The Gleipnir Season 2 anime will heat up the action since Shuichi Kagaya has completely transformed from a timid person to someone who can now stand, fight, and even kill on his own.
The ending of Gleipnir Episode 13 only recently introduced the main villain Kaito, the man whose tragic mistake was the beginning of everything. Now, Gleipnir’s Claire Aoki and Shuichi must fight their way up the mountain and put an end to the tragedy started by the man who has already gathered the power of 100 coins.
But when will Gleipnir Season 2 come out? Unfortunately, it’s predicted to be a long wait, indeed.
The anime is being produced by anime studio Pine Jam, which is known for other anime such as Gamers! and their original anime Just Because!
Director Kazuhiro Yoneda is helming the project and he’s best known for directing the Yona of the Dawn anime. He was also an episode director for Infinite Stratos and Tiger & Bunny (see our article on the upcoming Tiger & Bunny Season 2 anime).
Writer Shinichi Inotsume (Gangsta, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) wrote the series composition. Artist Takahiro Kishida (Baccano!, Btooom!, Durarara!!, Haikyuu!!) is the character designer. Composer Ryohei Sataka created the music.
The first season’s opening (OP) theme song music was “Altern-ate-” as performed by H-el-ical// while the ending (ED) was “Ame to Taieki to Nioi” as performed by Mili.
The Gleipnir Season 2 opening and ending music have not yet been announced.
The Gleipnir anime is streaming exclusively on FUNimation Now, AnimeLab, and Wakanim.
The finale for the first season, Gleipnir Episode 13, released on June 28.
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Updated December 14, 2020: Added Gleipnir English dub info.
This article provides everything that is known about Gleipnir 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 Gleipnir English dub announced
When the first season originally was streaming in spring 2020, FUNimation had not yet announced an English dubbing. This announcement would wait until fall 2020.
Here is the English Gleipnir dub cast:
- Ry McKeand as Shuichi
- Brittney Karbowski as Clair
- Kyle Igneczi as Alien
- Morgan Lauré as Elena
- Xanthe Huynh as Nana
- Dawn M. Bennett as Hikawa
- Nicholas Andrew Louie as Abukawa
- Hayden Daviau as Izumi
- Brandon McInnis as Hatta
- Alejandro Saab as Iwao
Anime fans had to wait months for FUNimation’s Gleipnir English dub release date on December 13, 2020.
Gleipnir manga compared to the anime
The story for the anime series is based on the Gleipnir manga by creator Sun Takeda. Serialized in the seinen Young Magazine the 3rd since October 2015, the manga series is up to Gleipnir Volume 8 as of April 6.
The official English translation of the Gleipnir manga series is being published in North America by Kodansha USA. When the anime’s first season ended the English Gleipnir manga was up to Volume 6, while Volume 7 was scheduled to release on August 18 and Volume 8 on November 4.
It appears the manga creator is happy with the way the anime adapted his work since he tweeted out that he was “thankful for all the people involved in making such a high-quality work during a very difficult situation! Thank you!” He also thanked those watching the anime and noted that the manga continues the story.
Like many anime adaptations of manga series, there have been some changes in the Gleipnir anime. Welcome additions include new scene angles and the well-animated fight scenes were extended beyond the scope of the manga. (Animator Hirofumi Okita was involved for the fight scenes, so that’s no surprise.)
Early on, the menacing pitch-black aromas given off by gatherers were given a shadowy form more often so it was clear that Shuichi was smelling something odd. Transformation animations were particularly good, especially for Shuichi and Elena. In the manga, such details were mostly left to the imagination.
In addition, some story events have been reordered and/or changed to introduce an extra layer of suspense. The beginning sequence itself was anime original and teased both the alien and the shadowy form of Elena.
Near the beginning of the first season, Hikawa suddenly surprises Shuichi and Claire in the latter’s apartment, but in the manga, Hikawa was shown listening to their conversation so her sudden attack wasn’t surprising at all.
Gleipnir Episode 2 also reordered Hikawa’s introduction for greater impact. The character interaction was enhanced during the first fight since the manga had Shuichi mostly sitting back and letting Claire control him while he was thinking everything must be a nightmare. The anime also added extra dialogue about their feelings and motivations.
The convenience store scene in Gleipnir Episode 3 introduced a character earlier than usual. A fact that was highlighted when both Shuichi and Clair realized they recognized Miku from somewhere already.
On the other hand, Gleipnir Episode 4 skimmed some of the jokes and conversations with the alien (this info dump was two whole chapters, after all). Most notably, the crude hair joke was changed slightly and the alien explained the reason why they were traveling.
It turns out the aliens had polluted their home planet to the point where it couldn’t sustain life anymore. Since the environment had been destroyed, they transformed their souls into the coins and went on a journey through space while their planet recovered. But then their ancient ship crashlanded on Earth, spilling the alien’s coin comrades all over the landscape.
