The Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 anime TV series is confirmed to be in production.
The second season will have Haruto Amakawa/Rio reuniting with old friends and fighting larger-scale battles. But when will Seirei Gensouki Season 2 come out?
On November 5, 2021, the announcement was made by a special Spirit Chronicles Season 2 news trailer that looked back on the adventures of Rio while also teasing the upcoming anime sequel. The trailer video includes a congratulatory illustration from Kyouko Yufu, the character designer.
On December 17, 2021, the official publisher Twitter account celebrated the Seirei Gensouki Season 2 anime announcement by noting that the light novel series had over 2 million copies in circulation. The book series has grown popular enough that the publisher is issuing a reprint.
The official website released multiple comments celebrating the production of the second season of the TV anime.
“I couldn’t be happier to think that we’ll be able to see Rio and the others moving and talking freely in the TV anime again,” said original creator Yuri Kitayama. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the viewers and readers who have supported the work, and to all the people involved in the production who have vividly colored and breathed so much life into the world of Seirei Kantouki, which used to be just text.
I can’t wait to see what the second season brings! Woohoo!!!”
“We have finally decided to produce the second season of Spirit Chronicles!” said anime director Osamu Yamasaki. “This is all thanks to the passionate support of our fans. It will take a little more time before the show airs, but the entire staff will put their hearts into the production to meet your expectations.”
The first season of the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles anime TV series was produced by Japanese animation Studio TMS Entertainment, which is known for Dr. STONE Season 3, Fruits Basket Season 3, and Megalo Box Season 2: Nomad.
In 2021, TMS Entertainment also released Netflix’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Lupin III: Part 6, and Baki Season 4: Son of Ogre.
The Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles anime projected was helmed by director Osamu Yamasaki (Terra e, Tokyo Vice). The director was also involved in writing the script and series composition.
Writers Mitsutaka Hirota (EDENS ZERO), Megumu Sasano (Himawari), and Yoshiko Nakamura (Major S2, Re:ZERO) also collaborated on the scripts.
Artist Kyouko Yufu (anime director on episodes for Gleipnir, Rent-A-Girlfriend) was the first-time main character designer. Composer Yasuyuki Yamazaki (Lord Marksman and Vanadis) created the music.
The Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles OP “New Story” was performed by Marika Kouno, while the ED “Elder Flower” was performed by Aguri Oonishi.
The first season’s finale, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Episode 12, was released on September 20, 2021.
- Updated November 5, 2021: Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 confirmed! English dub confirmed!
This article provides everything that is known about Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 (Seirei Gensouki Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve into what is certain.
Crunchyroll’s Spirit Chronicles English dub release date confirmed
The first season of the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles was initially streaming with only English subtitles on Crunchyroll and VRV (not Netflix, Hulu, or FUNimation).
On November 5, 2021, the official website announced that a dubbed version will be delivered in English, German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Here is the English dub cast:
- Kieran Regan as Rio
- Fionn Kinsella as Young Rio
- Madeline Dorroh as Celia Claire
- Morgan Lauré as Aishia
- Julia Gu as Latifa
- Sarah Williams as Miharu Ayase
Crunchyroll’s Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles English dub release date was scheduled for December 27, 2021.
Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, TMS Entertainment or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 release date. However, the production of a Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles sequel was announced on November 5, 2021.
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 the Seirei Gensouki Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
The Spirit Chronicles reviews have been good but not great for an isekai anime. The premise follows the standard isekai formula thanks to bus/train-kun but with the twist that the main protagonist and Latifa retain their memories of their new host bodies. The inner turmoil caused by Rio remaining the dominant personality was another interesting twist on the formula.
The opening story arc is fairly generic, which makes it difficult to hook audiences that have grown numb to the isekai genre. It also doesn’t help that the anime’s first season only adapted what’s essentially a prologue to the main part of the overall story. The first three light novels are considered the weakest part of the series yet they comprise 9 out of 12 episodes.
Worse, the first season’s second half completely rearranged the ordering of events and thus pushed back the introduction of the characters Ayase Miharu, Aki Sendou, and Masato Sendou! This change in particular was controversial to light novel readers since the majority of a book was given less than five minute’s worth of screentime, essentially reducing one of the best moments down to a cliffs notes version.
It’s not the anime’s fault that the book series really doesn’t start to focus on characterization and develop the overall plot until later on. But the anime production committee should have greenlit two cours for the first season in order to give anime-only audiences a better taste of the later books.
Perhaps due to these problems, the light novel sales also failed to receive a substantial boost in Japan. Meanwhile, The Detective Is Already Dead, Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy, and the 86 Eighty-Six book series all made the Oricon top 10 in the June 2021 time frame thanks to the boost from their respective anime adaptations.
