The Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 anime TV series will have “Zipperman” Combat Agent Six, Alice, Snow, Grimm, and Rose struggling to survive during an Undead Festival. But when will Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! Season 2 come out?
The main staff and studio for Combatants Will Be Dispatch! Season 2 hasn’t been announced yet. The first season was produced by Japanese animation studio J.C. Staff, known for the original Sorcerous Stabber Orphen anime, the KonoSuba movie, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, A Certain Scientific Railgun, One Punch Man Season 2 (and, hopefully, One Punch Man Season 3), and the Food Wars! anime series.
In 2021, Studio J.C. Staff is working on the Date A Live Season 4 anime, Netflix’s EDENS ZERO anime, Netflix’s The Way of the Househusband Season 2, Blue Reflection Ray, The Duke of Death and His Maid anime, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, and Requiem of the Rose King. They’ve also scheduled the DanMachi Season 4 release date for 2022.
The project was helmed by director Hiroaki Akagi (Hina Logic, Teasing Master Takagi-san). Writer Yukie Sugawara (Hina Logic, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Kino’s Journey, No Guns Life, Overlord, Radiant, Sword Art Online) handled the series composition.
Artist Takehiro Suwa (Assault Lily: Bouquet, Teasing Master Takagi-san) was the character designer. Composer Masato Kouda (Domestic Girlfriend, Knight’s & Magic, Konosuba, Radiant) wrote the music.
The Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 OP (opening) theme song music and ED (ending) haven’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! OP was “No.6” as performed by Miku Itou. The ED “Home Sweet Home” was performed by the Japanese voice actors for Alice Kisaragi (Miyu Tomita), Snow (Sayaka Kikuchi), Rose (Natsumi Murakami), and Grimm (Minami Takahashi).
The finale for the first season, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Episode 12, released on June 20, 2021.
- Updated July 16, 2021: Added light novel sales data.
This article provides everything that is known about Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 (Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! 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.
FUNimation’s Combatants Will Be Dispatched! dub release date in May 2021
FUNimation, which was a co-producer of the anime, was exclusively streaming the first season with English subtitles. At first, FUNimation’s Simuldub schedule only listed the Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! anime as a Simulcast.
In May 2021, the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! dub was announced:
- Monica Rial as Alice
- Brendan Blaber as Combat Agent Six
- Mallorie Rodak as Astaroth
- Molly Searcy as Belial
- Cris George as King
- Emily Neves as Lilith
- Amber Lee Connors as Snow
- Bryn Apprill as Tillis
For the first season, FUNimation’s Combatants Will Be Dispatched! English dub released on May 2, 2021. Therefore, a Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 dub is possible if the anime TV series is renewed for a second season.
Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! Season 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, Kadokawa, FUNimation, Studio J.C. Staff, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 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 Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
Considering that the anime is essentially Konosuba’s love child, you would assume that Combatants Will Be Dispatched! has a good chance of being renewed for a sequel. But we’re living in an imperfect world where Konosuba Season 3 still hasn’t been announced, never mind No Game No Life Season 2.
On the other hand, both the Overlord Season 4 anime TV series and an Overlord movie were announced in 2021 in addition to The Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 anime TV series so the universe likes to give us hope in small doses.
I digress. The main issue is that the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! reviews have been notably lower in comparison to Konosuba. While almost everyone agrees Grimm is Best Girl, aside from the Episode 1 Dick Festival joke the gimmicky comedy doesn’t seem to be resonating with quite as many anime fans.
The FUNimation streaming numbers will determine the anime’s fate. Unfortunately, FUNimation Now doesn’t give any hint about streaming popularity, so we’ll need to wait until the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Blu-Ray/DVD sales numbers come out to see how popular the series is in Japan.
Another indicator is the sales boost to the light novels. By July 2021 the book series had only exceeded 1 million copies in circulation. As a comparison, the 86 Eighty-Six anime, which was also released in Spring 2021, caused its respective light novel series to exceed 1.3 million copies.
