The second television anime season based on Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura’s BLUELOCK soccer manga revealed its first promotional video on Friday. The video introduces Satoshi Hino’s voice as Oliver Aiku for the first time.
Scheduled to debut on October 5, the anime will air on a new programming block on TV Asahi airing Saturdays at 11:30 p.m., titled IM Animation.
Joining the cast are new members Eiji Mikami as Yo Hiori and Kakeru Hatano as Nijiro Nanase. The anime’s 24-episode first season premiered in Japan in October 2022 on TV Asahi and its affiliates in the NUMAnimation programming block. Crunchyroll streamed the series during its original broadcast and is also streaming an English dub.
BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- Film Triumphs in Japan, Set for North America Release
The anime film adaptation of Kōta Sannomiya’s BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- spinoff manga opened in Japan on April 19. The film achieved strong box office success, selling 337,000 tickets and earning 463 million yen (about US$2.99 million) in its first three days, ranking #2 in the Japanese box office during its opening weekend.
The film is set to premiere in North America on June 28. The spinoff manga goes into Seishirō Nagi’s story before he enters the titular Blue Lock facility. Kodansha USA Publishing announced plans to release the spinoff manga in print starting in fall 2024.
Kodansha USA Publishing continues to publish the original BLUELOCK manga digitally in English and in print. The manga’s story follows Japan’s national team’s quest for an Ace Striker after a devastating defeat at the 2018 World Cup, gathering 300 of Japan’s top youth players in pursuit of victory.
The series debuted in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018 and won the Best Shōnen Manga award at Kodansha’s 45th annual Manga Awards in 2021.
