Blue Lock

• 1. Introduction

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  The Japanese manga series Blue Lock opens with a humbling result. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Japan national team finished 16th. In the story, that placing sets off a drastic response. Officials create a program with one harsh rule: anyone who fails it will never again be permitted to represent Japan. Readers around the world have followed this premise for years, through printed pages, television screens and theater stages. Who would design such a program? Who would volunteer for it? And why did a story about selfish strikers become a phenomenon?

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• 2. The Egoist Experiment

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  The Japan Football Union hires a man described as a football enigma, Jinpachi Ego. His masterplan for lifting Japanese football to stardom is called Blue Lock. It is a training regimen designed to create the world's greatest egotistic striker.

  Yoichi Isagi is an unknown high school football player, and he feels conflicted about his own style of play. He decides to join the program anyway. Isagi will compete against 299 other players, all chasing the same goal of becoming the best striker in the world.

  Two creators, a writer and an illustrator, carried this premise onto the page.

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• 3. Pen and Paper

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  On the 1st of August 2018, Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine began serializing Blue Lock. Muneyuki Kaneshiro wrote the story, and Yusuke Nomura drew it. The first collected volume, called a tankōbon, reached shelves on the 16th of November 2018. By the 16th of April 2026-38 volumes had been released.

  Nomura's career had already touched another famous series. He once worked as an assistant to Hajime Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan. Isayama later recommended Blue Lock to readers.

  In January 2021, Kodansha USA announced that it had licensed the manga for English digital release in North America. That release began on the 16th of March 2021. A print edition was announced in January 2022. In July 2025, the publisher added plans for an omnibus edition, scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2026.

  In August 2021, word came that the series would also become an anime.

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• 4. On Television

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  The anime adaptation was produced by the studio Eight Bit. Tetsuaki Watanabe directed, with Shunsuke Ishikawa as assistant director. Taku Kishimoto oversaw the scripts. Masaru Shindō designed the main characters and served as chief animation director. Hisashi Tojima worked as a chief action director, and Jun Murayama composed the music.

  The first season ran for 24 episodes, from the 9th of October 2022 to the 26th of March 2023. It aired in TV Asahi's NUMAnimation block. The first opening theme was "Chaos ga Kiwamaru" by Unison Square Garden. The first ending theme was "Winner" by Shugo Nakamura. The second opening, "Judgement," came from Ash Da Hero, and the second ending, "Numbness Like a Ginger," returned to Unison Square Garden.

  A second season, subtitled vs. U-20 Japan, aired from the 5th of October to the 28th of December 2024. It appeared on TV Asahi's brand new IMAnimation block. Unison Square Garden performed its opening, "Bōjaku no Charisma," and Snow Man performed its ending, "One."

  Crunchyroll licensed the series for streaming and premiered an English dub on the 22nd of October 2022. Two Blu-ray Disc sets followed, on the 14th of November 2023 and the 28th of May 2024. In January 2026, it was announced that the dub would reach American broadcast television on Adult Swim's Toonami block, starting on the 8th of February 2026. Across the Asia-Pacific region, Medialink held the license, and the show aired on Animax Asia.

  At the "Blue Lock Egoist Fest 2025" event in September 2025, a third season was announced. It will cover the "Neo Egoist League" story arc.

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• 5. Beyond the Page

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  A spin-off manga about the character Seishiro Nagi, titled Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, ran in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from the 9th of June 2022 to the 9th of July 2025. Kaneshiro wrote it again, while Kōta Sannomiya drew it. Its chapters filled eight volumes, released between the 17th of October 2022 and the 12th of August 2025. Kodansha offered it in English on its K Manga service. A print edition was announced in October 2023, and its first volume appeared on the 15th of October 2024.

  At the end of the anime's first season, an anime film based on Episode Nagi was announced. The staff and cast returned. Ishikawa, the former assistant director, took the director's chair, and Kaneshiro supervised the story. The film premiered in Japanese theaters on the 19th of April 2024, with the theme song "Stormy" performed by Nissy and Sky-Hi. Crunchyroll acquired North American and select international theatrical rights in April 2024. The film opened in the United States and Canada on the 28th of June, and Pioneer Films released it in the Philippines on the 31st of July.

  The stage has been just as busy. Kodansha announced a play adaptation in December 2022. It ran from the 4th to the 7th of May 2023 at Osaka's Sankei Hall Breeze, then from the 11th to the 14th of May at Tokyo's Sunshine Theater. Naohiro Ise wrote and directed. Ryōhei Takenaka played Isagi, Nobunaga Satō played Meguru Bachira, Shōta Matsuda played Rensuke Kunigami, and Ryō Saeki played Hyōma Chigiri.

  A second play, subtitled 2nd Stage, ran from the 18th to the 24th of January 2024 at Kyoto Theater and from the 25th to the 31st of January at Hulic Hall Tokyo. Ise returned, and Kōhei Nagata joined the cast as Rin Itoshi. A third play, 3rd Stage, ran from the 9th to the 12th of August 2024 at the Higashi-Osaka Cultural Creation Hall Dream House Great Hall. It then moved to Tokyo's Theater H from the 17th to the 25th of August. A fourth play, 4th Stage, played at Tokyo's Theatre Milano-Za from the 15th to the 25th of May 2025, before closing in Higashi-Osaka from the 30th of May to the 1st of June.

