2024 Anime Series That Need Sequels

Summary

• Anime sequels are often determined by available source material, like manga and light novels.
• Not all successful anime receive sequels due to various reasons, like financial risks.
• Despite high ratings and potential storylines, some beloved anime from 2024 are still awaiting confirmation for a second season.

Similar to the movie industry, the world of anime also consists of sequels, spin-offs, and prequels. Unlike Hollywood, which mainly makes sequels to capitalize on a successful IP, anime series have lots of sequels because their source material—mainly manga and light novels—has lots of content that can still be adapted. As such, if the studio wants to deliver a complete story to the fans, they have to adapt the whole thing, which may take several seasons to do.

Unfortunately, not every anime series can get a sequel. From financial issues to lack of popularity, there are so many reasons why a studio decides to not make a sequel. Generally speaking thoughg, if a series is well received, a sequel is usually right around the corner. However, the same thing can’t be said about the following anime. These are some of the most successful and beloved series from 2024 that haven’t been confirmed to have a second season yet but are well deserving of one.

7

Mr. Villain’s Day Off

The Story Of An Evil Alien Who Can’t Resist The Cuteness Of Pandas

This is the story of a high-ranking officer of an evil alien army who wants to conquer the Earth. He is usually busy fighting the Rangers, but not today. This is his day off, and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with work. For such a special occasion, this tall and menacing man chooses to watch TV, visit the local convenience store, and eat delicious seasonal ice cream. However, the most important activity on his agenda is to visit the zoo. After all, this high-ranking officer of the evil alien army is obsessed with pandas.

Audiences enjoyed Mr. Villain’s Day Off because it is a cozy and wholesome anime that is built on a hilarious premise. Like most anime on this list, this is also an adaptation of a manga with the same name, written and drawn by Yuu Morikawa. This series undoubtedly deserves a second season. Unfortunately, the anime has already covered a huge part of the manga, so it might take a while until there’s enough content for a second season.

6

Demon Lord 2099

The Demon Lord In A Cyberpunk World

Demon Lord 2099 is arguably one of the most ambitious anime of 2024. It’s about a demon lord who awakens in a cyberpunk world. Since his power relies on the faith and fear that people feel towards him, he needs to gather followers to regain his dormant strength. In this day and age, the quickest way to do so is to be a streamer and earn a ton of subscribers, and that is precisely what he decides to do.

Clearly, this series tries to combine different genres and implement numerous cool ideas into a compact and entertaining package. It set out to make something that is engaging and entertaining for viewers, and for the most part, it succeeds. Unfortunately, that has not been enough for the studio to greenlight a second season for Demon Lord 2099 as of yet.

5

Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

A Tale Of Succession, Politics, And Charming The Future Mountain God

In their attempt to gain influence in the royal palace, the four noble houses send their princesses to compete for the hand of the crown prince, who is set to take over his father’s role as the Kinu, the servant of the Mountain God and the King of the Kingdom of Yamauchi. However, some in the royal palace question the crown prince’s claim because he is the emperor’s second son, and his mother is a concubine. They think his brother, the emperor and the empress’ firstborn, deserves to be the Kinu instead.

Yatagarasu is a prime example of a great story about politics, power, influence, and what people will do to obtain those things. The tension, the drama, the supernatural elements—everything is here. What isn’t here is confirmation of a second season. However, considering this anime only adapts the first three volumes of a 10-volume light novel series, with more on the way, it’s safe to assume that the studio will announce a new season in the near future.

4

The Fable

The Story Of A Bored But Lethal Assassin

This is a story about an extremely dangerous hitman known only by his moniker, “The Fable.” After a busy year of killing targets left and right, The Fable and his assistant are ordered to lay low for a bit in Osaka. The boss wants them to stay out of trouble and live like regular citizens for a year. How hard can that be, right? Well apparently, it’s very hard to do. After all, as a trained assassin, it’s easier for The Fable to kill somebody than to avoid injuring them. What is supposed to be a boring vacation turns out to be an eventful year.

The Fable is an anime adaptation of a manga of the same name, written and drawn by Katsuhisa Minami. The first season of the anime adapts the first 135 chapters of the manga. Fable ended its publication at chapter 240, which means the studio at least another season’s worth of content left. Unfortunately, there have been no official mentions of season 2 yet.

3

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!

A Sweet And Lighthearted Story Of Love, Loss, And Building A Relationship

Kazuhiko Nukumizu has never been interested in love. He knows that, statistically speaking, no high school couple has ever made it past high school itself. So why bother trying? Then he accidentally witnesses Anna, his classmate, getting rejected by her childhood crush, who is also his classmate. This surreal encounter leads to a friendship between Kazuhiko and Anna, but as they talk and interact more and more every day, Kazuhiko can’t help but think that it could maybe lead to something more.

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! is one of the best hidden gems of 2024. The lighthearted atmosphere, the quirky characters, the relatable conversations; it’s truly an interesting and heartwarming series. Based on its high MyAnimeList score, viewers clearly feel the same way. Unfortunately, there’s still no news about a second season.

2

A Sign Of Affection

One Of The Most Endearing Love Stories Of The Year

Yuki is deep in her own world when a foreigner suddenly comes up and asks her about something in English. She can’t help him and tries her best to communicate her helplessness to the cheerful stranger, but to no avail. Thankfully, a young man appears, talks to the clueless man, and answers his questions. Yuki uses sign language to thank the young man but quickly lowers her hands because she is afraid he might not understand her. Instead, she shows him her hearing aid and types her words of gratitude on her phone instead. The young man is a bit startled at first, but he quickly gives Yuki a gentle smile. This is the start of a incredibly endearing relationship between these two characters.

If it wasn’t already obvious, A Sign of Affection is one of the most gentle, sweet, and heartwarming romance anime of 2024. It is based on a manga of the same name, written and drawn by Suu Morishita. The manga is still going strong to this day, so there is still a lot of content left to be adapted to the anime. Hopefully, a second season will be announced soon.

1

Girls Band Cry

A Heartwarming Story Of Friendship, Dreams, And Music

Girls Band Cry is one of the best coming-of-age stories in recent years. It might seem like a standard story that revolves around making a band and creating music, but once viewers dive deeper into the story, they’ll quickly realize that it is about so much more. It’s about forging new friendships. It’s about overcoming hardship and chasing a dream. It’s about the intricacies of human interaction. It’s about the difficulties of being a musician in the modern world. As a cherry on top, there’s great music and incredible visuals as well.

There are so many ways to expand upon a story like this. The series can follow the characters as they achieve stardom. It can even go the other direction and imagine what it would be like if they decided to go their separate ways. The point is, there are so many storylines to explore in a second season. Unfortunately, it seems like the issue is not related to the story at all.

It appears that there’s a lot of financial risk involved in creating an original anime, even if it is as popular and beloved as Girls Band Cry is. For starters, the creators can’t expect sales from an original manga, light novel, or video game like most anime adaptations. They are essentially making free content for the fans. That’s why Jukki Hanada, one of the creators of the show, tweeted right before the final episode of Girls Band Cry that due to these risks, there is currently no plan for a second season.

Keep in mind, this list is based on the information available at the time of writing. It’s possible that the various studios that produce these series will announce a second season for any of the anime on this list in the upcoming months, so stay tuned.