Will the Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 anime TV show continue the story of Ittoki Sakuraba in the world of modern-day ninjas now that he’s accepted his role as Iga clan leader? If so, when will Shinobi no Ittoki 2 come out?
As of the last update, Studio TROYCA, producer TMS Entertainment, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Shinobi no Ittoki 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 Shinobi no Ittoki 2 release date will occur in the future.
The first season must be financially successful enough to stand on its own. The main issue is that the Shinobi no Ittoki anime TV series is an original story. It’s also a standalone product since there’s no Shinobi no Ittoki manga or light novel adaptation, nor has the studio announced any plans for a spin-off that’s not focused on Ittoki.
When an anime studio creates an original story it’s a financial risk so it’s fairly rare for multiple seasons to be planned out in advance by the producer. As such, a Shinobi no Ittoki sequel depends on the streaming numbers, the Blu-Ray/DVD sales, and whether or not the writers intend to leave an opening for a continuation.
The problem is that the anime was rarely featured in the Top 20 of Crunchyroll’s most popular anime list, except on days when new episodes were released. There were even days when it was necessary to manually search on the Crunchyroll app just to find the TV show!
Shinobi no Ittoki reviews have declared the first season to be decidedly mid. The premise might be interesting but the execution of the story’s first half was just average due to a combination of middling animation work and boring characterization. The second half was definitely an improvement, but it’s likely that many anime watchers dropped the show way before reaching Episode 7.
In a nutshell, the theme of the Shinobi no Ittoki story is centered on how blindly following cultural dictates can lead to perpetuating a cycle of violence. The story also highlights tribalism and how perceiving and treating people as part of a monolithic group rather than individuals can lead to devastation. The fatalistic villain’s goal of destroying the ninja way of life is even somewhat sympathetic based on the way ninja culture mistreated its members.
Ninjas have a code that’s based on duplicity, so it’s not surprising that many of the characters get lost in all the backstabbing based on group affiliations. The blood feud has persisted despite certain enterprising ninjas trying to forge a path toward peace.
Ittoki embodies the everyman perspective of the outsider since he’s thrust into this ninja world without warning. Since he doesn’t have any pre-existing prejudices he’s able to articulate what’s wrong with this hidden ninja society that’s attempted to blend in with the modern world.
The only problem with Ittoki is that he’s almost too nice and too innocent. If the plot didn’t force his mundane life to suddenly become interesting then he could have easily blended into the background as a mob character. Many of the other characters are similarly bland.
Sure, Ittoki staged a brief teenage rebellion against his strict mom Yumika Sakuraba when he wasn’t allowed to go on a date, but if this is a power fantasy where a normal highschooler suddenly becomes a ninja, he’s almost too basic which makes him come off as a self-insert personality similar to the average isekai protagonist. It’s only when circumstances cause Ittoki to forcibly grow up in the second half that he begins to become interesting as a person, especially when he uses manipulation to reveal the traitor to the Iga village.
In both the first and second acts of the story, Kousetsu is pretty much the only character design with a dynamic personality. It’s obvious that she’s conflicted between her loyalty to the ninja village rules and what she knows is right. She struggles with feeling fully accepted and blames herself for the death of Ittoki’s mom despite having no control of her own body due to the mind control chip planted in her brain as a child. Her final conflict is finding a reason to live after her beloved mother is dead.
“Uncle” Tokisada Kaga is a walking stereotype in his mannerisms and character flaws. But flawed characters like these are more fun to watch than an uninteresting protagonist. The anime also made him out to be suspicious so you had to wonder at first if he really was the perpetrator behind the murders that initiated the conflict.
As for the antagonists, as previously mentioned the ultimate villain Kidou Minobe became slightly sympathetic due to the flashbacks in the 2nd act. His desire to right ninja society is laudable, but his desire for revenge for his childhood treatment results in him seeking destruction rather than true justice.
During Kidou’s rant at the end, he claimed that beneath the surface every other person was simply a demon in disguise hiding their inner evil. But what his speech ultimately revealed was that he was speaking to a twisted mirror since he wasn’t willing to accept responsibility for his own choices.
The portrayal of school bully Suzaku Ban also painted a sympathetic villain in the few episodes where he’s been featured. It’s nice to see a well-rounded antagonist, although it was pretty obvious from the outset that he would be defeated by Talk no Jutsu, not in a real fight.
Speaking of action, Shinobi no Ittoki Season 1 was reasonably animated but it can’t compare to top-budget animation extravaganzas. Still, in a time when the anime industry has inundated fans with overpowered isekai protagonists it’s actually kind of nice to have a main character whose abilities, or lack thereof, are reasonably balanced based on his strict upbringing.
