The Sakugan Season 2 anime TV series will continue the story that’s loosely based on a novel. The second season will continue Gagumber and Memempu’s quest to find the tower of dreams. But when will Sakugan Season come out?
The first season of the Sakugan anime was produced by Japanese animation Studio Satelight, which in recent times for anime such as The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?, Somali and the Forest Spirit, and Cannon Busters. They’re best known for the Nanbaka and Symphogear series in addition to Log Horizon Season 1 (Studio DEEN produced the new Log Horizon seasons).
Director Junichi Wada (Caligula, episode director for Fairy Tail, Log Horizon) was also responsible for the series composition. He worked with writers Toshizou Nemoto (Log Horizon, Super Cub), Mariko Mochizuko (Somali and the Forest Spirit), and Shingo Nagai (Caligula) on the scripts.
Artist Shunpei Mochizuki (key animator for Made In Abyss, The Rising of the Shield Hero) was the character designer, while Hiroyuki Taiga (Elfen Lied, Accel World) handled the mechanical design for the mechs, and Shoji Kawamori (Aquarion, Macross, Vision of Escaflowne) created the kaiju designs.
Composer Tatsuya Katou (Future Diary, Dr. STONE, Food Wars!) created the music.
The Sakugan Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music haven’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Sakugn OP “Koukotsu Labyrinth” was performed by Masaaki Enoh, while the ED “Shine” was performed by MindaRyn.
The Sakugan anime TV series was originally scheduled to premiere in 2020, but the first season was delayed to Fall 2021. The anime was also originally titled Sacks&Guns!! back in 2020 but subsequently had a name change.
The first season’s finale, Sakugan Episode 12, was released on December 23, 2021.
This article provides everything that is known about Sakugan Season 2 (Sakugan 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.
Crunchyroll’s Sakugan English dub release date confirmed
The first season of the Sakugan anime was initially streaming with only English subtitles on Crunchyroll and VRV (not FUNimation, Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video). The first episode was pre-screened in September 2021 before streaming internationally.
In late October 2021, Crunchyroll announced the main Sakugan dub cast:
- Anne Yatco as Memempu
- Chris Smith as Gagumber
Crunchyroll’s Sakugan English dub release date was on November 18, 2021.
Sakugan anime is loosely based on a novel
The story for the anime TV series is based on the Sakugan Labyrinth Marker novel by author Nekotaro Inui. The writer submitted the story idea to the 2018 Project ANIMA contest and won second place in the Science Fiction/Robot category.
Starting on August 13, 2021, artist Keisuke Sato began serializing the story in Square Enix’s Manga UP! magazine.
There’s a four-panel Sakugan spin-off that’s available online in English.
In an interview with Anime Trending, director Junichi Wada explained that the Sakugan anime was inspired by the book but they purposefully did not do a straight faithful adaptation.
“We wanted this to be as original an anime as we could make, rather than a faithful recreation,” Wada explained. “[Original author Nekotaro Inui] was present when we were first laying out the plot, and we discussed a lot of ideas about how we could make the story even cooler for the screen. I hope it has that ‘Sakugan feel’ on par with the fantastic original story. … I wanted it to have a contrast between the lightness of the look and the heaviness of the story, and just how cool an old man can be. I worked hard to make this a story that adults could enjoy.”
In writing the script, Wada tried to “avoid relying on typical anime platitudes and moralistic ideas about familial relationships”. Wada feels like the “troubles Gagumber goes through as a parent, and his true feelings, are fully present in the script of the first episode”.
Wada also told Crunchyroll that when adapting a novel, manga, or video game that it’s “desirable for a director to become the work’s biggest advocate. In every show I work on, I take pride in becoming the show’s biggest fan.”
Why a Sakugan sequel seems likely based on the Sakugan Episode 12 ending
Even before reading the interview with the director, it was obvious that the anime had expanded on the premise of the book. Many of the standalone stories were episodic in nature and the director and three writers’ obvious enthusiasm for the concept came through loud and clear.
Unfortunately, since this meandering pace didn’t move the main plot forward they came off as tacked on after the fact. The end result was that it felt like a long-form story shoved into the time constraints of a standard 12-episode anime season. And they didn’t even leave enough time for ending the book’s main plot, although the first season successfully resolved the main character conflict that was central to the first story arc.