Gleipnir Episode 5 (which adapted through most of Chapter 14) skipped Chapter 10.5, which contained a short story arc that had Claire using Shuichi’s fursuit form to jump a river as a shortcut to school.
The anime also skipped part of the school rooftop conversation with Mifune where she notices Shuichi’s huge scar around his neck. Although you’d assume Shuichi’s classmates would make a big deal about it, he lamely passes it off as a cat scratch.
The merged form animation between Chihiro Yoshioka and Shuichi in Gleipnir Episode 7 was pretty straight-forward just like the manga. But the actual anime fight was well-done, matching the quality level of the anime’s first major fight scene.
Gleipnir Episode 8 added a heavy dose of foreshadowing that was missing from the manga. The episode had Shuichi meeting with his friend, Abukawa, who was supposedly burying a dog hit by a car, but the missing tail was suspicious. It was also pointed out that Abukawa’s personality changed when hanging out with older delinquent buddies.
Gleipnir Episode 9 reworked the manga scenes by having the group take a break where Isao’s plant powers are used to grow watermelons. The back story and motivations of the gang leader Madoka were expanded slightly by the anime. Various characters were given extra scenes and dialogue that helped the progression of the story.
One huge change made by the anime was in Gleipnir Episode 10. In the manga, Ikeuchi the stalker camera guy never attempted to betray his group to Madoka, but he did become separated and by Chapter 30 the group assumed he ran away.
The anime clearly made it seem like Ikeuchi “died” but since he shows up later in the manga for an important reason (Chapter 52) it’s more likely that he was choked out by the hair braid. The next episode reiterated that Ikeuchi was missing but didn’t elaborate on his fate.
Gleipnir Episode 11 reordered story events from the manga significantly to heighten storytelling impact. The beginning of Chapter 29 started the episode while the second half of the chapter, the scene that introduced Kaito and the ghostly Honoka by having them kill randos, was made the ending of the episode.
The anime then continued adapting Chapter 30 while skipping a scene with Elena’s group. Yoshioka’s revelation that someone had already collected 100 coins was shifted to a new anime scene on top of the school.
The two scenes where members of the group took a breather and pondered what had just happened were anime original. While focused on side characters, these little additions added to the emotional progression of Shiochi and his decision to fight on his own. It also added the detail that both the convenience store girl and Koyanagi Sayaka are both lesbians.
The earlier foreshadowing regarding Shiochi’s friend Abukawa heightened the impact of the scenes were Shiochi realized he’d killed his friend.
The alien scene from Chapter 31 was adapted in a straight-forward fashion although the anime skipped retelling the alien telling his origin story to Honoka. The alien also didn’t mention in the anime that his human form came from DNA found in a random hair near the love hotel.
The anime introduced extra scenes that more naturally progressed to Shiochi making the decision to kill Madoka’s swordsman.
Gleipnir Episode 12 picked up the story again with a previously skipped scene from manga Chapter 30 and then jumped to Volume 6: Chapter 33. The story will finally explain Honoka’s back story and how the coin-collecting game took a dark turn.
It’s the major turning point in the story so the pacing of the final two episodes slowed down in order to properly adapt the emotional intensity. Episode 12 more or less followed the manga, but it expanded almost all of the scenes.
Certain details like Aiko being bullied and Yoshioka calling Elena were hinted at in the manga, whereas the anime showed what happened. The anime added the original scene where Claire investigated the Yamada Cram School and discovered the doll that’s the basis for Shuichi’s fursuit form.
If Pine Jam wants an action-based ending for Gleipnir Episode 13 they could have adapted the fight against Kaito’s two henchmen in Chapters 36 through 40, but that would have meant rushing the pacing. It also would have been an awkward cliffhanger ending since the manga immediately jumps into Naoto confronting Kaito on the mountain, so the anime wrapped up things in a different way that resolves a central conflict: whether Shuichi and Claire are two who can become one.
This meant that Gleipnir Episode 13 was almost entirely an anime original ending. The anime episode’s opening scene with Elena and the ghostly Honoka was from the end of Chapter 36. The ending where Shuichi and Claire met up with Tadanori Sanbe in the mountains was from the ending of Chapter 35/beginning of Chapter 36.
Otherwise, the remaining scenes were original, especially the smoothly animated three-way fight between Shuichi, Elena, and Honoka. The new content gave more insight into Elena’s motivations, including the detail that wiping memories weakens her futher. Plus, it was revealed that Honoka’s bond with Shuichi was the reason his memories were wiped in order to protect the world.
One of the biggest anime-only revelations at this point in the story was the reason for the death of all their parents. Being released from the pact by having the hair chokers fall off was another major change, especially the deal where Elena was given the coins.
Arguably, with only 13 episodes to work with, this was the best way the anime could have ended. The manga leaps into a series of battles without pause and doesn’t provide as many answers until later chapters so following the manga strictly wouldn’t give the anime’s finale any sense of closure.
You almost have to wonder if the manga creator provided input since this finale provides a better transition into the next story arc. Having Shuichi’s memories rewiped maintained the continuity with the manga’s timeline so Gleipnir Season 2 can be made without retconning any major detail.
