Will Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 be animated?

Various characters from Death March
Death March Season 2 has the potential to up the ante in comparison to the anime’s slow-paced first season

The Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 release date can’t come any faster for fans who want to know where Satou’s journey will take him next. After all, Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku Episode 12 practically teased Death March Season 2 based on the way the story ended.

Unfortunately, the Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku light novel series provides plenty of source material for an anime sequel, Anime Geek is predicting that an anime sequel will not happen.

Written by author Hiro Ainana and illustrated by artist shri, the book series is already up to Death March Volume 27 as of January 10, 2023. To put the author’s progress in perspective, the series was up to Death March Volume 14 back in July 2018.

After Volume 12, the author also released a prequel story about Princess Arisa called Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Ex: Princess Arisa’s Otherworldly Struggle.

The story actually began life in 2013 as a web novel self-published by Ainana and it’s still ongoing. The author usually releases new web novel chapters every Sunday. The web novel version of the story is currently composed of 16 “chapters” or online book volumes that are sub-divided into smaller chapters.

In 2014, Fujimi Shobo Novels licensed the story and began extensively rewriting it as light novels. These official books have extra original content in comparison to the web novel’s story. Readers often refer to the original work as “DesuMachi” or “Death March Isekai.”

Also starting in 2014, mangaka Ayamegumu began adapting the light novel series story into the Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody manga. The story has only covered a small percentage of the overall story and as of July 2018, the Death March manga books are up to Volume 6.

A second manga series by mangaka Akira Segami launched in February 2018 and it’s adapting the previously mentioned story about Princess Arisa. The first volume hasn’t been released yet in 2018.

The official English translation for both the Death March manga and light novel series has been licensed by Yen Press. The English light novels are up to Volume 5 as of May 2018, while Volume 6 is scheduled to release on September 18, 2018, and Volume 7 is set for January 22, 2019. The English Death March manga is up to Volume 4,  while Volume 5 is scheduled to release on October 30, 2018, and Volume 6 is set for January 22, 2019.

An English fan translation project for the web novel updates usually every Monday and therefore is caught up with the Japanese web novel. That means it’s possible to read ahead of both the anime and manga.

Keep in mind that there will be story differences since the light novels/manga have changed the story and added new content. Fan projects also keep up with new Death March manga chapters as they release in Japan.

This article provides everything that is known about Death March 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.

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Manga/Light Novel Books Compared To The Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku Anime

Critics of the Death March anime claim the slow pacing really held the adaptation back. However, it could be argued that critics missed the entire point of the story.

Satou is a programmer who wasted his life meeting crunch-time deadlines with no end in sight. Released into another world, Satou is purposefully just enjoying his newfound freedom and is purposefully exploring this world without setting any major goals for himself. Rather than being an action-based isekai story, Death March is a slice of life fantasy that occasionally turns into Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma when Satou defeats high-level creatures.

Is it is a reasonable criticism that the first season spent too much time on rom-com harem antics rather than focusing on worldbuilding and character development? Thankfully, it’s not as bad as the Isekai wa Smartphone anime, which delayed until a second season the introduction of the main villain and giant robot combat in order to focus on harem tropes. Still, anime studios Silver Link and Connect’s handling of the Death March story was rather clunky.

The flashback dream sequence in Episode 10 showed a girl with rainbow-colored hair, but the meaning of the scene is never explained and thus is merely confusing to audiences since it’s foreshadowing events for Death March Season 2.

Satou also does not have any major conflict to resolve other than short-term goals made while traveling. Returning elf princess Mia to her home in the Boruenan Forest is definitely a long-term goal since that happy event will probably wait until Death March Season 3 unless the second season is faster-paced or two cours composed of 24 episodes.

But that’s the fault of the underlying light novel series since Satou really does spend most of his time helping women and gathering a harem of literal slave girls (Satou may consider them freed but based on cultural imperative they continue to insist on the master/slave relationship).

Some anime fans also found the story awkward to watch since Princess Arisa is technically a reincarnated Japanese woman who has a Shotaro complex (attraction to young boys). Satou may believe that “it’d be ethically wrong to lay a finger on any” of the girls, but Arisa certainly believes she’s part of a harem. Since Arisa is stuck in the body of an 11-year-old child, her attempts at seducing Satou are just cringe-inducing.