In the words of Wada, the primary theme is “becoming a real parent and child”. The moral of the story is finding a balance between ideals and reality while learning to value what you’ve been given. While the father-daughter relationship was developed thoroughly through the first season, the problem is that the secondary main conflict was put on the slow burner for most of the episodes.
We knew that Gagumber and Memempu were being targeted by the kaiju. We knew that the long-term goal was to follow the map of the mysterious Urorop until they reached the tower of Memepu’s dreams. The scar on the side of Gagumber’s head hinted at why he doesn’t remember aiming for the core or the exact details of the death of Zackletu’s brother Rufus.
But is there an enemy to defeat or a world to save or is this simply a journey of self-discovery? There was a series of details that led to the conclusion that something odd is going on in the Labyrinth, but the purpose of the journey wasn’t given a voice until Sakugan Episode 10 when it was revealed that the balance of their artificial world was being threatened by an outside force.
Speaking of which, the monologue of Bureau of Regulation agent Merooro pretty much jumpstarted the main plot progression once it began to stall during a literal island vacation. Sakugan Episode 11 then took another character development detour before finally teasing the primary conflict.
At the same time, the anime needed Episode 11 since it developed the primary theme despite sweeping the recent Shibito attack under the rug for the moment. The dilemma faced by Princess/diva Sina regarding her dreams conflicting with her responsibilities highlighted the preciousness of the connection between Gagumber and Memempu while showcasing to the daughter why she should value her rare position in this world. When the father-daughter relationship is summarily threatened with the revelation that Gagumber is not really Memempu’s dad it strikes to the core of the story.
Yet, when the curtain closed on the songstress audiences approached the ending with even more questions while knowing that only Sakugan Episode 12 was left to wrap up all these hanging plot threads. Suddenly we’re confronted with the existence of genetically engineered Rainbow Children and princesses controlling everything.
Opposing this status quo is the Shibito terrorist group whose motivations have been no screen time to develop. It’s the 11th inning and audiences don’t even know which team to root for winning.
Episode 12 revealed that Shibito members call the world a rotting corpse and believe Rainbow Children must be killed since they’re supposedly a threat to the natural order. They’re hardcore true believers who would rather commit suicide than be captured, but despite their extremism, we still don’t know if they have a good reason for taking extreme action.
It’s possible they are simply eco-terrorists but their core motivation may be based on a terrible secret that hasn’t been revealed yet. Their leader is cold and calculating yet seems to harbor a semblance of compassion. He allowed Gagumber to keep Memempu after their father-daughter bond was reaffirmed despite the lack of any biological connection.
Despite this character arc being resolved, there are plenty of plot threads left hanging. We still don’t know who Urorop is and the motivation for giving Memempu the map that triggered the journey. We also don’t know who altered Gagumber and Memempu’s memories and left them those scars. How Gagumber made it to the Core and was given Memempu as an infant is still unknown, never mind what the Core is. The white-haired woman in the wheelchair (another Rainbow Child?) was also teased as a new mystery.
For all these reasons, Sakuban Season 2 is necessary in order to fully deliver on the themes and the concept. While it’s going to be difficult to stop and wait on this haphazard stopping point the anime writers concocted, it’s better to fulfill anime fans’ wishes with a solid ending in a second season rather than leaving them feeling empty with a rushed ending.
Sakugan 2 release date predictions: Renewal unlikely?
As of the last update, Studio Satelight or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed Sakugan Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of the Sakugan 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 Sakugan 2 release date will occur in the future.
Although the anime is technically based on a book that doesn’t have a sequel that’s not an obstacle since the story is largely an anime original production.
The most obvious hint about the intentions of Studio Satelight was the title of Sakugan Episode 12. It’s literally, “To Be Continued,” and the final scene clearly states that this is not the end, so the anime production committee either planned on multiple seasons from the start or they’re essentially crossing their fingers.
The problem is that the Sakugan reviews from anime fans have been noticeably lower than average even though the professional critics seem to like the anime. Worse, the first season rarely graced the top 20 list for Crunchyroll’s most popular anime.
At the same time, poor reviews are not necessarily a problem since even Mul-Luv Alternative Season 2 has been confirmed despite its obvious shortcomings in comparison to Sakugan.
So, if a Sakugan Part 2 isn’t already planned out and scheduled in advance then it seems very unlikely that a Sakugan sequel will be greenlit for production.
We’ll just have to wait and see whether Sakugan Season 2 is announced in the future. Stay tuned!