The pacing of the first season adapted a little less than three manga chapters per episode. For example, Gleipnir Episode 3 ended with the middle of Volume 2: Chapter 8.
The opening scene of Gleipnir Episode 5 was the ending of Volume 2: Chapter 10. The ending of Gleipnir Episode 7 was the ending of Volume 4: Chapter 20. Gleipnir Episode 11 ended with Volume 5: Chapter 32.
All in all, the finale, Gleipnir Episode 13, found an ending in the middle of Gleipnir Volume 6. The best stopping point was Chapter 35 since the villain Kaito has been revealed in addition to a part of the mystery of Shuichi’s missing memories.
The good news is that English-only manga readers can quickly start reading ahead of the anime since Gleipnir Volume 7 is coming out later in 2020. You can start with Chapter 36.
The bad news is that when the first season ended there were not enough manga chapters available for Gleipnir Season 2 to be produced immediately.
Gleipnir uncensored in Blu-Ray/DVD release?
Gleipnir manga fans were wondering ahead of time just how censored the anime could be. The biggest difference between Gleipnir Episodes 6 and 7 and the manga chapters is that Pine Jam had to rework the scene angles to keep everything censored for TV broadcast standards.
Similarly, a scene in Gleipnir Episode 9 where the centipede grabbed group leader Koyanagi Sayaka was toned down. The graphic violence where the centipede’s jaw was punched off by Youta was blurred out in the anime TV broadcast. The X-ray vision scene that showed the invisible girl was also censored.
The manga, on the other hand, didn’t even try to hide anything. But since it’s a seinen demographic manga intended for adult men that’s not surprising.
Some anime fans are wondering if the Blu-Ray/DVD release will feature Gleipnir uncensored. While nothing has been announced yet, it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s the plan based on the way anime studios market their products.
Thus far, the Gleipnir Blu-Ray release date hasn’t been announced by the official website, which will presumably be listed under the Product section that’s currently unavailable.
Note: This article will be updated with the relevant info once the Blu-Ray/DVD bundle details are announced.
Gleipnir Season 2 release date: Is 2022 possible?
As of the last update, FUNimation, Pine Jam, Kodansha, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Gleipnir Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Gleipnir 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 Gleipnir Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
By June 2020, the manga was up to Gleipnir Chapter 54. The series is released monthly, so by the end of 2020, the manga should be up to Gleipnir Chapter 60.
Assuming the Gleipnir Season 2 anime’s story is paced similarly to the first season, the manga needs to provide at least 72 chapters of source material. Unfortunately, that milestone won’t be reached until the end of 2021 even if the manga creator doesn’t go on any breaks for a hiatus (the manga took a one-month break in 2020 due to the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic).
Therefore, anime fans should expect to wait until at least 2022 before Gleipnir Season 2 could be released.
Gleipnir Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
The last time we watched the Gleipnir anime, we learned that Kaito had punished Honoka for her alleged crime of killing Aiko. But it turned out that Aiko had committed suicide of her own volition and Honoka had taken Aiko’s place since she mistakenly believed no one would miss her.
Shuichi, Claire, and university student Tadanori Sanbe are preparing a journey to the site of the alien ship’s crash site. But the path is haunted by two powerful guardians: a man who transforms into a sword-wielding giant Roman soldier, and a girl whose love of reptiles gives her terrifying abilities.
While this pair is scary, what is truly terrifying is that they defend the mountain against their will due to the controlling power of Kaito. The man with 100 coins chose a power he recalls Rebirth, which allows him to revive the dead back to life.
The villain believes that souls cannot be destroyed based on the Buddhist Six Realms of Samsara. Kaito has made this religious belief a reality where souls can be reborn and where punishment awaits true sinners: those who love to fight and fulfill their own desires on the basis of killing others.
Using the power of Rebirth, Kaito has slain all the Gatherers who have dared to venture to the crash site only to raise them up again as unwilling vassals. It turns out Kaito’s power works by replacing dead cells with insect-like creatures.
Similar to how a human body’s cells are completely replaced every 7 to 10 years, these insects have devoured the real body and mind by replacing them. Such revived beings are simply an amalgamation of insects mimicking the original self.
Any injuries can be healed… but at the cost of the person’s willpower. Thus, the two guardians are forced to fight over and over again despite being desperate to die. They can’t kill themselves and they can’t leave the mountain since they can’t go against the orders of Kaito.
Kaito awaits in a forsaken place the guardians call Hell. Standing against Kaito is Elena and Naoto, Shuichi’s former classmate from cram school. Just like Shuichi, Naoto has the ability to transform into a powerful fursuit.
Kaito has resurrected Honoka but this innocent-looking girl is the most monstrous of them all. Yet Kaito believes his continued purpose is to protect Honoka from any who might harm her. Even if he must destroy the whole world in the process.
Unfortunately, anime fans will need to wait until the Gleipnir Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!