'One Punch Man' Season 2 Major Shake-Up: Hit Anime Changes Production Company & Director

by Diane Samson / Sep 26, 2017 08:42 AM EDT

A new team will come in and work on "One Punch Man" Season 2. According to reports, the hit anime series from Japan will change its production company and director this year.

From now, the upcoming season of the anime will be overseen by J.C. Staff Production while Chikara Sakurai will direct. The news came from the anime's official website.

Despite the major shake-up, fans can be assured that "One Punch Man" Season 2 will be in great hands. According to Anime News Network, J.C. Staff was responsible for other equally successful anime series like "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma" and "Children of the Whales." Meanwhile, Sakurai worked on "Magimoji Rurumo" and some episodes of "Naruto Shippuden."

The first season of the animated adaptation was created by Madhouse, also known for "Cardcaptor Sakura," "Death Note" and "Hunter x Hunter." Comicbook.com points out that the decision to part with Madhouse does not come as a surprise because, in the past years, the production company has built a reputation of passing off franchises, despite its success, after one season. Apparently, Madhouse is not fond of telling a story within multiple seasons.

The director of the successful Season 1 was Shingo Natsume, another industry legend who has been involved in several anime series like "Bokurano" and "Space Dandy." His loss will be a huge blow for the franchise because, as the publication explains, Natsume has plenty of connections that allowed him to nab freelance animators.

Chikashi Kubota will return as the character designer for "One Punch Man" Season 2. Tomohiro Suzuki (composition), Makoto Miyazaki (music) and Shoji Hata (sound director) will continue being a part of the anime series.

As for the voice cast, Makoto Furukawa will return to voice Saitama, the One Punch Man and the unbeatable superhero of the anime and original manga. Kaito Ishikawa will also reprise the role of Kaito.

"One Punch Man" Season 2 still does not have an exact premiere date as of this writing. However, fans can expect new episodes to air sometime in 2018.