Like many modern anime franchises, Black Bullet began as a series of light novels before becoming a manga and anime. Featuring a dystopian world and a deadly virus, Black Bullet shares many similarities to other popular contemporaries from the 2010s. This made its 2014 anime adaptation fairly popular, but fans are still waiting for Season 2 seven years later.
The series' concepts are perhaps more topical than ever, yet the Black Bullet anime and novels may be hamstrung in terms of continuing by the author's current status. Here's a look at what the anime was about, and when and if it will receive another season.
The Plot & Origin of Black Bullet
The story of Black Bullet takes place in what was, at the time, a future period of the year 2021. The world is ravaged by a parasitic virus known as Gastrea, with most of those unaffected living within the Monolith walls, whose properties destroy Gastrea. Unfortunately, numerous children are born exposed to Gastrea and thus develop superhuman powers.
The "Cursed Children" -- who for some reason are only girls -- become part of the Civil Securities teams that combat the remaining Gastrea. These teams are comprised of Cursed Children and their Promoter leaders, who are usually antagonistic toward them. Black Bullet's protagonist is Rentaro, a Promoter who is actually understanding of the reviled Cursed Children's plight.
Black Bullet began ten years ago in 2011, with the light novel series by Shiden Kanzaki and Saki Ukai amassing seven volumes. A manga version was produced from 2012-2014, with four volumes being made and finishing a little while after the anime began. The anime ran for one 13-episode season in 2014 but has not returned since.
Will There Ever Be a Season 2 of Black Bullet?
The biggest impediment to making more of Black Bullet is the source material. As mentioned, there were only seven light novels, all of which were published around the time the show released. The anime adapted the first four volumes, so a second season would have less to work with. This stems from the fact that there isn't any more source material on the way.
It's been suggested the pressure of writing the series, especially in order for it to be adapted into an anime, took a heavy toll on the author. Thus, he quit writing the Black Bullet light novels and is supposedly now running a restaurant, while other claims include health problems. Either or both would certainly explain why there haven't been any additions to the light novel series in almost a decade.
Black Bullet was successful but wasn't a massive hit that was utterly beloved by legions of fans. This can again be traced back to just how cliche the story is, coming off to some as a low-rent version of more popular shows such as Attack on Titan or even Highschool of the Dead. Many anime are also little more than commercials for manga or light novels, and it would seem Black Bullet's light novel sales didn't catch fire despite the anime's success. Sadly, this all means Black Bullet probably won't continue in any medium, let alone as an anime.
