Tensei shitara Ken Deshita or popularly known as Reincarnated as a Sword is an isekai anime that follows a Black Cat girl named Fran in a fantasy world in which her kind is often discriminated against and looked down upon. While most of her people are either subjugated or savagely exterminated by brutes, she is lucky enough to stumble upon a magical sword that has intelligence and the ability to share his powers with her. It turns out that this sword has the consciousness of a human being who died in the modern world in a tragic road accident. Fondly referred to as Shishou or Teacher by Fran, the magical sword helps her through his wise advice so that she can uplift her people and evolve- something that her parents have deeply desired.
Released in the fall 2022 anime season, Reincarnated as a Sword was competing against popular shows like Spy x Family Part 2, Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100 III, Boku no Hero Academia 6th Season, Blue Lock, and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War for viewers attention. So this does not come as a surprise that the anime barely managed to reach the top 10 rankings of the season. However, despite its relatively low popularity the show appears to have impressed a lot of viewers since it boasts a 7.5 rating on MAL. It also has 4.3 stars on AnimePlanet and a 7/10 rating on IMDB. While these numbers are not necessarily very good but they are still decent enough to warrant another season.
Before Reincarnated as a Sword anime was released, the eponymous manga and book had 1.3 million copies in circulation worldwide in September 2020. However, this number quickly changed in the following year. In September 2021, the overall circulation reached 1.8 million. The series sold another 500,000 copies in the next one-year period as well, taking the overall manga and book circulation to 2.3 million copies. It remains to be seen whether the release of the show will also add to the overall popularity of the manga which is a critical factor in anime renewals.
"Reincarnated as a Sword" (Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita) TV Anime Season 2 production decision. pic.twitter.com/H1rg43YiBI
— Sugoi LITE (@SugoiLITE) December 14, 2022
But keeping all these factors aside, it should be mentioned that episode 12 of Reincarnated as a Sword ended with a to-be-continued message for the fans. This directly shows the creators’ desire to at least come up with another season of the anime. Interestingly, SugoLite, a popular anime new leaker has also claimed that the isekai series has been greenlit for production. While online rumors are not rare, SugoLite is usually a credible source of information that is usually quite accurate. Therefore, we feel that the anime will be renewed soon, and Reincarnated as a Sword season 2 will prepare sometime in early 2024.
