The I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 anime TV series will have Yusuke Yotsuya, Iu Shindo, Kusue Hakozaki, Yuka Tokitate, and Keita Torri joining up again with the mysterious new English-speaking hero named Glenda Carter for another quest to stop a drug war. But when will 100-Man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru Season 3 come out?
The anime’s first two seasons were produced by a relative newcomer on the scene, Studio Maho Film, founded in only 2018. Their first anime was If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord, while I’m Standing on a 1,000,000 Lives was their second. Their third project, By The Grace of the Gods, also came out in Fall 2020.
In 2021, the studio also released the Let’s Make a Mug Too anime. In 2022, the studio is releasing the isekai anime In The Land of Leadale in Winter 2022.
The studio and staff making I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 has not been confirmed yet.
For the first two seasons, the anime project was helmed by director Kumiko Habara, who created storyboards for the Fruits Basket reboot and the Infinite Dendrogram anime.
The I’m Standing on a Million Lives anime was the director’s first time as lead director. Before, he was an assistant director for Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion and episode director for Kuroko’s Basketball and Sailor Moon Crystal.
Writer Takao Yoshioka (High School DxD, Your Lie In April) wrote the scripts. Artists Eri Kojima, Toshihide Masudate, and Yuko Oba were the character designers for the first season. Kojima was replaced by Kaho Deguchi for the second season. Composer Ken Ito (High School DxD Season 2) created the music.
The I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the I’m Standing on a Million Lives OP “Anti World” was performed by Kanako Takatsuki. The ED was “Carpe Diem” by Liyuu. For the second season, the OP “Baddest” was performed by VTuber Kaede Higuchi, while the ED “Subversive” was performed by Kanako Takatsuki.
The second season’s finale, I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 2 Episode 12 (Episode 24), was released on September 24, 2021. All 24 episodes were released in Japan as a two-disc Blu-Ray box on September 29, 2021.
This article provides everything that is known about I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 (100-Man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru 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.
Crunchyroll’s I’m Standing on a Million Lives English dub
The first season of the I’m Standing on a Million Lives anime was streaming on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Netflix Japan (but not Netflix U.S., Hulu, or FUNimation) with English subtitles.
Crunchyroll debuted the first I’m Standing on a Million Lives English dub in November 2020.
The cast included Zeno Robinson as Yusuke Yotsuya, Jeannie Tirado as Iu Shindo, and Valeria Rodriguez as Kusue Hakozaki.
Crunchyroll’s I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 2 English dub release date was August 27, 2021.
If a third season is produced, presumably Crunchyroll/FUNimation will follow up with an I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 English dub.
100-Man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru Season 3 release date predictions
As of the last update, Studio Maho Film, Kodansha, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 release date. Nor has the production of a 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 100-Man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru Season 3 premiere date will occur in the future.
Unfortunately, the manga’s story really doesn’t hit its stride until Arc 4, which will be the focus of the third season. Due to this slow build-up, it’s been difficult for the anime to accrue a fanbase.
The I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 2 reviews have been a marked improvement over the first season, but the scores are still just average. The story has been given a chance to differentiate itself from its isekai peers with its interesting characterization and moral quandaries. It also helped that the jumpy animation from the first season was nowhere to be seen.
The first-week sales numbers for the I’m Standing on a Million Lives Blu-Ray box set will only be slightly useful for gauging the popularity in Japan. Considering that the box set is over $200 USD (22,545 yen) before tax, the numbers should be significantly lower in comparison to individual BD volumes from other anime. On the other hand, if the numbers are relatively high from the get-go that could be considered a very good sign.
Sales of the I’m Standing on a Million Lives manga increased 11 times after the anime first premiered in 2020. In Summer 2021, the manga didn’t crack the Oricon Top 10 list but that’s largely due to the various Tokyo Revengers manga volumes dominating most of the rankings.
Based on the quick turnaround of the second season it was obvious that the production of the anime sequel had been scheduled in advance. However, due to the relatively mediocre response to the first two seasons, it’s unlikely that I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 is similarly planned out in advance so anime fans should expect a long wait.
I’m Standing on a Million Lives manga compared to the anime’s second season
The anime’s story is based on the 100-Man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru manga series by writer Naoki Yamakasa and illustrator Akinari Nao.
Nao is best known for the Trinity Seven manga series, which inspired a single-cour anime adaptation in 2014.
While Trinity Seven Season 2 never happened, the anime series received two movies, the 2017 Trinity Seven: Eternal Libary & Alchemic Girl and the 2019 Trinity Seven: Heavens Libary & Crimson Lord.
Serialized in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine since June 2016, the I’m Standing on a Million Lives manga was up to Volume 12 as of July 9, 2021.
Kodansha Comics is publishing the official English translation in North America. As of January 25, 2022, the English I’m Standing on a Million Lives manga series will be up to Volume 11, while the English Volume 12 is scheduled to come out on March 22, 2022.
In July 2021, an I’m Standing on a Million Lives novel was announced by Kodansha. The book will be written by Sawako Hirabayashi, who wrote the script for anime episode 9.
The book features an original story that takes place after Glenda Carter joins the party (the character debuts in Chapter 24). The story has the party defending Zagroth village from destruction in a quest that never happened in the manga timeline.
The first season of the anime series reordered some events and slowed down the pacing so that the characters could receive adequate emotional development at the beginning of the story. By comparison, the manga’s opening panels started right before Yusuke Yotsuya was yanked into the game world along with the two girls, Iu Shindo and Kusue Hakozaki.
Arguably, the expanded content in the first actually improved on the manga. Additional minor scenes were added in the anime that made Yotsuya’s motivations for hating the real world more relatable. On the other hand, the anime’s first season skipped some of the lines that developed the female characters.
The second season picked up the story again in manga Volume 3: Chapter 13. In addition to quickly reintroducing Keita Torri, the first episode reminded audiences that the “game world” is, in fact, a real parallel world in the multiverse that’s accessible via advanced future tech.
This revelation escalates the stakes even further since it’s no longer just a game. Now, every life holds value, and Yotsuya’s pragmatism seems empty now that he realizes he’s actually killed a real person.
Season 2 Episode 1 (Episode 13) adapted Chapter 13 fairly well, especially with the way Kahabell’s scene was handled. The only odd part was that the anime left out the important detail that her husband had been dead for 5 years. Some of Kahabell’s manga dialogue skipped by the anime also provided contrast against Yotsuya’s attitude toward life, a fact that even he picked up on.
From there the second season skipped a variety of scenes and dialogue from the manga. Fortunately, the anime made certain to adapt the most important elements but some of those missing details fleshed out the characters better.
For example, the human traitor who was acting as an informant to the Orc Queen only did so to save his family. When the first male orc was killed by the mercenaries the traitor actually lied, claiming that the orc fell into the volcano. Similar to the pragmatism of Yotsuya, the traitor was hoping to avoid a full-scale war and was stalling for time to see which side might win and then join that side.
Manga Chapter 16 also spent a good number of panels explaining blacksmithing and Yotsuya’s logic behind his weapon creation. Later on, the anime also skipped a scene where Keita Torri damaged his spear in the castle and Yotsuya used his blacksmith skills to fix the weapon on the spot.
Some of the discussions about the ethics of the conflict were condensed. While the anime still hit all the main points the longer version definitely painted a greyer picture of this war between humans and orcs.
On the positive side, Ryce’s backstory in the manga was originally explained mostly through dialogue. Season 2 Episode 3 (Episode 16) increased the emotional impact of Ryce’s death by showing, not just telling, how he came to be a soldier who finally stopped running away.
The anime’s version of events also tried to conceal the motives of the true villain behind the island disaster whereas the manga flat-out showed dragon bishop Lagee raising the dragon in manga Chapter 19. By only teasing the villain’s actions, the anime version added a layer of mystery that made the story more interesting.
The mystery unfolded further when the Orc Queen died since her anime-only flashback expanded on three panels that explained how she came to arrive on the island.
What also really stood out in the second season was the quicker pacing. The first season averaged about one manga chapter adapted per episode, whereas by Season 2 Episode 5 (Episode 17) the anime had adapted up until about halfway through manga Volume 5: Chapter 22.
That meant the halfway point, Season 2 Episode 6 (Episode 18), finished the third story arc’s ending in Chapter 24, leaving the second half for a new arc.
