The anime industry continues to be hit incredibly hard by the sudden and shocking effects that the spread of COVID-19 has had on the world. With a state of emergency in effect in Japan until at least the end of May, countless anime studios are being forced to shift around projects and deadlines as a result of their inability to properly work on their projects. We’ve seen countless exciting anime series hit with unexpected delays, like Sword Art Online: Alicization War of Underworld and the currently running Pokémon anime series. We’ve even seen highly anticipated anime films like Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 and Violet Evergarden: The Movie have their impending premieres swiftly canceled. Even though we’re in the middle of a new anime season (which is also being hit with shocking and upsetting delays), anime set to debut next season is already being postponed due to COVID-19. One such delay is the postponement of season two of highschool romantic comedy The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotōbun no Hanayome).
The upcoming sequel season to the anime adaptation of Negi Haruba’s manga was titled The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬ (Gotōbun no Hanayome ∬) and had been scheduled to premiere in October. Unfortunately, due to the effects that the spread of COVID-19 has had on the anime industry, the official website and Twitter account for the series announced that the second season has been delayed. Thankfully, a new broadcast date for the show is already in place. The announcement confirmed that the show will instead be debuting on Japanese television sometime in January of 2021.
The original The Quintessential Quintuplets manga is released digitally and physically by Kodansha Comics, who describes the story of the adorable series as follows:
One day, a poor high school second-year named Futaro Uesugi comes across a private tutoring gig with good pay. But his pupils are his classmates!! And they’re quintuplets!! A-and they’re all gorgeous girls, but they’re also troublemakers who hate to study and are on the verge of flunking out! And his first task is simply gaining the sisters’ trust?! Every day is a party! The curtain is rising on the Nakano quintuplets’ quirky romantic comedy with five times the cute!!
Some of the core staff from the first season of The Quintessential Quintuplets has been changed for the upcoming second season. Kaori will be replacing Satoshi Kuwabara as the director of season two. Kaori previously worked on Endro~!, Yuyushiki, and How to keep a mummy. Animation of the second season is being handled by Bibury Animation Studio this time around, instead of Tezuka Productions. Bibury Animation Studio previously worked on Azur Lane and Grisaia: Phantom Trigger. Script supervisor Keiichiro Ochi is returning from the first season to work on season two.
The main voice cast will all be returning for The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬. The iconic cast includes:
- Miku Itou as Miku Nakano
- Inori Minase as Itsuki Nakano
- Ayana Taketatsu as Nino Nakano
- Kana Hanazawa as Ichika Nakano
- Ayane Sakura as Yotsuba Nakano
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Fuutarou Uesugi
The first season of The Quintessential Quintuplets premiered back in January of 2019, running for 12 episodes. While Crunchyroll streamed the series globally as it aired each week in Japan, Funimation also offered the series with an English dub. The original manga that the anime is based on, meanwhile, first launched in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine back in August of 2017, and recently ended its run in April of this year.
Source: Anime News Network
