Seraph Of The End Season 3: Everything We Know So Far
Fans of Wit Studio's Seraph of the End have been waiting for a third season of the apocalyptic epic for what feels like forever now. The anime adaptation of Takaya Kagami's manga series Owari no Serafu was originally conceived as a single, 24-episode season, but it was later split into two 12-episode cours named Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign and Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya. The first season ran from April to June in 2015, while season 2 aired from October to December that same year. Season 3 is yet to materialize, but it's now looking more likely than ever.
The second season of Seraph of the End finished on a cliffhanger. The story's hero, Yuichiro "Yu" Hyakuya, becomes the eponymous seraph and turns Abaddon (the devil of destruction) into a pile of salt, along with countless power-hungry humans and vampires. Yu manages to escape the final battle with his friends, but they're forced to leave Kimizuki's little sister, Mirai, behind. The last scene of season 2 shows the whole gang (sans their Japanese Imperial Demon Army uniforms) setting out on a rescue mission that we still haven't seen them complete. Could this be about to change?
There have been some interesting developments that point to Seraph of the End returning sooner rather than later, and we're going to get into them right here (spoilers for the anime and manga ahead). Here's everything we know about Seraph of the End season 3.
Why is Seraph of the End season 3 taking so long?
The main reason that Seraph of the End season 3 is taking so long is that the manga is still being written. There have been plenty of light novels exploring the formative years of fan favorite Guren Ichinose, but in terms of the main Seraph of the End story, Wit Studio has been forced to sit tight and wait for Takaya Kagami to pump out some more manga chapters — hence the lack of an official season 3 announcement.
The first two seasons of the anime were based on the first 41 chapters of the manga. Because the 41st manga chapter and the final episode of Seraph of the End season 2 both came out in December 2015, there was literally nothing left for the studio to work with in terms of a third season. That's definitely not the case anymore — by September of 2019, over 80 chapters of the Seraph of the End manga had been published, and Kagami shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Wit Studio turned the first 41 manga chapters into 24 episodes of anime, so it now has more than enough source material to make another season of the show. The title's publisher, Shueisha, is still releasing the manga regularly, and people continue to buy it — in 2019, Shueisha revealed that over 10 million copies of Seraph of the End had now been printed.
What can we expect from the plot of season 3?
Anyone who wants to know what happens to Yu and his vampire bestie Mika after season 2 could easily pick up the manga, but anime doesn't always abide by its source material. This divergence is abundantly clear in the final episode of Seraph of the End season 2 alone (the most obvious being the fact that Yu remains full demon in the manga, while in the anime he reverts back to being human). It's a safe bet that season 3 would be no different. Yes, reading the manga gives fans of the show unparalleled insight, but how do we know which chapters will influence the anime? We read between the lines.
When Seraph of the End creator Takaya Kagami spoke to Shonen Weekly Jump in 2016, he revealed that some bigger, badder vampires were coming to the manga series. "Seraph of the End will be entering an exciting new arc that really expands the scope of the story, so I am looking forward to that," Kagami said. "I'm going to continue working hard to bring you the best series I can, and I'd appreciate your support. A lot of powerful vampires will be appearing, so please look forward to it."
It's safe to assume that the "powerful vampires" Kagami spoke of will feature in the anime, should it continue. A third season would likely delve into the Progenitor Council, a dangerous group of high-ranking vampire nobles.
Seraph of the End season 3 would likely visit new countries
If the Progenitor Council ends up playing a big role in season 3, that means the story will probably go international. The first two seasons of the anime take place in Japan following the outbreak of a deadly man-made virus. With humanity on its knees, vampires come out of hiding and attempt to rule over those who weren't wiped out. We've seen plenty of Krul Tepes (a third progenitor and the vampire queen of Japan) so far, but Kagami's comments about more "powerful vampires" showing up means we'd probably meet her foreign colleagues in season 3.
Tepes was criticized by German vampire noble Lest Karr when the council convened to discuss the human uprising in Japan during the second season, appearing via video call. Season 3 would likely show us a lot more of Karr (also a third progenitor), and we'd probably meet the leader of the Progenitor Council, too — Urd Geales is the king of Russia and one of the most powerful vampire nobles there is.
In the manga, we meet Geales as he takes in a human performance at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia. Both Geales and Karr ultimately head to Osaka, Japan to deal with Tepes, who's in deep trouble with the council for allowing the humans to conduct dangerous experiments on her watch. The Osaka arc would probably make up the bulk of Seraph of the End season 3.
