The Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 anime TV series could continue the story of this alternate take on magical girls. But when will the Wonder Egg Priority sequel come out?
READ: Wonder Egg Priority Episode 13 release date confirmed for late Spring 2021
The anime is a co-production between Aniplex, Nippon Television, and D.N. Dream Partners. The first season was produced by Studio CloverWorks, which is known for producing the popular Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai anime, co-producing Darling in the FranXX, and the Fate/Grand Order anime series.
In 2021, they also released the Horimiya anime, The Promised Neverland Season 2, and Shadows House.
Director Shin Wakabayashi is helming the Wonder Egg Priority anime project. His second time directing at CloverWorks since 2018’s The Diary of Our Days was also an original anime story. He’s also been an episode director for Attack On Titan, Eromanga-sensei, ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., and the 2011 X-Men animation.
The story was written by writer Shinji Nojima, who is credited as the original creator. It’s his first time working on an anime project. In the past, he’s written the stories for manga such as the psychological thriller Nobelu and the romantic shoujo’s Oniichan Gacha and Sunu Sumu Muriku no Koibito.
Artist Saki Takahashi is the character designer and chief animation director. In the past, he’s worked on Akame ga Kill!, Darling in the FranXX, a DanMachi OVA episode, Log Horizon Season 2, and Terror in Resonance.
Taracod was the concept artist. Keisuke Kobayashi (Batman: Gotham Knight, Berserk 2017, GANTZ:0, Grimgar, Magi, Sword Art Online) was listed as core animator, with Yuuki Funao (Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?) as art director. Composers DE DE MOUSE and Mito created the music.
The Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music haven’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Wonder Egg Priority OP “A Song of Leaving the Nest (Sudachi no Uta)” and ED “Life is Cider” were both performed by Anemoneria (Kanata Aikawa, Tomori Kusunoki, Shuka Saitō, and Hinaki Yano).
The final episode was originally intended to be Episode 12, but since a recap episode was labeled as Episode 8 that meant the final episode count was increased to include Wonder Egg Priority “Episode 13”. This episode is officially known as Wonder Egg Priority Special Edition.
The semi-final episode for the first season, Wonder Egg Priority Episode 12, released one past midnight on March 30, 2021 (effectively March 31, 2021). Since Episode 12 was still being finished animated on the day of release, the streaming premiere of FUNimation’s Wonder Egg Priority Episode 12 was delayed to 7 PM EST on March 30, 2021.
The Wonder Egg Priority Special Edition release date is scheduled for midnight on Tuesday, Jun 29, 2021.
- Updated March 31, 2021: Added FUNimation Wonder Egg Priority English dub info.
- Updated March 30, 2021: Added Wonder Egg Priority Episode 13 release date and delay explanation.
This article provides everything that is known about Wonder Egg Priority 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.
FUNimation Wonder Egg Priority English dub released
The first season of Wonder Egg Priority was streaming with English subtitles on FUNimation Now and AnimeLab. FUNimation’s Wonder Egg Priority English dub release date was on March 30, 2021.
Here is the Wonder Egg Priority dub cast:
- Mikaela Krantz as Ai
- Dawn M. Bennett as Neiru
- Anairis Quinones as Rika
- Michelle Rojas as Momoe
- Brendan Blaber as Acca
- Ian Sinclair as Ura-Acca
- Suzie Yeung as Koito
- Stephen Fu as Mr. Sawaki
- Emily Fajardo as Tae
- Nazia Chadhry as Misaki
The first two dubbed episodes were released at first, with more coming out during Spring 2021.
Wonder Egg Priority Blu-Ray/DVD release date
The 12 episodes of the anime TV series will be released as three Wonder Egg Priority Blu-ray/DVD volumes. In Japan, Volume 1 releases on March 24, 2021, Volume 2 on April 28, 2021, and Volume 3 on May 26, 2021.
