Science SARU set to adapt Beastars mangaka Paru Itagaki's Sanda manga

Modified Jul 12, 2024 01:30 GMT

Science SARU set to adapt Beastars mangaka Paru Itagaki's Sanda manga (Image via Science SARU)

Wednesday, July 10, 2024, saw Beastars mangaka Paru Itagaki’s SANDA manga series be officially green-lit for an anime adaptation, with Science SARU confirmed to animate the project. Unfortunately, while there is no other information about the green-lit anime adaptation as of this article’s writing, it’s most likely a complete adaptation considering Itagaki’s original manga recently concluded.

However, a key visual was released alongside the news, featuring the titular protagonist Sanda in a guise very reminiscent of Santa Claus. The key visuals confirm Science SARU’s production on the project, as well as sharing the official website URL and the official X handle of the anime project.

Paru Itagaki’s SANDA manga set to begin anime adaptation from Science Saru as Beastars adaptation ends

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The SANDA manga, which ended in this year’s 32nd issue of Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion magazine on Thursday, July 4, 2024, is set in a near future with a declining birth rate. The series tells the story of adults and children living in the future. An ordinary boy named Sanda learns that one of his classmates Shiori Fuyumura wants to kill him, due to Fuyumura’s missing friend and a certain “curse” that Sanda carries with him.

Itagaki launched the manga in July 2021. It has been compiled into 15 total volumes, with the 15th and final shipping in Japan on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. As of this article’s writing, none of the manga volumes have been officially translated to English in either a digital format or a print one.

That being said, the anime adaptation will most likely be a complete one considering that the manga has already finished. With this in mind, manga volumes should begin going through the translation and importation process if the anime proves popular enough. However, this will hinge on how popular Science SARU’s adaptation gets.

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Likewise, with the hype the studio has following the success of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and the anticipation behind the upcoming Dandadan anime, the series is already in a good spot. The production will also likely garner some views on the back of Itagaki’s name alone, as well as that of Beastars.

Itagaki’s Beastars manga series launched in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion magazine in September 2016 and concluded in October 2020. The manga’s 22nd and final volume was published in Japan in January 2021, with Viz Media releasing the 22nd volume in English in January 2023. The manga ran for 196 chapters in total.

The first season of the Beastars anime premiered on Netflix in Japan, as well as on broadcast television, in October 2019. The series then premiered globally in March 2020, also on Netflix. The second season premiered in Japan in January 2021, again both on Netflix and on broadcast television, followed by a July 2021 global release. The final season is set to premiere later this year and will be split into two cours.