Date A Live

Date A Live (デート・ア・ライブ) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana and illustrated by Tsunako. An anime adaptation by AIC Plus+ was broadcast on AT-X between April and June 2013. Each episode was streamed in lower quality on Niconico a week before its TV premiere. The series continued its broadcast run with Date A Live II from April to June 2014, produced by Production IMS. A film adaptation premiered on August 22, 2015. A third season by J.C.Staff has been announced, and it is set to premiere in January 11, 2019.

Plot
The series begins with a strange phenomenon called a "spatial quake" devastating the center of Eurasia, resulting in at least 150 million casualties. For the next 30 years, smaller spatial quakes plague the world on an irregular basis. In the present, Shido Itsuka, a seemingly ordinary high school student comes across a mysterious girl at the ground zero of a spatial quake. He learns from his adoptive sister Kotori that the girl is one of the "Spirits" from different dimensions who are the real cause of the spatial quakes that occur when they manifest themselves in the real world. He also learns that Kotori is the commander of the airship Fraxinus, crewed by the organization Ratatoskr and its parent company Asgard Electronics, and is recruited to make use of his mysterious ability to seal the Spirits' powers thus stopping them from being a threat to mankind. However, there is a catch: to seal a Spirit's power, he must make each spirit fall in love with him and make her deep kiss with him. Shido's intelligent classmate, Origami Tobiichi, is a sergeant of the AST (Anti-Spirit Team), a special unit designed to suppress the threat posed by Spirits. As Shido successfully keeps sealing more and more Spirits, he gains allies to help him with his dates with other Spirits. Shido also increases the competition among them for his attention and affection, much to his chagrin.

Light novels
Date A Live was originally released as a light novel. It is a light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana with illustrations by Tsunako. The first volume was published on March 19, 2011 under Fujimi Shobo's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Nineteen volumes have been released in Japan.

Manga
A manga adaption of Date A Live with illustrations by Ringo began on April 16 of 2012. Due to Ringo having health problems, the manga was cancelled after 6 chapters. The adaptation ended covering only a part of Shido's first date with Tohka.

A new manga adaptation began serialisation in the January 2014 issue of Shōnen Ace, this time with illustrations done by Sekihiko Inui. It was recently announced that the third volume of the manga will be the last. The third volume will be shipped by Kadokawa throughout Japan this winter.

Anime
The anime adaptation is directed by Keitaro Motonaga and produced by AIC PLUS+. The series was streamed in lower quality on Niconico, with each episode available a week before its TV premiere. The first episode was streamed on March 31 and aired on Tokyo MX on April 6, 2013. The final, 12th episode was streamed on Niconico on June 16 and aired on Tokyo MX on June 22.

The opening theme is titled "Date A Live" (デート・ア・ライブ) sung by sweet ARMS, a vocal group consisting Iori Nomizu, Misuzu Togashi, Kaori Sadohara, and Misato. The series makes use of four ending themes: "Hatsukoi Winding Road", by Kayoko Tsumita, Risako Murai and Midori Tsukimiya; "Save The World", "Save My Heart" and "Strawberry Rain" (ストロベリーレイン), all three by Nomizu.

Following the TV broadcast of the final episode of the first season, a second season was set for April 2014. The opening theme is sung by sweet ARMS titled "Trust in You" and the ending theme is sung by Kaori Sadohara titled "Day to Story". The animation production was held by Production IMS. An unaired episode was bundled with the third volume of the Date A Live Encore short story collection to be released on December 9, 2014.

The first and second season have been licensed by Funimation for streaming and home video release in North America and by Madman Entertainment for home video release in Australia.

In his Twitter account, Tachibana announced Date A Live would get a third new anime series. Animation production is held by J.C.Staff, with the cast and staff set to reprise their roles from the previous seasons. The series is scheduled to premiere in January 11, 2019. The opening theme is sung by sweet ARMS titled "I Swear", and the ending theme is sung by Eri Yamazaki titled "Last Promise". The third season is listed for 12 episodes.

Film
An animated theatrical film was announced via the official Twitter account of the television series as the airing of the second television season concluded.

On the event of "Date A Live II", the staff unveiled that the movie will be titled as Date a Live The Movie: Mayuri Judgement (劇場版 デート ア ライブ 万由里ジャッジメント) and will premiere in August 22, with an original story supervised by the original light novel author, Koushi Tachibana. Nobunaga Shimazaki, the voice actor of Shido Itsuka, introduced a silhouette of the new title character, named Mayuri (万由里). During the events of "Tohka's Birthday" on 10 April, Sora Amamiya was confirmed to be voicing Mayuri.

Video games
A video game named Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (デート・ア・ライブ　凜祢ユートピア) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment released on June 27, 2013 for the PlayStation 3. A promotional video was shown at Anime Contents Expo 2013. The game features a new original character named Rinne Sonogami (園神 凜祢), voiced by Kana Hanazawa. A PlayStation Vita version of the game was released in Summer 2015, and features new characters and scenarios.

Another video game, titled Date A Live: Ars Install (或守インストール), was released in June 2014, featuring another new character named Maria Ars (或守 鞠亜), voiced by Suzuko Mimori. A new installment for both PlayStation 3 games, named Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (デート・ア・ライブ Twin Edition 凜緒リンカーネイション) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment was released on July 30, 2015 for the PlayStation Vita. It is a de facto sequel with new characters and new scenarios. The game will features the Yamai Sisters, Miku Izayoi, Rinne Sonogami, Maria Ars, as well as Marina Ars, and a new original character named Rio (凜緒), voiced by Ayane Sakura. A promotional video was shown at the events of Date A Fes II.

China ban
On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed Date A Live II among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China.

Reception
The first volume of the first anime season placed eighth place amongst Blu-ray sales in Japan during its debut week within the Oricon charts. The PS3 game Date A Live: Rinne Utopia sold 23,340 physical retail copies within the first week of release in Japan. By October 2015, the series as a whole had sold over four million copies.