57 Fun Facts About Blue Lock

Who writes the Blue Lock manga?

Muneyuki Kaneshiro writes Blue Lock; he earlier wrote the death-game manga As the Gods Will, which Takashi Miike adapted into a 2014 film.

Blue Lock has been serialised since 2018 in which Kodansha publication?

Blue Lock has run in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since August 2018; the first collected volume followed that November.

In the story, Japan's poor finish at which tournament prompts the creation of the Blue Lock programme?

Japan's 16th-place exit at the 2018 FIFA World Cup prompts the Japan Football Union to hire Jinpachi Ego, whose Blue Lock facility exists to forge one world-class striker.

How many players enter the Blue Lock programme in total?

300 under-18 strikers enter Blue Lock; Isagi Yoichi arrives ranked 299th of the 300, one place above Igaguri.

What is the penalty for failing Blue Lock?

Ego's philosophy is to build the world's most egotistical striker.

Which studio produced the Blue Lock anime?

Eight Bit, the studio behind That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, animated Blue Lock; season one premiered in October 2022.

How many episodes were in the first anime season?

Season one ran 24 episodes from October 2022 to March 2023; the 14-episode second season followed in late 2024.

Which band performed the first opening theme, 'Chaos ga Kiwamaru'?

Unison Square Garden performed 'Chaos ga Kiwamaru', then also supplied season one's second ending 'Numbness Like a Ginger' and the season-two opening.

What is the subtitle of the second anime season?

Season two is subtitled vs. U-20 Japan, covering the Blue Lock eleven's match against Japan's U-20 side, and aired from October to December 2024.

Which J-pop boy band performed 'One', the ending theme of season two?

Snow Man, the nine-member Japanese boy band, sang 'One', the ending theme of Blue Lock season two, which aired in late 2024.

The 2024 anime film is based on a spin-off manga about which character?

Blue Lock: Episode Nagi (2024) adapts the spin-off manga centred on Seishirō Nagi, the lazy genius whose catchphrase is 'What a pain'.

Which prize did Blue Lock win in 2021?

Blue Lock won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2021, three years into its Weekly Shōnen Magazine run.

Which Neo Egoist League club does Rin Itoshi join?

Rin Itoshi joins Paris X Gen (PXG), the French club whose master striker is Julian Loki, where he is paired again with Ryūsei Shidou.

Which streaming service licensed Blue Lock and released its English dub?

Crunchyroll streamed Blue Lock outside Asia from its October 2022 premiere and produced the English dub, with Ricco Fajardo voicing Isagi.

Which singer performed 'Monstruo', the theme of the 2026 live-action film?

Toho distributed the film, which opened in Japan in August 2026.

Which famous manga creator, whose assistant Nomura once was, recommended Blue Lock?

Hajime Isayama, creator of Attack on Titan, supplied a recommendation for Blue Lock; artist Yusuke Nomura had earlier worked as his assistant.

In 2025 Blue Lock became the first sports manga to collaborate with which football confederation?

Liverpool FC and FC Tokyo have also run official Blue Lock collaborations.

Inspired by the series, Japan launched which real-life youth-talent initiative?

It aims to select and cultivate young Japanese footballers.

Konami announced a Blue Lock collaboration for which of its games?

Two mobile games, Blaze Battle and Project: World Champion, also launched in 2024.

Which squad is Yoichi Isagi assigned to at the start of the programme?

Team Z was ranked among the weakest of the 300 participants.

Isagi's key strength is described as what?

Isagi's weapon is exceptional field vision: his spatial awareness lets him read the whole pitch and 'devour' teammates' plays to find the goal.

Which club does Isagi play for in the Neo Egoist League?

Isagi chooses Bastard München, the German side, where he fights Michael Kaiser for a starting place in the Neo Egoist League.

What does Meguru Bachira call the imaginary friend inside him that urges him to play?

Bachira grew up playing with a monster only he could see, an imaginary companion that urges him to dribble, and hunts for real players who can keep up with it, first finding one in Isagi.

Which player, nicknamed 'Princess' for his red hair, is famous for his acceleration?

Hyōma Chigiri, nicknamed 'Princess' for his long red hair, unleashed his explosive acceleration against Team W after fearing to re-tear a knee ligament.

Rensuke Kunigami, the self-styled 'football superhero', returns after elimination through what?

He comes back far more introverted and now starts for Bastard München.

Which Team Z player betrays his teammates in their First Selection match against Team W?

Wataru Kuon betrays Team Z by colluding with Team W to hand them goals in exchange for his own survival, before his teammates turn the match around.

Which tall Team Z player is later used as a goalkeeper for the Blue Lock XI?

Gin Gagamaru, the tall Team Z forward with freakish reflexes, is handed the Blue Lock Eleven's goalkeeper role for the match against U-20 Japan.

Gurimu 'Igaguri' Igarashi comes from a family of what?

Igaguri grew up in a family of Buddhist monks, which explains his shaved head, and entered Blue Lock ranked 300th, the lowest of all.

Ryōsuke Kira, the 'Crown Jewel of Japan', is eliminated early after an unexpected kick from whom?

He had been Team Z's highest-ranked player.

