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My question has a bit of a back-story to add context.

Firstly, like most Attack on Titan fans, I am **OVERHYPED** about the second
season coming out. I was talking with a friend on campus about it, then she
pointed out that its release date is April 1st (as confirmed on
[polygon.com](http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/6/14525930/attack-on-titan-
season-2-premiere-date-announced)) and implied it could be a prank. (Knocking
on wood) I really hope it's not but it got me thinking.

**Has an April Fools prank ever been conducted by an anime studio or manga
publisher to falsely claim to release a new series or a new installment of an
existing series?**

I could imagine so since western culture is kind of acknowledged all over and
we see some westernized themes, contexts and holidays in anime sometimes, but
at the same time I don't think Japan has an equivalent of April Fool's day.


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anime-production culture anime-history japan
Fake anime or manga release as an April Fools Prank?


**Yes. The examples I know of is from[Type-
Moon](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/April_Fools'_Day)**.

As we can see from the link, almost every year since 2005 Type-Moon has came
out with an April Fool's Joke ranging from fake movies to games featuring
characters of the Nasuverse. Even Ufotable, the animation studio involved with
_Kara no Kyoukai_ , _Unlimited Blade Works_ , _Fate/Zero_ , _Tales of Zestiria
the X_ and _God Eater_ played along in 2009 by listing an anime adaptation of
a parody of [_Densha Otoko_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densha_Otoko) called
[_Sensha Otoko: A True Tank Story_ (戦車男, Tank
Man)](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Sensha_Otoko) featuring Iskander and a
gender-swapped Waver Velvet.

However, it should be noted that while these were initially jokes, some of
these have lead to real non-joke works. TYPE-MOON 10th Anniversary Phantasm
which was released for retail sale on August 10, 2012 featured the manga of
Sensha Otoko, the joke _Fake/states night_ game was later released with TYPE-
MOON Ace Vol. 2 called _Fate/strange fake_ and in the [2009 moon.cinemas.jp
joke](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/April_Fools'_Day#moon.cinemas.jp_.282009.29)

> One of the films joked about is an adaptation of _Kara no Kyoukai Mirai
> Fukuin_ , an epilogue to Kara no Kyoukai. It was decided it would be done as
> a real film several years later.

Also in the [2015 TMitter2015
scenario](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/April_Fools'_Day#TMitter2015_.282015.29)
Nero's tweet of

> Hm, what? You'd like to know if it's okay to get your hopes up for EXTRA3?
> Huhu, oh troubled one, allow me to ease your suffering. Yes, you may. Have
> faith in me! I'm sure they shall work something out!

did come true as [_Fate/Extella: The Umbral
Star_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/Extella:_The_Umbral_Star) (the third
_Fate/Extra_ Game) came out in November 10, 2016 in Japan (though not sure if
it was in development when her tweet was made)

* * *

So, what about Attack on Titan Season 2? Is that a joke? Well we won't know
until the actual date. However, consider how it was announced,

> A second season of the anime series was announced on the opening day of the
> first theatrical film, which was originally set to be released in 2016. It
> was then confirmed in the January 2017 issue of the Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine
> that the second season will premiere in April 2017.

Source: [Attack on Titan - Media - Anime (3rd
Paragraph)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan#Anime)

the [cited source](http://yonkouprod.com/attack-titan-season-2-air-
april-2017/) of the April 2017 release cites the January 2017 issue of
Bessatsu Shonen Magazine showing this image

[![Bessatsu Shonen Magazine - January
2017](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cOGRB.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cOGRB.jpg)

I'm not fluent in Japanese but I knew Year and Month and all it shows is April
2017, not April 1st, 2017. Given that Season 2 was announced during the
opening day of the [first
film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan_\(film\)) which was way
back in 2015 and the magazine only indicates a month, to me this doesn't seem
like an April Fool's joke since it's too long running.


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