10 Anime That Need A Second Season

There’s nothing worse than becoming invested in a series only for it to end after a single season, plot lines unresolved, characters unfulfilled and an empty space in the audiences’ collective hearts. The following anime are shows that I personally think are most needing of a second season–chances are my picks won’t align with yours but that’s to be expected, after all I’ve got weird taste in anime! I’ve tried to pick shows that left me with more questions or that made me want to know what happened to the characters–rather than just pick shows that’d I’d solely love to see more of. Also, spoiler warning for any given show listed as I may talk about final episode plot points. Let’s get this started with the 10 Anime That Need A Second Season!

~Number 10~
How Not To Summon A Demon Lord

The thing about anime based on long running light novel series’–especially in the isekai genre–is that answers to overriding plot arcs are going to be mostly left out in service of completing shorter story arcs. There’s so many factions whose ultimate motives going forward are left on the sideline that one can’t help but long for more episodes to answer these questions–also more Shera.

~Number 9~
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

The “will they/won’t they” has been a tried and tested formula of romantic comedies the world over and even if we know in our heart of hearts that Kaguya and Shirogane will end up together that doesn’t make the fact that we don’t get to see as much as a kiss between the two throughout the season! We need more, we need closure! As the newest show on the list there’s still an iota of hope a second season will eventuate but I’m not holding my breath.

~Number 8~
Citrus

The thing that makes ‘Citrus’ such a bitter tease is that its first (and to date, only) season ends on something of an artificially happy note that kind of shoo’s away the potential of a sequel but likewise leaves things otherwise unresolved. This is a “will they/won’t they” where I’m not especially rooting for the couple but just for them to find some happiness, the intrigue would then come from ‘how’ and ‘with who’.

~Number 7~
Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero

Cliffhanger endings are the worst–especially if you’re an anime who isn’t guaranteed a second season! While by no means the worst unresolved anime cliffhanger in history this show builds and builds in its final episodes and by the time we’re halfway through the season (now series) finale we come to the gut-wrenching realisation that they’re not going to wrap this up in time. And indeed the show ends just as the story is about to enter a new and interesting phase. Why must you do this to us!

~Number 6~
A Sister’s All You Need

There’s a lot of really interesting things about this series that make it worth watching–even if its polarising opening scene had you scrambling for the stop button. For me, beyond the seemingly endless scenes of playing board and card games, the lengthy fantasy sequences and the wish fulfilment writer life paired with crippling reality actuality the most interesting thing about this series was Chihiro–who had a secret whose inevitable reveal was something that could rock the foundation of the series to its core. But alas in 12 short episodes we never got to see a full reveal of said secret and we were all left wondering what would happen.

~Number 5~
The Devil Is A Part Timer!

There’s so many interesting and nuanced pieces of character development and world-building that NOT revisiting this series feels like a crime. Plus I want to see if Maou and Chiho ever get together properly–I ‘ship them so hard!

~Number 4~
Killing Bites

The only thing worse than a cliffhanger ending is blatant sequel baiting in the form of an epilogue after a series is more or less wrapped up. Had ‘Killing Bites’ ended where it ended with our protagonist Yuya dying at the hands of Hitomi in a a massive betrayal it would have served as a powerful ending to a series that was pretty much never going to get a second season. But instead they tease us with a post credit scene that shows not only did Yuya survive but much time has passed and the world is a very different place then it was. I want to know more! But sadly we never will know!

~Number 3~
Slow Start

I know what you’re thinking, “what’s a mediocrely received CGDCT show doing on this list?” First of all, how dare you ‘Slow Start’ is amazing and secondly while it’s true CGDCT shows don’t generally lend themselves towards forwarding any kind of dramatic narratives. But where ‘Slow Start’ excelled was its side characters, specifically Eiko and her homeroom teacher Kiyose whose relationship moves (rather aptly) slowly but steadily throughout the first season. But it’s never enough, every intense and suggestive encounter leads to wanting to see what will happen next between this student and teacher–it’s utterly irresistible but sadly will be relegated to the pages of the manga and not any subsequent anime season…

~Number 2~
No Game, No Life

The movie doesn’t count! It was a prequel/side story! We need a second season of this now!

~Number 1~
Watamote

This choice is purely motivated by having read (most) of the manga and wanting to see the rest of Tomoko’s growth from socially awkward loser with no friends to social awkward loser with some friends in an animated form. It might not seem like a lot–especially for the Number 1 spot–but I’ve always had a sort of personal affinity towards Tomoko and her struggles in life. Its a journey that deserves to be continued in anime form.

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And those are my picks! I’m sure you’ve all got anime you think should have gotten a second season so let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!

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