Anime is available in every flavour imaginable. However, some shows are runaway hits while others go largely unnoticed, only becoming fan-favourites long after they’ve finished airing. Simply, anime is expensive to make and if a show doesn’t do well, it won’t be coming back for season two. Without further ado, here are five classic anime that fans are desperate to see return.
School Live!
School Live! is a moe show with a sting in the tail. SPOILERS: the cast are living during a zombie apocalypse. Here’s the thing: we grew to know these girls. Their struggles were our own, and when they left their school at the end of season one, there was a real sense of loss.
Also, in the final few moments, the show hinted that there were other survivors. This has to be more than a throwaway conclusion: a second season would make so much sense. However, more than a year after release, there’s still no word from Studio Hibari on this subject.
Yuri on Ice!!
Sure, Yuri on Ice!! is getting a movie, but it’s just not the same as a fully-fledged new season.
This one’s obvious, isn’t it? Yuri had just gotten his groove back and accepted the relationship between himself and Victor. Further, with Victor making a return to professional skating, it sets up an twist to their mentor-mentee dynamic. It’s even possible that Yuri and Yurio work together to help each other beat him. Who wouldn’t want that?
Log Horizon
If not for Log Horizon ending on a horrible cliff-hanger two seasons in, it could have been the isekai show to end all isekai shows. Viewers had just found out that Shiro’s old guildmates were also trapped in the game, albeit on different servers, and decided he would get the gang back together. Roll credits.
This was pretty clearly angling for a third season, but with the author currently on probation for tax evasion, something tells us it’s not happening any time soon.
Hyouka
Unlike the other entries in this list, Hyouka WAS incredibly popular. This slice-of-life mystery show had everything: gorgeous, eye-catching animation (it was a Kyoto Animation show, after all), a hint of romance, and puzzles just interesting enough to make you want to keep watching.
Some argue that the first series ended perfectly, but for many, it’s just been too difficult to find anything even vaguely similar since. Yes, there are other mystery anime out there, but nothing that captured that nostalgic, dog-days feeling quite like Hyouka did.
One Outs
It’s fairly standard for sports anime to end on a cliff-hanger. However, many are extremely popular, and all but guaranteed a new season every year. Not so for One Outs: this intriguing, niche twist on the classic pitcher/batter relationship sent shockwaves through the sports anime fandom when it released in 2008.
Unfortunately, though, One Outs didn’t have what it takes to be an instant hit, and as such, never got a sequel, and ended before most viewers even knew it existed. What happened to the Saitama Lycaons? Did they ever win the nationals? We may never know.
