“We Did Have to Cut a Certain Portion of Material”: Record of Ragnarok Anime Boss Spills the Beans on Shocking Decision to Limit Season 2 and Manga vs Anime

Record of Ragnarok, the Japanese manga created by Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui, and Ajichika, is one of the best-selling mangas, as of 2021, with over 9 million sold copies. After the manga achieved enormous success, it was adapted into an anime series on June 17, 2023.

Here is a discussion with the director and series composition writer of the anime about why there is a difference between the anime series and the manga series of Record Of Ragnarok.

Record Of Ragnarok Director Explains Why He “Purposely” Avoided Adding More Scenes in Season 2

The manga had no English translations when Season 1 launched on Netflix. Director Masao Ōkubo assured people who haven’t read the manga before shouldn’t be concerned since they’re in for an incredible first-hand experience.

“Generally speaking, we hope that people unfamiliar with the source material will be able to experience Record of Ragnarok for the first time through the anime.”

The director purposely chose not to include additional sequences through visual presentations. Unfortunately, they had to cut it out because the manga had more pages than the first season.

“It was possible to add things through the visual presentation, but we purposely avoided even doing that. That said, we did have to cut a certain portion of material from the second season because the manga used more pages relative to the first season. But I don’t think that the overall impression should change.”

So this anime may differ from the manga you usually read. There will be little adjustments to the patterns here and there, but the basic plot will remain the same.

“We decided from the first season that the humans would sit to the left of the VIP seats (where Zeus and the others are positioned), and the gods would sit to the right. In the manga, it looks like there is no regular pattern to that, so we decided to avoid confusion by allocating specific areas for them. We didn’t particularly intend on changing the design.”

The second season has more modifications in the visual aesthetics with more distinctive views on gods and people, such as Buddha and Raiden Tameemon.

“I didn’t particularly intend on changing the style, but because most of the animation staff from season 1 carried on to the second season, I wonder if they got used to the unique characters.”

As for the plans for Record of Ragnarok, director Ōkubo and series composition writer Yuka Yamada shared their thoughts on the future of the anime and the manga series.

“I can’t think of any gods off the top of my head, I’d like to see the warrior monk Benkei or maybe Onihei. Joan d’Arc and Cleopatra would also be good choices. What kind of character would they be in the world of Record of Ragnarok, I wonder…? It’s fun to think about.”

While Yamada shared that she looks forward to the parts of the manga series that are yet to be animated, Director Ōkubo is looking forward to more battle-oriented developments for the series.

Watch the latest episodes of Record of Ragnarok Season 2 on Netflix.