As ubiquitous as the isekai genre seems to be, sometimes it's the most simple approach that plays the best with fans. Case in point: In Another World with My Smartphone. The show, of course, centers around a teenager who finds himself reborn in another world, with nothing from his old life save for his trusty cell phone.
Despite, or perhaps because of its simple premise, the original light novel series became incredibly popular, spawning an anime adaptation. Though the first season of In Another World with My Smartphone was well-received, it's yet to get a follow-up season, in spite of a wealth of source material. Here's a look back at the anime and perhaps why it hasn't gotten a Season 2 yet.
In Another World with My Smartphone's Origin & Plot
In Another World began as an isekai web novel series from Patora Fuyuhara, subsequently becoming a light novel series with illustrations from Eiji Usatsuka. It tells the tale of Touya Mochizuki, a normal 15-year-old who is randomly and accidentally killed off by God himself. To make up for this incident, God allows Touya to reincarnate into a new fantasy world.
The only thing Touya asks for from his old life is his smartphone, which, given its access to information, makes it incredibly useful in the new world. Not only can it be charged via magic, but Touya himself is also imbued with incredible magical and physical abilities by God to further make up for his previous mistake. With a new life and his old smartphone by his side, Touya sets out to travel the land, helping people and solving their problems along the way. The fact that he develops a healthy harem of lovely ladies makes the journey all the merrier.
In Another World with My Smartphone Season 2
Production Reed handled the first season of In Another World's anime, which lasted for 12 episodes. The show received decent enough reviews, albeit with a fair amount of criticism coming from readers of the light novels noting how much material was skipped over. Still, it definitely had its fans and viewers, especially after airing through Crunchyroll outside of Japan, which makes the lack of a second season that much more curious.
The first season aired in 2017, but since then, there's been next to nothing said about a follow-up season. This may have stemmed from the source material, which didn't give the anime much to go on after skipping around. Around the time of the show's final episodes, the light novels had gotten to ten volumes, while the manga adaptation only had two. This is often an issue with adapting recent series, as it gives little breathing for the source material to grow and the anime something to adapt.
Currently, however, In Another World's light novel series has 23 volumes, while the manga has ten. All of these, including the original web novel, are all still ongoing, meaning that there will be much more material for the next few years at least. Hopefully, this means that Production Reed will finally jump back into another world, smartphone in hand, and continue the anime series where it left off almost four years ago.