On the other hand, the anime regularly made it to the top 10 on Crunchyroll’s popular anime list when new episodes began streaming. Not many anime that came out in Summer 2021 can say the same.
Despite the anime failing to generate a significant light novel sales boost the streaming numbers must have been good enough to justify having Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 renewed for production.
Based on the timing of the announcement, it’s likely that the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 release date will be in 2023 or later.
Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga/light novel series compared to the anime
The story for the anime is based on the Seirei Gensouki ~Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni~ light novel series by author Yuri Kitayama and illustrator Riv. The light novel series was up to Volume 20 as of September 1, 2021.
Like many isekai light novel series, the story began life as a self-published web novel on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website. It was divided into 10 story arcs and ended with Chapter 199 on October 30, 2020.
The Seirei Gensouki light novel adaptation greatly rearranged and modified the timeline of events. Certain critical events related to Rio’s goals were moved up earlier. Some characters were given new roles in the light novel version so that they appeared more often in the books.
Even Rio’s characterization was changed. In the web novel, he was more Haruto with Rio’s memories, and so his attitude toward many situations reflected the ethos of a modern Japanese man, whereas the character in the light novel was written as Rio having Haruto’s memories and skills. That difference changed his moral values and thus how he reacted to the world around him.
It should be noted that Episode 9/Volume 4 is when the story began to noticeably diverge from the web novel.
Unfortunately, the web novel did not end due to the story being finished. Instead, the web novel apparently violated the website’s rules since some people felt that the story was essentially being continued with commercial books.
The author felt that she had written the two versions of the story in the spirit of the rules. However, since there was a perceived problem, she decided to delete the web novel, and she has not released Chapter 200.
Instead, Kitayama began working on a newer web novel called The Fallen Hero in the Miniature Garden (Shikkaku Sekai no Botsuraku Eiyuu), which is also being adapted into a light novel series.
In 2016, Kitayama teamed up with artist Futago Minaduki to create the Seirei Gensouki manga adaptation. As of August 2, 2021, the manga version was up to Volume 7, which includes up through Chapter 36.
North American publisher J-Novel Club is releasing the official English translation for both the manga and the light novel book series. As of March 18, 2022, the English light novels were up to Volume 18. The English Spirit Chronicles manga was up to Volume 7 as of February 14, 2022.
When a light novel series is adapted into an episodic TV format, it’s unavoidable that the plot and dialogue are condensed. Sometimes the anime adaptation will be similar to the manga version, which is also forced to make such concessions for the format, although sometimes the anime’s cuts go deeper.
In this case, it seemed like the goal from the outset was to finish the introductory story arc to the series by Episode 12. This meant entire characters were removed, and unnecessary action sequences like drunken bar fights were skipped.
Even the first episode skipped some content and removed a prostitute character named Gigi. She was good friends with Rio and gave him money for food, which explained how he continued living despite the gang’s neglect. Gigi and her sister, Angela, desired to save up money to start a shop.
Gigi’s dream ended when the masked man slaughtered both her and the men in the gang. Years later, Rio runs into Angela and her daughter, who lived to see the sisters’ dream fulfilled.
Episode 1 even skipped some of the subterfuge that changes how anime audiences might view characters. The king didn’t merely grant Rio a scholarship out of kindness or as a mere reward. Instead, the king and his advisors couldn’t believe a child could defeat a trained assassin and wanted to monitor him.
Episodes 2 through 4 similarly trimmed back by removing scenes that were either not necessary or redundant since they only reinforced certain ideas.
Episode 5 picked up the pacing by reducing most of a chapter down to a montage sequence, and there were many details skipped regarding Latifa. When Rio was thrown into a cell to freeze to death, Latifa was murderously angry when she found out.
The anime also skipped Latifa making friends with kids her age: lion boy Arslan and Vera. It failed to mention how one of the village’s three head elders, Ursula, was the great-grandmother of Latifa, which was one of the reasons for the deferential treatment of Rio.
As for Rio, the anime skipped a bit of foreshadowing where he dreamt about talking to Miharu before a school trip. While it’s not super important since the anime adapted Volume 3, it still would have served as a reminder of the importance of the girl in Rio’s heart before she showed up in person.
On the other hand, the anime did introduce some good original foreshadowing by having Griffin mercenary leader Lucius Orgueille in the flashback. Since he’s an important antagonist in Rio’s life, it’s good that the anime started building him up since Episode 1.
More importantly, the anime skipped the explanation of the differences between magic and the spirit arts, which is fairly odd considering a reference to the spirit arts is literally in the series’ title.
