DanMachi Season 4 Production Issues Caused Chaos Behind the Scenes, Says Producer
During HIDIVE’s special panel at Anime Expo 2025, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? producer Nobuhiro Osawa opened up about the significant DanMachi Season 4 production issues that disrupted the anime’s development. According to him, the original plan to adapt three volumes of the light novel turned into a major challenge due to the sheer volume of material.
DanMachi Season 4 Production Issues Caused Chaos Behind the Scenes, Says Producer
Initially, the staff believed they could adapt Volumes 12 to 14 just as they had done in Season 1, which condensed three volumes into a single cour. However, the content turned out to be far more extensive. “The number of pages from Volume 1 to Volume 12 is about twice what we had in Volume 12 alone,” Osawa explained. As a result, the season had to be extended to 22 episodes—an unexpected move that left the team overwhelmed. “Our staff were kind of plunged into chaos because there was so much more work to do,” he added.
Despite the DanMachi Season 4 production issues, Osawa praised the team’s resilience and passion. He acknowledged that long-running anime projects often lead to staff burnout, but emphasized that the DanMachi team remains driven by their love for the story and respect for the series’ creator, Fujino Omori.
Season 4 also marked a turning point in the anime’s direction. For the first time, author Fujino Omori directly supervised the script alongside series writer Hideki Shirane, resulting in a more faithful adaptation. Prior seasons had been criticized for skipping or rushing major content. Season 1 covered five volumes but heavily condensed them. Season 2 adapted Volumes 6 to 8, almost entirely omitting the eighth. Season 3 adapted Volumes 9 to 11.
That’s why fans welcomed the decision to extend Season 4 to 22 episodes. Many felt this arc deserved more screen time to properly unfold. The season became the longest in the franchise to date. The first three seasons had 13, 12, and 12 episodes respectively. Meanwhile, Season 5, which wrapped up in 2025, aired 15 episodes.
However, production problems didn’t end there. Season 5 also faced setbacks. In December 2024, it was announced that episodes from 12 onward would be postponed indefinitely due to “production reasons.” This delay also impacted the launch of the franchise’s game, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Fulland of Water and Light. Fans speculated that the game’s release was pushed back to avoid spoiling storylines that had yet to air.
Fortunately, the final episodes of Season 5 resumed in February 2025, bringing closure to the arc.
As for the future of the anime, Osawa revealed that the adaptation has now caught up to the latest volumes of Omori’s light novel. He concluded by saying that the continuation of the anime depends on the author’s ability to write more volumes.
via CBR