Season 2 Episode 7 (Episode 19 overall) is when the anime diverged completely from the manga timeline and started adapting the side story from the previously mentioned light novel. The divergence started when the Game Master announced the next quest. Rather than giving them an option for a Quest B, the Game Master dropped them into the drug war story arc in the manga version.
The anime was fairly faithful to manga Chapter 25 except for writing out the families of the main four characters. The anime also skipped a lot of the film-making details. Glenda also wasn’t supposed to know Japanese yet and relied on a translator.
All in all, the second season’s finale, 100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru Season 2 Episode 12 (Episode 24), found a stopping point corresponding to the spin-off book.
That means I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 will pick up the story again in Arc 4: Rainbow Stair. English-only manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime will want to jump to Volume 6: Chapter 26.
Finishing off the second season in this manner was the best option since the next manga story arc is far too long to complete in only six episodes. The final scene was a great stopping point since it finally explained the meaning behind the series’ title.
Reconnecting to the original manga timeline shouldn’t be difficult at all. The main difference is that they won’t be given an option to avoid Quest A this time around.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material for making 100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru Season 3. The Rainbow Stair arc runs from Volume 6: Chapter 25 through Volume 10: Chapter 46, which means the third season will need to be two cours to properly adapt the manga’s story.
I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
The next time we watch the anime their quest is to reduce Rainbow Stair addiction in the Kingdom of Goldia to less than three percent. But the beginning of this quest will resemble the second season since the heroes find themselves hunting down wireworm parasites that are plaguing the region.
Certain character development details from the manga will probably be skipped since Kusue Hakozaki already expressed her desire to not kill the infected humans and Yuusuke has already offered to do the dirty work. What won’t change in I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 is that the anime will finally start fleshing out the character of Glenda Carter or Glen as she prefers.
It turns out that Glen’s father literally pulled a gun on her when she came out of the closet. She ran away and has been drifting around the world for over a year.
Glen has her reasons for wanting to be in this fantasy world. “This world is where she died,” she mused upon first arriving. But who is Glen referring to?
The Kingdom of Goldia apparently knew the heroes were coming and dispatched soldiers from the drug crimes division to help them. Yuusuke realizes that they need to reduce the drug users, the deals, or go after the manufacturers, but the situation on the ground is more complex than they realized.
To make matters even more complicated the drug is being produced by neighboring country Ihar-nemore. All in all, the supply chain is composed of farmers, cartels, smugglers, organized crime (mafia), dealers, and addicts. The situation on the ground is similar to the drug war in the United States and Mexico.
Drug users addicted to Rainbow Stair are pretty much comatose and can’t be arrested. Most of the supply chain can’t be targeted for arrest since they’re in a different country, so the only option is going after the mafia in Goldia and they can only be arrested when actively committing a crime.
To make matters worse, a full 6.1 percent of the Goldia population is Rainbow Stair addicts. That means the heroes and the drug crime agents only have 90 days to reduce the addict population by about 6,000 people.
The heroes blow through the first 16 out of 90 days without making much progress beyond learning the scale of the problem. But then they realized that the mafia had paid informants within the drug crimes division.
When the heroes catch the mafia members in act one of the captured prisoners poisons himself. But one of the drug agent informants reveals that his entire family is being held hostage by the mafia. The man truly desires to rid the nation of the mafia and its drugs but he’s been acting under duress.
This drug agent realizes that his family will be killed and desires to help if only for seeking revenge on the mafia, but even that progress is quickly ended when the long arm of the mafia snuffs out the drug agent with a poison blow dart. So far, all the heroes’ intervention has done is get 5 people killed, including an entire family whose headless bodies were used as a warning against the police force.
Yuusuke realizes the only option is to target the drug fields and factories in Ihar-nemore to disrupt the mafia’s cash flow, but that means the Goldia agents won’t be able to help. The impoverished nation of Ihar-nemore is also known for its robbery and r*pe, considered to be so dangerous that the women (except for Glen) will need to be left behind.
The heroes will split into two teams. The girls are staying in Goldia to fight the mafia and propose government program solutions while Glen and the boys take the drug war to Ihar-nemore.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the I’m Standing on a Million Lives Season 3 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!