Kengan Ashura ‘Season 3’ release date confirmed for September 2023, but Netflix calls sequel ‘Season 2’

Ohma Tokita in Kengan Ashura
Kengan Ashura Season 3 will finish the story of Ohma Tokita. But will a Kengan Omega anime be Kengan Ashura Season 4? Pic credit: Netflix

The Kengan Ashura Season 3 release date on Netflix is confirmed for September 2023, the end of the Summer 2023 anime season. The anime TV sequel will be Kengan Ashura Part 3 on Netflix, although it is officially being labeled as Kengan Ashura Season 2.

What’s more, the Kengan Ashura: Omega editor has confirmed on Twitter that the Kengan Ashura continuation will adapt the original manga’s story “until the end of the original (the end of the tournament)!”

Since the anime sequel is set to finish adapting the ending of the first manga series, it’s possible Netflix could renew another Kengan Ashura sequel by creating a Kengan Omega anime series. But how long will it take before that sequel could ever premiere?

Netflix Kengan Ashura Season 2
On August 31, 2022, this key visual confirmed that the Kengan Ashura Season 2 release date on Netflix would be in 2023. Pic credit: Netflix

On March 23, 2022, the official Kengan Ashura Twitter profile made the “critical announcement” that the production of the third Kengan Ashura anime sequel had been decided. The official site also confirmed that worldwide distribution will once again be exclusive to Netflix.

On Netflix US, the Kengan Ashura anime is listed as Parts. But when the announcement was made in March 2022, Netflix referred to Kengan Ashura Part 3 as being the first cour Kengan Ashura Season 2.

“Kengan Ashura Season 2 is in the works! Get warmed up by watching Season 1, now streaming on Netflix!” stated the Netflix Anime Twitter profile.

Technically, what Netflix stated is accurate. Although Netflix has a history of making season numbering confusing (The Seven Deadly Sins is an example), Kengan Ashura Part 3 will actually be the first cour of the second season of Kengan Ashura.

What’s a “cour,” you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month TV broadcasting block based on the physical seasons usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.

Kengan Ashura Season 1 was technically a split-cour anime season. A “split-cour” is where a single anime season takes a multi-month break before resuming TV broadcasting.

The Kengan Ashura release date for the first cour/Part 1 happened on July 31, 2019. The second part of the anime series, Kengan Ashura Part 2, aired worldwide on Netflix on October 31, 2019. The second cour consisted of Episode 13 through Episode 24.

Since the anime is released for binge-watching rather than weekly TV broadcast, the number of episodes per part/cour can be arbitrary. In this case, the anime is keeping to the same standard Japanese format for cours since Part 1 ended with Episode 12, while Part 2 ended with Episode 24.

While the continuation is being set up to finish the story of Ohma Tokita in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, the question is whether anime fans will need to wait until Kengan Ashura Season 4/Part 4 to watch the ending.

The number of episodes for Kengan Ashura Season 3 hasn’t been confirmed yet. Presumably, Kengan Ashura Season 3 (Part 3) will consist of Kengan Ashura Episode 25 through 36.

However, based on the pacing of the manga source material, it’s possible to finish the story in a single cour, but the story pacing would be much better if the anime ended in one more cour, or Kengan Ashura Part 4 (see the manga comparison section below for more details).

The Kengan Ashura Season 3 opening (OP) and ending (ED) theme song music have not yet been announced.

  • Updated August 31, 2022: Kengan Ashura ‘Season 3’ release date confirmed for 2023 by new key visual.
  • Updated March 23, 2022: Kengan Ashura ‘Season 3’ confirmed to be in the works!
  • Updated November 1, 2019: Added additional manga/anime analysis. Added Kengan Ashura Part 3 spoilers.

This article provides everything known about Kengan Ashura Season 3 (Kengan Ashura Part 3) and all related news. As such, this article will update over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known.

Kengan Ashura Part 3 release date predictions

As of the last update, Netflix or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact Kengan Ashura Part 3 release date. However, the production of Kengan Ashura “Season 2” was announced on March 23, 2022. Then it was confirmed that the time frame would be 2023 when a new key visual was released on August 31, 2022.

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 the Kengan Ashura Season 3 release date will occur in the future.

What’s unclear about the announcement is whether the anime was simply greenlit for production or if production had already started in the past but they’re now just making that fact known publicly. The difference is that being greenlit for production means that a producer has put the project in the pipeline and that actual animation production work at a studio will be scheduled for a later date. To be in production means the beginning of the actual pre-production phase.

Netflix has a history of renewing its anime exclusives fairly quickly in comparison to the standards anime fans are used to from the Japanese animation industry. The Seven Deadly Sins Season 4Hero Mask Season 2, Ultraman Season 2Grappler Baki Season 2, and Aggretsuko Season 3 were all confirmed to be in production shortly after their respective previous seasons were announced.

