An anime television series adaptation produced by Eight Bit aired from October 2022 to March 2023. An anime film adaptation based on the Episode Nagi manga premiered in April 2024. A second season, entitled vs. U-20 Japan, premiered in October 2024.
By July 2024, the manga had over 40 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2021, Blue Lock won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category.
Plot
The Japan national team finished 16th in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Japan Football Union hires the football enigma Jinpachi Ego. His masterplan to lead Japan to stardom is Blue Lock, a training regimen designed to create the world's greatest egotist striker. Those who fail Blue Lock will never again be permitted to represent Japan. Yoichi Isagi, an unknown high school football player who is conflicted about his playing style, decides to join the program in order to become the best striker in the world.
In January 2021, Kodansha USA announced that they had licensed the manga for English digital release in North America, starting on March 16, 2021.[22] In January 2022, Kodansha USA announced that they would release the manga in print.[23]
A spin-off manga focusing on Seishiro Nagi, titled Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on June 9, 2022.[24] The spin-off is written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Kōta Sannomiya.[25] Its chapters have been collected in five tankōbon volumes as of July 17, 2024.[26] Kodansha has published the series in English on their K Manga service.[27] In October 2023, Kodansha USA announced that the manga is planned to be published in print.[28] The first volume was released on October 15, 2024.[29]
An anime television series adaptation was announced on August 12, 2021. The series is produced by Eight Bit and directed by Tetsuaki Watanabe, with Shunsuke Ishikawa serving as assistant director, Taku Kishimoto overseeing the series' scripts, Masaru Shindō providing the main character designs and serving as chief animation director, Hisashi Tojima serving as a chief action director, and Jun Murayama composing the music.[2] The series' first season ran for 24 episodes from October 9, 2022, to March 26, 2023, on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation [ja] programming block.[30][2][5][b] The first opening theme song is "Chaos ga Kiwamaru" (カオスが極まる, "Chaos Reigns"), performed by Unison Square Garden, while the first ending theme song is "Winner", performed by Shugo Nakamura.[11] The second opening theme song is "Judgement", performed by Ash Da Hero, while the second ending theme song is "Numbness Like a Ginger", performed by Unison Square Garden.[32][33]
Following the end of the first season, a second season was announced.[34][14] Subtitled vs. U-20 Japan, it premiered on October 5, 2024, on TV Asahi's brand new IMAnimation [ja] block,[17][35] and is set to run for 14 episodes.[36] The opening theme song is "Bōjaku no Charisma" (傍若のカリスマ, Bōjaku no Karisuma), performed by Unison Square Garden,[37] while the ending theme song is "One", performed by Snow Man.[38]
English release
Crunchyroll has licensed the series and premiered an English dub on October 22, 2022.[39][3] The company released the series on two Blu-ray Disc sets on November 14, 2023, and May 28, 2024.[40][41]
At the end of the first season, an anime film adaptation of the Episode Nagi manga was also announced.[14] The film features the staff and cast reprising their roles, with Shunsuke Ishikawa, who served as assistant director for the first season, assigned to direct the film and manga writer Muneyuki Kaneshiro supervising the story.[44] It premiered in Japanese theaters on April 19, 2024.[45]Nissy and Sky-Hi performed the film's theme song, "Stormy".[46]
In April 2024, Crunchyroll announced that they had acquired North American and select international theatrical rights to the film. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 28.[47] In the Philippines, the film was released by Pioneer Films on July 31.[48][49]
Stage plays
A stage play adaptation of the manga was announced by Kodansha in December 2022. It ran on May 4–7, 2023, at Osaka's Sankei Hall Breeze and on May 11–14 at Tokyo's Sunshine Theater. The play was directed and written by Naohiro Ise. The cast included Ryōhei Takenaka as Yoichi Isagi, Nobunaga Satō as Meguru Bachira, Shōta Matsuda as Rensuke Kunigami, and Ryō Saeki as Hyōma Chigiri.[50]
A second play, subtitled 2nd Stage, ran on January 18–24, 2024, at Kyoto Theater and on January 25–31 at Hulic Hall Tokyo. The play was again directed and written by Ise, and Kōhei Nagata joined the cast as Rin Itoshi, with the other cast members returning to reprise their roles from the previous stage play.[51][52]
A third play, subtitled 3rd Stage, ran on August 9–12, 2024, at the Higashi-Osaka Cultural Creation Hall Dream House Great Hall and on August 17–25 at Tokyo's Theater H. The new cast members including Ryono Kusachi, Gaku Matsuda, Kosuke Asuma, and Kairi Miura.[53]
A fourth play, subtitled 4th Stage, is scheduled to run on May 15–25, 2025, at Tokyo's Theatre Milano-Za and on May 30–June 1 at the Higashi-Osaka Cultural Creation Hall Dream House Great Hall.[54]
Video game
A smartphone game based on the series, titled Blue Lock: Blaze Battle, is set to be released in 2024 for both iOS and Android devices. A promotional video for the game, featuring Hey! Say! JUMP's Ryosuke Yamada, has been released.[55][56]
In March 2024, Konami announced a collaboration with the series for their eFootball 2024 game.[57]
Novel
A prologue novel, titled Blue Lock: Tatakai no Mae, Bokura wa. Aryū, Barō, Yukimiya (ブルーロック 戦いの前、僕らは。 蟻生・馬狼・雪宮, lit.'Blue Lock: Before the Fight, We are Aryu, Barō, Yukimiya'), penned by Momo Moegi and Yusuke Nomura, was published on July 17, 2024.[58]
Reception
Manga