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Light Novel 4 Cover
Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody light novel Volume 4 will be the basis for the beginning of Death March Season 2

Regardless, the story does get better as it goes along. For manga readers wanting to read ahead of the anime, the ending of Episode 12 corresponds to Chapter 43 of the Death March manga.

Unfortunately, the official English translation is only up to Volume 4, which told the story of Satou defeating the Undead King Zen in the Cradle. That story was covered by Episode 9, which means the official English translation is far behind the anime adaptation. Of course, unofficial fan translation projects are already up to Chapter 44, which corresponds to events that will take place in Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2.

As for the Death March light novel and web novel series, Episode 9 corresponded to light novel Volume 3 and web novel chapter 6. Episode 11 was not in the web novel since it’s a story written for the light novels and manga.

The pacing of the anime accelerated rapidly for the final three episodes since Death March Episode 12 completed the original story of Volume 3 only to foreshadow Volume 4 and the events surrounding the Muno Barony.

The good news is that there is plenty of source material available for producing Death March Season 2. The second season could even be two cours since there will be 12 volumes available by the end of 2018, never mind the prequel related to Princess Arisa.

'Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku' Season 2 'Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody' Anime
Will Satou return for Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2?

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 Release Date Predictions

As of the last update, Silver Link, Connect, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody 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 Death March Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.

From a financial perspective, the franchise is doing just good but not amazing. Light novel sales did pick up near the end of the first season, with all of the books reaching the top 10 for light novel sales on the Oricon charts during the first half of 2018.

Unfortunately, the Blu-Ray/DVD sales in Japan were fairly anemic, not quite reaching the level at which it’s believed that an anime sequel is automatically justified. However, it could be argued that streaming services like Crunchyroll and Netflix have changed the anime industry to the point that Blu-Ray sales are no longer the most important deciding factor.

The next issue is the availability of the animation studios. Anime projects take years to develop and Silver Link and Connect will be busy working on another joint project, Strike The Blood Season 3.

Separately, Silver Link is continuing the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya anime series. Silver Link also has multiple other anime series planned for 2018.

Neither studio has announced any anime projects for 2019 or 2020, so it is possible Death March Season 2, Season 3, and subsequent sequels could be released in back-to-back years. Such a plan would not be too unusual for Silver Link, which is up to Season 5 with the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya anime series. However, the idea that the anime could be renewed in this fashion is just speculation since the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya anime has done much better financially in comparison to the Death March anime.

By 2023 it became clear that Death March Season 2 seemed to be unlikely. While there is plenty of source material for making an anime sequel there hasn’t been any movement by the producers.

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Anime
The Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody anime has the potential to be a long-running series. Even if it isn’t renewed, the manga and light novels provide plenty of spoilers

Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku Season 2 Spoilers

The last time we saw Satou and his harem of caravaning slave girls, audiences finally learned how he was transported to this alternate world through the magic of the Dragon God and the Young Goddess. Of course, this revelation won’t change the story too much at first since they had set off toward their next adventure in the Muno Barony while on their long-term journey toward Mia’s homeland.

The Muno Barony is a northern territory that became dangerous to travelers ever since the Undead King Zen killed the former Marquis Muno and his family. The peasants live in ramshackle villages and nobles are fighting each other for any scrap available. What’s more, there is a haunted fortress and even giants haunting this land.

Satou may be a level 310 adventurer but he still desires that everyone see him as a simple wandering merchant. Similar to what will happen to Satou Kazuma in Konosuba Season 3, Death March’s Satou creates a heroic disguise for himself and goes by the nicknames Nanashi or Kuro. Spell crafting is also on his mind and Satou has developed a new attack spell called Holy Bolt, which will become very useful in combating his enemies in the Muno Barony.

The unstable land recently found a new leader who has assumed the name Baron Leon Muno. While Leon did his best to help the people, a demon has brainwashed the new Baron while being disguised as a trusted member of the council. This demon has summoned the undead and Satou must unravel this conspiracy against the noble.

Satou must also deal with the Leon’s’s beautiful daughter, Lady Karina Muno. The 19-year-old woman is a level 50 master of the Raka, a magical tool that appears to be just a tiara, bracelets, and anklets to the naked eye.

