Although sports manga are generally a great read, the story truly comes to life when it is animated. From the first look, it seems like Yūgo Kobayashi’s Ao Ashi will not be an exception.
The official website for Ao Ashi has released the first promotional video for the anime. The series will premiere in April 2022.
The PV serves as an introduction to Ashito Aoi, the protagonist of the story. He is a 15-year-old middle schooler whose soccer abilities caught the attention of a youth team coach, Tatsuya Fukuda. Fukuda invites Ashito to try out for his team, for what will become his best move as a coach.
Production I.G is producing the anime with the following staff:
| Role | Staff | Other Works |
| Director | Akira Sato | Release the Spyce |
| Story Composition | Masahiro Yokotani | Accel World |
| Character Design | Manabu Nakatake, Toshie Kawamura, Asuka Yamaguchi, and Saki Hasegawa | Sket Dance, Haikyu!! |
| Soccer Supervision | Kenichi Takeshita, Jun Soga, and Kenji Iizuka | – |
| Music | Masaru Yokoyama | Fruits Basket (2019) |
The Twitter account for Ao Ashi has released the anime’s first visual.
TV anime “Ao ashi”
“The hottest soccer manga right now”#aoashi But… April 2022 (planned) Series broadcast decision on NHK E-tele We have released a teaser visual depicting the main character, Aoi Aoi, and teammates who work hard at Tokyo City Esperion Youth.
▼ Official HP https://aoashi-pr.com
English Translation, Twitter Translate
The visual features Ashito and his future teammates at Esperion Youth.
Ao Ashi anime’s main cast was also revealed.
| Character | Cast | Other Roles |
| Ashito Aoi | Kōki Ohsuzu | – |
| Eisaku Ohtomo | Tatsumaru Tachibana | Jin Mori (God of High School) |
| Sōichirō Tachibana | Seiichirō Yamashita | Raiden Shuga (86) |
| Keiji Togashi | Taku Yashiro | Vulcan Joseph (Fire Force) |
| Kanpei Kuroda | Shun Horie | Kai Minamisawa (World Trigger) |
| Martis Jun Asari | Wataru Katō | Megane (Mameneko) |
| Yūma Motoki | Junya Enoki | Yūji Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen) |
| Ryūichi Takeshima | Kentarō Kumagai | Gaga (Drifting Dragons) |
| Tatsuya Fukuda | Chikahiro Kobayashi | Saichi Sugimoto (Golden Kamuy) |
| Hana Ichijō | Maki Kawase | Young Askeladd (Vinland Saga) |
Production I.G seems to be the studio to produce this, given their experience with amazing sports anime such as Kuroko’s Basketball, Ace of Diamond, and most importantly, Haikyu!!. It is going to be a while before the anime comes out, but it is already looking like a sure-shot victory.
About Aoashi
Aoashi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūgo Kobayashi. It has been serialized in Shogakukan’s seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits since January 2015.
The story follows Ashito Aoi, a third year middle school student from Ehime, who meets Fukuda Tatsuya, a “J Youth League” coach.
Even though he’s still rough around the edges, Ashito has such amazing potential that he gets invited to participate in his team’s try-outs in Tokyo.
Source: Ao Ashi Official Website
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