Anime fans are hoping that an Angel Beats! “Season 2” anime reboot or prequel could be in the planning stages in 2020 as part of a 10-anniversary project.
What’s more, it’s been confirmed that the “next season” of the Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga remake is coming out later in 2020.
The question is whether an anime continuation will be created by Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga writer Jun Maeda, who is also known for writing Clannad and the Charlotte anime. During a Genron Cafe live stream event in April 2020, Maeda teased that multiple new projects are going to be announced.
One of the projects is a new online portal being called Jun Maeda’s Associate Lab. Japanese publisher Genron uses the Genron Cafe to allow members of their program to attend lectures, which are also streamed online via Nico Nico Douga. Presumably, Maeda will be providing lectures online only based on the title.
Instead of a sequel or prequel for Angel Beats! or Charlotte, the anniversaries for these two anime were simply being used to promote a new anime project called The Day I Became a God (Kami-sama ni Natta Hi).
As expected, the new project involved the production team behind Angel Beats! as a collaboration between Key, Aniplex, and P.A. Works.
This project has been in the works for years since the voice acting has already been pre-recorded ahead of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic.
【「神様になった日」制作決定】
Key、アニプレックス、https://t.co/6N9WHrtn5g オリジナルアニメーション企画第3弾「神様になった日」制作決定！
2020年10月より放送開始！『「Angel Beats!」、「Charlotte」を経て、麻枝 准は原点回帰する——。』https://t.co/PI1rw2yKeU#神様になった日 pic.twitter.com/WDB251a4m5
— 神様になった日&Charlotte&AB!公式アカウント (@kamisama_Ch_AB) May 10, 2020
They’ve also been teasing the new collaboration for over a year. On April 18, 2019, P.A. Works producer Mitsuhito Tsuji discussed how he wanted to work with Maeda on a new project.
[#AskPAWORKS]
Q: Are there plans to create original animation with Jun Maeda as original creator and script writer?A: Charlotte episode 6 may be the most I have cried in our own show. (Also Angel Beats episode 10…) …(continue)
— P․A․WORKS English 🐺🌈🧚♀️ (@PAWORKS_eng) April 18, 2019
The 2010 Angel Beats! anime was an original story written by Maeda. The anime was produced by Aniplex and P.A. Works, who also turned out recent anime such as Fairy Gone and Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger.
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Updated May 11, 2020: Added Jun Maeda’s new anime project name and revised article.
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Updated May 1, 2020: Rewrote article in reference to the upcoming announcements by Jun Maeda.
An Angel Beats! ‘continuation’ was teased on the anime’s anniversary
Even though the May 2020 announcement was unrelated to Angel Beats!, a”continuation” has been teased in relation to the tenth anniversary of the original Angel Beats! anime.
In early April 2020, the official Twitter account for the T.V. anime Angel Beats! and Charlotte noted that the anime “celebrated its 10th anniversary today”, while the Charlotte anime will be celebrating its 5th anniversary on July 4, 2020.
“I may report on a continuation soon!?” said the official Twitter account. “Please look forward to it!”
It should be noted that this tweet was written at 11:01 AM EST on April 1, 2020. But Japan is 13 hours ahead of the United States eastern time zone, so it was technically written in the early morning of April 2, 2020.
Anime is often broadcast after midnight in Japan due to content restrictions, so it’s not unheard of for anime news to come out in the middle of the night. Also, the original Angel Beats! anime did come out in early April 2010.
Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga is a remake or retelling, not a prequel
Angel Beats’ ending in the original anime series did not leave any wiggle room for a sequel. The solid end meant that the 11-volume Angel Beats! Heaven’s Door manga, which ran from 2010 through 2016, was a prequel. The Heaven’s Door manga was based on the Angel Beats! Track Zero novel and it showed Yuri’s gang before Otonashi’s arrival.
The newer Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga began being serialized in Dengeki G’s Comic magazine in January 2018. The Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga is being created by artist Yuriko Asami and writer Jun Maeda.
North American publisher, Seven Seas Entertainment, released only the first volume of the manga prequel in English, but an official English translation for Angel Beats! The Last Operation has not been announced.
Volume 4 of The Last Operation contained an announcement that the “next season” of the manga book series will release in the fall of 2020.
The next season of the Angel Beats! The Last Operation manga shows how and why the Afterlife Battlefront members came into this world. But it’s technically a remake of the original anime since the manga follows the same overall plot but adds extra info and shows more about the characters.
As such, Dengeki G’s Comic magazine has called the new manga the “true arc” for the series. It’s unknown if the manga will expand on the anime’s ending, but it’s unlikely to provide a genuine Angel Beats! sequel.
Is an Angel Beats! Heaven’s Door anime prequel more likely than an Angel Beats! reboot?
As previously mentioned, the ending of the series does not allow for a true Angel Beat! Season 2 sequel, but it is possible to create an Angel Beats! reboot, a retelling or a remake for the anime series. It would also make sense to create a two-season anime based on the manga’s expanded story provided by The Last Operation.
But since The Last Operation manga is unfinished, it’d make more sense to create an Angel Beats! Heaven’s Door anime to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Let’s just hope any new Angel Beats! anime is greenlit for production. Stay tuned!