Zombieland Saga Season 2 has officially been confirmed to be coming out in the future.

During a July 2019 speech given at the Zombie Land Saga LIVE IN SAGA event, actor Hakuryu (who is a native to Saga Prefecture) announced that Zombie Land Season 2 will be called Zombieland Saga Revenge. But when will Zombieland Saga Revenge come out?

The Zombieland Saga anime (or Zombie Land Saga) is a collaboration project that was originally shrouded in secrecy before it shambled into the light during the fall 2018 anime season. But it seems like this zombie uprising is not quite done!

The creators have been teasing Zombie Land Saga Revenge for quite a while. Shortly after the first season finished airing in Japan, the creators began saying that the premise of the original story can be stretched into a Zombieland Saga Season 2.

The official Twitter account for the anime series originally promised that the Franchouchou characters will remain “active” and they claimed Zombieland Saga will “continue” in some fashion. The manga series has already launched (see below for more details).

Without any further context, at the time it was difficult to say whether they were referring to Zombieland Saga Season 2, an OVA episode, a Zombieland Saga movie, or even a video game.

The key visual released for Zombie Land Saga Revenge also does not directly state whether it’s an anime TV season. Instead, it shows a shirtless Kotaro Tasumi along with the new Revenge logo. The Japanese text on the side simply says “Sequel” and “In the name of revenge”.

However, an older comment from Risa Taneda (voice actress for Ai Mizuno) was even more on the nose with the teasing.

“Zombie Land Saga 2 coming soon! I want to do it,” said Taneda. “Thank you for all 12 episodes.”

What’s more, the official Twitter page for the anime series directly states, “IT’S OFFICIAL: ZOMBIE LAND SAGA SEASON 2 CONFIRMED!”

There were many people rooting for a second season to be greenlit soon. Manga creator Makoto Yukimura (known for the Vinland Saga manga that’s receiving an anime adaptation in 2019) was looking forward to Episode 13 and when he found out Episode 12 was the ending he proclaimed, “2nd season or banzai!” Yukimura says he feels a “bit of loss” at this ending and hopes to learn more about Kotaro in Season 2.

It’s not too surprising that the anime studio quickly began making plans for Zombieland Saga Revenge. Besides being internationally popular on streaming platforms, the Blu-Ray sales in Japan for the first season’s Volume 1 were very high in comparison to most anime series.

To put the numbers in perspective, Zombieland Saga Volume 1 sold four times more than My Hero Academia Season 3.

• Updated July 28, 2020: Added MAPPA 2020 schedule and revised prediction.

• Updated July 28, 2019: Confirmed that Zombieland Saga Season 2 will be called Zombieland Saga Revenge. Added key visual and announcement video.

• Updated January 2, 2019: Added Blu-Ray sales numbers.

• Updated December 21, 2018: Added quotes (potentially) related to Zombieland Saga Season 2. Rewrote sections of the article based on this news.

This article provides everything that is known about Zombieland Saga Season 2 (Zombieland Saga Revenge) 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.

Zombieland Saga anime’s origins

Cygames anime producer Nobuhiro Takenaka has previously worked on popular series such as Yuri On Ice and the Made In Abyss anime (see our article on Made In Abyss Season 2). The Zombieland Saga project started when the producers pitched the concept internally but no one knew how they could translate the idea into an actual game. But they did know that MAPPA, Cygames, and Avex wanted to collaborate on an original anime story.

From the outset, the underlying theme was intended to be about humans living life fully rather than another zombie apocalypse story.

“We had a really firm kind of idea from the outset about the kind of anime we wanted to make,” Takenaka said in an interview. “So it was a clean-cut process, we didn’t have any kind of big stumbling blocks or kind of creative blocks.”

The concept took four years to develop and bring to TV screens. The hardest part was finding a “team that understood our vision.” Cygames eventually partnered with anime studio MAPPA to bring the zombie idol girls to life. As for the future of the collaboration, the producer would only say that “Cygames and MAPPA are very close” and that they “want to grow together.”