But anime fans were forced to wait for three years before hearing about the Kengan Ashura anime sequel. (The same thing happened with Baki Hanma Season 2.)

The Kengan Ashura anime is a special case since the first part previewed Part 2 with the final episode. The fact that Part 2’s Episode 12 did not end by previewing Kengan Ashura Season 3 stands out since it left the renewal status of the anime series up in the air.

Based on the way the second part ended, it seems likely that from the beginning of pre-production Studio Larx Entertainment was greenlit to produce the first two parts as a split-cour anime season. The same was apparently not true for Kengan Ashura Part 3, so it’s not surprising that there was a long wait.

From a production scheduling perspective, there’s no reason for Netflix to hold back. Larx Entertainment has not announced any other projects that would fill its schedule. Larx’s last project, Soul Worker: Your Destiny Awaits, was released in 2016. The studio hasn’t released any other project since Kengan Ashura Part 2.

There’s also a financial incentive for Larx to keep it coming fast. Since Netflix orders its projects directly from the animation studios, the need for an anime production committee is eliminated.

Even better, anime projects funded by Netflix are supposedly operating with a 15 percent profit margin. This profit is quite an improvement in comparison to the usual industry standards since some anime studios operate in the negative for producing TV projects. The studio then makes its profits on the backend with sales of merch, soundtracks, and Blu-Ray/DVD box sets.

Therefore, assuming that pre-production by Larx already began in the last several years, it’s possible the Kengan Ashura Season 3 release date on Netflix could be scheduled for the first half of 2023. Then, assuming that Part 3 doesn’t finish the story, Kengan Ashura Ashura Season 4/Part 4 could come out in late 2023.

Kengan Ashura Season 3 English dub release date

Netflix U.S. provided a Kengan Ashura English dub immediately. A dubbing is also available in Spanish, French, and Italian. Subtitles are available in English, Japanese, Italian, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.

Therefore, the Kengan Ashura Season 3 English dub release date should be on the same day that the anime is streaming internationally.

Kengan Ashura Part 3 cast and studio staff

Here are some of the main Kengan Ashura cast members:

  • Tatsuhisa Suzuki as main character Ohma Tokita
  • Cho as Kazuo Yamashita
  • Jouji Nakata as Hideki Nogi
  • Yumi Uchiyama as Kaede Akiyama
  • Hayato Kaneko as Rihito
  • Tetsu Inada as Jun Sekibayashi
  • Junya Enoki as Cosmo Imai

Kengan Ashura Part 3 will likely add new cast members since the manga source material introduces a large number of fighters over time.

The anime is being animated by studio Larx Entertainment (a subsidiary of Studio Hibari) with director Seiji Kishi at the helm. The director is best known for his work on Angel Beats!, Assassination Classroom, Asobi Asobase (see our article on Asobi Asobase Season 2), the Danganronpa series, the Persona series, and Yuki Yuna Is A Hero.

Writer Makoto Uezu (Akame ga Kill, The Heroic Legend of Arslan) is handling series composition. Youko Satou (who also worked on the Assassination Classroom anime with the director) will be doing character design. Yasuharu Takanashi (Fairy Tail, Naruto Shippuden) is doing music composition.

Kengan Ashura manga compared to the anime: Pacing leaves room for Kengan Ashura Season 4?

The story for the anime is based on the Kengan Ashura manga series by artist Daromeon and writer Sandrovich Yabako. The writer is also the creator of the Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? manga series which was adapted into the 2019 How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? anime. (Trivia: The Dumbbell series shares the same universe as Kengan Ashura and certain characters even cross over.)

The Kenga Ashura manga is a finished series with a complete ending. The manga was serialized from 2012 through 2018, with the ending released in August 2018 as Volume 27.

Unfortunately, no North American publisher has licensed an official English translation for the Kengan Ashura manga series. However, there are fan-made scanlation projects that have translated the entire first story arc and most of the manga’s sequel, Kengan Omega.

The story of the manga follows Ohma Tokita, whose nickname is Ashura, as he enters the fray of the Kengan Annihilation tournament after a short history in regular Kengan fights. Like many anime adaptations, some of the manga plot elements are reordered for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, other plot points are skipped entirely in order to condense the story into a 12-episode format and this was usually done at the expense of character development and backstory.

The depiction of Kengan fights followed the manga fairly closely. However, the anime pulled this off by showing only the major highlights of the fighters’ backstories.

The first season of the anime also outright skipped certain characters and side stories, including Yamashita’s family problems and the introduction of Kaburagi Koji. However, the most glaring change was to the female characters.

