Undead Unluck anime's Winter 2025 special confirms original story from mangaka

Thursday, December 19, 2024 saw the Undead Unluck anime series’ Winter 2025 special confirmed as a one-hour original story from series creator and mangaka Yoshifumi Tozuka. This news was confirmed by X (formerly Twitter) user and reputable general anime and manga news source @WSJ_manga (Shonen Jump News).

Shonen Jump News also confirmed the subject matter of the original story, which seems set to explain a minor but still intriguing plot point left unresolved in the series’ manga. While fans are excited about this Undead Unluck anime news, there is also reason to be upset about the return of the mainline television anime series.

Undead Unluck anime’s Winter 2025 special being original story suggests season 2 still a ways away

Per the latest information from X user Shonen Jump News, the Undead Unluck anime’s upcoming one-hour special will be an original story from Tozuka on a brand new UMA. Short for Unidentified Mysterious Animals, the new UMA will be “Balance,” the Negator, which is mentioned in the manga but never formally introduced. Likewise, fans suspect the new special will formally introduce UMA Balance and the Unbalance Negator.

This would also make sense as Billy, the Union traitor during season 1, is the one who first uses the Unablance Negator ability via his own Unfair Negator ability. While a relatively minor unaddressed plot point, it is nevertheless one which fans have always been intrigued by. Likewise, with the manga currently progressing through its final stages, it makes sense for the anime to dedicate time to this fan-favorite tidbit than for the manga to detour itself at this stage.

While this also makes sense as a transition into the second season of the television anime series, which will focus on Billy’s conflict with the Union, there is also a downside. More likely than not, the second season's premiere is still relatively far away due to this anime original special being put first. Further supporting this idea is that animation studio David Production also has Fire Force season 3 coming up as a major priority.

Thankfully, the Undead Unluck anime’s second season has been confirmed as coming eventually. This was confirmed alongside the announcement of the one–hour special in late July 2024. While the timeline for the second season is still unknown, a late 2025 or early 2026 premiere is likely the soonest possible window for such a return. This would also be a lineup with production on Fire Force season 3, which is concluding.

Meanwhile, Tozuka’s original manga series of the same name progresses through its climactic conclusion. In fact, many fans were concerned that the ending of the series would come this week, given recent developments. However, Shonen Jump News also confirmed alongside the above information that the series is indeed not ending in its upcoming release.