Zombieland Saga manga adds flavor to the anime’s story

The anime has already spawned a Zombieland Saga manga series by Megumu Soramichi, who is known for producing the finished manga series Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry. Thus far, the manga version is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the anime, but it does show some extra scenes involving manic manager Kotaro, the Drive-In Tori chicken restaurant, and even some cooking panels.

The manga is being serialized on Cygames’ Cycomi website. Unfortunately, an official English translation has not yet been licensed, but fan-made scanlation projects have kept up the pace with the newest chapters.

Zombieland Saga is an idol group satire that has brought new life to Saga in real life

Some anime fans felt like they were tricked into watching an idol anime, but the story added enough new twists that no one was disappointed. The premise is a satire of the Japanese idol industry, which is infamous for having extreme lifestyles combined with repetitive content. Idols can be driven to the edge both physically and mentally, so making the main Zombieland Saga characters be zombie idols is a pretty scathing metaphor.

Even the cutesy zombie idol group name Franchouchou is a reminder of the dark underbelly of the industry. While the French word chouchou is a childish term of endearment for someone who is special, the Japanese pronounce Franchouchou similarly to furan shuu, which means the odor of decomposition.

It’s not like the producers are telling audiences that the idol industry is irredeemable. The anime also evokes fondness for the idol industry, with the point being that if everything is done respectfully and within reasonable boundaries then idols, their fans, and even their crazy producers can find fulfillment.

In a meta moment, the anime’s success has also inspired interest in the Saga Prefecture. The decaying building that the zombie girls live in is the former Karatsu City Historical Folk Museum and Crunchyroll reports that thousands of visitors swarmed the cultural landmark, with some coming from far-off places like Tokyo. The Franchouchou girls have inspired audiences, but will Zombieland Saga Season 2 rise up once again as a sequel anime?

Zombie Land Saga Revenge release date

As of the last update, MAPPA, Cygames, and Avex or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Zombieland Saga Season 2 release date. Despite the official announcement of an anime sequel, the exact Zombieland Saga Revenge release date has not yet been officially 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 the Zombie Land Saga Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.

Anime projects take years to develop. Since MAPPA’s schedule was already planned out, it’s possible that production didn’t start immediately. At the same time, it definitely seems like the series was planned with the Zombieland Saga Revenge sequel in mind.

For the summer of 2020, MAPPA was busy working on The God of High School anime series, which was directed by Seong Hu Park, one of the storyboard writers and episode directors for Zombieland Saga’s first season. For the ending of 2020, they’re busy working on Attack On Titan Season 4 and Jujutsu Kaisen (which is being directed by Mr. Park).

Therefore, it’s possible that the Zombieland Saga Revenge release date could be scheduled for 2021 at the earliest, although nothing is officially announced yet.

Zombieland Saga Revenge’s story teased in episode 12

The ending of the first season changed things up for audiences. In a Newtype magazine interview, director Munehisa Sakai and scriptwriter Shigeru Murakoshi would only say, “Your impression of the opening may change when you watch till the end.”

From an interview in Newtype with “Zombieland Saga” director Munehisa and script writer Shigeru:
“Your impression of the opening may change when you watch till the end”
If this is any indication that we’re getting the zombie sentai team assembled, then this is by far my AOTS lol pic.twitter.com/bmlJJKAH4Y

— moetron | pKjd (@pKjd) December 5, 2018

Despite offering limited closure, the sad plot twist involving Sakura also left an opening for the second season. Kotaro’s intentions and motivations have just begun to be explored and Kotaro’s relationship with Sakura needs to be shipped resolved.

Thankfully, MAPPA won’t be making us wait too long for Zombieland Saga Season 2. Fans will just have to wait a bit longer to watch Zombieland Saga Revenge. Stay tuned!