Blue Orchestra

Hajime Aono, a boy who loved to play his violin and one who used to win many prizes in violin competitions, had greatly admired his father a professional violinist. After a bittersweet divorce of his parents, caused by headlines of his father's scandalous affair, Hajime swears to never touch the violin again. In his last year of middle school, Hajime comes across an aspiring violinist Ritsuko Akine, who loves to play in the infirmary. After meeting a few times, and Hajime showing interest in her 'horrible' playing skills, he is set up to teach her by a teacher. This teacher later pushes him to regain his talent by joining the orchestra club at a prestigious high school, which have won national competitions eight years in a row. Once persuaded, Hajime and Ritsuko manage to get accepted to this prestigious school after diligently studying. After his opening ceremony into high school where the orchestra club gave a performance, he has a look around the orchestra club along with Ritsuko where he meets Nao Saeki, a violin genius who has achieved the top score in many competitions and was admitted to the school purely on musical talent. From there on, they compete in their violin skills within the orchestra club. ==Characters==

; : :Hajime's violin performances are performed by Ryota Higashi. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ==Media==

Manga Written and illustrated by , Blue Orchestra started in Shogakukan's '''' app on April 25, 2017; it also started in Shogakukan's '''' website a week later on May 2. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on July 19, 2017. Volumes Anime In April 2022, an anime television series adaptation was announced. It is produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Seiji Kishi, with series composition by , character designs handled by Kazuaki Morita, and violinist performances for the character Hajime Aono by Ryota Higashi. The series aired from April 9 to October 8, 2023, on NHK Educational TV. The opening theme song is "Cantabile", performed by Novelbright, while the ending theme song is , performed by Yuika. Following the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced to be in production. The season aired from October 5, 2025, to March 1, 2026. The opening theme song is , performed by Galileo Galilei, while the ending theme song is , performed by . Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia for simulcast release on Aniplus Asia. Episodes Season 1 (2023) