UPDATE April 21, 2022: A new Shaman King anime sequel was announced in April 2022 after Episode 52 premiered in Japan. For more details about the Shaman King Season 2 release date, please click the link for the newer article. The remainder of this article remains as published since the last update.
The new Shaman King 2021 release date in Japan was on April 1, 2021. The Shaman King Netflix release date for international audiences happened on August 9, 2021, but will Netflix U.S. have a Shaman King Season 2?
First off, let’s get one thing out of the way. There will be only one season of Shaman King 2021. But Netflix U.S. tends to label the seasons differently from the Japanese anime industry.
For example, WIT Studio’s Great Pretender anime was technically a single season released over time as several parts, but the last part was labeled Great Pretender Season 2 by Netflix. Similarly, The Seven Deadly Sins: Dragon’s Judgement anime was the fourth final season, but on Netflix U.S. it was labeled as The Seven Deadly Sins Season 5.
The reason why we know that there won’t be a “real” Shaman King Season 2 is that the anime’s official website has confirmed that the new Shaman King remake will have 52 episodes in total. Since the original Shaman King 2001 anime was 64 episodes some anime fans hoped there was room for a continuation of the remake, but the website states, “A total of four boxes, the new animation covers all the way to the conclusion!”
When Netflix’s Shaman King was released the first 13 episodes were released as “Season 1”. Similarly, each Blu-Ray/DVD disc box set will have 13 episodes, so there will be BD release for every cour.
What’s a cour, you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
In this case, the Japanese TV broadcast is expected to air without major interruption from April 2021 through April 2022. As in, it’s not expected to be a split-cour anime, which is when a single anime season takes a break for multiple months before resuming.
(The exception was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Due to Japanese TV broadcast coverage, the Shaman King Episode 18 release date was pushed back from July 29th to August 12, 2021. Episode 19 was pushed back from August 5th to August 19, 2021.)
But how will Netflix U.S. release Shaman King 2021?
- Updated August 16, 2021: Added Shaman King Season 3 OP/ED info.
- Updated August 9, 2021: Added episode count and English dub cast info.
- Updated August 5, 2021: Added new key visual.
- Updated July 22, 2021: Shaman King TV broadcast interrupted by Olympics.
- Updated July 16, 2021: Added Netflix’s Shaman King dub trailer.
This article provides everything that is known about Shaman King Season 2 (Shaman King 2021 Season 2/Shaman King 2021 Part 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.
Shaman King 2021 Netflix release date confirmed to be in Summer 2021
The Shaman King Netflix release date was scheduled for August 9, 2021. 13 episodes were released at first.
On March 3, 2021, Netflix released the Shaman King 2021 trailer with English subtitles.
A Shaman King English dub was confirmed by a new trailer that Netflix streamed in July 2021. The anime is also available in a German, French, and Spanish dub.
As Netflix users know, the streaming giant likes to set up U.S. and international audiences for binge-watching rather than releasing episodes weekly. That means Shaman King 2021 will be split up into multiple seasons or parts.
For the first cour/part, the Shaman King OP (opening) theme song music was “Soul Salvation”, while the ED (ending) was “#Boku no Yubisaki” (My Fingertip). The Shaman King 2021 music features returning singer Megumi Hayashibara. She performed two OPs and two EDs for the original Shaman King 2001 anime.
For the second cour/part, the ED switched to “Adieu” as performed by Yui Horie.
For the third cour (Netflix’s Shaman King Season 3), the OP switched to “Get up! Shout!” as performed by Nana Mizuki. The ED also switched to “Lunar August (Hazuki)” as performed by the three-member band saji. The song’s single was released on October 27, 2021.
Shaman King 2021 Season 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, Netflix or any company related to the anime production has not officially confirmed Netflix’s Shaman King Season 2 release date.
Once the news about the Shaman King Season 2 Netflix U.S. release date is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
Based on history, Netflix will likely follow a release schedule similar to Pokemon Journeys, where another 13 episodes will be added every three months for the duration of the season.
Therefore, it’s predicted that Shaman King 2021 Season 2 (Shaman King 2021 Episode 14 – 26) will release in Fall 2021 or Winter 2022. That means Shaman King Season 3 (Shaman King 2021 Episode 27 – 39) would release in Winter 2022 or Spring 2022, and Shaman King Season 4 (Shaman King 2021 Episode 40 – 52) in Spring 2022 or Summer 2022.
Shaman King 2021 English dub cast and animation staff
Netflix announced the Shaman King 2021 dub cast when it was released in August 2021.
- Abby Trott as Yoh Asakura
- Oliver Wyman as Manta Oyamada
- Kaiji Tang as Amidamaru
- D.C. Douglas “Ryu” Ryunosuke Umemiya
- Sean Rohani as Mosuke
- Doug Stone as Yohmei
- Erica Mendez as Hao Asakura
As previously noted, Netflix releases its exclusives with subtitles and dubbing for multiple languages, including English, French, German, and Spanish.