At this point, it seems to be a toss-up on whether or not Combatants Will Be Dispatched! will be renewed for a second season. But consider it a good sign if Episode 12 ends by mentioning the Undead Festival.
Combatants Will Be Dispatched! novel was written before Konosuba
The story for the anime TV series is based on the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! light novel series by author Natsume Akatsuki and illustrator Kakao Lanthanum. First published in November 2017, the book series was up to Volume 6 as of September 2020.
Anime fans might be surprised to learn that the creator actually posted the first volume online before starting work on Konosuba. Essentially, the Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! light novels began life as a trial run for what became Konosuba.
Combat Agent Six is basically a proto-Kazuma, except that Six begins with good combat skills and is a lot sleazier than Kazutrash. Blue-haired Snow is an Aqua remix that has a penchant for fancy swords rather than alcohol yet is still fairly useless. Rose borrows Megumin’s chunibyo issues. Grimm is like a combination of Darkness and Wiz with a dash of Aqua’s uselessness.
And, yes, there is an official Konosuba x Combatants Will Be Dispatched! crossover chapter that was included in light novel Volume 2.
But now that Akatsuki finished Konosuba with Volume 17 and the Megumin Bakuen spin-off ended with Volume 5, it seems like he’ll be focused on developing the Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! light novel series from hereon.
Since March 2018, Akatsuki began working with artist Masaaki Kiasa on the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! manga series. As of March 2021, it was up to Volume 6.
North American publisher Yen Press is releasing the official English translation of both the manga and light novel series. On July 20, 2021, the English light novel Volume 6 is coming out.
The English Combatants Will Be Dispatched! manga will be up to Volume 5 by September 21, 2021. Based on history, Volume 6 will be released in January or February 2022.
Combatants Will Be Dispatched! manga/light novel series compared to the anime
Just as Six was shocked at being dropped into a hostile alien world without really knowing what’s going on, anime fans might have objected to not having time to digest the established lore before being dumped into a new world. New characters are introduced at a rapid-fire pace without having any time to get attached.
While the opening worldbuilding explanation zips by super fast in the anime, this approach only mimics the presentation style of the books and the manga, which played out the ill-thought extraterrestrial invasion plan as a gag. Even then, the anime was faster, skipping some jokes.
For example, Freezing Astaroth, one of the Supreme Leaders of the evil Kisaragi Corporation, cold-bloodedly tells Six that he would be laid off once the job was over. And the jokes about evil corporate layoffs continued from there.
Even Six’s backstory in the anime skipped how they once fought a perverted Hero team that resembled spandex-wearing Power Rangers with numbers on their masks. Another skipped running gag was how the other world suspiciously resembled a fantasy RPG.
On the plus side, many times the jokes fell flat in the manga, whereas the animated version pulled off the visual gags much better. For example, when Episode 1 had Six try out his magical Explosion! powers, the reference to Konosuba was made more blatant by having Megumin’s theme song playing in the background while Six mimicked Megumin’s voice as he yelled.
The anime’s combination of end scenes and previews harkened back to how light novel chapters ended by having Six sending official reports back to the Kisaragi Corporation. Astaroth, Belial, and Lilith talk with each other about Six using corporate terminology to refer to fantasy elements, like the Demon Lord’s army being a rival organization.
While it could be argued that the anime needed to slow down the pacing and let the scenes breathe more, the adaptation pacing was actually quite slow in comparison to most anime that adapt light novel series. Each episode adapted and was named after a single chapter, so it’s just the character themselves that move and talk quickly (the books largely consist of dialogue).
This pacing meant Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Episode 6 finished the ending of light novel Volume 1. Just like Konosuba, the anime adapt only two books per season.
The one pleasant surprise was Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Episode 10: Kisaragi Leaders Will Be Livestreamed! Although it’s arguably a filler episode focused on comedic fan service, the episode fleshed out characters Astaroth, Belial, and Lilith.
