The Assassin’s Pride Season 2 anime can’t come fast enough for fans wanting to know what happens next to Kufa Vampir and Melida Angel.
The anime has been going strong on online streaming platforms like Crunchyroll, with new episodes oftentimes being listed near the top for most popular anime. The anime industry has shifted toward streaming revenue becoming the biggest success factor, so it’s possible a sequel could be greenlit for production fairly quickly.
The Assassin’s Pride anime is being produced by animation studio EMT Squared, which is probably best known for the Rainy Cocoa series and the anime The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar. The project was the first time as director for Kazuya Aiura, who was also the assistant director for Netflix’s 7 SEEDS anime.
For the first season, writer Hitomi Mieno (Noragami) is handled both the anime script and series composition. Character designer Maho Yoshikawa (Yona of the Dawn) was also the chief animation director. Second character designer Yoshiko Saito (A Certain Magical Index 3) was a second chief animation director.
The Assassin’s Pride Season 2 opening (OP) theme song music and ending (ED) theme song have not yet been announced. The OP for the first season was “Share The Light” by Run Girls, Run!, while ED was “Time Of Foreigners” by Tomori Kusunoki (voice actress for Melida Angel).
This article provides everything that is known about Assassin’s Pride 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.
Assassin’s Pride English dub released by HIDIVE
In early November 2019, the HIDIVE online streaming platform announced that the Assassin’s Pride dub will be a dubcast. Instead of being released weekly, the Assassin’s Pride English dub will come out three episodes at a time on the following dates.
- Episodes 1-3 — Thursday, November 14, 2019, at 16:00 UTC
- Episodes 4-6 — Thursday, December 5, 2019, at 16:00 UTC
- Episodes 7-9 — Thursday, December 26, 2019, at 16:00 UTC
- Episodes 10-12 — Thursday, January 16, 2020, at 16:00 UTC
The Assassin’s Pride English dub will be released online worldwide except for in Asia. It’s currently unknown if there will be an Assassin’s Pride Season 2 English dub.
Assassin’s Pride manga and light novel series compared to the anime
The story for the anime is based on the Assassin’s Pride light novel series by author Kei Amagi and illustrator Nino Ninomoto. Published since early 2016, the book series has already reached Volume 11 as of October 19, 2019. The release date for Volume 12 has not yet been announced.
Beginning in October 2017, the story was adapted into the Assassin’s Pride manga series by artist Yoshie Kato. By the time the first anime season ended in December 2019 with Assassin’s Pride Episode 24, the manga series was only up to Volume 5.
Unfortunately, no North American publisher has announced an official English translation for either the Assassin’s Pride manga or light novel series. However, fan-made scanlation projects have been keeping up with the manga chapters.
There is also an English fan translation for the books, but they are already behind the anime series since not even Volume 2 has been completely translated as of November 2019.
Like many anime that adapt light novel series, the Assassin’s Pride anime is forced to condense the story elements and skip a lot of dialogue due to time constraints. But one thing that stood out when comparing the anime against both the light novels and the Assassin’s Pride manga is the major change in tone.
A major source of tension right from the beginning is the idea that Kufa will assassinate Melida if she doesn’t demonstrate the potential for using mana. This premise changes when Kufa decides to share his mana with her. Now, the source of this assassin’s pride is whether he can adequately train her up to be a strong warrior, but the source of tension is whether they can keep their deception a secret from a world that would kill them for it.
While the premise switcheroo seems fast in the anime, this critical juncture in the story happened in the first chapter of light novel Volume 1 (and in manga Chapter 5). Therefore, it’s later plot developments where the anime focuses more on the darker elements in order to develop a certain mood to the setting. It’s a striking contrast with the manga, which is far more light-hearted since chapters are filled with jokes.
Character development is focused on conflict in the anime whereas some of the expressed desires and actions of the manga/light novel’s version of the characters are a bit more whimsical in nature. The jokes begin to flow even in manga chapter 1 when Kefu is bewildered by the maids gushing over him, calling him a handsome “Demon Teacher” who might punish them with harsh lessons.