Here is the Japanese Shaman King cast:
- Yōko Hikasa as Yoh Asakura
- Katsuyuki Konishi as Amidamaru
- Megumi Hayashibara as Anna Kyōyama
- Inuko Inuyama as Manta Oyamada
- Romi Park as Tao Ren
- Kousuke Takaguchi as Bason
- Masahiko Tanaka as Ryunosuke Umemiya
- Wataru Takagi as Tokagerō
- Yūji Ueda as Horohoro
- Megumi Nakajima as Kororo
- Michiko Neya as Tao Jun
- Tooru Sakurai as Lee Pailong
- Nana Mizuki as Tamao Tamamura
- Takumu Miyazono as Ponchi
- Noriaki Kanze as Konchi
- Takehito Koyasu as Faust VIII
- Masakazu Morita as Mosuke
- Minami Takayama as Hao Asakura
- Rina Hidaka as Pirika
- Yoko Soumi as Lyserg Diethel
- Motoko Kumai as Joco (Chocolove) McDonell
- Yui Horie as Jeanne
- Yūichi Nakamura as Marco
The Japanese cast includes many returning voice actors from Shaman King 2001.
The anime is being produced by Japanese animation studio Bridge, which was founded by former members of Studio Sunrise. Bridge is best known for collaborating with big-name studios. For example, they worked with A-1 Pictures/Cloverworks on the Fairy Tail anime series and Toei Animation on the Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold anime.
Studio Bridge has created anime productions on their own, including the 2017 The Royal Tutor (Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine) anime, the 2014 Nobunagun anime, and the 2013 Devil Survivor 2.
Shaman King 2021 is being directed by Joji Furuta (The Seven Deadly Sins Season 2). Writer Shoji Yonemura (Pokemon) is handling the series scripts. Artist Satohiko Sano (Talentless Nana, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! Season 2) is the character designer. Composer Yuki Hayashi (My Hero Academia, Haikyuu!!) created the music.
Shaman King manga’s ending in Complete Edition to be adapted by 2021 anime?
The story for the anime TV series is based on the Shaman King by creator Hiroyuki Takei. Serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1998 through 2004, the manga series ended in 2004.
At Otakon 2015, then MAPPA president Masao Maruyama stated that he wanted to work on a Shaman King reboot. In February 2017, the creator said that he actually turned down requests for a Shaman King remake.
“To tell the truth, there was an offer for an anime remake that reached a realistic level,” Takei tweeted in response to a fan’s question. “But because they were not able to use the first anime’s voice actors and soundtrack music, I had to turn down it. I hope there will be another chance.”
Obviously, producers must have worked out everything since the Shaman King 2021 anime features returning Japanese voice actors and singers. But there is still the question of how the new anime reboot will differ from the original 2001 anime.
The manga ended abruptly with an incomplete ending. In the middle of a fight, some of the characters literally took a break to sleep and prepare for a final battle. The final page ended with a dream where the characters were on their way to rescue someone.
Needless to say, the original Shaman King manga’s ending was extremely controversial at the time. In 2009, Shueisha released the Shaman King: Perfect Edition (Kanzen-Ban), a reprint that included the “true ending” to the manga series.
In recent times, Kodansha USA began publishing a 35-volume Complete Edition of the English Shaman King manga series. It will be the first time that the last several volumes were released with an English translation (VIZ Media, which no longer holds the license, had previously published up to Volume 32).
What’s more, an official English version of the spin-offs are being released. This includes Shaman King: Zero, Shaman King Flowers, Shaman King: Super Star, and Shaman King: Red Crimson
When the new Shaman King 2021 anime was first announced, it was claimed that the remake would adapt all 35 volumes of the Shaman King manga’s Complete Edition.
This means the new Shaman King anime’s ending should be manga canon. Hopefully, the ending could show or at least tease what happens to Yoh and Anna in the Shaman King sequels, Shaman King: Flower and Shaman King: The Super Star.
The new anime could differ from the Shaman King 2001 anime in other ways, as well. The original anime made some odd changes like changing Opacho’s gender and renaming Manta to Morty.
Since the anime ended in September 2002, which was two years before the manga ended in August 2004, the original anime began to noticeably diverge from the source material once the America story arc in Chapters 81 through 107 began being adapted.
The original anime also dumbed down the manga a bit to keep things kid-friendly. Kanna’s cigarette was removed despite the character using it as her spirit medium. The philosophies of both heroes and villains were watered down to be more shounen formulaic.
Let’s just hope the Shaman King 2021 remake stays true to the heart of the story. Stay tuned!