Skeleton Knight In Another World - What We Know So Far
At this point, it's completely unclear whether heroes in the isekai genre are blessed or cursed. Half of them die horrible deaths moments before being reincarnated into their fantasy world, and the lucky deathless ones are generally subjected to agony beyond most people's imaginations. Just look at "Re:Zero's" protagonist, Subaru, whose videogame-style save-point powers often require him and his friends to suffer horrible repeated deaths until he figures out the correct solution to his various predicaments.
Thankfully, isekai writers often get creative with their heroes' setbacks. A good example of this is "Skeleton Knight in Another World," the upcoming adaptation of Ennki Hakari's light novel series done by burgeoning Studio Kai. Far from the brutal torments often suffered by Subaru and company, the hero of "Skeleton Knight" is faced with a more subtle problem — that is, as you might have guessed from the title, there's not exactly a human face under his helmet, and the goodly human population of this fantasy world aren't too fond of the undead.
This poses a potentially interesting dynamic for the series, which has sold over 1.5 million copies since it was first published in 2015, according to the trailer. As such, it's hopeful that "Skeleton Knight" lives up to such a reputation through its characters and plot. Of course, it's too early in production to be overly optimistic, but even so, this show has huge potential. Here is what we know so far.
When is the release date for Skeleton Knight?
Unfortunately, it's too soon in the production cycle of "Skeleton Knight in Another World" for Studio Kai or its publisher, Overlap Comics, to have announced a release date. News on the anime first dropped, along with its first trailer, in April. Since then, there has been very little news on the anime in general. The most significant update to its production timeline came in August, when anime streaming service Crunchyroll announced that they will host episodes of "Skeleton Knight" once the anime finally debuts (via Anime News Network).
However, Crunchyroll has also stayed secretive regarding the release date of "Skeleton Knight." Thus, the best we can offer at this moment is a rough estimate. The fact that there has already been a trailer suggests that Studio Kai is making some progress on the project. As such, it seems reasonable to expect "Skeleton Knight" sometime in late 2022 or 2023. Other projects from the studio, such as the second season of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby," have taken similar amounts of time for it to complete.
Who is in the cast for Skeleton Knight?
Thus far, Studio Kai hasn't revealed much about the cast of "Skeleton Knight in Another World" quite yet. However, the studio has let slip regarding three of the actors who are set to portray the show's major characters. Most importantly, our skeletal hero, Arc, will be played by actor Tomoaki Maeno (via MyAnimeList), who is known for playing characters such as Hajime in "Platinum End" and Pain in "Naruto: Shippuden." One of his companions, Ariane Glenys Lalatoya, is portrayed by actress AI Fairouz. Fairouz is also known for appearing in many popular anime shows, including as the protagonist of the upcoming season of "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure."
One other major character that Studio Kai revealed is a bit different from the others, however. Rather than a skeleton or an elf, the character of Ponta is a nine-tailed fox, or a kitsune. It's unknown how this fantastical creature, played by actress Nene Hieda, will be involved in the story — however, we can likely assume this adorable fuzzball will be a companion, and not an enemy.
What is the plot of Skeleton Knight?
As far as the plot of "Skeleton Knight in Another World" goes, it's actually rather important that Ponta is more friend than foe — and that's because friends are something Arc is in short supply of.
Once a regular human from the real world, an unnamed gamer mysteriously wakes up as the custom character in his favorite RPG after falling asleep at his desk. Despite looking like a horrifying skeleton, Arc decides to fight for the sake of good (this is a far cry from the isekai genre's other famous skeletal anti-hero from "Overlord," who isn't too concerned with killing the innocent). Thankfully, Arc's good side brings him fortune. After saving two maidens from being assaulted by bandits, one of the women turns out to be royalty, and Arc is thus afforded some privileges that help him survive in this foreign society.
He then continues his adventures as a force for good ... albeit, while still being forced to hide his undead nature from the world.