The Raka reinforces Karina’s innate powers while also allowing her to read minds. While Karina is a great help in unraveling the mystery of the land, she only makes Satou’s life even more complicated when the Lady’s hand is offered in marriage.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Karina Muno
Lady Karina Muno will definitely be making an impression in Death March Season 2

Did I mention that Satou’s adventures sometimes delve into foodie territory? Satou’s journey through the Dwarven city of Bollhart City takes him on a drinking spree that earns him the titles of titles of a hard, heavy, and heavyweight drinker. But the dwarven blacksmiths also help him create a rare Mythril sword called the Fairy Sword Trazayuya.

Receiving a sword as a gift from dwarves is a big deal largely due to local politics. Every three years, the grown children of nobles are required to enter a competition in the Oyugock Dukedom.

Noble sons become peasants if they don’t inherit land from their parents, so these young nobles enter the competition in hopes of becoming the duke’s noble guard. But in order to enter the competition, a young noble must purchase a magic sword, which means that blades are in short supply when Satou receives the Trazayuya.

While traveling through the dwarven territory, Satou travels through Gururian City and ends up in a scuffle with a six-armed gorilla demon. Satou ends up meeting a Princess Menea Rumooku during all the commotion.

The princess was traveling to study abroad in Oyugock royal capital city because she was seeking a suitor in marriage. Her first fiancee was a prince from a neighboring kingdom, but he died.

While Satou is able to just glide through all of these dangers thanks to his overpowered abilities, the real conflict begins when he finally arrives at the royal city. The martial tournament between nobles’ sons has just begun and everyone is celebrating with a dance and fireworks. Audiences will be introduced to a 15-year-old girl named Sera Oyugock, granddaughter of Duke Oyugock.

Deep beneath the capital city lurks a secret society of demon worshipers called the Wings of Liberty. They manage to infiltrate the palace, kidnap young Sera, and abscond with her to a labyrinth of tunnels. Satou goes to the rescue disguised as the hero Nanashi and tracks the kidnappers to a gigantic ritual room.

Unfortunately, Satou arrives too late and poor Sera is sacrificed by the Wings of Liberty in order to summer a level 120 demon orc lord called the Golden Wild Boar King. While Satou is overpowered, he lacks experience in fighting real challenges. This new enemy can regenerate its body by growing translucent tentacles and can even summon dragon-slaying magical swords.

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Golden Wild Boar King
Satou must figure out how to defeat this seemingly unstoppable beast. Worse, he also needs to figure out how to handle the corpse of poor Sera.

Warning: Major spoilers contained in the following paragraphs.

The overarching story begins to pick up when it’s revealed why Japanese people are inside this fantasy world. The Goddess Parion taught the mortals of the Saga Empire how to summon heroes in order to protect themselves from demons. Japanese people are being plucked out of modern times, but they are transported into different time periods.

For example, Satou runs into a Ban Hellsing and he’s been in this world for a long time and has earned his name. Hikaru (Mito Mitsukuni), one of Satou’s office co-worker from Earth, ended up being summoned to the distant past. Having accomplished heroic deeds, Hikaru learned from an oracle that Satou would appear in the distant future, so she put herself into stasis in hopes of meeting him someday.

In most isekai stories, the main characters never return to Earth, nor do many of them even try. Death March is unique because Satou learns how to transport himself back and forth between his timeline in Earth. Needless to say, that opens up interesting plot opportunities.

Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku Light Novel Volume 8 Aze Elf Character
The high elf character Aze is one of the most interesting characters introduced in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku light novel Volume 8

Of course, since this is a harem isekai there is also plenty of opportunity for romance. Satou may have ignored romantic advances in the first season, but that’s certainly not the case in Death March Season 2. Obviously, Satou prefers older women since he’s constantly visiting brothels, but he finds himself attracted to a woman who is truly ancient.

When Mia finally returns to the Boreunan Forest, Satou meets a high elf named Aze who has lived for hundreds of millions of years. While that may sound like a setup for a joke, the joke is definitely on Satou.

He falls in love with Aze only to have the elf claim that the gods desired for Satou to sire children from 100 human women before Aze can become Satou’s wife. While the elves of this world love pranks, she’s apparently not kidding since it’s believed that Satou’s children can bring order to the world.

Of course, anime-only audiences probably won’t watch this jaw-dropping scene unless Death March Season 2 happens to be 24 episodes long. That’s probably hoping for too much; let’s just hope the Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 release date is announced soon at all. Stay tuned!

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