Yamashita’s new secretary, Kushida Rin, was completely removed from the story and her lines and actions given to other characters like Kaede Akiyama. This change was puzzling since Kushida was almost always present in the manga. Similarly, the side story for young female CEO Suoh Mihono was omitted entirely.

Ohma’s crazy wife/girlfriend, Karura (Karla) Kure, was introduced with the same hilarious proposal. Besides that one moment, most of Karura’s comedic scenes were skipped entirely by the first season, but at least the second season finished by showing Karura throwing off her clothes (so indecent!) and rushing to find her “husband”.

It’s considered almost obligatory that an anime has sexy beach episodes and bathhouse scenes. The manga provided plenty of material for both, but the anime skipped those chapters.

Some of these skipped funny moments even included cameos by real people such as former President Barack Obama as “Mobama” and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “Petin.” No, current U.S. President Donald Trump wasn’t in the manga, despite the series finishing in 2018.

These alterations changed the overall tone of the anime, focusing on the darker elements without punctuating the dark with lighter plot beats (For a complete comparison between Part 1 and the manga series please see the full article on that topic).

Kengan Ashura Manga Chapter 74 Sumo Wrestler Kiozan Takeru
Sumo Wrestler Kiozan Takeru’s claim to fame is that he’s invented a new type of sumo. This match was featured in Episode 13 of Kengan Ashura Part 2. Pic credit: Daromeon

Considering that there are 236 manga chapters in total for the series, the anime adaptation needs at least four parts or cours to tell the tale with comfortable pacing. At first, it seemed like the anime was being designed to finish with Kengan Ashura Season 3 since the first season skipped a ton of source material.

Fortunately, Part 2 slowed the pacing down significantly, so it’s possible the anime will finish the story with Kengan Ashura Season 4 if the third season follows the manga more closely.

Kengan Ashura Part 2 picked up the story with manga Chapter 73 of Volume 9, which depicted the Primal Sumo vs Pro Wrestler fight. Episode 12 showed Ohma taking on the “Demon” Raian Kure and Yamashita confronting the Kure clan leader.

These events corresponded to Chapter 136 of Volume 17. The ending of the anime was different since Chapter 137 immediately launched into the pre-fight details concerning the upcoming match between Wakatsuki Takeshi and Julius Reinhold. Instead, the final scene of Episode 12 showed a triumphant Ohma and his friends looking forward to the next stage in the Round 2 matches.

Since Chapter 137 is near the beginning of Volume 17, the anime has a little under 11 volumes left to adapt. Therefore, it’s possible Kengan Ashura Season 3 will adapt half of the remaining manga chapters, leaving an opening for a fourth season to finish off the story.

It’s also possible the third season will be the ending, but adapting 11 manga volumes with only 12 episodes would leave fans extremely unhappy. Without getting into spoilers, the manga provides the perfect stopping point for the third season with Chapter 180, the end of Volume 21.

Set shortly after the events of Round 2, this chapter focuses on an epic moment featuring Ohma and the entire future of the Kengan Association. Since the anime has always connected season endings to Ohma’s action it’d make sense to end there. (See the spoilers below for more details.)

For those who wish to read ahead of the anime series, it’s recommended that manga readers start with Chapter 8. The anime condensed the story by skipping and skimming a lot of content, which justifies reading the entire manga. You’d also be missing the beach bikini chapters and crossover invasion by Capcom’s Street Fighter characters.

However, if you simply want to read ahead, as previously noted you can jump straight to Chapter 137 of Volume 17.

Kengan Omega anime series could take years to develop

Assuming Kengan Ashura Season 4 is the ending, what will be next for the anime series? Can there even be a Kengan Ashura Season 5 (Kengan Ashura Part 5)?

Thankfully, the answer is yes… just not right away. A Kengan Ashura sequel manga called Kengan Omega had begun serializing in January 2019. As of September 2021, the Kengan Omega manga series was up to Volume 10.

Warning: The following two paragraphs include minor spoilers for Kengan Omega.

The story is set two years after the ending of the first manga series. Instead of Ohma Tokita, the story follows fighter Narushima Koga, a young man who suffers from an inferiority complex after suffering a crushing defeat by Ohma three years ago.

After discovering the Kengan matches on the Dark Web, Koga arranges for a meeting with a certain CEO at Yamashita Trading Company. There, Koga runs into the mysterious Gaoh Ryuki, a young man who bears a striking resemblance to Ohma.

By the time the anime’s second season had aired, Kengan Omega was already up to Chapter 39 and new chapters are released weekly by MangaONE and UraSunday. Therefore, assuming the original anime is popular enough on Netflix, there could be enough chapters for creating a Kengan Omega anime by the middle of 2020.

Of course, just because there’s enough source material does not mean a Kengan Omega anime will be produced right away. Anime production projects take years to plan and projects are scheduled years in advance. As a comparison, fans of the first manga series voted for it receive an anime adaptation back in 2015, so it took about four years for the first anime to go from vision to reality.

