REPORT: Fire Force Changes Studios Ahead of Season 3

Aug 20, 2023

A new Twitter leak suggests Fire Force is swapping animation studios from David Production to Studio Shaft ahead of its upcoming third season.

Fire Force fans finally have an update on its much anticipated third season, but it's not one any of us expected.

According to a leak from the Twitter account Shueishaleaks, the Fire Force anime will change studios from David Production to Studio Shaft. While this report has yet to be confirmed by the franchise at the time of writing, this account has a strong track record in the anime news field, with its leaks generally proving credible. However, the news of Fire Force's studio change still comes as a shock given the acclaim the show's first two seasons received for its animation quality. David Production's ability to translate Atsushi Ohkubo's unique art style to the screen impressed viewers and critics alike. If this update proves true, Studio Shaft will face an uphill battle to reach those same heights.

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Ohkubo made his name as a mangka with his second series Soul Eater, which also received an anime adaptation from studio Bones. Fire Force is his most recent series, running for an impressive 304 chapters in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine. The manga concluded in late 2022, followed by Ohkubo's retirement from the industry, but the anime still has plenty of that material left to cover. Its second season wrapped in late 2020, and while Season 3 was announced shortly after, viewers have now been waiting almost three years for an update on its release. A change in studios may account for the long break between seasons, but fans will still be hoping for more concrete news on when the anime will make its long-awaited return.

Although David Production's excellent work on Fire Force will be missed if the studio does depart, the show will still be in good hands with studio Shaft. Founded in the mid-70s, the studio is probably best known for its work on the Monogatari anime, which received critical acclaim for its experimental style. In the 2000s, Shaft rebuilt its identity as an avant-garde animation house around its key direction Akiyuki Shinbo, who cut his teeth as an animator at Studio Pierrot, working on classic series like Yu Yu Hakusho. If Fire Force does join Shaft, the combination of the studio's distinct approach and Atsushi Ohkubo's unique style will certainly be worth checking out for any anime fan.

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The first two seasons of Fire Force are available to stream on Crunchyroll. All chapters of Ohkubo's manga are available from Kodansha USA, or on the new K-Manga app.

Source: Twitter