Spirit arts allow the user to manipulate their life energy, or od, to control manga, the energy of nature. Magic spell formulae are easier for humans to learn since they typically can’t perceive od and detect mana, but spirit arts users can be more powerful once trained. Spirit arts users don’t need to chant names or use magic circles, and they can also contact spirits like with Rio and Aishia.
Episodes 7 through 9 adapted Volume 3, when Rio found his family in the Yagumo region. There were many small scenes skipped by the anime but the most notable change was how the raw brutality of the murderous beatdown Rio gave Gon was toned down.
The raw emotions expressed in the scene where Rio revealed to his grandparents, the Karasuki Kingdom emperor and empress, the death of their daughter was similarly played down. The anime also didn’t explain why Rio couldn’t be declared as royalty.
There was a general outcry from light novel readers when the adaptation pacing began rushing starting with Episode 10 in order to finish Volumes 4 and 5 with only three episodes. As previously mentioned, the anime rearranged the introduction of the characters Ayase Miharu, Aki Sendou, and Masato Sendou, who were featured in the opening video.
This wasn’t a minor change since their story arc was the bulk of Volume 4 as part of a multi-month adventure. These details couldn’t be skipped since the six giant pillars of magical light are the first indication of the hero summonings that set up later plot development. The anime failed to explain these mysterious colored beams of light hence it didn’t mention the summoning of Ayase’s friend Sumeragi Satsuki, but since she doesn’t become important until Volume 8 that’s a minor detail.
Instead of covering that story arc first, Episode 10 jumped to Rio visiting Latifa at the Spirit Village and showed how the bound spirit Aishia gained a physical body. Originally, Aishia’s inner voice had told Rio where to find Miharu and friends, but having Aishia along for the ride earlier in the timeline was actually an improvement.
Unfortunately, this type of story condensing is fairly normal for the anime industry. Typically, a single-cour anime season of 12 episodes will adapt between 3 to 6 light novels.
It’s still very odd that the anime gave so little screentime to Rio’s reunion with Haruto Amakawa’s unrequited childhood sweetheart. The difference is striking if you consider how well Episode 9 handled the emotional build-up of Sayo during Rio’s departure. It really feels like the anime needed a Spirit Chronicles Episode 13 in order to wrap up everything properly.
All in all, the first season’s finale, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Episode 12, found a stopping point corresponding to light novel Volume 5: Silver Bride (despite the rearrangements).
It’s the best stopping point since Volume 4 is also the end of the introduction story arc, and Volume 5 gives anime-only audiences a sense of plot resolution and closure regarding Celia.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material for making Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2. Better yet, English-only book readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight to the English Volume 6.
The bad news is that the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga hasn’t quite finished adapting the story events of light novel Volume 4. So manga readers will need to wait a while before reading ahead.
Seirei Gensouki Season 2 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
After successfully rescuing Celia from her forced political marriage to the evil noble Charles Arbor, Rio travels to the trade city of Amande to stock up on supplies and gather information about the hero summonings. But one of Rio’s primary goals is to track down Lucius Orgueille, the man who sexually assaulted and then murdered Rio’s mother Karasuki Ayame.
To fulfill Celia’s wish of informing her father of her safety, Rio attempts to infiltrate the Claire estate. Living on the outskirts of Amande with Aishia and Celia, he shocks Celia with his Spirit Art, spatial storage magic, and portable home. He even reveals to Celia about his past life as a Japanese college student, but she’s actually more concerned that he’s mentally older than her!
Meanwhile, on her way back to Amande from attending Celia’s aborted wedding, Liselotte Cretia runs into unforeseen trouble with Princess Flora and Sakata, the Beltrum hero. Under orders by Reiss, the carriage is attacked by monsters!
As you might expect, Rio/Haruto comes to the rescue, rescuing Liselotte from death at the hands of minotaurs. Ever playing the hero role, Rio then escorts them to their destination.
Liselotte desires to know about her mysterious rescuer, but Sakata Hiroaki monopolizes the discussion to her annoyance. Upon arrival, Liselotte offers to pay for an inn run by the Rikka guild… even though she would have much preferred to invite Rio to her estate!
All this time, Rio managed to evade questions about his identity, but then the maid Chloe managed to remember him from years ago! Quickly changing the topic, Rio practically runs to avoid any further questioning, and Celia also has to keep herself disguised.
From there, the squabbles between nobles and princesses cause conflict. While all this drama is troublesome, the real trouble begins when the city awakens to the roar of monsters attacking the city.
Reiss, Lucius, and a traitor with a grudge against Rio infiltrate the city targeting Liselotte’s mansion. Will Rio be able to protect his friends and the city while also fighting Lucius?
Unfortunately, anime fans will need to wait until the Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 release date to watch what happens next.
Stay tuned!