Anime fans may be looking forward to Ahiru no Sora Season 2, and a recent rumor gives rise to this hope. However, Ahiru no Sora manga creator Takeshi Hinata had some harsh words for the animators of the first season.
The Ahiru no Sora anime is being produced by animation studio Diomedea, which is best known for making Squid Girl, Aho Girl, Chio’s School Road, and Domestic Girlfriend.
With the notable exception of Sky Wizards Academy, most of the studio’s work has been anime adaptations of light-hearted manga/light novel stories focused on girl characters.
The project is being helmed by chief director Keizou Kusakawa (Happy Sugar Life) and director Shingo Tamaki. In the past, the two directors have worked together in various roles on Asura Cryin’, Dog Days, Domestic Girlfriend, and Aho Girl.
Artist Yoshino Honda (Fuuka) is the character designer. Maho Takahashi (Pumpkin Scissors) is the art director. Writer Gou Zappa (Beatless) is handling series composition. Composer Hiroaki Tsutsumi (Devil May Cry, Dr. STONE Season 2, Jujutsu Kaisen) is creating the music.
Ahiru no Sora is the studio’s first attempt at a sports anime. It’s also their first attempt at creating a long-running anime series with multiple cours.
A “cour” is a three-month unit of TV broadcasting based on the physical weather seasons. Most anime seasons are composed of 12 or 13 episodes per cour.
The first season was announced early on to be 50 episodes composed of four cours that will air consecutively. Therefore, it’s very likely that Ahiru no Sora Season 2’s number of episodes will be renewed on an annual basis, as well.
The first season of the Ahiru no Sora is streaming on Crunchyroll. The finale, Ahiru no Sora Episode 50, was streaming on Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
When the finale aired, a special movie was released as thanks to fans for watching the anime for a year.
This article provides everything that is known about Ahiru no Sora 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.
Ahiru no Sora manga ending relatively soon? Final arc announced before long hiatus
The anime is based on the Ahiru no Sora manga series by creator Takeshi Hinata. The Japanese title あひるの空 translates as “Duck’s Sky” or “Duck of the Sky” although it’s never been given an official English title.
Serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine since December 2003, the manga is over 600 chapters long.
The Ahiru no Sora manga’s ending is slowly coming into view. In January 2019, the creator announced via his official Twitter account that the manga had entered its final story arc.
When will it end is an open question. The number of the final chapter and volume has not yet been announced, nor has a climax been announced.
Starting in spring 2019, the author went on hiatus after releasing Ahiru no Sora Chapter 616. It was initially planned to be a “short hiatus,” but over a year later, Hinata hasn’t announced when he will release Ahiru no Sora Chapter 617.
Unfortunately, no American publisher has announced an official English translation. There are English Ahiru no Sora manga fan translations, but those unofficial projects had only translated up through Volume 20 as of July 2020.
Creator Takeshi Hinata criticizes Studio Diomedea for the anime’s direction
The anime was a long time coming mainly because the creator has been very reluctant to permit an anime adaptation. In manga Volume 39, the author’s notes revealed that he had been approached twice in the past.
These anime producers wanted an anime original ending where Sora Kurumatani plays in the NBA by the conclusion. Unhappy with that idea, Hinata shot down both offers.
What made him change his mind for producer King Records and Studio Diamedea has not been revealed. At first, Hinata seemed satisfied since he thanked everyone involved in making this “weird work” when the anime’s first episode premiered.
In fall 2019, Hinata also reported a small incident that seems to have left a sour taste in his mouth. He received a letter from a boy who was aiming to become a voice actor at the time the anime’s production was starting. He wanted the boy to be given an “audition opportunity” but this request was ignored.
“I was reminded that ‘feelings’ are of no value in this industry,” Hinata tweeted on November 6, 2019. “No, I knew it, but I was stupid because I expected even a little.”
By July 3, 2020, Hinata’s feelings about the anime project had soured. When the anime’s official Twitter account tweeted about Episode 37, he commented, “It’s the worst.”
Within hours the official account deleted their original tweet, so Hinata responded by tweeting a screencap and chastized them for trying to “run away” from his criticism.
The manga creator also provided an explanation for his fans.
“I’ve been receiving a succession of direct messages, which makes me want to say, ‘Because it is Diomedea, it can’t be helped.’ I want to say that, but this is about my own manga,” Hinata tweeted.
“I’m sorry if I made fans of the project uncomfortable. For the true Ahiru no Sora readers, I think the direction of the anime is disappointing. I apologize again.”
What’s notable about these incidents is that Hinata rarely tweets out anything at all. Hinata has only used Twitter in 2020 to criticize the anime, which is probably the biggest hint about the extent of his feelings toward Studio Diomedea.
Ahiru no Sora manga compared to the anime
At this point, anime-only audiences probably want to know just how far along in the story they have reached.
To put the first season in perspective, Ahiru no Sora Episode 50: Bridge was named after manga Chapter 139 of Volume 18.
That means the pacing of the anime has averaged a little less than a 3-to-1 ratio of manga chapters to episodes.
Assuming the anime continues this pacing, it’s predicted that Ahiru no Sora Episode 51 will probably pick up the story again with Volume 19.
The good news is that there are more than enough chapters available for creating Ahiru no Sora Season 2. In fact, with the current pacing of the anime, the series could go all the way to Ahiru no Sora Season 3, 4, and 5.
The only bad news is that English-only manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime are out of luck without an official English translation.
Assuming the Ahiru no Sora Season 2 is renewed, watching the anime might be faster since the progress on the fan-made translation project is relatively slow.
Ahiru no Sora Season 2 release date predictions: Rumor claims the second season is in the works
As of the last update, there has been no official confirmation of the Ahiru no Sora Season 2 release date by publisher Kodansha, producer King Records, Studio Diomedea, or any company related to the production of the anime.
The production of an Ahiru no Sora sequel has also not been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed, this article will be updated. In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Ahiru no Sora Season 2 premiere date will occur.
Unlike other sports anime productions like Haikyuu Season 5, which has long gaps of time between seasons, the production of the Ahiru no Sora anime is being planned out on an annual basis.
When an anime is broadcasting on an annual basis, sometimes the continuation will be announced at the last minute. For example, Black Clover Season 3 wasn’t announced until shortly before the second season ended, and Black Clover Season 4 will likely be announced similarly.
In this case, the official website and Twitter account made no such announcement on September 30, 2020. Instead, they referred to Episode 50 as the “final episode of the anime”.
On the Ahiru no Sora Reddit, one user called winwin36 claimed that an animator on the Ahiru no Sora anime project is an admin for a Facebook group. This unnamed animator reportedly said there would be an Ahiru no Sora Season 2 anime.
Anime news leakers will often leak legitimate information via Reddit and Twitter, but this Reddit user doesn’t have a verified history of accurate leaks. This is also winwin36’s first time making this type of claim. Since this claim is entirely unverified, it should be considered a rumor.
Considering that an announcement was not made when Episode 50 released, Ahiru no Sora Episode 51 will probably not release in fall 2020. In the best-case scenario, the Ahiru no Sora Season 2 release date could happen in 2021 assuming the rumor is true.
Of course, in the worst-case scenario, anime fans will be left hanging out to dry.
Let’s just hope we’ll receive more official news about the Ahiru no Sora Season 2 anime soon. Stay tuned!