While it has been some time since Accel World season 1 premiered, fans are still hoping for a season 2. The fans’ hype around the series has yet not died down as they hope for Sunrise, the animation studio behind the show, to renew the series. That said, let’s look at the possibility of the anime releasing a second season.
Reki Kawahara’s Accel World follows the story of Haruyuku, a bullied boy who escapes from real-life into virtual reality games. His skill brings him to the attention of popular girl Kuroyukihime, who introduces him to a secret program called Brain Burst, which allows users to speed up their brainwaves and essentially stop time.
To earn points for Brain Burst, players have to fight each other in a huge virtual game. Kuroyukihime wants Haruyuku’s help to defeat the faction leaders of Brain Burst and reach the top level to meet the creator of the game. Following that, he is on a journey to reach the top level of the game.
Can fans expect Accel World season 2 to be announced?
Accel World season 1 premiered back in April 2012 and aired all the way till September 2012 with 24 episodes. Since then, it has been over twelve years, and Sunrise, the animation studio behind the show, has yet to announce or hint at the possibility of a second season. As per the series’ author, Reki Kawahara, the likelihood of Sunrise animating a second season is uncertain since the studio was busy on other projects.
Regardless of how beloved the series is to the fans, an animation studio must always look at the profitability before announcing an anime, which is why Accel World season 2 may be a far-fetched dream for fans of the series. However, the franchise has continued on with various video games and other spinoffs, so there’s still hope.
However, the light novel is still ongoing, with over 27 volumes collected. In fact, the 27th volume of Reki Kawahara’s Accel World light novels revealed on March 8 that the series will reach its “climax” in the next volume. So, if fans of the series want to know the story that takes place after the plot of the first season, they can read the light novel.
In addition, the light novel having collected 27 volumes means that there is enough source material available for Studio Sunrise to animate the anime if they decide to do so. The anime had only adapted light novel content worth four volumes in the first season, meaning 23 light novel volumes worth of content are still left to be given an anime adaption.
However, as fans would know, some of that content has already been adapted as part of Accel World: Infinite Burst Movie in 2016. As such, despite there being more than enough source material available for the anime, the studio’s hesitancy to produce the sequel anime means that they might have given up on the series entirely.
So, fans could only hope for a second season or the entire series to be rebooted by some other studio. With the light novel series reaching its climax, this could potentially spark renewed interest in the anime adaptation.
What is the expected release date for Accel World season 2?
While the chances of a second season are low, there is also the slim possibility that the anime’s next season or SAO x AW special would be announced, given that Studio Sunrise, now known as Bandai Namco Filmworks, has renewed the Mecha anime ZEGAPAIN after nearly two decades.
With Studio Sunrise currently working on a sequel anime movie called Zegapain: STA (Zegapain: Statement Alpha) and a new Macross anime project, there is a chance that the animation studio might renew Accel World. If that were to happen, fans can expect the anime to be released sometime in 2025.