The Drifting Dragons Season 2 anime will have Mika, Takita, and other crew members of the draking vessel Quin Zaza continue to sail the open airs as they hunt down a ferocious “ship-eater” dragon. But when will Kuutei Dragons Season 2 come out?
The Dorohedoro anime is being produced by animation studio Polygon Pictures, which is also known for animating Netflix’s 3D Godzilla trilogy, the 2019 Human Lost movie, and the Levius anime.
Tadahiro Yoshihira helmed the Drifting Dragons anime project for his first time as lead director. In the past, he’s worked on the Blame! and Godzilla anime as an associate director and the Knights of Sidonia anime as an episode director.
KonoSuba – God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! and Radiant anime writer Makoto Uezu handled series composition. Then there’s sound director Yoshikazu Iwanami.
For the first season, the Drifting Dragons opening (OP) theme song music “Ultramarine (Gunjo)” was performed by Yoh Kamiyama, while the ending (ED) theme songs “Absolute Zero (Zettai Reido)” was performed by rock band Red Park.
The Drifting Dragons Season 2 opening and ending have not yet been announced.
This article provides everything that is known about Drifting Dragons Season 2 (Kuutei Dragons 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.
Drifting Dragons Netflix U.S. release date
The Drifting Dragons Netflix release date in Japan occurred on January 9, 2020. New episodes were streamed on Netflix Japan as they are broadcast on Japanese TV stations. The finale, Drifting Dragons Episode 12, released on March 26, 2020.
Unfortunately, the Drifting Dragons Netflix U.S. release date for English-only audiences is delayed for binge-watching. The Netflix Twitter account has confirmed that Netflix U.S. will be releasing the first season on April 30, 2020.
So far, a Drifting Dragons English dub has not been announced in connection to the Netflix U.S. release.
It’s possible that Netflix’s Drifting Dragons release only has English subtitles. But it’s possible it could be like the BEASTARS anime, which received a dubbing after a multi-month wait.
Drifting Dragons manga compared to the anime
The story for Netflix’s Drifting Dragons anime is based on the Kuutei Dragons manga series by creator Taku Kuwabara. Released by Kodansha’s Good! Afternoon magazine since June 2016, the manga series is up to Kuuetei Dragons Volume 8 as of March 6, 2020.
Kodansha Comics USA has been releasing chapters digitally for the official English translation of the Drifting Dragons manga since November 2017.
Physical volumes of the Drifting Dragons English version started coming out in December 2019. Volume 4 came out in April 2020 and Volume 5 is scheduled for August 25, 2020, Volume 6 for September 15, 2020, and Volume 7 for November 17, 2020.
The 3D character design of the Drifting Dragons characters may have lost some of the manga’s artistic charm since Polygon Pictures tends to create 3D models with a certain trademark look, but the animation studio arguably did a good job, overall. Polygon Pictures’ approach to CGI has been an iterative process and every new project seems to improve on the last.
Manga fans will be happy to know that Polygon Pictures adapted the series in a fairly straightforward fashion. Each episode adapted one chapter, although the ordering of events was changed and some manga chapters were skipped.
- Episode 1: Quin Zaza adapted Volume 1: Chapter 1
- Episode 2: Bounty & Dragonet alla Diavola adapted Volume 1: Chapter 2
- Episode 3: Glittering Dragon adapted Volume 1: Chapter 4
- Episode 4: Reasons for Flying & Dragon Terinne adapted Volume 1: Chapter 3
- Episode 5: Sky Pirates & Pastrami adapted Volume 1: Chapter 5
- Episode 6: Festival & Dragon Laghman adapted Volume 2: Chapter 7
- Episode 7: Disaster & Edible Dragons adapted Volume 2: Chapter 8
- Episode 8: Operation: Take Down the Rampaging Dragon adapted Volume 2: Chapter 9
- Episode 9: Soup Kitchen Goulash & Dragon Cutlet adapted Volume 2: Chapter 10
- Episode 10: Migrating Dragons & the Chasm Depths adapted Volume 3: Chapter 13
- Episode 11: Dragonet & Dragon Brain Hunter Stew adapted Volume 3: Chapter 14
- Episode 12: Dragon Corridor adapted Volume 3: Chapter 17
The good news is that there is plenty of source material for Polygon Pictures to create Drifting Dragons Season 2. Better yet, since it’s a Netflix exclusive it’s more likely to be renewed.
English-only manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime series should jump to Volume 4: Chapter 18. However, it’s recommended to go back and read Chapters 6, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 16 since they were skipped.
Drifting Dragons Season 2 release date: Will Netflix U.S. make Americans wait again?
As of the last update, Polygon Pictures, Netflix, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Drifting Dragons Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Drifting Dragons 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 Drifting Dragons Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
It’s said that good things come in threes and Netflix has been known to develop a new anime TV series for at least several seasons. Netflix anime exclusives tend to be renewed quickly and live-action Cowboy Bebop Season 2, Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045 BEASTARS Season 2, Ultraman Season 2, Grappler Baki Season 2, and Aggretsuko Season 3 have all been confirmed to be in production.
The only negative about being on Netflix exclusively is the delay for international audiences. But since Netflix has been instrumental in growing the anime industry it’s hard to complain too much.
Drifting Dragons Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: These spoilers assume that Drifting Dragons Season 2 will pick up the story with manga Volume 4. However, it’s possible that the second season could adapt story arcs in Volumes 2 and 3 that were skipped.
The last time we watched the Drifting Dragons anime, Takita narrowly escaped death after falling overboard from the Quin Zaza. She discovered baby dragons and this adventure created mixed feelings over hunting and eating these creatures for a living.
The Quin Zaza continues its journey but quickly runs into a new mishap: they collide with a luxury airliner, leaving the airship grounded! Unfortunately, the crew can’t afford the cost of repairs, but then they hear rumors about a ship-eater dragon.
This ship-eater has a large bounty on its head since it’s been destroying many airships in the area. The crew manages to track down the ferocious creature, but then it swallows one of their shipmates whole!
Mika and the gang must figure out how to quickly take down this ship-eater dragon before their crewmate’s time runs out.
The story for Kuutei Dragons Season 2 will probably finish with a story arc from Volume 6. When the Quin Zaza anchors at a large hub, Mike runs into an old draker friend named Cujo.
Cujo wants Mika to help him hunt down a famous dragon called Ol’ Harpoon. Cujo failed to take down this monster three years ago and now the old friends reunite for one last dragon hunt.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Drifting Dragons Season 2 release date to watch what happens. Stay tuned!