Wonder Egg Priority production at Studio CloverWorks suffered from problems
While everyone agrees that the initial episodes were amazing, the writing was on the wall for how the production schedule would cause problems along the way. Sakuga Blog reported that those acquainted with the team saw “everyone glued to their desks non-stop and with no sign of that changing anytime soon.”
“When such alarming flags are raised months before the broadcast even starts, it’s not exactly a surprise if things inevitably crash down—which they have, much more severely than the quality of the animation would lead you to believe,” Sakuga Blog wrote.
Apparently, most of the work was being handled by newbie directors who switched roles between “heavy key animation duties and directorial/supervision ones.” For many of these young animators, it was their first time being an episode director, thus giving young talent a chance to shine.
This approach, “sticking to single directors and supervisors” for specific episodes, “allowed them to fully realize the vision they had for those characters’ lives.” And Shin Wakabayashi was there to support the inexperienced team and keep the various parts of the machine greased despite this being his first time to lead a project, as well.
But this shining light of success came at the dark cost of foregoing sleep and working all hours to deliver the episodes by their deadlines.
“When people used to working under anime’s poor conditions point out that a project has gotten scary, it’s because it really has,” Sakuga Blog pointed out.
The production troubles were so extreme that you have to wonder if the Cells At Work! CODE BLACK anime was set in the body of an animator. It was revealed that Wonder Egg Priority’s animation producer Shouta Umehara had to be hospitalized twice!
A recap episode was introduced in order to give the team a breather. Preview images for Wonder Egg Priority Episode 11 were delayed until the day before release, with no preview trailer being made available.
FUNimation even reported that Episode 11 was delayed on its release date “due to a delay in materials delivery”, which is highly unusual. Then the same thing happened with Episode 12.
Worse, the production delays caused the WEP anime to conflict with the premiere of a different anime that’s taking over the TV broadcasting time slot in Japan. That’s why the final episode is being delayed until late Spring 2021.
Even then, they were forced to hire a small army of rookie 2nd key animators in order to salvage the project. It’s rumored that famous director Noriko Takao (Clannad, Lucky Star, K-On!, Full Metal Panic!, Darling In The FranXX) was involved in the production but then used a pseudonym in the credits since she wasn’t satisfied with the results.
In a separate report, Sakuga Blog noted that such hellish productions in the anime industry could potentially cause rising young talent to burn out.
“At worst, as you can imagine, the consequences of not supporting new directors and supervisors can be burning them out so bad that they give up on anime altogether—if even climbing the ladder can’t lead them to a satisfying job, why should they stick around at all? A promotion that should be a reason for celebration often turns sour in that way.”
Thankfully, although the production was rushed at the expense of the team’s sanity, the actual quality of the anime TV show itself hasn’t dissolved into a trainwreck. Let’s just hope the crazy production doesn’t affect the chances for Wonder Egg Priority 2.
Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, Aniplex, Nippon Television, and D.N. Dream Partners, Studio CloverWorks or any company related to the anime production has not officially confirmed the Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Wonder Egg Priority 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 Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
The main issue is that the anime project is an original story focused on the girl characters. It’s possible that the ending of Wonder Egg Priority Episode 13: Special Edition will leave the door open to a sequel, but it could also slam the door shut.
Of course, the real issue is whether the financial numbers will cause the anime production committee to renew the TV series. These organizations are risk-averse, so it’s extremely unusual for a second season for an original work to be planned out in advance.
Streaming revenue is the biggest factor in the anime industry today. FUNimation doesn’t typically release viewership numbers or popular anime lists, but we can get an idea of the anime’s popularity in Japan when the Blu-Ray/DVD volumes release.
The good news is that the Wonder Egg Priority reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. If that translates to good disc sales and streaming numbers, Wonder Egg Priority 2 becomes more likely.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait and see if Wonder Egg Priority Season 2 is confirmed to be renewed and in production. Even in the best-case scenario, productions are scheduled out years in advance, so anime fans will be in for the long haul. Stay tuned!