Ring ni Kakero 1 anime to possibly return for a 3rd season?!?!?!

[LordGeo]

This was back from February 25, but Masami Kurumada's latest blog post (http://www.kurumadapro.jp/kinkyou2009a.html) is about him doing a new song for Ring ni Kakero.

His post says this:
"RinKake's new song in production. Hopefully this will also be a good song."

While I can't fully make out the top of the page, I think it says "Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai-hen"... Which would mean "World Chapter". Also, it mentions that it's only "Song 1". Also, I think the title, maybe temporary, might be "Asu he no Toushi Part II" if what his red pen writing indicates is the potential title.

Could this possibly mean that Ring ni Kakero 1 will get a third season, possibly covering all the way up to the end of the World Tournament Chapter?

Please... Let it be so!

[Mazinkaizer]

That would be GREAT !! i loved the 2 seasons and would welcome more of RNK. Too bad though that the show doesn't seem to have any R1 future :depressed:

[LordGeo]

That would be GREAT !! i loved the 2 seasons and would welcome more of RNK. Too bad though that the show doesn't seem to have any R1 future :depressed:

Well, if it keeps getting new seasons, it's at the same time potentially getting a new chance... Especially since most companies seem to just want to go for what aired within the past year.

But, of course, more seasons means more episodes... Which can be a turn off it it gets too long. But here's still hoping...

[Andrew Cunningham]

Fuck yes. Gives us all hope that true justice will prevail, one day.

[LordGeo]

Well, the site is never to be fully trusted, especially when it comes to stuff like anime, but someone on Wikipedia updated the Ring ni Kakero page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_ni_Kakero) with this info about Season 3 of Ring ni Kakero 1:
TV anime: Ring ni Kakero 01 - Chapter III: "UNNAMED"
Director Yukio Kaizawa
Studio Toei Animation
Network TV Asahi
Original run July 1, 2009 – ongoing
Episodes 12

Now, the title of this new season is known: "Sekai-hen", so that's one strike against it already. But the other info is reasonable: Yukio Kaizawa was the director for Season 2/Nichibei Kessen-hen so he could be returning for it (though I know many fans would love to have Shigeyasu Yamauchi direct it, after seeing the original 5-minute promo), obviously Toei will animate it, and TV Asahi will most probably air it.

I do have a feeling that it will debut in the Summer, so July could be a reasonable date, and I'll leave it at that. The episode count, though, I hope is not true and is only a guess: Considering that Season 3 is going with a vaguer title (Sekai-hen instead of Shadow-hen or Sekai Taikai-hen), it would be a shame if the season ended in the middle or beginning of the World Tournament. While I don't know the exact length of either the Shadow or World Tournament Chapters, I am hoping that the anime will be at least 26 episodes this time around, just so that both story arcs could be done in this season, or at least so that the anime can get a good bit into the World Tournament.

So, while it's not greatly reliable info, it certainly is better than nothing.

[Thanatos]

Question to someone better versed in the original manga than I am - up to what volume have the two previous series covered? I'm always happy to see more Ring ni Kakero (as long as it doesn't look as bad as the Saint Seiya Elysian OVAs), but since there are like 27-something manga volumes, I'm worried at the current rate of RNK adaptation we won't see the end until 202X.

[LordGeo]

Question to someone better versed in the original manga than I am - up to what volume have the two previous series covered? I'm always happy to see more Ring ni Kakero (as long as it doesn't look as bad as the Saint Seiya Elysian OVAs), but since there are like 27-something manga volumes, I'm worried at the current rate of RNK adaptation we won't see the end until 202X.

Well, there is a site I visit that has a very extensive listing of mangas (but I can't put up a link since it relates to scanlations), and one of the cool things it has is a section called "Anime Start/End Chapter", which tells which chapter an anime adaptation starts and ends with. This is all done by user input, so it could be off, but it seems to be correct for some titles I know of roughly.

Anyway, this is what it says about Ring ni Kakero:
Starts at Vol 7, Chap 2
Ends at Vol 11, Chap 4

The original manga is 25 volumes so, not counting the fact that it did skip the first 6 volumes (which deals only with Ryuji, Kiku, Jun, and a little bit of Shinatora), the anime is just about half-way through the manga.

[LordGeo]

Well, it's time for a mod to change the topic title now, as Ring ni Kakero 1 Season 3 is now confirmed with a debut date of April 2, 2010! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-21/ring-ni-kakero-1/shadow-tv-anime-to-debut-on-april-2)

Now, yes, this season is called "Shadow-hen" (or just "Shadow" when going off of the English subtitle) instead of the "Sekai-hen" that Kurumada had on his lyrics sheet back in February, but considering that this season will be airing on Animax instead of TV Asahi I am thinking that they might just change the title when it gets to the World Tournament Chapter. But anyway, this is pretty much the anime adaptation of the original "rescue arc" that is now so popular with shonen manga and anime today, and I am looking forward as hell to it!

And with a new season coming, chances are this show will be potentially shown to the licensing companies for shows to consider licensing next year, so please FUNimation, Media Blasters, Sentai, anyone... Please license the Ring ni Kakero 1 anime!

[ilmaestro]

My mind is officially blown.

[LordGeo]

My mind is officially blown.

Yeah I know, right?

Anyway, there is some really good news that we know of already:
1. This season will have some of the same staff behind it, including music compser Susumu Ueda (who's never disappointed) as well as Toshiaki Komura directing. Komura directed Season 1 but not Season 2, and it shows... While Season 2's direction wasn't horrid, Season 1 definitely still felt better in its action scenes, even though it had an obviously smaller budget than Season 2. So Season 3 should definitely have some great action scenes.

2. Judging by the logo having some spots of blood added for this season as well as it airing on a Pay-Per-View channel instead of a normal TV station probably means that Season 3 will probably be a bit more accurate to original manga's violence level. We all know that shonen fight mangas can get pretty bloody and violent at times and that their respective anime adaptations have a tendency to tone down and change the color of the blood a good bit (hell, the Bleach anime gave everyone motor oil for blood after a certain point). Being on a PPV channel lets the animators get away with a bit more than a TV station would, no matter how late it airs.

Definitely looking forward to this spring season.

[Mazinkaizer]

Finally !! I was starting to have doubts about more of RNK. I am guessing it's going to be 13 Eps arc like the previous seasons.

[boogiecat]

Hoping that this one's better than the previous season..