By August 2020, the manga had over 1.9 million copies in circulation;[59] by January 2021, it had over 3 million copies in circulation.[60] over 4 million copies in circulation by April 2021;[61] by August 2021, it had over 5 million in circulation;[62] over 6 million copies in circulation by February 2022;[63] over 8.3 million copies in circulation by March 2022;[64] over 9.3 million copies in circulation by June 2022;[65] over 10 million copies in circulation August 2022;[66] over 16 million copies in circulation by December 2022;[67] over 18 million copies in circulation by January 2023;[68] over 21.5 million copies in circulation by February 2023;[69] over 24 million copies in circulation by March 2023;[70] over 25.5 million copies in circulation by April 2023;[71] over 26 million copies in circulation by May 2023;[72] over 27 million copies in circulation by July 2023;[73] over 28 million copies in circulation by August 2023;[74] over 30 million copies in circulation by November 2023;[75] and over 40 million copies in circulation worldwide by July 2024.[76]
Blue Lock was the best-selling manga series in the first half of 2023 (the period between November 2022 and May 2023), with over 8 million copies sold,[77] while volumes 12–14 and 21–23 were among the best-selling manga volumes from the same period.[78] Volumes 22–24 were among the best-selling manga volumes of 2023.[79] Volume 24 was Kodansha's second-highest first print run manga volume of 2023–2024 (period from April 2023–March 2024), with 450,000 copies printed, while the third volume of Blue Lock: Episode Nagi was the fifth, with 210,000 copies printed.[80]
The series was recommended by manga author Hajime Isayama of Attack on Titan fame, for whom Yusuke Nomura previously worked as an assistant.[81]Blue Lock was one of the Top 3 Sports Manga Series of the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2020" by Honya Club.[82]Blue Lock won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2021.[83][84] In 2022, the series was nominated for a Harvey Award in the Best Manga category,[85] and the Youth Selection category at the 49th Angoulême International Comics Festival.[86]
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network, in her review of the series' first two volumes, called the "dystopian sports" concept something that makes it stand out among other sports series; however, she said that it is so "blatantly absurd that it doesn't entirely work". Silverman praised its art, noting Tite Kubo's overtones, and concluded that while the first two volumes are not perfect, there is enough going to make her want to read more.[87]
Anime
Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network described the first half of the first season, saying that while the superhuman abilities provide a good chuckle, the characters also go a long way in broadening the series' appeal for anime fans who didn't know or care about soccer. Dong praised the action scenes, noting that these plays are a "genuine thrill to watch", although she felt there are times when the consistency and quality dip. Nonetheless, she concluded that "Blue Lock is a really good time, especially if they have a high tolerance for camp and absurdity. [...] Action fans will enjoy the strategy sessions and head-to-head showdowns, while soccer fans will enjoy the impassioned and mildly angry love story to the sport, like armchair quarterbacking brought to life."[88]
Writing for The O'Colly, Baylor Bryant praised its dynamics in games, calling them both "strong" and "compelling." Baylor wrote that Blue Lock has flaws and is still a sports anime, while its climactic moments are still just soccer matches. However, the games are interesting, filled with their own storylines, and each match showcases new and unique strikers with their own style and narrative they bring to the story. The writer described the animation, noting that "it has moments, but with players moving around the field playing a game of soccer, it's not always clean and crisp." Nevertheless, despite its limitations, the anime was more enjoyable for viewers who wanted more comedy and avoided reading the manga.[89]
Rafael Motamayor of IGN compared the show to 2021's Squid Game while describing it as "a fairly typical sports anime." Rafael said that the anime does have some interesting things to say about sports, their competitiveness, and what it means to be a great athlete. The animation was criticized, saying that the use of 3D computer animation, and particularly the back-and-forth between CG and traditional 2D animation, became "jarring" to watch compared to Haikyu!!, which is full of fluid of movements. However, he concluded that it compensates for uneven CG with striking keyframes and fantastic use of visual metaphors.[90]
In 2023, Blue Lock won the New Face Award at the Japan Character Awards by Japan's Character Brand Licensing Association (CBLA).[91] The series ranked second behind Oshi no Ko in the anime category of the Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, based on the number of searches for a particular term compared to the year before.[92]
The second season received backlash for its drop in animation quality.[93]
See also
Tesla Note, another manga series illustrated by Kōta Sannomiya
Notes
^Credited as Assistant Director (副監督, Fuku Kantoku).
^TV Asahi lists the series premiere at 25:30 on October 8, 2022, which is effectively 1:30 a.m. JST on October 9.[31]
^Soccer Manga Blue Lock [Official] [@bluelock_wm] (August 23, 2020). 『ブルーロック』最新10巻 発売ホヤホヤです！！ (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 12, 2021 – via Twitter.
^Soccer Manga Blue Lock [Official] [@bluelock_wm] (March 30, 2022). ✨㊗️全巻大重版㊗️✨🎊累計830万部突破🎊 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Twitter.
^Soccer Manga Blue Lock [Official] [@bluelock_wm] (January 27, 2023). ✨🎊全巻重版1800万部突破🎊✨ (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023 – via Twitter.