The anime skips the early training that Kufa gives Melida in addition to school obstacle courses even though those comedic scenes would have lightened the mood. Readers also get to peek into Kufa’s head and while, yes, he is maintaining a false cheerful facade since he really is a cold and calculating assassin driven by pragmatism the anime fails to show other aspects of his personality.
For example, in the manga, Kufa’s abnormal childhood is hinted at very early on. In fact, his very name, Kufa Vampir, is a fake identity that he assumed solely for the mission to assassinate Melida.
Even before Kufu shares his mana with Melida, he tells the girl of his own hellish education by “Father”. So, living in a school environment, doing sleepovers, and having fun with classmates is new to Kufa. He longs for a childhood that he never had, wishing he hadn’t been born a half-breed outsider from the night world.
In general, Kufa isn’t nearly as cold and distant in the manga and books when it comes to interacting with other characters. Kufa’s relationship with Elise’s tutor, Rosetti Pricket, isn’t, well, prickly, with the pair sometimes laughing together at the antics of their students.
At the same time, the anime skipped a dream sequence in manga Chapter 18 where Kufa’s fears about being caught come to life. Kufa is shown bound in chains with a gun to the back of his head. Melida is dead with blood splattered on her dress and he’s about to be executed for treason against the guild. Considering the dark tone of the anime it’s surprising this scene was skipped.
There are other various details skipped by the anime that better-explained people’s behavior. One major difference with the books is that Melida was directly involved in preparing the stained glass that announced the names of the competitors so it was more natural for her fellow students to be suspicious of Melida.
Both light novel Volume 2 and Episode 4 introduced the story about the Luna Lumiere Selection Tournament between the advanced students of St. Friedeswiede and its sister school, Saint D’autriche Girls’ school. Episode 5 finished that story arc, but only by skipping a lot of content.
The problem is that the anime adapted events completely out of order from then on. Episode 6 was originally a side story that came after Episode 12’s finale, while Episodes 7 through 9 adapted Volume 5. Episodes 10 through 12 then jumped back to Volume 3.
Therefore, Japanese light novel readers wanting to read ahead of the anime should start with Volume 2 in order for the story to make more sense. If you don’t mind missing a lot of context, you can also read Volume 4 and then jump to Volume 6.
Unfortunately, neither English-only light novel readers or manga readers are so lucky. Manga volume 5 was still adapting parts of light novel Volume 2, so it’ll likely take several years before the manga catches up with anime’s first season.
The good news is that there is already plenty of source material available for creating Assassin’s Pride Season 2. In fact, at the rate at which new light novels are being released annually, by 2020 there should be enough books for even Assassin’s Pride Season 3.
Assassin’s Pride Season 2 release date
As of the last update, EMT Squared, Sentai Filmworks, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Assassin’s Pride Season 2 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 Assassin’s Pride Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
Despite being popular on Crunchyroll, Assassin’s Pride hasn’t been a chart-buster that’s guaranteed to receive a sequel. Hopefully, in addition to the streaming revenue, the Blu-Ray sales will indicate a financial success that’ll justify a continuation.
Assassin’s Pride Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: These spoilers for Assassin’s Pride Season 2 assume the sequel will pick up with the story with Volume 6, although the anime skipped Volume 4.
So far, the anime’s story has focused on the threats contained within the candelabra-like city-state of Flondore where individual city blocks are housed in glass domes. Now, an unprecedented crisis is facing the city from without.
An unexpected anomaly has occurred in the device that prevents attacks from the night world by the Lycanthrope. Three dukes gather in secret to create a solution. Melida, Kufa and Rosetti head to the sea with an airship to preserve the last hope for humanity.
Worse, Melida’s grandfather, Lord Mordrew, decides that she must die on a certain day! With the Sword Dance Festival coming up, Lord Mordrew gives something to the Knights of the Night that can bury Melida forever.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Assassin’s Pride Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!