Unfortunately, pitting a lackluster ninja against a powerful foe wouldn’t be too interesting as a climax. By the halfway point it was pretty obvious that Ittoki would eventually be given an isekai-like “cheat ability” in order for him to overcome the disparity in ninja training and skills. The existence of a secret super-powerful ninja core being held only by an Iga Clan village chief also foreshadowed the death of Ittoki’s mom (note: this observation was originally written when Episode 6 was the latest episode).
After all, Ittoki’s character needed to be given the motivation to change. The opening scene where Ittoki is walking down the snow-covered stairs was foreshadowing that he’ll eventually find the motivation and determination necessary to fully embrace his ninja heritage. Since Episode 11 portrayed that scene, the only question was what he would do with the mantle of village leader in the ending…
Ittoki’s decision to confront Kidou and find a path toward peace without exposing or destroying ninja culture left the door open for Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2. Suzaku is now the rival leader, Ittoki’s friends Kirei and Ryouko are found their calling in life, and Tokisada is on the run. Although, you have to wonder if NSC leader Shione Kouzuki is pursuing Tokisada in a romantic sense, not just for “justice”.
Even though the story lends itself to a sequel, it’s difficult to say whether the anime production committee (TMS Entertainment, Toy’s Factory, DMM, NetEase, Vobile) will have Shinobi no Ittoki renewed for a second season since international streaming revenue is the biggest factor influencing financial success nowadays. Presumably, the producers haven’t pre-planned the Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 production out in advance since they would first want to see whether the financial numbers from the first season justify a Shinobi no Ittoki sequel.
Anime studios like Studio TROYCA and the main staff are contractors. They are booked out years in advance for anime projects.
As such, even if the second season is greenlit for production, the Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 release date will be several years in the future.
This article provides everything that is known about Shinobi no Ittoki 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.
Crunchyroll’s Shinobi no Ittoki English dub release date
When Crunchyroll began streaming the Lycoris Recoil episodes in Fall 2022 there were only English subtitles.
Here is the main Shinobi no Ittoki English dub cast:
- Howard Wang (Langa in SK8 the Infinity) as Ittoki Sakuraba
- Emily Fajardo (Aisha in How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom) as Kousetsu
- Ian Sinclair (Sugimoto in Golden Kamuy) as Tokisada Kaga
- Katelyn Barr (Natsumi in Date A Live) as Kirei Kisegawa
- Macy Anne Johnson (Shikimori in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie) as Ryoko Sukuno
- Nazeeh Tarsha (Hayato in Love After World Domination) as Suzaka Ban
- Caitlin Glass (Shiho in Tomodachi Game) as Yumika Sakuraba
- Eric Vale (Ryuen in Classroom of the Elite) as Kidou Minobe
- Jim Foronda (Luxion in Trapped in a Dating Sim) as Kozo Moriyama
- Tiffany Solano as Reiha Tsuge
- Emi Lo (Lucy in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners) as Satomi Tsubaki
- Additional Voices: Marianne Bray, Ethan Gallardo, Spencer Liles, Mark Allen Jr., Erica Muse, Aaron Campbell
Crunchyroll’s Shinobi no Ittoki English dub release date was on October 18, 2022.
Shinobi no Ittoki Blu-Ray/DVD release date confirmed
During Fall 2022, Shinobi no Ittoki Season 1 was streaming weekly on Crunchyroll and VRV (not Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HIDIVE, or Amazon Prime Video).
The 12 episodes were released as a single Shinobi no Ittoki Blu-Ray/DVD volume that came out on February 22, 2023.
The first season’s finale, Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 12, was released on December 20, 2022.
Who are the creators of Shinobi no Ittoki Season 1?
The Shinobi no Ittoki anime was an original story created by Studio TROYCA, which has produced anime TV shows and movies like the IDOLiSH7 series, the Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files series, Re:Creators, and Aldnoah.Zero.
Shinobi no Ittoki Season 1 was helmed by director Shu Watanabe. In the past, he’s been an episode director for almost all of TROYCA’s anime projects ever since Aldnoah.Zero. Before his time at TROYCA, the director also worked on notable anime such as Sword Art Online Season 2 and The Future Diary.
Writer Minato Takano wrote the script and series composition. Isamu Suzuki (Bloom Into You) was both the character designer and the chief animation director. The music was composed by TOMISIRO (Macross).
The Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Shinobi no Ittoki OP “Hikari” was performed by the Humbreaders, while the ED “Oboetate” was performed by hockrockb.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the studio creates a new main theme for Shinobi no Ittoki Season 2 that takes the story of modern ninjas in a new direction. Stay tuned!