The production team behind the Thunder 3 television anime announced on Thursday that the series will return for a second season in 2027. Manga author Yuki Ikeda marked the occasion with a celebratory illustration.
Story
Publisher Kodansha USA, which releases the series in English, describes the premise: three ordinary schoolboys come into possession of a DVD said to open a gateway to a parallel universe. When they look away, Pyontaro‘s little sister Futaba slips through and is kidnapped by aliens who have overrun that version of Earth. Realizing their cartoonish bodies grant them superhuman abilities in the hyper-realistic parallel world, the trio sets out to bring her home.
Season 1 Broadcast & Streaming
The first season premiered on Fuji-TV’s +Ultra programming block on July 8 at 24:45 JST (effectively 12:45 a.m. on July 9). The series also streamed exclusively worldwide on Netflix from July 8.
Manga History
Ikeda launched Thunder 3 in Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022. The story entered its climax in January 2025, then went on hiatus in March 2025 due to the author’s health. It resumed in February and concluded on June 5. Kodansha released the 10th compiled volume on August 17, while Kodansha USA shipped the eighth English volume on February 10.
Hiroya Oku Revealed as Author
On September 24, Hiroya Oku — creator of Gantz, Inuyashiki, and GIGANT — confirmed via social media that he wrote and drew Thunder 3 under the pen name Yuki Ikeda. He explained that using a pseudonym was a deliberate choice to preserve a story surprise in the first chapter, one that would have been diminished had readers recognized his name from the outset.
In a separate interview with Courrier Japon in August, Oku revealed plans to retire from manga after completing his current series, Kanrekihime (The Sweet Sixty Princess), which launched in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior in December 2025. Its first compiled volume was published on May 29.
Oku’s Other Works
Oku’s landmark manga Gantz ran from 2000 to 2013 and has been adapted into a TV anime, a CG animated film, two Japanese live-action films, and two spinoff manga. Dark Horse Comics handled North American distribution.
- Oku launched the historical spinoff GANTZ:E with artist Jin Kagetsu in January 2020.
- Shueisha’s vertical-scrolling service Jump TOON debuted a new full-color vertical edition titled GANTZ: T in July 2025.
- Deadline reported a Hollywood live-action adaptation in November 2021.
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