Everything About Date A Live Season 4: Release Date, New Key Visual
The release date of the Japanese anime TV series, Date A Live Season 4, has been confirmed, and it will be happening around spring 2022.
A Japanese anime, Date A Live, is based on a Light Novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana and illustrated by Tsunako. The series covers a strange phenomenon, ‘spatial quake’, a tremble in the Earth’s magnetic field that happened in one of the largest Continents on Earth, Eurasia. The spatial quake led to millions of casualties, and it keeps happening for the next 30 years on an irregular basis.
Date A Live show revolves around the character Shido Itsuka who seems like an ordinary high school student but possesses a strange ability that helps him steal the powers of a Spirit in his body through a kiss.
The series, Date A Live Season 4, has confirmed its release date, which is April 8, 2022, in the Spring Season. Along with the confirmation of the Date A Live Season 4 release date, a new key visual of the series has also been released.
The Japanese anime Date A Live Season 4 was scheduled to be released last year, in October 2021, the fall season. But an announcement of various reasons for its delays was made with the Date A Live Season 4 trailer, which was released in September 2021. The second official trailer of Date A Live Season 4 was released in January 2022, which mentioned the release happening in Spring Season. The answer to a long-awaited question ‘When is Date A Live Season 4 coming out?’ is finally here.
Along with the news of Date A Live IV confirmed, a second and new project of Date A Live anime has been released with the same name, which is more focused on Kurumi. Another project name is Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet which is a spin-off adaptation of the Date A Live series. Coincidently, the spin-off series release date happened a month before the popular Date A Live Volume 21 was publicized in Japan.
The fans are aware that the 10th Anniversary of Date A Live is around, and to celebrate; the Japanese anime series has announced many projects happening this year. The writer of the series, Date A Live, Koushi Tachibana, have posted a tweet on his official Twitter account stating, ‘new Date A Live project is underway.
However, the audience is both happy and sad about the future of the Date A Live (DAL) series, as the end of season 3 was very dreadful. People are pondering how bad could Date A Live Season 4 be?
The dreadful season 3 would possibly be because of the tremendous production loss suffered by the series. With the continuous release of 12 episode DAL season 1, then OVA Episode, after that they switched hands and released second season and a movie, the production eventually declared itself bankrupt. However, the previous crew returned to the series, which included the director Keitaro Motonagam, producer Chiaki Kurakane, character designer (formerly key animator) Koji Watanabe, and series composition writer Hideki Shirane.
The Date A Live Season 4 won’t be that bad because the main staff and the studio has returned as they have switched hands again. The name and characters of the Date A Live Season 3, who have returned are:-
| Voice Actor | Characters |
| Nobunaga Shimazaki | Shido Itsuka |
| Marina Inoue | Tohka Yatogami |
| Misuzu Togashi | Origami Tobiichi |
| Ayana Taketatsu | Kotori Itsuka |
| Iori Nomizu | Yoshino |
| Asami Sanada | Kurumi Tokisaki |
| Maaya Uchida | Kaguya Yamai |
| Sarah Emi Bridcutt | Yuzuru Yamai |
| Minori Chihara | Miku Izayoi |
Along with the previous cast, the new characters are added in Date A Live Season 4, which would make the upcoming season more exciting. The new Date A Live characters include Artemisia Bell Ashcroft, Nia Honjou (Hitomi Nabatame), and Mukuro Hoshimiya (Akari Kageyama).
What Was The Reason For The Long-Five Year Wait between Date A Live Seasons?
The Japanese Anime, Date A Live, premiered its first season containing 12 episodes along with an OVA episode in the year 2013. The Date A Live Season 2, with ten episodes and an OVA episode, was released in the year 2014. Date A Live Season 3 got out in the year 2019, after a long five-year wait, and the Date A Live Season 4 is yet to be released in the upcoming month.
The long delay in between the seasons was never officially addressed and given any kind of explanation. However, the 2014 season 2, Date A Live anime, adopted two-thirds of the source material which was available, but Season 3, which have 12 episodes, turned out to be more puzzling than ever.
Was The Date A Live Season 4 Release Date Delayed A Multiple Times?
As mentioned earlier, the date for the release of DAL Season 4 was set to happen in October 2021, but the new trailer mentioned that it would happen in April 2022. The question that is troubling the fans is that the Production process has been known about the release in October, so why does it delay for a while?
An anime news leaker, Spytrue, stated, ‘ate A Live IV TV anime for Spring 2021.’ But the plan of releasing it in October 2021 didn’t work out because of which it got delayed till Spring April 2022. One of the reasons for the delay would be the inevitable global pandemic, which has affected Japan multiple times.
