The anime “The Eminence in Shadow” made it to the list of the most anticipated series of the fall of 2022. However, viewers and fans of the original source, which became the basis for adaptation, were a little disappointed with what they saw. The episode 1 did not allow them to appreciate the upcoming project, while interest in the history of the protagonist and his assistants grew with each new episode watched. How many fans did the series have and will the director take on the continuation?..
Genre — action, comedy fantasy.
Season 1 premiered on October 5, 2022 (20 episodes).
Original anime title: “Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!”.
Age limit — 16+.
“The Eminence in Shadow ss 2”: release date, announcement
The season 1 of the anime “The Eminence in Shadow” left a mixed impression on viewers. The adaptation certainly has strengths, such as animation, great soundtrack, well-developed battle scenes, plot dynamics, etc. However, the abundance of blood and cruelty is a little over the top.
Judging by the reviews of critics, the situation is not in favor of the season 2 of adaptation. But if the director responds positively to the criticism and the listed mistakes made during the creation of the season 1, then there will be a continuation. Readers of the original source yearn to see an adaptation as close to the original story as possible. Well, we are waiting for official news.
p.s. It’s official: Season 2 of “The Eminence in Shadow” anime will premiere in October 2023! The exact release date has not yet been announced.
Plot
It all started before the accident that killed Minoru Kageno…
Minoru Kageno has never been a bright personality or a popular student at school. On the contrary, he had no friends, talked to few people, lived as if in his own world. So it was, because in “his world” he dreamed of eminence in the shadow, to be unnoticed, but to do justice. Training his body, honing his fighting skills, Kageno attacked biker gangs at night and dealt with them in cold blood.
A few years ago, Akane Nishino, Kageno’s classmate, was subjected to a cruel test: she was kidnapped by unknown people. That terrible day will remain in her memory forever. After that incident, all the movements of the girl were exclusively by car with a personal driver. But one day he didn’t pick her up from school. Evening. Empty street. Fear. A car pulls up out of nowhere and people grab her, putting her to sleep with an unknown substance. Waking up in an incomprehensible place, Akane realizes that everything is repeated with her again. But her torment does not last long: an unknown person in a mask comes to the rescue, who destroys the offenders before her eyes…

The next day, Kageno dies. He could not realize his dreams in this world, but now he has every chance to achieve his goals in another one full of magic. Becoming a boy named Cid, he begins to “build” his present, where he is the Shadow, the leader of the “Shadow Garden” organization, whose goal is the destruction of people from the Cult of Diabolos…
Main characters
- Minoru Kageno / Cid Kageno / Shadow — always dreamed of the eminence in shadow; he and those like him hide in the shade and hunt in the shade too; considers Alpha a weak elf; in the new world, born into a family of aristocrats, for many generations this family trained dark knight swordsmen who improved skills with magic.
- Akane Nishino — the daughter of a wealthy man; as a child she was an actress, but after her abduction, much has changed; for a long time she could not recover because of the psychological trauma she had received, but decided not to show her fears to people; was again kidnapped for ransom, but she was saved by Minoru, Akane found out later that it was he.
Interesting Facts
- The anime is based on the Japanese light novel series of the same name written by Daisuke Aizawa. The novel was first posted in May 2018 on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Created in 2004, the site allows users to post their novels for free and read other people’s work. In mid-2021, Shōsetsuka ni Narō had over 2 million users and hosted over 800,000 works.
- A manga of the same name was based on the light novel. It has been published since December 2018 in Comp Ace magazine by Kadokawa Shoten. Since July 2019, a spin-off manga titled “The Eminence in Shadow! Shadow Side Story” (“Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden”) has been published.
- The main character’s name before Minoru Kageno’s reincarnation is written as 影野実 in Japanese. At the same time, the combination of two kanji 影野 has a literal translation of “shadow field” or “Shadow Garden”.
The Eminence in Shadow Season 2: release date
Number | Series title | Release date |
---|---|---|
2x01 | Series 1 | October 2023 |
2x02 | Series 2 | October 2023 |
2x03 | Series 3 | October 2023 |
2x04 | Series 4 | October 2023 |
2x05 | Series 5 | October 2023 |
2x06 | Series 6 | October 2023 |
2x07 | Series 7 | October 2023 |
2x08 | Series 8 | October 2023 |
2x09 | Series 9 | October 2023 |
2x10 | Series 10 | October 2023 |