On Sunday, the band Unison Square Garden was confirmed as providing the opening theme song for the second cours (quarter of a year) of the television anime of Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Ysuke Nomura’s Blue Lock soccer manga. On April 12, the single for the brand-new song “Numbness like a Ginger” will be available.
The rock group’s three members came together in July 2004 and debuted on a big label in 2008. The group has previously performed “Chaos ga Kiwamaru,” the anime’s original opening theme song (Chaos Reigns). The second opening theme song, “Judgement,” is sung by ASH DA HERO.
On October 8 in the “NUMAnimation” time slot on TV Asahi and its affiliates, the Blue Lock anime had its Japanese debut. The anime’s English dub began streaming on October 22 on Crunchyroll, which is broadcasting the series live as it airs.
At 8-Bit, the animation is being directed by Tetsuaki Watanabe (Powerful Pro Yaky, Powerful Kk-hen), with Shunsuke Ishikawa serving as associate director. The manga’s Kaneshiro is overseeing the narrative, while Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!, Silver Spoon, 2019 Fruits Basket) is writing and managing the series scripts. The idea adviser is Yutaka Uemura, the director of Saga of Tanya the Evil. The principal character designer and director of animation is Masaru Shind (Fruits Basket, Macross Delta, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), with Kenji Tanabe and Kento Toya also serving in those capacities. The music is being written by Jun Murayama. The current opening theme music is “Chaos ga Kiwamaru” (Chaos Reigns), performed by Unison Square Garden, while the current closing theme song is “Winner,” performed by Shugo Nakamura.
In August 2018, Kaneshiro and Nomura debuted the continuing manga in Weekly Shnen Magazine. In the 45th annual Kodansha Manga Awards in 2021, the manga took up the Best Shnen Manga prize.
The manga is being printed and digitally distributed in English by Kodansha USA Publishing, which provides the following plot summary:
At the 2018 World Cup, Japan’s squad struggled to recover after a catastrophic loss. What, therefore, is lacking? They need a true All-Star Striker who can lead them to victory. The Japan Football Union has collected 300 of Japan’s finest and brightest young players in an effort to produce a striker who is hell-bent on scoring goals, thirsty for win, and capable of making the difference in a losing game. Who will take over as team leader, and will they be able to overcome any obstacles with strength and ego?
A stage production based on the manga will be performed at Tokyo’s Sunshine Theater from May 11–14, 2023 as well as Osaka’s Sankei Hall Breeze from May 4–7, 2023.
The second volume of the Shsetsu Blue Lock Tatakai no Mae, Bokura wa (Book Blue Lock: Us, Before the Battle) spinoff novel series appeared on January 17. The staff of the manga have stated that a third book would be published in the fall of 2023. A different book series that is an adaptation of the main manga released its first volume on November 17 and its second volume on January 14.
