Ask John: Will There Be More Berserk Anime?

Question:
I’ve heard a lot of talk of a 2nd season of the Berserk series. At first I thought that this was just a rumor, but I see that a new product available called Berserk TV Series Season One. Then I read that the creator Kentaro Miura is interested in approving a 2nd season. So I have two questions. First, is there going to be a 2nd season, and second, if there is gonna be a second season, how long would the wait be for it to be released in America?

Answer:
At this point, representatives of Media Blasters have been saying for years that there are tentative plans in Japan for an eventual second season of Berserk anime. Two weeks ago at the Katsucon convention, Media Blasters once again stated that more Berserk anime might be produced in Japan someday. To be more precise, Media Blasters recently reported that Berserk creator Kentaro Miura is aware that there’s a demand for more Berserk anime and wants to satisfy his fans. But Miura doesn’t believe that he’s completed enough manga to provide source material for a second anime series yet. Presumably the implication is that when Miura has completed more of the manga, he will allow the production of more Berserk anime based on that manga.

However, the original Berserk anime TV series covers the first 12 volumes of the Berserk manga. The manga series now has 28 volumes available in Japan. Theoretically that should be more than enough source material for a second 26 episode long television series. The fact that no new Berserk animation has been officially announced suggests that there are more factors involved in a potential new series than just the amount of manga that’s available. Although anime seems to be quite popular, successful and profitable in America, American sales still only account for a small percentage of the total income that an anime title generates. The original Berserk anime is now nearly eight years old. Multiple generations of anime fans in Japan have probably entered the hobby community since the Berserk anime aired in Japan. The Berserk manga may still be very popular among Japanese readers, but the anime is old, and there are probably many contemporary Japanese fans that aren’t familiar with it at all. There are perennial male-oriented battle action anime series in Japan that seem to reappear every few years, such as Vampire Hunter D, St. Seiya and Hokuto no Ken, but it’s reasonable to believe that Berserk may not be one of that company. A strong demand for more Berserk anime among American fans may not be enough to encourage more Berserk anime actually being produced. There probably won’t be more Berserk anime created unless it has a strong commercial potential in Japan. The manga is very popular in Japan, but that doesn’t mean that new anime will be popular in Japan eight or more years after the first anime adaptation.

If new Berserk anime is someday created in Japan, it’s logical to presume that it would quickly be exported to America. But there’s really no way to guess how much time could pass between a Japanese and American release. For reference, The Big O II is often cited as an anime series produced mainly in response to American demand. The Big O II premiered on American television eight months after its Japanese television premier.