The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 anime TV series will have amnesiac Kinji Ninomiya starting from scratch again in the quest of fantasy corporate world domination. But when will Meikyuu Black Company Season 2 come out?
The first season of The Dungeon of Black Company anime was produced by Japanese animation Studio Silver Link, which is known for other anime series such as Strike The Blood Season 4, Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody, Wise Man’s Grandchild, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World, and BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense.
In 2021, Silver Link is also releasing My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie, The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, and The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
Studio Silver Link is also producing many anime sequels in the future. Strike The Blood Season 5, BOFURI Season 2, Restaurant to Another World Season 2, and The Misfit of Demon King Academy Season 2 anime are all confirmed to be in production.
The first season of The Dungeon of Black Company anime was helmed by director Mirai Minato (BOFURI, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!, Masamune-kun’s Revenge, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World). Yuushi Ibe (Fire Force, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei, Princess Principal) was the assistant director. In the past, he’s only been an episode director on various projects.
Writer Hitomi Mieno (Deko Akao) handled the series composition. She’s best known for her work on the Noragami anime series. In recent times, she has worked on Assassin’s Pride, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town?, Pokemon Journeys, The Detective Is Already Dead, and The Case Study of Vanitas.
Artists Yuki Sawairi (Wise Man’s Grandchild, Masamune-kun’s Revenge) was the character designer, with Arisa Fujii handling the sub-character designs. Composer Taku Inoue (Man With A Mission) created the music.
The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, The Dungeon of Black Company OP “Stain (Shimi)” was performed by Howl Be Quiet, while the ED “World is Mine” was performed by the Humbreaders.
The first season’s finale, The Dungeon of Black Company Episode 12, released on September 24, 2021. The first season was released as three Blu-Ray/DVD volumes, with the first volume having released on September 29, 2021.
- Updated August 8, 2021: FUNimation’s The Dungeon of Black Company dub release date confirmed.
This article provides everything that is known about The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 (Meikyuu Black Company 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 The Dungeon of Black Company dub release date
The first season of The Dungeon of Black Company anime was streaming with English subtitles on FUNimation (not Crunchyroll, Netflix, or Hulu). The anime was initially listed on FUNimation’s Simuldub scheduled as only being a Simulcast, but then the dubbed version was announced later.
Here is the dub cast:
- Christopher Escalante as Kinji
- Katelyn Barr as Rim
- Stephen Sanders as Wanibe
- Sarah Roach as Belza
- Monica Rial as Narrator
- Jim Foronda as Goblin Boss
- Cris George as Rim (Dragon)
- Ian Sinclair as Saruyama
- R. Bruce Elliot as Skeleton Senpai
FUNimation’s The Dungeon of Black Company English dub release date was on August 6, 2021.
Presumably, FUNimation would also release a The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 English dub in the future.
Meikyuu Black Company Season 2 release date prediction: Long wait likely
As of the last update, Kadokawa, Studio Silver Link, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of The Dungeon of Black Company 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 Meikyuu Black Company Season 2 release date will occur in the future.
The Dungeon of Black Company review scores have been fairly average, but reviewers can’t help but extol the virtues of this story in comparison to other isekai anime. After all, the basic premise subverts the trope of the NEET everyman being sucked into another world as a form of wish fulfillment.
Besides Kinji already being rich and feeling fulfilled with his life on Earth, he’s also hardly the average isekai protagonist since he survives based on his wits and cunning, not an artificial contrivance where he’s magically OP for no apparent reason (unless you count the clingy girlfriend-like gun Bladewing).
Studio Silver Link has a strong history of producing sequels for anime with similar review scores, so it seems likely that The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 will eventually be renewed by the anime production committee.
The problem is the source material, or the lack thereof. It will be several years before the manga has enough new chapters for creating the second season, so anime fans should expect a long wait ahead of them.
The Dungeon of Black Company manga compared to the anime
The story for the anime TV series is based on The Dungeon of Black Company manga by creator Youhei Yasumura. Serialized monthly on Mag Garden’s Mag Comi website since December 2016, the Meikyuu Black Company manga is up to Volume 7 as of July 9, 2021.
North American publisher Seven Seas Entertainment has been releasing the official English The Dungeon of Black Company manga. As of May 2021, the English translation was up to Volume 6, with The Dungeon of Black Company Volume 7 release date scheduled for January 25, 2022.
Back in early 2020, Chapter 29 was originally teased as the final ending of the story. But then the creator revealed on Twitter how the promotional materials regarding Chapter 29 were all a fakeout.
“When I originally said that Chapter 29 would be a fake final chapter as a story, all the parties involved went all out to make it so that it felt more like a final chapter than I expected,” Yasumura explained. “Is this okay? Is this okay? Is this really the last chapter? I was very nervous.”
