‘Gamers!’ Season 2 Release Date: ‘Gamers!’ Manga/Light Novel Enough For ‘Gamers!’ Anime Season 2?

The Gamers! anime Season 2 release date should probably come with an instruction manual or a flowchart that explains how Keita Amano’s relationship ever became so complex. Gamers! Episode 12 did bring some sort of resolution, but these humans apparently have rolled a natural 20 on stupid misunderstandings. Will the horribly confused love pentagon ever come to an end?

Sometimes referred to as Gemazu! by Japanese fans, the story first came to life in 2015 as a Gamers! light novel series that was written by author Sekina Aoi and illustrated by Saboten. As of this article’s publishing, the book series is up to Gamers! Volume 8 in Japanese. So far, the author has consistently published in March, July, and November of every year, so it’s possible Gamers! Volume 9 will come out in late 2017 (this possibility has not been officially confirmed).

Starting in 2017, the story was also adapted into a Gamers! manga. So far, Shonen Ace has only released a handful of chapters, which means there are no volumes available in the tankobon format. Needless to say, the Gamers! manga is far behind the story of the light novels.

English-only readers hoping to get ahead of the anime by reading the Gamers! English translation are similarly out of coins. So far, no one has licensed the books for international release. However, there are two fan projects that have completed up to Volume 2 and another new project is starting with Volume 5.

Gamers! Light Novel Enough Source Material For A Second Season?

Fans of the Gamers! light novel series have not been happy with the anime adaptation so far. While it’s not as bad as Classroom Of The Elite, which changed the relationships completely to focus on one female character, the Gamers! anime started significantly diverging from the source material in Episode 11.

The initial episodes of the Gamers! anime were super effective at first, but for far too many episodes the relationship between Karen Tendou and Amano did not advance. Worse, the details of the dungeon theme park were made dramatic rather than stick to the humorous events contained in Volume 5.

The Kizuna Dungeon is named that way because it helps increase the kizuna, or “bond,” of a dating relationship. Groups are supposed to be divided up into dating pairs, with each partner wearing earplugs and darkened shades. The goal of the haunted house is to scare everyone and force them to be physically closer.

Tasuku Uehara knew that pairings were not chosen randomly but instead by colors. He told Tenou in advance how the system worked so that he would be matched with his girlfriend Aguri and she would be paired with her boyfriend Amano. But Chiaki Hoshinomori’s little sister, Konoha, messed up the plan by grabbing the color intended for Tendou.

What’s more, since they had a large group of six people, the dungeon paired them off randomly instead of by color. That meant everyone thought they were paired with a specific person while actually holding hands with someone else instead.

Thus, an entirely hilarious sequence was skipped by the anime. Konoha assumed she was with Amano so she started flirting with Uehara, but since Uehara thought he was paired with Amano, he was flustered by how his friend was suddenly acting gay. Tendou kept pulling moves on the very shy Chiaki and they ended up hugging each other. Amano and Aguri both thought they were with their respective girlfriend/boyfriend, so at the end of the Kizuna Dungeon they decided to kiss their “lovers”… while everyone else was watching with masks off.

The whole Gamers! story is about relationship misunderstandings piled on top of misunderstandings, but Studio Pine Jam decided to go the anime original route for the ending. Gamers! Episode 12 ended up being a DLC filler content episode that provided hot springs fan service rather than an attempt at a final resolution. Eiichi’s side story threw everyone for a loop, but a cliffhanger ending with couples breaking up would have been better. At least the banter comparing relationships to real problems in the gaming industry was funny, striking a chord with the audience because of the savage truth dropping from Aguri’s mouth.

The good news is that the anime ended with the events of Volume 5 and should resume with Volume 6. That means there is already three light novels available for creating Gamers! Season 2. Additionally, if author Sekina Aoi keeps publishing on the same schedule, there will be five volumes available by mid-2018, which should be more than enough for the second season.

Gamers! Season 2 Release Date

As of this publishing, anime production company Pine Jam has not announced anything official about the Gamers! Season 2 release date, although this article will be updated as soon as the anime sequel’s premiere is confirmed. However, there can be reasonable speculation about when, or if, the Gamers! Season 2 air date may occur.

It will be interesting if the title of Gamers! follows the example of other anime like New Game! That series increased the number of exclamation points to denote the second season, so it’s possible Gamers! will do the same by using “Gamers!!” as the title.

Gamers! Season 2 Spoilers

Fans are either rooting for Chiaki x Amano or Tendou x Amano but so far the light novels have not provided a final answer… just more misunderstandings. At the end of Volume 6, Chiaki confesses her love to Amano yet she wants to remain as friends. The two plan on clarifying their relationship with Tendou, but Karen mistakenly overhears part of Chiaki’s confession and thinks they are planning to tell her that they are a couple now.

Meanwhile, Uehara reconsiders his own relationship with Aguri. The fact that his own girlfriend has more fun and laughs during her time with Amano leaves him feeling mortified. Similarly, Tendou clears up her misunderstanding with her boyfriend but realizes Amano has more in common with Chiaki.

Tendou and Amano tries to go on another date, but when Chiaki spots the couple kissing she starts crying. In the end, Tendou and Uehara both suggest breaking up their respective relationships at the same time, leaving Aguri and Amano saying, “Eh–?”

Tendou realizes that their dating had a rocky start since the root of their relationship was a misunderstanding, so she decides to start again from the beginning. She decided to break up with Amano because she wants to start fresh and win his heart fairly, but Chiaki and Uehara will continue to confuse everything. The reason Uehara broke it off with Aguri was due to how he started dating her without feeling anything. Now that he had fallen in love, he wants to start their relationship correctly and confess to her.

Later on after Christmas, Konoha and Tendou force Amano to have a date with Chiaki. Both are very nervous but they end up having a quasi-date by talking about games and visiting gaming shops. They run into Game Club member Eiichi Misumi and they both ask him what people are supposed to do on a date. Misumi tells Amano to invite Chiaki home with “ulterior motives” in mind, but they both go home to play games instead. However, Chiaki does kiss Amano on the cheek before running to the bus.

Fast forward a bit more and Konoha volunteers herself to be Amano’s “love counselor.” During these talks, Amano admits he still loves Karen, but he also feels possessive of Chiaki. The devilish little sister presses him further, forcing him to shout aloud his feelings of love for Chiaki only to realize Chiaki is standing right behind him — which is all according to Konoha’s plan.

By the middle of Gamers! Season 2, everyone’s misunderstandings have graduated to being like a slime in an isekai adventure. Amano is in love with both girls, so digging out of this huge mess will require the main character to level up in manhood points. Unfortunately, neither light novel readers nor anime-only watchers can know what happens next since the ending has not been written, so audiences will just have to wait impatiently for the Gamers! Season 2 release date.

[Featured Image by Pine Jam/Gamers! Anime TV Promo]