The Winter 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Chained Soldier Season 2

Despite being the only boy to ever join the Demon Defense Squad, Yuuji has continued to help Commander Kyouka and the other women of Squad 7 use their powers to defeat the Shuuki monsters of the Mato realm. In addition to unlocking several surprising transformations thanks to the spicy "rewards" doled out by his lovely comrades, Yuuki has even managed to discover his long-lost sister's connection to that mysterious enemy force. With more attention than ever from the powers-that-be in upper echelons of the Defense Force, the race is on for Yuuki and the 7th Squad to prevail in their fight against the forces of darkness.

Chained Soldier is based on writer Takahiro and artist Yōhei Takemura's Chained Soldier (Mato Seihei no Slave or literally, Slave of the Magic Capital's Elite Troops) manga. The anime series is streaming on HIDIVE on Thursdays.

I ended up really enjoying the first season of Chained Soldier when I reviewed it a couple of years ago. Though I didn't have as much of an issue with Studio Seven Arcs' work on the series as some fans seem to have had, I have to admit that Studio Passione is a pretty perfect choice to take up the reins—or should I say chains?—for this brand new season. The colors are brighter, the character art is crisper, and the compositing is better for the 3D animation and the 2D artwork against Mato's dark, dingy skies. Of course, it should go without saying that the proud perverts at Passione have taken the utmost care to revere the curves and caresses of the many women in Chained Soldier's very stacked cast (pun absolutely intended).

If anything, there might be too many women to keep track of at this point. While Chained Soldier can be praised for being trashy smut with a surprisingly functional narrative core, I'm not going to pretend that this show's story makes for a vital and memorable work of art. Outside of the basic premise and a couple of scattered setpieces near the end of the run, I honestly don't recall a whole lot about what went down in Season 1. This premiere does its due diligence to reintroduce us to Yuuki, Kyouka, and the rest of the 7th Squad Gals, along with their collective mission to use their powers to battle the monstrous Shuuki of the Mato realm. After a little bit of sweaty fanservice shared between Yuuki and Kyouka, though, we dive right into introducing what feels like a dozen MDF commanders who are either brand new or may as well be brand new, given how little they factored into the previous season.

While the shenanigans we indulge in as each commander gets their time in the spotlight are fun, the whole premiere ends up being a lot of exposition and setup that can feel downright overwhelming for someone who didn't just finish catching up with the series within the last week or two. I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end, though. At the very least, I can say that the pomp and circumstance at least partially pays off in the short term by providing us yet another rival for Kyouka's loyal obedience. If having Yuuki's Shuuki-fied sister around wasn't bad enough, now we've got Ren Yamashiro, the Supreme Commander, who only has to reach out her hand, our desperate little sub is shaking paws like a puppy who just got picked up from the boarding kennel. I have no doubt that Ren will be just the spice Chained Soldier needs to kick up the heat for this brand new season.