In June 2020, Chapter 30 was announced as the beginning of the climax phase of the story. Normally, that could mean The Dungeon of Black Company manga’s ending will be right around the corner, but that’s not necessarily the case.
In Japanese narratives, there is a four-act structure known as Kishōtenketsu.
- Ki : Introduction
- Shō : Development
- Ten : Twist (complication)
- Ketsu : Conclusion (reconciliation)
During the Twist phase, the story turns toward an unexpected development, and it contains the yama, or climax, of the story.
Starting with Volume 7, the manga entered a major new story arc that begins with a plot twist (see the spoilers section below for details). It’s possible to have multiple twists before reaching the conclusion phase, so the Meikyuu Black Company manga could go on for many more chapters before reaching the final true ending.
The anime was a fairly straightforward adaptation of the manga’s story that covered all the major plot points and depicted the humor with all the right beats. Some of the dialogue was condensed and certain panels skipped, so the anime’s worldbuilding wasn’t as deep, but most of that information wasn’t relevant to understanding the main story and the motivations behind the characters’ actions.
One notable change was to Episode 9 when the undead mage tells her story about how a villainous hero swordsman betrayed her several hundred years ago. The anime noticeably made swordsman’s appearance exactly like Kinji Ninomiya. The undead mage also went out of its way to point out that she abducted Ninomiya since his atmosphere reminded her of this long-ago hero.
In manga Chapter 21, this ancient hero didn’t really resemble Ninomiya except superficially, not even in the haircut. On top of that, rather than the swordsman betraying the mage by partnering with the rescued merchant’s daughter, the manga had this scumbag hero saying, “After this mission is over, I’m going to slam that girl in a corner and bang her silly. May I could even get collateral or something for her.”
Given what will happen in the next major story arc (see the spoilers section below for more details), perhaps the changes to Episode 9 might actually be foreshadowing pointing to The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2? Otherwise, the anime stuck to the source material except for the final scenes of the ending.
The pacing of the adaptation was good, with the first four episodes adapting to the end of manga Chapter 9. The story arc where Ninomiya was essentially isekai inception-ed 300 years into the future started in manga Volume 3.
As predicted, Dungeon of Black Company Episode 5 adapted Chapter 12 with the introduction of General Ninomiya of the Demon Lord Army. Then Episode 7 finished Volume 3: Chapter 15 by introducing the true conflict that Ninomiya faces to conquer save the world.
The first season’s pacing held steady which meant the anime averaged about 2.5 chapters per episode.
All in all, as predicted the first season’s finale, Meikyuu Black Company Episode 12, found a stopping point corresponding to manga Volume 6: Chapter 29.
The good news is that this stopping point offers complete plot resolution to the main conflict by having Ninomiya complete his hostile takeover of the Raiza’ha company.
Before Episode 12 was streaming, the only question was whether the first season’s final scene would finish with the chapter’s cliffhanger ending or end on a happy note with the farewell party. Obviously, the anime went the latter route.
Episode 12 even introduced an anime original ending that extended beyond the farewell party by having Ninomiya find the dropped coin that initially led him on his adventure through the hidden entrance to the dungeon. This happy ending arguably made for a better self-contained first season since it perfectly wrapped up the plots and themes of the TV show, yet it still left an opening for an anime sequel.
The anime writers shouldn’t have a problem reconnecting to the original timeline. All they have to do in Season 2 Episode 1 is introduce a scene where Ninomiya reiterates his future plans for world conquest to his friends and then pick up the manga’s story from there.
The bad news is that the next story arc hasn’t been completed. English-only manga readers will have to wait until January 2022 to read ahead of the anime.
The Dungeon of Black Company 2 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
The last time anime fans were watching, Kinji Ninomiya had just revealed that he intended to take over the world, not leave for Japan. His adventures with his friends had softened him somewhat in addition to making him realize that striving to reach a goal was how he found satisfaction, not by living an uber NEET lifestyle.
And just as Wanibe was expressing his relief at that revelation, that’s when a hand plunged through the lizardman’s chest. As the seemingly lifeless body of Ninomiya’s friend drops to the floor, everyone is stunned that a mysterious interloper has teleported in.
Everyone, even including Rim, seems helpless against the unexpected magical onslaught. And it’s not long before everyone is tossed into a portal like trash.
Ninomiya awakens to find himself in a town with stone houses and mud streets. Suffering from a splitting headache, Ninomiya realizes he can’t even remember his own name… he has amnesia!
And the next time we see Ninomiya he’s standing in a coliseum facing down a scarred, burly man wielding a fearsome flail. How in the world did he find himself in this mess?
It turns out Ninomiya has been transported to an ancient time when adventurers flourished. Worse, the memory loss transforms Ninomiya from his usual vicious, self-righteous self into an “innocent” man. What can Ninomiya accomplish in this past world in his current state?
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until The Dungeon of Black Company Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!