Studio Producing Blue Lock Anime!
8bit is the studio in charge of making the Blue Lock anime. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is the studio’s signature animated short. Tetsuaki Watanabe is directing the anime. It’s his first major directing job, but he’s done episode directing for shows like the critically praised sports anime Haikyuu and the aesthetically similar Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (Blue Lock’s manga is illustrated by one of Attack on Titan’s assistants). Taku Kishimoto, who has worked on the soundtrack and writing for several popular anime including Haikyuu, Fruits Basket, and Erased, is in charge of the series.
Kazuki Ura, a relative novice VA most known for his role as Doi in the notorious World’s End Harem, will be providing the voice of Yoichi. Similarly, Hiroshi Kamiya, well known for his roles as Levi in Attack on Titan and Trafalgar Law in One Piece, will provide his voice to the role of Coach Jinpachi Ego. Unison Square Garden, who recently delivered the opening theme for Tiger & Bunny 2, and who previously sang the theme song for Soul Eater, will play the opening theme for Blue Lock. Conversely, Shugo Nakamura, who voices the supporting character Gin Gagamaru in Blue Lock, will sing the series’ final theme.
It’s unusual for a new sports anime to generate anticipation far in advance of its premiere. In contrast to other sports anime, Blue Lock is truly unique. Read on for information on when, when, and how you can watch Blue Lock, as well as why it is one of the most anticipated shonen anime of the year.
About Blue Lock
Animator Yusuke Nomura, who worked as an assistant on the Attack on Titan manga, adapted Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s award-winning manga, Blue Lock, into a shounen anime.
The Blue Lock, a resemblance to a prison-like training facility created by the appropriately titled instructor Jinpachi Ego, is central to the plot. When the Japanese Football Association (JFA) asked Jinpachi to improve the team’s performance in the FIFA World Cup, he concluded that what Japan needed most was a narcissistic striker whose only motivation was to score goals.
The brightest students in all of Japan’s high schools are invited to attend Blue Lock, a special training camp created specifically for them. In Japan, just one player will be selected to fulfil the role of striker, and the others will be permanently excluded from any participation in national team competitions. Yoichi Isagi, the protagonist, is a young man with ambitions of representing Japan internationally. Yet at Blue Lock, he encounters a plethora of mysterious characters who share his drive.
In spite of the fact that Blue Lock is a sports anime, it features far more shounen and action aspects than are typical of the genre. Blue Lock’s widespread acclaim may be traced back to its faithful adaptation of traditional shounen manga themes and ideas into a far grander action adventure than the current soccer anime Ao Ashi.
When Will Blue Lock Be Made Available?
In what promises to be a jam-packed Fall 2022 anime season, the Blue Lock anime will have its world premiere on October 9, 2022, in Japan (that’s October 8, 2022, in North America and Europe).
The Japanese broadcast of the anime will take place on TV Asahi’s NUMAnimation block. Sundays at 1:30 AM, Japan Standard Time is when you can see the latest episode of A Couple of Cuckoos.
In Japan, early morning TV timeslots are considered continuations of the previous night’s programming. As a consequence, despite its actual release date being October 9, the broadcast time of Blue Lock is listed as 1:30 a.m. on October 8 (or 25:30). Since audiences in places like North America and the UK are in different time zones, new episodes of Blue Lock won’t premiere until Saturdays starting on October 8th.
Season 1 Premiere Air Date
The above countdown is presently set to the time of the Japanese broadcast premiere of the first episode of Blue Lock (1:30 AM on October 9), which is equivalent to the following timings in other time zones:
9:30 a.m., Pacific Time (October 8th)
We’re now at 11:30 AM in the central time zone (October 8th)
Today at 12:30 PM ET (October 8th)
Time in the UK: 5:30 p.m. (October 8th)
There is currently no information available on when Blue Lock episodes will be available on streaming platforms like Crunchyroll; there is frequently a delay of up to an hour between the time of a domestic broadcast and the time of a stream. Schedules for when episodes will be available to stream are often made public a week or so before the premiere. When the time comes, you will have access to every piece of data you may possibly require.
Blue Lock Anime Streaming Options
In Japan, Blue Lock can be shown on TV Asahi’s NUMAnimation block, while outside of the country, you can watch it on Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll has taken up the vast majority of the shows that originally aired on TV Asahi’s NUMAnimation block. The same holds true for any show made by the Blue Lock team.
The first episode had its North American premiere on Crunchyroll at Anime Expo in July. Possibly the show will air on Funimation. Because of the rapid-fire merger between Funimation and Crunchyroll, however, it is not certain that any new series will be added to the service in time for the Fall season.
How Many Episodes of Blue Lock There Will Be?
Blue Lock will have 24 episodes spread across two seasons. Spy x Family is only one of several programmes that airs for two seasons at once. In contrast to Season 6 of My Hero Academia, which had sporadic airings, Blue Lock will have a more regular Fall and Winter schedule.
The last episode of Blue Lock is scheduled to air on March 18th, 2023, barring any unexpected delays. The episode count for Blue Lock mirrors that of A Couple of Cuckoos, another show that aired in the same time slot and ran for two seasons in a row. Blue Lock is the latest soccer anime to end after 24 episodes, after Ao Ashi, which also aired lately.