Originally hinted at on Friday and confirmed by the author earlier today, Yugo Kobayashi’s manga Ao Aoashi was confirmed for a television anime that will start in the spring of 2022.
Kobayashi’s first published his manga in Shogakukan’s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in January of 2015. The manga is based on the original story by Naohiko Ueno and has just recently reached its 23rd published volume. The manga was nominated for the 10th Manga Taisho awards in 2017. It also won the Best General Manga award in the 65th Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2020. Since its release, Ao Aoashi has sold more than 4.5 million copies (including digital versions).
What is Ao Aoashi?
Ao Aoashi is about a third-year middle school student who tries to hide his soccer talents. However, he is set back from his dream due to his blunt personality. Then, he is confronted by a youth club’s coach and invited to try out for the youth team in Tokyo. In a recent interview (where this confirmation came from), Kobayashi said,
After all, in February of last year, I was informed of the decision. -Every time I recieve character designs and dubbing voices, I feel like I’m breathing new life in to Aoashi. I’m looking forward to the day when Aoashi spreads froom TV. I am drawing the manuscript today as well.”
Kobayashi was sent congratulatory messages from former soccer players Kengo Nakamura, Takashi Usami, Mitsuru Murai (J-league chairman). Kobayashi then talks about how he was informed of the decision in early February, but he was told to keep it a secret until the official announcement. While he kept this news a secret, Kobayashi talks about how hard his staff worked on the manga and their hopes for it to get an animated adaption in the future.
Are you a fan of Kobayashi’s Ao Aoashi? If not, are you interested in watching the anime? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!