produced the Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki anime adaptation.
The project was helmed by first-time director Manabu Kamikita. What’s interesting about the director is that he has no prior credits for any other work in the anime industry.
Artist Takayuki Noguchi (Queen’s Blade, Rail Romanesque, Tenshi no 3P!) was the animation character designer, with the original character designs credited to booota. Writer Hitomi Mieno (3D Girlfriend, Assassins Pride, Noragami, Pokemon Journeys), who also goes by the alias Deko Akao, wrote the series composition.
The Japanese voice cast include:
- Kazuyuki Okitsu as Yoshida
- Kana Ichinose as Sayu Ogiwara
- Hisako Kanemoto as Airi Gotō
- Kaori Ishihara as Yuzuha Mishima
- Yūsuke Kobayashi as Hashimoto
- Natsumi Kawaida as Asami Yūki
The Higehiro OP (opening) theme song music was “Omoide Shiritori” as performed by Dialogue+, while the ED (ending) was “Plastic Smile” by Kaori Ishihara.
The finale for the first season, Higehiro Episode 13, released on June 28, 2021.
- Updated June 28, 2021: Added Higehiro: Another Side Story announcement.
- Updated June 16, 2021: Added Higehiro Blu-Ray sales numbers in Japan.
This article provides everything that is known about Higehiro Season 2 (Higehiro: After Being Rejected I Shaved and Took In a High School Runaway Season 2/Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Season 2) 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.
Higehiro English dub
VRV and Crunchyroll is streaming Higehiro with English subtitles. Crunchyroll’s Higehiro English dub has not been announced yet.
Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Season 2 release predictions
As of the last update, Kadokawa, Dream Shift, Project No. 9, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Higehiro Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Season 2 release date will occur in the future.
Financially, the Higehiro Blu-Ray box set sales in Japan were just mediocre. When BD Volume 1 released in June 2021 the disc only sold 1,759 copies in its first week.
But that’s fairly normal since the anime industry has shifted to streaming revenue as the primary factor. In that regard, the anime did well since it was regularly in the top 10 of Crunchyroll’s popular anime list.
The main issue is the lack of source material since the book series is relatively short. With the final book having released on June 1, 2021, the anime adapted the entire story that’s currently available.
It’s also possible, but unlikely, that a Higehiro sequel for the book series could be announced in the future. Even then, it would take several years before Higehiro Season 2 becomes possible.
Higehiro Volume 5 ending the story
The story for the Higehiro anime TV series is based on the Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. light novel series by author Shimesaba and illustrator booota. The author first began self-publishing the story online on Kadaokawa’s website Kakuyomu, but it was later adapted into the light novel format beginning in March 2017.
In early April 2021, Kadokawa announced that Higehiro Volume 5 would contain the final ending of the story. The book released in Japan on June 1, 2021.
Here is the story summary:
“I’m glad I met you. The story of a salaryman and a high school girl living together comes to an end!
Yoshida and Sayu head for her parent’s house in Hokkaido, but what awaits Sayu when she opens the door is a slap from her mother. Sayu confronts her mother and herself, and Yoshida’s decision to watch over her is ……. The story of two people who are neither lovers nor family members comes to a conclusion!”
Unfortunately, the Higehiro books do not have an official English translation.
In 2018, Shimesaba teamed up with manga artist Imaru Adachi to start serializing the Higehiro manga adaptation in Kadokawa’s Shonen Ace Plus magazine. As of August 26, 2021, the manga will be up to Volume 6.
In March 2021, North American publisher One Peace Books (which releases the English The Rising of the Shield Hero books) announced that it would be releasing an official English Higehiro manga translation. The English Higehiro Volume 1 release date is scheduled for October 14, 2021.
Beginning on March 5, 2021, Shimesaba and manga artist Baramatsu Hitomi began releasing a series of sides stories in Shonen Ace Plus called Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Each Stories.
Higehiro: Another Side Story light novel to extend the story
Shortly after the anime finished airing a new light novel project called Higehiro: Another Side Story was announced by Kadokawa. This gaiden novel depicts the aftermath of Yuzuha Mishima and Airi Gotou.
Shimesaba says the story takes place in the several year time skip that happens before Sayu and Yoshida meet again.
“In the years leading up to the reunion of Sayu and Yoshida, there were various things that happened between Yoshida and Mishima, as well as between Yoshida and Gotou,” Shimesaba tweeted. “I will be writing about those ‘various things’ as a spin-off work, so please wait for further news! I’m really glad to be able to put a period in the story of Mishima and Gotou!”
Higehiro manga/light novel series short enough to fit into 13 episodes
When a light novel series is adapted into an anime TV series the content is typically heavily condensed. It’s about average for an anime to adapt 3 to 5 books per season. Anime like Cautious Hero, Konosuba, and Combatants Will Be Dispatched! are unusual since they only covered two books.
It’s even more unusual for a rom-com anime to adapt an entire story in a single season, like with the Horimiya anime. Anime fans are used to the first season climaxing with either a first kiss or a confession of love, like with the Rent-A-Girlfriend anime (the Rent-A-Girlfriend Season 2 release date is confirmed for 2022).
In the case of the 2021 Horimiya anime, the manga series was actually long enough for Horimiya Season 2, but the anime production committee made the decision to greatly condense the story down to focus on only the primary relationship, which meant that about half of the chapters were skipped.
The Higehiro anime is faithful to the core story but it does skip some minor scenes. For example, there is a scene where Yoshida talks about working hard. Another had Yoshida’s boss asking him to on a trip, but the anime just stated that it happened. A movie-watching scene was skipped.
Even some important character-developing scenes were skipped. For example, Higehiro Episode 5 skipped a moment in light novel Volume 2 when Yoshida ponders having a life with both Gotou and Sayu and he can’t imagine it. At the same time, he couldn’t imagine living life without Sayu.
Continuing this line of alterations, the anime removed a dream sequence from the beginning of Volume 3 where he was asked how he felt about Sayu. This event originally played into the summer festival and showed how Yoshida was conflicted about his feelings.
Episode 6 skipped Yaguchi’s backstory. Episode 7 went a step further and stripped out the story arc for Ao Kanda, Yoshida’s ex-girlfriend from high school. This character first showed up in manga Chapter 25 (or light novel Volume 3: Chapter 3), but Kanda will be limited to a cameo in the anime.
“Sorry Kanda fans, her only appearance in the anime will be in the picture,” tweeted light novel author Shimesaba. “If you got to know Higehiro from the anime and are wondering, “Who is that beautiful girl in the picture?” If you’re a fan of Kanda Ao, please pick up the original story or the manga (the manga is being serialized right now).”
The only issue with removing Kanda’s story arc is that it provided the biggest hint that Yoshida hasn’t changed all that much since his high school days.
The big question was whether the anime’s pacing would leave room for a Higehiro anime sequel. After all, the first book was adapted by three episodes, and Higehiro Episode 4 finished Chapter 6 out of 17 of Volume 2. Thus, based on a quick analysis, it seemed like the anime was set to end in Volume 4 unless the second half rushed the pacing.
Thankfully, that’s not the case due to the relative length of each book. The first two books were the longest and had 324 pages each. Volumes 3 and 4 were 260 and 258 pages, respectively. The ending in Higehiro Volume 5 is the shortest, with only 228 pages.
Therefore, it was not necessary to take the anime original ending route or require Higehiro OVA episodes or a Higehiro movie to finish the rest of the story.
Higehiro Episode 10 finished Volume 4. That meant the final Volume 5 was adapted by Episodes 11, 12, and 13.
Anime fans will just have to wait and see if a Higehiro sequel is ever released. Stay tuned!