Netflix’s Seis Manos Season 2 is already being teased by the producers of the new animation. The teasing is exciting, but many fans simply want to know Seis Manos’ meaning or whether they should even call Seis Manos anime.
Created by a collaboration between Netflix, Powerhouse Animation Studios, and VIZ Media, the latter company is well known for its history of publishing Japanese anime and manga in North America. But this is the first time Viz Media has developed an original story for animation.
Perhaps due to VIZ Media’s involvement, the press releases from these companies call the TV show the Seis Manos anime. But is it really technically accurate to call the TV show an anime, which literally means Japanese animation?
Other recent Netflix Originals have made such claims but most made sense since Japanese creators or companies were involved. For example, the Cannon Busters anime may have been primarily created by an American comic writer and a French animator (who had worked on Carole & Tuesday, Symphogear, and Space Dandy), but Japanese animation studio Satelight animated the project.
On the other hand, Powerhouse Animation Studios is best known for creating Netflix’s Castlevania animated series, which was also advertised as anime. Arguably, Seis Manos definitely has been influenced by anime when it comes to the art style, but where’s the Japanese staff and cast?
In fact, there’s no Japanese cast since there’s no Japanese sub/dub at all. The TV show has audio and subtitle options for English, French, German, Italian, and even Chinese, but not Japanese. The main Seis Manos cast is also English-speaking:
- Aislinn Derbez (La Casa de las Flores) as Isabela
- Mike Colter (Luke Cage) as Brister
- Jonny Cruz (Overwatch) as Jesus
- Angelica Vale (Jane The Virgin) as Garcia
- Vic Chao (Mortal Kombat X) as Chiu
- Danny Trejo (Machete) as El Balde
For the Seis Manos project staff, Powerhouse CEO Brad Graeber acted as Supervising Producer. Machete and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series writer Alvaro Rodriguez and screenwriter Daniel Dominguez (Oishi High School Battle, Captain Underpants) created the original story.
At the helm was director Willis Bulliner. This project is his first time as main director, but he has experience being an episode director and storyboard artist for many projects.
Powerhouse did not codevelop the animation with a Japanese studio. Instead, they worked with South Koren animation studio DR Movie, which is based out of Seoul. Otherwise, the majority of the 40 or so production staff and animators worked out of Austin, Texas.
“We were also able to work with many local musicians and did sound and mixing at TBD Post in Austin,” producer Graeber told Animation Magazine. “One fact about Seis Manos that we are proud of is that our storyboard team had more women than men.”
If anything, the animation’s producers stressed the Latino characters and how the story is set in ’70s-era Mexico since Powerhouse “wanted to do a show that featured Mexican heroes for the underserved Latino animation fan base.” It should also be noted that Spanish speakers throughout the world’s nations are huge Japanese fans.
Graeber also directly answered the question of whether Seis Manos is an anime in the strict sense.
“It’s as heavily influenced by many different ’70s-era genres like kung fu theater, grindhouse, ’70s horror, and even Blaxploitation films. Our director Willis Bulliner and character designer Eddie Nunez brought a lot of their own styles to the show,” Graeber explained. “We were not looking to make an ‘anime.’ We were trying to make something that stylistically fit the concept and story that was created.”
Seemingly, it would be best to describe Seis Manos as “anime-style”. Graeber said that Powerhouse struggled for many years to convince companies to fund American adult animation that does not revolve around toys or kids. In a sense, it could be argued that Japanese anime paved the way for modern adult animation being developed by Netflix and other companies.
“The greatest way anime has influenced us is the idea that shows do not need to be made only for specific demographics and you can tell broad and unique stories for all ages with animation,” Graeber told Bubble Blabber. “Anime has explored horror, martial arts fight choreography and adult themes for a long time while animated series in the US generally have not until recently.”
This article provides everything that is known about Seis Manos 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.
Seis Manos’ meaning goes beyond the title’s Spanish translation
Regardless of whether you consider Seis Manos an anime or not, the real head-scratcher for English dub watchers is Seis Manos’ meaning in Spanish. The literal meaning or translation is “Six Hands”, but the actual meaning behind the title goes a little deeper.
The full title was originally going to be 6 Manos de Furia (Six Hands Of Fury) but they decided to shorten it.
“The name of the series originally came from the Shaw Brothers formula of having a number at the top of the title: 36th Chamber Shaolin, 5 Deadly Venoms, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, etc.,” Graeber told Anime News Network.
The title refers to the kung fu martial arts fighting style of the three siblings since there are six hands — Isabela, Jesus, and Silencio each have two hands. Each character has his or her own kung fu style, which is based on animals like the tiger, crane, and mantis. These kung fu styles are based on the positioning of the body and the hand form.
But Seis Manos’ meaning goes a step further since “manos” can also be the shortened form of hermanos, which means siblings or family members in Spanish.
“In kung fu, there is a family system and you often refer to your fellow students as ‘kung fu brothers,'” Graeber explained. “Our main characters are all orphans but form a family under their Sifu, who is like a father to them.”
Seis Manos Season 2 release date predictions: Sequel possible?
As of the last update, Netflix, VIZ Media, Powerhouse, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Seis Manos 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 Seis Manos Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
We do know that Seis Manos Season 2 is very likely to happen since the people at Powerhouse are already talking about it. There are even discussions about turning the animation into a Seis Manos video game or comic book series (perhaps they could get a Japanese manga artist to do a Seis Manos manga series?).
In an interview published shortly before the first season’s Netflix premiere, Seis Manos writer Alvaro Rodrigeuz claimed that “there could easily be more seasons”. In fact, producer Graeber went a step further and admitted they already wrote the scripts for Seis Manos Season 2. They even have ideas and plans for Seis Manos Season 3 and beyond.
Of course, all these plans assume Netflix and VIZ Media will fund the production of Seis Manos Season 2. The good news is that Netflix has a history of funding its exclusive TV shows for at least three seasons. Their track record for renewing anime exclusives is also very good since we have The Seven Deadly Sins Season 4, Hero Mask Season 2, Ultraman Season 2, Grappler Baki Season 2, Aggretsuko Season 3, and Kengan Ashura Season 2 confirmed to be coming up in the future.
In the past, Powerhouse has usually produced its sequels within a year. For example, Castlevania Season 3 is likely coming out in 2020. The only other upcoming 2020 project that Powerhouse has announced is the Gods & Heroes anime, which is an original story based on Greek mythology.
Fast-forward to 2023 and Seis Manos Season 2 still hasn’t been announced but it’s uncertain whether it’s fully canceled. Let’s just hope the project is revived. Stay tuned!