Hige Wo Soru Season 2 - What We Know So Far

Sometimes, we really can't judge a light novel by its cover, or in this case, title. "Hige wo Soru Soshite Joshi Kōsei o Hirou," which translates into "After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway," certainly raises a few eyebrows by name alone. As fans delved into the novel series written by author Shimesaba, they discovered a story that fortunately didn't dive headfirst into ecchi territory but thankfully focused more on two unlikely characters who help each other grow.

The story revolves around salaryman Yoshida, who, after being romantically rejected by his boss, drunkenly finds teenager Sayu Ogiwara sitting under a street lamp. Sayu asks to go home with him. The next day, the sobered salaryman learns of Sayu's tragic backstory of being forced to survive on the streets, and the independent bachelor is unable to kick her out of his house. The light novel proved popular enough to at one point have had more than 400,000 copies in circulation (via Anime News Network). It wasn't long before an anime adaptation came, thanks to studio Project No. 9. The 13-episode series premiered earlier this year, wrapping up on June 28, 2021. The anime had strong ratings among fans on sites like Crunchyroll. So, with a positive reception, could a second season be in the works?

Here's everything we know so far.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any word yet on a second season of "Higi wo Soru" by Project No. 9 or the original light novel's author Shimesaba. The main reason doesn't have to do with the anime series' reception among fans but the primary source. The original light novel series is short, containing only five volumes, and publisher Kadokawa put out the last volume in late June this year. In addition, the anime series followed the novels pretty closely and contained the same main plot conclusion of its source material. However, this doesn't spell the ultimate end of "Higi wo Soru," as Kadokawa revealed on Twitter that there is a couple of side stories related to the series' aftermath in the works from Shimesaba.

That's what has some fans hoping for a second season of "Higi wo Soru," despite it already using most of its brief source material. The upcoming side stories' could provide more material for another season or, at the very least, perhaps a few OVAs. But even if they decide to announce a second season based on the novels, we're still in for a long wait. A release date for the light novels hasn't been announced yet. If they come out at the end of this year or the beginning of 2022, it could be the end of 2022 or sometime in 2023 before we'd receive an anime adaptation.

If a second season of "Higi wo Soru" is announced, we could expect a returning cast from the first season. Yet, we would likely see certain characters get more of the spotlight. Yoshida, who is voiced by Kazuyuki Okitsu, and Sayu, who is voiced by Kana Ichinose (via Anime News Network) would likely still return and play a big part in a second season, despite wherever the story takes place. After all, the central heart of the story revolves around these two characters and their relationship with one another. However, if a second season decided to pull from the upcoming new Gaiden novels, the perspective would shift.

The upcoming novels revolve around two of Yoshida's coworkers and romantic interests in the anime series: Airi Goto and Yuzuha Mishima. The two would play more significant parts in a potential second season. Other than those two, many other characters would probably return in some form, such as Yoshida's co-worker friend Hashimoto, Sayu's mother, Mrs. Ogiwara, and her friend Asami Yuki.

If Season 2 of "Higi wo Soru" is announced, the plot would likely follow in the aftermath scenes shown in the final episode of the anime. In Episode 13 (via Crunchyroll), after Yoshida says goodbye to Sayu and leaves her, the episode credits show Sayu and Yoshida continuing with their lives apart. After several years have passed, the two once again meet again under a street lamp. Although the credits are meant to show the two growing on their own yet reuniting again after much time, the series' author, Shimesaba, tweeted the series still has more story that happens within that span before their reunion. And this is the focus of the new light novels. Specifically, they will look at "various things" that happened between Yoshida and Yuzuha and Yoshida and Asami.

There is also another side project that a potential Season 2 of the series could pull from as well. As Monsters And Critics highlighted, there is also "Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. Each Stories," a manga collection of side stories set in the series. While it probably doesn't have a thick enough plot for fans to sink their teeth into for a new season, it could still pad it out with a couple of fun scenes or episodes.