Following the end of its fifth season, the question becomes whether Date A Live Season 6 will ever be released.
The hit anime series (streaming on Crunchyroll) rounded out its 12-episode Season 5 in June, continuing its sci-fi harem story that has been running on TV since 2013.
Based on the series of light novels of the same name, the show is set in an alternate future science fiction world where a young boy is forced to romance an apocalypse-harboring female spirit to save the world.
Will Date A Live Season 6 Ever Happen?
Date A Live Season 6 remains a massive question mark among its fandom.
Season 6 of the hit anime adaptation has not yet been officially announced, which has some worried about its prospects.
It is worth noting that one of the hang-ups potentially holding back any public renewal of Date A Live could be that the animation studio behind the series closed down after working on Season 5.
According to a message written (roughly translated from Chinese) by the Daliangshan Animation Department team on the social media platform Billibilli, the dissolution of the company's television division happened in April, several weeks before Season 5's release:
"With the release of the fifth season, the historical mission of Daliangshan Animation has come to an end, and the Goodshow Animation business department has also been disbanded. The story of Daliangshan and the 'Date A Live IP' may end here, with laughter, harvest, love, and regret. The follow-up of the 'Date A Live IP' will also be returned to Kadokawa. Thank you to all game players and 'Date A Live' fans for their support. Thank you."
This closure caused the author of the light novels the series is based on, Koshi Tachibana, to point fans to the source material "if [they] are curious about what happens after [Season 5]:"
"By the way, if you are curious about what happens after 'Date A Live V', I think you will be able to solve the mystery by reading the original work from volume 20 onwards."
This mention of the books, along with a post calling Season 5 "the end," has given fans the impression that Season 6 may never see the light of day despite more stories ready to be adapted in further volumes of Tachibana's light novel series:
"Thank you for watching 'Date A Live V' until the end!
As I wrote in the afterword to volume 19 of the original work, the story of 'Date A Live' is, in a sense, the love story of Mio Takamiya.
I am very happy to have been able to experience the conclusion of this long journey once again in the form of anime."
If Season 6 were to happen, it would likely depend on strong sales for the physical release of the Date A Live light novels and anime series.
While it may seem that the powers that be are moving away from the series, if there is money to be made, they could be swayed.
What Could Happen in Date A Live Season 6?
Though Date A Live's future remains uncertain, where it would go in its story is not.
The anime is based on a series of light novels of the same name, so there is a narrative thread the anime team has followed to this point.
By the end of Season 5, only three volumes of the story are left to adapt.
Thus far, the show has stayed fairly faithful to the source material, so those itching to know what happens next can read Volumes 20 to 22 of Koshi Tachibana's love story for a potential sneak peek.
This three-volume final arc of the light novel story includes some of the most dramatic story beats in the series' long-running narrative.
After years of on-and-off conflict, a potential Season 6 would see things come to blows, ending the war that has plagued the series' world since its beginning.
As part of this, the series' main character, Shido Itsuka, has to take down the mysterious spirit beast that has taken over the world in an attempt to rid it of spirits (including his beloved Tohka Yatogami).
If it were greenlit, the conflict would be typically epic, with the battle likely taking place across the entire sixth season.
Date A Live is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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