In the ever-expanding sea of light novels adapted into anime, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody takes the viewer on a simple adventure.
Three years after the anime ended, can the fans expect Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2?
What happened so far in Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
Ichiro Suzuki, a 29-year-old game programmer, is in the middle of a “death march” when exhaustion catches up, and he falls asleep to wake up in another world (considering it is an isekai, he might actually be dead). Strangely enough, he recognizes the game he is working on but has no time to marvel at the situation as a group of lizardmen attacks him.
Ichiro summons a powerful spell that obliterates every enemy for miles aways, which shoots his level to 310 in one go. The protagonist quickly understands that he is overpowered and decides to hide his abilities for everyone’s sake under the guise of a simple traveling merchant. Now looking half his real age and renamed Satou, Ichiro starts his journey looking for a way out. He will quickly encounter new companions: many young girls that he will free from slavery and take with him on his adventures.
What is going on with Silver Link & Connect?
Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody is directed by Shin Oonuma, written by Kento Shimoyama, with the music composed by Monaca and the character design by Shoko Takimoto. It was aired from January 11 to March 29, 2018, and ran for 12 episodes. It is the product of a collaboration between Silver Link and Connect.
Death March is your average isekai using the same tropes as usual for the premises: a social pariah as the protagonist dies (or has an accident), ends up in another fantasy world, meets a lot of girls who are all going to start following him and falling for him, turns into a real hero with broken powers, lives adventures. However, the difference here is that the anime has no rhythm at all. Usually, there is a goal and different arcs that will lead the party toward the said goal. Death March has none of that and ends up being a slice of life in an isekai with a harem. The pace is languid as the anime is trying to enhance its world-building and give some background to its characters, at the expense of a solid scenario and some action. You can find action scenes, but they lack tension and excitement due to Satou’s overpowered character. The world-building is confusing: Satou can see his HUD like in an RPG and can be given quests by people who feel more like NPCs than human beings. Yet, the anime shows them as individuals with their own will and personal life, which throws a fog on the rules this world is built: is it a game or a real-world existing somewhere somehow?
The characterization is pretty bland, visually and mentally. The hero is a discount version of Kirito from SAO, but more boring. He will not use his powers; he is always nice and will save all the female slaves and the lolis. The character design is a refined version of the original one from the light novels, but it does not save it from a big lack of originality and a big sprinkle of visual boredom. As said before, the anime tries to spend a lot of time on world-building and the story behind each character. To which, we can ask “why,” considering how generic the girls around Satou are. They do come with a different story, but once everything is said and done, personality-wise, they’re all the same: childish with a -forced- cute factor. Liza’s only feeling a bit different, but all that is forgotten in light of her “yes, master” behavior and lack of personal ground. The animation is average, what you would expect nowadays from a basic anime. The CG is not that ugly, but it is not something you would praise, even if minimally. The anime only shines through its slice of life moments, particularly when Satou passionately discusses his food: the art gets appetizing and real smooth when food is displayed on the screen.
Connect has a new upcoming series for 2022 (Slow Loop) and a movie due for an unknown date as of now (Strike The Blood Final). Meanwhile, Silver Link is quite busy with four different projects: two for 2021, one for 2022, and the last one has no official date for now.
What do we know about Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 so far?
Nothing, considering that the anime has not been officially renewed, and the two studios in charge did not recently put it back on the table.
What are fans saying about Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2?
The anime scored average scores on different platforms, pointing to mediocre success. The fandom is pretty small and mainly focuses on manga, web novels, and light novels. Fans seem to have abandoned the idea that a Season 2 might be released and believe that Death March was one of those anime supposed to promote the novels only.
Will there be Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2?
Death March, written by Hiro Ainana, started as a novel on the user-generated novel publishing site Shousetsuka ni Narou on March 3, 2013, and is still ongoing today. It then adopted a light novel format on 17 March 2014 (23 volumes for now). The manga was released on November 9, 2014, and is an ongoing series (12 volumes). A spinoff published in Monthly Dragon Age started on February 9, 2018, and ended on July 9 of the same year. The manga and the light novel are both licensed in English via YenPress. During the first half of 2018, Death March was in the Top 10 of the best-selling light novels in Japan.
The interest in another season is pretty low, with small peaks of interest at regular intervals. Those might be due to the release of new chapters reminding fans that an anime does exist. Funimation released a combo pack (Blu-ray + DVD) in 2019 as a limited edition with many extras and collectibles. It is possible to find Death March-related goodies; however, not much is available. Many of the articles are sold out and considering their release date, and we can determine that a lack of success did not motivate the refill of stocks.
When will Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Season 2 be released?
No date is available since the anime has never been renewed for a new season.
What can we expect in Season 2 of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody?
Silver Link and Connect might have to rethink how they want to present the anime to offer more stimulation to the viewers and give an isekai vibe to the show if a new season is produced. A lot of material is available through the manga and the light novels, but whereas the way they present the story does well on paper, it is a format difficult to translate on-screen.