  The Episode Nagi spin-off also reached the stage, running from the 20th to the 30th of November 2025 at Theatre G-Rosso. Takamichi Satō played Seishirō Nagi, and Shūji Kikuchi played Reo Mikage. A follow-up, subtitled Re: Episode Nagi, is scheduled for the 11th to the 21st of June 2026 at Tokyo's Theater 1010, then the 25th to the 28th of June at Kyoto Theater. A fifth main-series play, covering the Neo Egoist League arc, is planned for the last quarter of 2026.

  Prose joined the franchise on the 17th of July 2024, with a prologue novel titled Blue Lock: Tatakai no Mae, Bokura wa. Aryū, Barō, Yukimiya. Momo Moegi and Yusuke Nomura wrote it together.

  The largest screen project is still ahead. A live-action film, announced in September 2025, is set to premiere in Japan on the 7th of August 2026. Credeus is producing it with CK Works, and Toho will distribute it.

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• 6. Games and Partnerships

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  On the 1st of March 2024, a smartphone game called Blue Lock: Blaze Battle launched on iOS and Android. A promotional video for it starred Ryosuke Yamada of Hey! Say! JUMP. Its service is set to end on the 31st of March 2026. A second mobile game, Blue Lock Project: World Champion, arrived in English on both platforms on the 23rd of April 2024. In March 2024, Konami also announced a collaboration with its game eFootball 2024.

  Real football clubs have joined in too. In 2021, Nomura teamed up with FC Tokyo and drew Blue Lock characters wearing the club's jerseys. Players including Diego Oliveira, Adaílton and Weverson Leandro Oliveira Moura appeared in the promotional artwork.

  In November 2024, Liverpool FC and Kodansha held a Blue Lock exhibition at Comic Con Liverpool. Liverpool players were reimagined in the style of the series. The former player David James and the club mascot Mighty Red made appearances, and participants from the LFC Foundation took part in activities.

  The boldest tie-up came in June 2025, when Blue Lock worked with Concacaf on exclusive content and limited-edition merchandise. It was the first collaboration ever between a sports manga and a major football confederation.

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• 7. Sales and Prizes

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  By August 2020, Blue Lock had just over 1.9 million copies in circulation. By September 2025, that figure had passed 50 million, placing it among the best-selling manga series of all time.

  The period from November 2022 to May 2023 was especially strong. Blue Lock was the best-selling manga series of those months, with more than 8 million copies sold. Volumes 12 to 14 and 21 to 23 ranked among the best-selling volumes in that stretch. Volumes 22 to 24 then placed among the best sellers of the whole of 2023.

  Volume 24 had a first print run of 450,000 copies. That made it Kodansha's second-largest first print run for a manga volume between April 2023 and March 2024. The third volume of Episode Nagi came fifth on the same list, with 210,000 copies.

  Honors arrived early. Honya Club's "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2020" placed Blue Lock among its top three sports manga. In 2021, it won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category. In 2022, it earned a Harvey Award nomination for Best Manga and a nomination in the Youth Selection category at the 49th Angoulême International Comics Festival.

  The anime collected its own recognition. In 2023, Blue Lock won the New Face Award at the Japan Character Awards, given by Japan's Character Brand Licensing Association. In the anime category of the Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, it ranked second behind Oshi no Ko, based on year-over-year growth in searches.

  In 2025, three international voice actors were nominated for Best Voice Artist Performance at the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Julien Chaaya, as Isagi, and Mohammed Sami, as Rin Itoshi, were nominated for their Arabic performances. Ranjit R Tiwari was nominated for playing Isagi in Hindi.

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• 8. Critics and Influence

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  Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network reviewed the first two volumes and singled out the "dystopian sports" concept as what makes the series stand apart. She also found it so "blatantly absurd that it doesn't entirely work." She praised the art, noting overtones of Tite Kubo, and said the volumes had enough going on to make her want more.

  Bamboo Dong, also of Anime News Network, reviewed the first half of the anime's first season. She enjoyed the superhuman abilities as a source of laughs. She argued that the characters broaden its appeal to viewers who did not know or care about soccer. She called the plays a "genuine thrill to watch," though she felt the quality dipped at times.

  Baylor Bryant, writing for The O'Colly, called the game dynamics both "strong" and "compelling." Bryant noted that it remains a sports anime whose big moments are still soccer matches. Each match, though, introduces a new striker with his own style and story. Bryant found the animation did not always look "clean and crisp."

  Rafael Motamayor of IGN compared the show to 2021's Squid Game and called it "a fairly typical sports anime." He found the shifts between computer graphics and traditional 2D animation "jarring," especially next to the fluid movement of Haikyu!!. Even so, he credited striking keyframes and fine use of visual metaphors.

  The second season drew sharper complaints about its second episode. MrAJCosplay of Anime News Network criticized its direction and its use of still frames. Rayan Sayyed of IGN raised the studio's production troubles and compared the situation to the controversy MAPPA faced during the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen.

  The story's influence has also reached the real football world. Inspired by the series' concept, Japan launched Future Camp, an initiative aimed at selecting and cultivating young Japanese football talents.

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