{"id":55806,"date":"2026-01-16T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=55806"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T09:48:31","slug":"days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On January 11, <strong>Days with My Stepsister<\/strong> author Ghost Mikawa posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mikawaghost\/status\/2010278355493613901?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">detailed statement on X<\/a> (formerly Twitter) regarding the future of the mixed-media project. Following the announcement about the indefinite hiatus of the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BhsOPgPV0is?si=6_a7iDOuU2eFXeaq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">official YouTube channel<\/a>, Mikawa gave his explanation on why he believes a second season of the anime is very unlikely to happen, highlighting some of the current industry trends. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u7fa9\u59b9\u751f\u6d3b\u300f\u30ce\u30f3\u30af\u30ec\u30b8\u30c3\u30c8\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30cb\u30f3\u30b0\uff5c\u300c\u5929\u4f7f\u305f\u3061\u306e\u6b4c\u300dfh\u00e1na\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z9HCfY560CM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Mikawa, the biggest reason why many anime don\u2019t end up having a second season is simply because animation studios don\u2019t think it would be profitable. He notes that even if a first season was relatively well-received, it doesn\u2019t always mean that an anime will get a second chance (some examples include Claymore, Ouran High School Host Club and No Game No Life), or, even if they did, it would take a long time for them to be picked up again (like Grand Blue and Bleach). Another possible cause is the difficulty faced in assembling the original animation staff. While most people view anime staff as consisting solely of a director, screenwriter, animation director, and character designer, he iterates that an anime is the result of the cumulative efforts of the production team as a whole \u2013 and that includes each individual animator and assistant who work on bringing the show to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, even if Souta Ueno, who directed the first season of Days with My Stepsister, was brought back for season two, Mikawa thinks that it would be impossible to produce an anime of the same quality without the whole team on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the staff\u2019s availability (some top animators have their services booked years in advance), it would be hard to get the gang back together on short notice. On the topic of time, Mikawa wonders if the show\u2019s appeal will last long enough for second season to be made and aired &#8211; a process that, according to him, could take roughly six or seven years (presuming that it would take five years to book and schedule all of the first season\u2019s animators and two years for the anime to be approved).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikawa admits that even if an ample budget could potentially force a team together, that alone wouldn\u2019t guarantee a second season with a similar quality as the first. Forcing production without all of the original staff could result in something fans wouldn\u2019t enjoy. That said, the cost of anime production is rapidly increasing, making it harder to produce high-quality shows using allocated budgets from previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"599\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-558060001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-558060001.jpg 834w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-558060001-380x273.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-558060001-768x552.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mikawa-is-considering-taking-matters-into-his-own-hands-to-secure-funding-for-a-second-season\">Mikawa is considering taking matters into his own hands to secure funding for a second season<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Mikawa cannot (and will not) forcefully interfere with an anime production company\u2019s staffing and production decisions, he explains that he can at least prove that the project is worth a second season and hopefully secure enough money for a budget by expanding the franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This leads to his decision to postpone the weekly updates on the official Days with My Stepsister YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the experience gained from producing YouTube and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fw4Pg2zbi8E?si=BgvO6pajCINdurBI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ASMR content<\/a>, Mikawa and his team hope to \u201cevolve\u201d their content by creating new works that can hopefully attract larger audiences. While he isn\u2019t sure what format these works will take (he notes that they could be bigger than a light novel or anime), he is excited about starting this new experience with fans. Provided the works reach a wide market, they could sustain themselves and support further production of Days with My Stepsister content for years to come. Mikawa hopes to announce what he is working on within the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a related note, the original Days with My Stepsister light novel that started it all began serialization on January 25, 2021, and will be celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Currently on its 15th volume, Mikawa predicts that it will go beyond 20 volumes, given his current vision for the story. That said, he never imagined it would be his longest-running series to date and would like to thank everyone for supporting his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sword-art-online-director-believes-japanese-anime-has-the-potential-to-replace-hollywood-but-focusing-too-much-on-global-appeal-could-lead-to-failure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sword Art Online director believes Japanese anime has the potential to replace Hollywood, but \u201cfocusing too much on global appeal could lead to failure\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/genshin-impact-anime-adaptation-still-in-the-works-with-no-issues-developer-confirms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Genshin Impact anime adaptation still in the works with no issues, developer confirms<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there&#8217;s demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":55809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[73,17,66],"class_list":["post-55806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-anime","tag-japan-related-news","tag-non-gaming-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there&#039;s demand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there&#039;s demand.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there's demand.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there's demand.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2026-01-15T16:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":619,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/"},"author":{"name":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2812ca8facd5f161edfbc531cf81eb31"},"headline":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d","datePublished":"2026-01-15T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/"},"wordCount":754,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg","keywords":["Anime","News (Japan-related)","Non-Gaming News"],"articleSection":["News","Non-Gaming News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/","name":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-15T16:00:00+00:00","description":"Days with My Stepsister author Ghost Mikawa discusses why it can be difficult for popular anime to get a season 2, even if there's demand.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260115-55806-header.jpg","width":1100,"height":619},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/days-with-my-stepsister-author-explains-why-some-anime-never-end-up-getting-a-second-season-even-if-we-had-the-budget-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-assemble-the-original-team-again\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Days with My Stepsister author explains why some anime never end up getting a second season. \u201cEven if we had the budget, it would be too difficult to assemble the original team again\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2812ca8facd5f161edfbc531cf81eb31","name":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","caption":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor"},"description":"Automaton West writer. Zoto has been playing video games for 30+ years now but has only recently come to grips with PC gaming. When he isn't playing video games, he watches romance anime and gets mad when his best girl never wins.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/carlos-zotomayor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55811,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55806\/revisions\/55811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}