Shōei Barō, the ultra-selfish striker, has what surprising off-pitch obsession?

Shōei Barō, the self-styled 'King', is obsessed with cleaning: he scrubs his room compulsively, a neatness that contrasts with his brutal, selfish play.

Who recruited the naturally gifted Team V striker into competitive football?

Reo spotted him after Nagi caught a falling phone with his foot.

What ultimately happens to Nagi in the Neo Egoist League?

His play with Reo had become predictable at Manshine City.

What did the wealthy heir who discovered Nagi want that money could not simply buy him?

Reo Mikage, heir to the Mikage Corporation, had everything money could buy and fixed on the one prize it could not: lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy for Japan.

Reo's signature technique is what?

Reo Mikage's weapon is copying opponents' abilities: a multi-talented all-rounder, he reproduces a rival's technique after studying it rather than relying on one speciality.

Which player is ranked number one in Blue Lock and is Isagi's rival from the Second Selection on?

Rin Itoshi, ranked first in Blue Lock, first faces Isagi in the Second Selection; his spatial awareness mirrors Isagi's, only sharper.

Japan U-20's star agrees to face Blue Lock in the exhibition match on what condition?

Shidou then scores twice as a second-half substitute.

Who is the captain of the Japan U-20 team?

Oliver Aiku captains Japan's U-20 side from centre-back, then joins the Italian club Ubers in the Neo Egoist League.

Michael Kaiser's signature strike, the Kaiser Impact, has three variations named what?

The German forward is Isagi's chief rival at Bastard München.

Julian Loki, the youngest Master Striker, is known for a speed nicknamed what?

Julian Loki's blistering pace is nicknamed Godspeed; the teenage Paris X Gen star is the youngest of the five master strikers coaching the Neo Egoist League.

Which Master Striker of the German club Isagi joins is ranked world number one?

Noel Noa, Bastard München's master striker, is the world's number-one striker and the player Isagi studies most closely in the Neo Egoist League.

Who chose the unknown Jinpachi Ego to run Blue Lock?

Anri Teieri, a Japan Football Union staffer, handpicked the unknown Jinpachi Ego and pushed the Blue Lock project through, driven by her dream of a Japanese World Cup win.

Which two tournaments does Ego target for victory with his new generation of strikers?

He co-developed the programme with Noel Noa.

Which Japanese voice actor, known for Attack on Titan's Levi, voices Jinpachi Ego?

Hiroshi Kamiya, the voice of Levi in Attack on Titan and Izaya in Durarara!!, voices Jinpachi Ego in the Japanese cast; Derick Snow plays him in the English dub.

Which real football club's jerseys did Yusuke Nomura draw Blue Lock characters wearing in a 2021 collaboration?

Players such as Diego Oliveira appeared in the promotional artwork.

Which master striker coaches Manshine City in the Neo Egoist League?

Chris Prince, the flamboyant English superstar, is Manshine City's master striker; Nagi, Reo and Chigiri all play under him in the Neo Egoist League.

Which Bastard München star does Alexis Ness serve with fanatical loyalty?

Alexis Ness, Bastard München's playmaker, idolises Michael Kaiser, calling himself the magician who exists to set up the 'emperor' he reveres.

Which English club's players were reimagined in Blue Lock style for a 2024 exhibition at Comic Con?

Former goalkeeper David James and mascot Mighty Red appeared at the Kodansha collaboration in Liverpool.

Which Neo Egoist League club does Shōei Barō join?

Barō joins Ubers, the Italian club run by master striker Marc Snuffy, alongside U-20 captain Oliver Aiku.

Which Neo Egoist League club does Meguru Bachira join?

Bachira joins FC Barcha, the Spanish club led by master striker Lavinho, whose one-on-one dribbling philosophy suits his game.

For which American comics prize was Blue Lock nominated in the Best Manga category in 2022?

The same year it was up for the Youth Selection at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.

How many copies did Blue Lock sell as the best-selling manga of the first half of 2023?

Volume 24 had Kodansha's second-largest first print run of 2023–24, at 450,000 copies.

An Anime News Network reviewer noted overtones of which manga artist in Blue Lock's art?

Rebecca Silverman called the 'dystopian sports' premise blatantly absurd but wanted to keep reading.

Which game based on the series, released in March 2024, was set to end service in March 2026?

Its promo video featured Hey! Say! JUMP's Ryosuke Yamada; a second game, Project: World Champion, launched in English weeks later.

On which TV Asahi programming block did the first season of the anime air?

Blue Lock's first season aired in TV Asahi's late-night NUMAnimation block from October 2022 to March 2023.

Who illustrated the spin-off manga Blue Lock: Episode Nagi?

Kōta Sannomiya drew Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, the spin-off written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro that ran in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from 2022.

Who directed the Blue Lock anime television series?

Tetsuaki Watanabe directed the Blue Lock TV series at Eight Bit, with Jun Murayama composing the score; Shunsuke Ishikawa later helmed the Episode Nagi film.

Which duo performed 'Stormy', the theme song of the 2024 Episode Nagi anime film?

Crunchyroll took the film to North American cinemas in June 2024.