Ikebukuro West Gate Park is an drama mystery anime that was released nearing the end 2020. The anime is adapted by an animation studio with the name Doga Kobo, which is the same studio that did the anime adaptation of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun and Himouto! Umaru-chan. There’s a total of 12 episodes in the series, which aired on Japanese television from October 6 to December 22, 2020. At first, it was planned to be released in July, 2020, but it had to be postponed due to the pandemic. The anime is licensed by Funimation.
Ikebukuro West Gate Park is originally a mystery novel series written by Ira Ishida. The novel was first released in September, 1998 and finished in August, 2009. It has a total of 6 volumes. It was then adapted into a live-action television drama in 2000. The drama received a total of 7 Television Drama Academy Prize from The Television in 2000.
Following the success of the live-action, two manga adaptations are also created based on the story. The first one was published from July, 2001 until November, 2004 by Young Champion Magazine. With a total of 4 volumes, the manga is illustrated by Sena Aritou. A second manga was published under the Ikebukuro West Gate Park franchise in 2006 by Shounen Magazine Weekly. It is a 1-volume manga and is illustrated by Masashi Asaki.
The Release Date of Ikebukuro West Gate Park Season 2
At the time of writing this article, there has been no news made by studio Doga Kobo regarding the fate of Ikebukuro West Gate Park Season 2. The good news is that there is a total of 15 volumes of the manga and there are only 12 episodes of the anime, so the animation studio should not any problem with running out of materials
The initial release of the anime skipped the early chapters of the novel and manga, which focused on how our main character, Makoto Majima, initially earned his reputation in Ikebukuro. Moreover, in the finale of the last episode, viewers can see someone approaching Makoto for another case, before the screen goes to black with the words “Life Goes On.” Some fans interpret this as a sign for a sequel. However, there has been no confirmation that the studio is adapting Ikebukuro West Gate Park Season 2.
The Plot of Ikebukuro West Gate Park
The story is set in a district of Tokyo, named Ikebukuro. The district is home to not only many different businesses, but also gangs. Our main character is named Makoto Majima. Despite not being in any particular gang, he is quite well-known in the district. He is often nicknamed “the troubleshooter”, as he usually mediates between the factions. He is helped by a gang named the G-Boys, who are led by Makoto’s friend, Takashi Andou. Under Takashi’s command, G-Boys became the most influential gang in all of Ikebukuro.
The problem starts when a new gang named the Red Angels starts making moves in the G-Boys’ turf. Along with issues in Ikebukuro, Makoto and the G-Boys must try to prevent an all-out war and maintain the existing peace in Ikebukuro.
The Casts of Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Makoto Majima (Kentaro Kumagai who also played as Dae-Wi Han in The God of High School)
Takashi Ando (Kouki Uchiyama who also played as Meruem in Hunter X Hunter (2011))
Kyouichi Ozaki (Reiou Tsuchida who also played as Souta Kazama in My Senpai is Annoying)
Hiroto Ikekuchi (Subaru Kimura who also played as Aoi Toudou in Jujutsu Kaisen)
Tomomi Isogai (Natsuki Hanae who also played as Ken Kaneki in the Tokyo Ghoul series)