Date A Live Light Novel/Manga Series Compared to Anime
The writer, Koushi Tachibana and illustrator, Tsunako Light Novels, will be the basis of the Date A Live Season 4 plotline. The Light Novels has come to an end, and the last one ended on March 19, 2022, with its release of 22nd Volume.
Not quite similar to Light Novels, Date A Live manga series, started in 2012, came to an early end. Only four volumes have been published by Mangaka Kakashi Oniyazu but unfortunately got cancelled because of some health issues Mangaka had. No talk has been done about who would be picking it after Mangaka. The consequences are leading to no manga adaptation into anime.
One huge problem the fans are facing is that Light Novels are never given a license to be published in the English language, as the audience wants to know more about the story, but due to the language barrier, we couldn’t. We all have to wait for its release in the English language.
Well, there is another way if you want to read the story in English, the unofficial English. But, one problem in that is it is ahead of the anime. Basically, the problem starts with Date A Live season 3, which is rushing through Volume 12: Itsuka Disaster and puzzling the storyline.
In the Date A Live Season 3, the first 11 episodes were adapted from two books apiece which are Natsumi and Origami. But, in the last 12th episode, the staff took the decision of portraying the whole story in one episode. This led to a more puzzling ending, and fans were confused as it looked more like an OVA episode instead of a regular one.
Some of the characters from the anime got affected differently. Like a character, Mana Takamiya, who was Shido’s biological sister, led to a different anime story even though she was present in Volume 8 and 12. Another most important thing, a character’s introduction, was skipped, Artemisia Bell Ashcroft, one of the essential characters who were present from Volumes 12 to 17.
The Light Novels, the basis of Date A Live anime, always worked well and made the series more condensing. However, the decision to cover the whole book in one episode feels more like they are trying to end everything in 12-episode per season. It would’ve helped with the story if one more episode were to be added, and it would’ve become 13 episode season, or the end in 11 episodes would’ve made sense too.
It might be possible that the upcoming season, Date A Live Season 4, would rectify all the gaps in the last 12th episode, but if it doesn’t, the English-only fans can look for Volume 12 online and understand the part which had been skipped.
And the good part is, even though Date A Live Season 4 may or may not cover gaps, the Light Novels provide plenty of source material for season 4, for which Volumes 13 to 15 would be adapted. Then the next Light Novels, Volume 16 to 19, can help with the Date A Live Season 5 content, which is interconnected and can give fans a huge climax at the end.
Date A Bullet: Release Date
A spin-off premiere, Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet, of Date A Live series, written by Kōshi Tachibana, is a two-part movie. The film was scheduled to be released in cinemas by November 2020.
The storyline of the movie revolves around an amnesiac young girl, Hibiki Higoromo, who wakes up in a different world and meets with Kurumi Tokisaki. The story is related to the Light Novel series of Date A Live.
Date A Live Season 4 Spoilers
The Japanese anime based on Light Novels, Date A Live Season 4, would cover its beginning from Volume 12 (as mentioned earlier). The season 4 decision whether or not to clarify the troubling path Season 3 would be revealed on its released, but the introduction of important characters and villains are much needed. Otherwise, Date A Live Season 4 will return the introduction of Spirits, and Shido had to go with the spirits to solve their problems.
There is a Ninth Spirit, Nia Honjou, who happened to be a Second Spirit because of her appearance on Earth after the first. Nia Honjou’s ability helps her gather all the information on Earth, which she uses to get to the truth of her own origin. One of the drawbacks of Nia’s skills is that she already knew about the person she meets, even their inner motivations and malice.
Nia lost her faith in humanity and prefers to enter the 2D world of manga and video games, where she becomes a manga artist but with a mask on. But the DEM figures out that the masked player is a spirit, and Ellen Mira manages to capture the spirit alive.
Many of the fans believe that Nia disappeared during the argument between her and her editor. Still, actually, she is being held in a DEM facility, which is in the Pacific Ocean, an island called Nearly Island. Nai is then referred to as Material A, which is being guarded by a new yet important character, Adeptus 2, aka Artemisia Bell Ashcroft.
The character Kurumi, Date A Live Light Novels, tries to rescue Nia, aka Material A, but the attempt fails because Artemisia has the ability which decimates Kurumi’s clones within seconds. However, after Christmas, Shido accidentally found Nia, who was starving and collapsed on the side.
The events in the Light Novels volume 14 and 15 are literally out of the world, and a new spirit, Mukuro Hoshimiya, was floating in the space, which is discovered to be the 10th spirit.
The Date A Live Season 4 anime will reveal all the events included and not included in the series. The Date A Live Season 4 release date is finalized on April 8, 2022, and till then, we will share all the updated information regarding the anime. In the comments section below, share your thoughts of what events could be included to make it better than the previous one.
