Action & Adventure

When Does Monkey Season 3 Come Out? Is It Renewed?

Monkey ended after Season 2.

IMDb

8.4/10

Seasons

2

Episodes

52

Monkey poster

Diagnostics

Network
Nippon TV
First aired
1978-10-01
Last aired
1980-05-04
Runtime

Predictive Logic Analysis

Monkey has concluded its run. Production records list the series as ended, meaning the story has been brought to a planned close rather than left open. Barring a revival, there is no Season 3 in development.

What is Monkey about?

Monkey takes one of world literature's greatest adventure yarns—the sixteenth-century Chinese novel Journey to the West—and transforms it into a wildly inventive television spectacle that somehow makes philosophical Buddhist pilgrimage as thrilling as any sword-and-sorcery quest. The premise is deceptively simple: a Buddhist priest named Tripitaka and three animal disciples must travel westward from China to India to retrieve sacred scriptures that will bring peace to the world. But what unfolds across its fifty-two episodes is something far richer—a series of episodic encounters with demons, celestial beings, and moral challenges that function simultaneously as comedic romp, action showcase, and genuine spiritual parable. The hook is irresistible: watch a mischievous monkey with superhuman powers, a gluttonous pig warrior, and a reformed river demon protect their gentle priest through an endless gauntlet of supernatural obstacles.

The series succeeds by embracing tonal whiplash as a feature rather than a bug. One moment it delivers genuine spectacle and martial arts choreography, the next it shifts into broad slapstick humor or quiet moments of character reflection. Masaaki Sakai's Monkey is a live-action embodiment of anarchic energy—flipping, fighting, and cracking wise with infectious charm—while the ensemble cast creates genuine chemistry that makes even filler episodes feel purposeful. The show's visual imagination is remarkably inventive for its era and budget, deploying practical effects, miniatures, and creative editing to suggest worlds of wonder. It's distinctly a product of Japanese television in the late 1970s, yet it functions as a faithful adaptation of source material that transcends any single cultural moment.

Critical and fan reception has only deepened over the decades. The show's 8.4 IMDb rating reflects a devoted international audience that discovered it well after its 1978-1980 run, recognizing it as something genuinely special—a fusion of adventure serialization, comedy, and Asian philosophy that few Western productions were even attempting. It became a cult phenomenon among fantasy enthusiasts and anime fans, later influencing how Eastern source material would be adapted for television.

Within the realm of adventure fantasy, Monkey occupies an entirely distinctive space. It predates both the fantasy boom of the 1980s and the anime explosion of the 1990s, yet it shares DNA with both. Unlike many genre contemporaries that played it straight, Monkey understood that the best adventures balance spectacle with humor and heart. Its cultural footprint extends far beyond its original Japanese audience—it introduced the Journey to the West saga to generations of viewers who never read the novel, and it stands as an exemplary model of how to adapt classical literature for television without surrendering either its complexity or its entertainment value.

Is Monkey renewed or cancelled?

Working against it

high

The series is listed as ended

Monkey Season 3 Release Date

No new season is expected. Monkey has ended, so there is no upcoming release to anticipate unless a revival is announced.

LowerHigher

Monkey seasons

Season 11978 · 26 ep
  • 1. Monkey Goes Wild about Heaven1978-10-01
  • 2. Monkey Turns Nursemaid1978-10-08
  • 3. The Great Journey Begins1978-10-15
  • 4. Monkey Swallows the Universe1978-10-22
  • 5. The Power of Youth1978-10-29
  • 6. Even Monsters Can be People1978-11-05
  • 7. The Beginning of Wisdom1978-11-12
  • 8. Pigsy Woos a Widow1978-11-19
  • 9. What Monkey Calls the Dog-Woman1978-11-26
  • 10. Pigsy's in the Well1978-12-03
  • 11. The Difference Between Night & Day1978-12-10
  • 12. Pearls Before Swine1978-12-17
  • 13. The Minx and the Slug1978-12-24
  • 14. Catfish, Saint and the Shape-Changer1979-01-07
  • 15. Monkey Meets the Demon Digger1979-01-14
  • 16. The Most Monstrous Monster1979-01-21
  • 17. Truth and the Grey Gloves Devil1979-01-28
  • 18. Land for the Locusts1979-02-04
  • 19. The Vampire Master1979-02-11
  • 20. Outrageous Coincidences1979-02-18
  • 21. Pigsy, King and God1979-02-25
  • 22. Village of the Undead1979-03-04
  • 23. Two Little Blessings1979-03-11
  • 24. The Fires of Jealousy1979-03-18
  • 25. The Country of Nightmares1979-03-25
  • 26. The End of the Way1979-04-01
Season 21979 · 26 ep
  • 1. Pigsy's Ten Thousand Ladies1979-11-11
  • 2. The Dogs of Death1979-11-18
  • 3. You Win Some, You Lose Some1979-11-25
  • 4. Pigsy Learns a Lesson1979-12-02
  • 5. The Land with Two Suns1979-12-09
  • 6. The House of the Evil Spirit1979-12-16
  • 7. Am I Dreaming?1979-12-23
  • 8. The Tormented Emperor1979-12-30
  • 9. Between Heaven and Hell1980-01-07
  • 10. The Foolish Philosopher1980-01-13
  • 11. Who Am I?1980-01-20
  • 12. What is Wisdom?1980-01-27
  • 13. The Fountain of Youth1980-02-03
  • 14. Better The Demon You Know1980-02-10
  • 15. A Shadow So Huge1980-02-17
  • 16. Keep on Dancing1980-02-24
  • 17. Give and Take1980-03-02
  • 18. Such a Nice Monster1980-03-09
  • 19. The Fake Pilgrims1980-03-16
  • 20. Pretty as a Picture1980-03-28
  • 21. Mothers1980-03-30
  • 22. The Tenacious Tomboy1980-04-06
  • 23. Stoned1980-04-13
  • 24. Hungry Like The Wolf1980-04-20
  • 25. Monkey's Yearning1980-04-27
  • 26. At the Top of the Mountain1980-05-04

Monkey trailer

AI Verdict

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Verdict history0% → 0%
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Monkey has ended. Its final season has already aired and no further seasons are expected.

Verdict updated 1 month ago

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    Frequently asked

    When does Monkey Season 3 come out?
    Monkey ended after Season 2.
    Is Monkey renewed or cancelled?
    Monkey has ended. Its final season has already aired and no further seasons are expected.
    How many seasons of Monkey are there?
    Monkey has aired 2 seasons so far.
    How many episodes of Monkey are there?
    There are 52 episodes of Monkey across 2 seasons.
    What is Monkey's IMDb rating?
    Monkey holds an IMDb rating of 8.4/10 from 2,188 votes.