The nice thing is that the side story filled in a gap that could have been an OVA episode.
The second half of the first season introduced new characters like Tiger Man, a predator who overly adores kids. As in, literally a child predator. Basically, he’s Bullet from Redo of Healer but Tiger Man is leashed, unable to do anything too terrible on-screen.
Speaking of which, there’s also the demon chimera Russell, one of the four heavenly kings in the demon army. This character continues on into the second season.
All in all, as predicted the finale, Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! Episode 12, found a stopping corresponding to the end of light novel Volume 2, which corresponds to manga Volume 5: Chapter 27.
It’s the best stopping point since it involves an epic battle before the story transitions into the next major story arc.
(Just like in the manga, once Six was knocked out the actual battle with Alice piloting the Destroyer wasn’t actually depicted. The manga also only mentioned the Grimm sock scene whereas the anime animated it.)
The good news is that there is currently plenty of source material for making Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2.
Better yet, English-speaking light novel readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight to Volume 3. The story continues in the last several pages of Chapter 27. Unfortunately, manga readers will need to wait until the English manga Volume 6 comes out in early 2022.
Combatants Will Be Dispatched Season 2 anime TV spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
In the Afterword of light novel Volume 2, the creator implied that the protagonists would be more heroic in Volume 3. Whether or not that’s a good thing for Combatants Will Be Dispatched Season 2 is up in the air since scummy characters are the writer’s forte.
You also have to wonder how the author defines heroic. In order to avoid Tiger Man’s fuzzy embrace, the captured chimera Russell is forced to wear a cute frilly maid uniform to appease the savage beast (never mind, refilling the water supply). And Chunchunmaru aka Six isn’t exactly abandoning his core scumminess.
Six’s Evil Points have fallen even further into the red after he requested the Destroyer. Six and Alice can’t reacquisition new equipment, so they even need to make their own ammo for the shotgun.
Kisaragi Corporation’s new mission for the pair is to fortify their base on the planet and expand their territory. But to pull that off, they’ll need to increase their points.
Worse, their new hideout home is destroyed in a massive explosion after Snow has a gunpowder mishap and they all end up living in tents at the edge of the forest. The heavily indebted Snow is literally willing to do anything just to keep a roof over her head, especially after she wasn’t able to pay her own rent due to the Flame Zapper MK. 2 loan and she was evicted.
Meanwhile, Grimm is busy preparing for the Undead Festival, a ceremony to receive and welcome deceased ancestors. It’s normally accompanied by a lot of food like an Obon festival in Japan.
In this case, the deceased ancestors possess nearby corpses. As in, literal zombies. Grimm is responsible for making certain the fun doesn’t devolve into a zombie apocalypse.
It turns out Grimm is very Wiz-like in that she’s undead. And when she finds herself attacked by her fellow zombies, she makes the very silly mistake of removing the blessing of undeath from the area… which includes herself.
Needless to say, an undead committing accidental suicide is one of Grimm’s dumbest deaths. And this time, it’s questionable whether her goddess will be so forgiving.
To make matters worse, the tent hideout of the Secret Society Kisaragi Grace Branch finds itself besieged by Mipyoko-pyoko. In short, instead of Konosuba’s giant toads, this story has hordes of self-destructing frogs that explode!
The reason for the chaos is that their new base is located close to the supernatural forest, which is retaliating with all sorts of creatures even as the dead begin to rise. If the frogs aren’t explosive enough, just add giant lobsters, giant snakes, and pervy plant tentacles to the monster mix… let the zombie invasion begin!
Pushed to the edge, Six decides it’s time to call in the big guns and summon one of Kisaragi’s Supreme leaders to the other world: Lilith the Black. But will Lilith’s arsenal of deadly weapons speed up the planetary conquest fast enough that Six doesn’t go crazy from all the bickering when android Alice enters a rebellious phase against her creator?
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Season 2 release date to watch what happens next during the Undead Festival. Stay tuned!