Kengan Ashura Season 3 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)

Note: Spoilers for Kengan Ashura Part 3 assume the anime adaptation will begin with  Chapter 137 of Volume 17 and end with Chapter 180 of Volume 21. However, it’s possible the third season will adapt all remaining manga chapters.

The last time we watched Ohma Tokita was right before the match between Wakatsuki Takeshi and Julius Reinhold. Considered the two most powerful fighters in the Kengan tournament, the Japanese fighter is forced to reveal a trump card move he calls Blast Core in order to overcome the German fighter’s resilience. Julius continues to rely on brute force, trapping Wakatsuki in a bone-crunching bear hug, but Wakatsuki has clever tactics on his side.

The next match has two fighters for which we’ve already received the backstory: “Hell’s Angel” Jun Sekibayashi vs “The Genocider” Muteba Gizenga. The difference is that Sekibayashi is using a pro wrestling gimmick where he takes on a persona called “Hell’s Deva” Marvellous Seki.

While acting as this Seki character, Jun wears white face paint with eyeliner and lipstick and he’s willing to use illegal moves. Since the mercenary is blind and relies on his super-hearing for tracking movements, “Seki” takes out Muteba’s right ear and uses wrestling moves that can kill. Muteba adapts to the wrestler’s new combat style quickly, but then Seki ruptures his left eardrum… what will the mercenary do now?

The next match is between Yoroizuka Saw Paing and Mikazuchi Rei, but the former Raishin Style assassin has now taken a vow not to kill. Saw Paing is trying to end the match with a powerful move called the Hammer of Burma, forcing Rei to change up his stance.

Next up is the “Beautiful Beast” Kiryu Setsuna versus the “Devil Lance” Kuroki Gensai. At first, the older assassin is nonchalantly showing his difference in skill, but then Kiryu suddenly switches things up using a Niko Style technique.

It’s then that we finally learn about Kiryu’s past and how he came to have his obsessive relationship with Tokita Ohma. This article won’t spoil those details, but back in the present Kiryu begins seeing Gensai as if he was Tokita Niko.

Kiryu suffers from the delusion that Niko is still alive and able to take the form of other people. Kiryu desires to kill Niko in every form possible because he loathes Niko, believing the dead man was a devil who defiled Ohma.

The arena next plays host to the matchup between “The Floating Cloud” Hatsumi Sen… and “The Blood Tusk” Bando Yohei. Wait a minute, didn’t Bando get killed by a virus given to him by that crazy doctor fighter “The Dissector” Hanafusa Hajime? Despite almost dying, Bando was cured of the virus so he was able to shock everyone by returning for a match with Hatsumi.

Kengan Ashura Netflix Anime Niko Tokita
The history between Ohma and Niko Tokita will finally be revealed in Kengan Ashura Season 3. Pic credit: Netflix/Larx Entertainment

Unlike in the ending for the anime’s second season, when Ohma fought his second round against Raian Kure he did not walk away while smiling. Instead, Ohma’s health was in such a bad state that he collapsed and has been laying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask.

With Ohma still unconscious, Yamashita is debating a big decision. Yamashita sees Ohma like a son and now that his actual son, Kenzo Yamashita, is now safe he feels that he should forfeit the tournament in order to save Ohma’s life. But then Kenzo makes his way to the island where the tournament is taking place…

Meanwhile, the final match of Round 2 has begun. This time “The Fang Of Metsudo” Agito Kanoh will be facing off against “The Thai God Of War” Gaolang Wongsawat. But what’s shocking is that Fang assumes the same stance as Gaolang and restricts himself to battling like a boxer.

Fighting against the supreme boxer of the world, Fang fights a one-sided battle until he begins to adapt to Gaolang’s style. In order to reverse the flow of the battle, Gaolang is forced to use Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, which allows for feet to be used. Can Fang adapt quickly enough to overcome this new threat?

Getting back to Ohma’s plight, audiences will finally able to see more of his past. We’ll see the trials he went through in training with Niko, Ohma’s fights with gangsters, and how Ohma came to inherit the Niko Style.

Back in the real world, things get crazy when Hayami Katsumasa, CEO of Toyo Electric Power Company, attempts a coup. The announcement that he intends on creating a new Kengan Association by overthrowing the current leader, Chairman Katahara Metsudo, causes the Kengan Dome to erupt into chaos as Hayami’s guardians wage a rebellion against the Chairman’s bodyguards.

Ohman finally awakens to all this chaos and enters the fray immediately. Who will win the fight to control the future of the Kengan Association?

Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Kengan Ashura Season 3 release date to watch the next stage of the Kengan tournament. Stay tuned!

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