Kureto is possessed by the first vampire
Another character who is deeply involved in the Osaka arc (which begins during chapter 49 of the manga and runs all the way through to chapter 68) is Kureto Hiragi. In the first two seasons of the anime, the Lieutenant General of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army makes it clear that he's no hero. His main mission is to kill every last vampire out there, but he also intends to seek out all the remaining human strongholds overseas and exercise rule over them. We'd no doubt learn more about his plot for world domination in the third season of the anime, but that's just the tip of the iceberg — he's also got some daddy issues to deal with.
The Hiragi clan is the most powerful family in Japan, and Kureto ends up running it. During the manga's Osaka arc, he comes face to face with his father, determined to discover who has been secretly influencing the clan's decisions from the shadows. After Kureto defeats his old man in battle, he finds out just who's been pulling the strings — it transpires that the head of the Hiragi family has been possessed by the former first progenitor of the vampires, Shikama Doji. Kureto tries to kill him, but ends up possessed himself. If you thought he was bad in the first two seasons, imagine a Kureto who's head of the Hiragi family and possessed by a powerful vampire.
Expect Seraph of the End to be around for a long time
The manga industry couldn't be more different from Hollywood in terms of content, but when times get hard, they've both been known to resort to the same tactic — bank on popular franchises instead of taking risks on original titles. "Manga editors appear eager to capitalize on the popularity of bestsellers," Ryo Tomoda, editor at Hakusensha, told Nikkei in 2019. According to Tomoda, it's now "ten times more" difficult to launch a brand new title, and while this doesn't bode well for aspiring mangaka with original ideas, it should be considered good news for fans of Seraph of the End.
Takaya Kagami's dark fantasy series is already well-established, both as a manga and an anime. When it comes to milking a franchise for all it's worth, anime studios are just as guilty as manga publishers. "Japan, like Hollywood, loves a good sequel, because they're easy to market and make a ton of money," Anime News Network's Justin Sevakis said in 2019. There's every chance that we'll end up getting a Seraph of the End spin-off at some stage (there's more than enough light novels to adapt, after all), but a third season of the main anime is looking far more likely right now.
Look for a lot more Ferid in Seraph of the End season 3
Speaking after the release of Seraph of the End season 1, voice actor Ono Kensho hinted that there was a lot more to come from Ferid Bathory, the vampire that slaughtered Yu's family and turned his best friend Mikaela into a bloodsucker. Kensho (who voices Mikaela in the Japanese language version of the anime) said that Ferid has "plans that haven't been revealed yet" (via My Anime List).
These plans slowly began to play out in season 2 of the show, with Ferid turning on the vampire queen of Japan and declaring her a traitor to the Progenitor Council. His scheming is far from done, however. Judging from the manga, Ferid will play a central part in the third season of the anime, should it get the go-ahead. Following the battle at Nagoya airport (where season 2 of the anime left off), Ferid seeks out Yu and his squad and teases them with intel on what really happened when that so-called virus wiped out large swathes of humanity some 8 years previously.
In a curious turn of events, Ferid actually tries to befriend Yu and Mika, though the sneaky vampire's true intentions are never really crystal clear. Ferid is also involved in the Osaka arc, which is bound to feature prominently in the anime if it's picked back up. He gets brutally tortured by his higher-ups for his part in Japan's human problem.
Could Seraph of the End replace Attack on Titan?
Cryptic comments from animators on social media led to much speculation that Wit Studio would be dropping Attack on Titan after the hit anime's third season, and those rumors appear to be accurate. "I'd simply assumed the prior whisperings were fan speculation gone wild, but after checking multiple first and second-hand sources, I can say with certainty that these aren't mere conjectures," Sakuga Blog reported in 2019. "Wit have said they're done." If this is indeed the case, then Wit will be looking for another title to fill the gap left by the "outrageously big" Attack on Titan, and Seraph of the End fits the bill.
The premise of Seraph of the End is pretty similar to Attack on Titan. In both stories, members of the lead character's family are killed by inhuman monsters right in front of them when they're just kids. They both decide to dedicate their lives to ridding the world of these beasts, joining the military so they can get their revenge. The two shows have many parallels, and Wit Studio must be well aware of this.
Despite being a relatively young anime studio (founded in 2012), Wit has a number of well-received shows, though Seraph of the End always ranks among the most popular. Attack on Titan's departure is indeed bad news for fans of the show, but it definitely increases the odds of Seraph of the End returning for a third season.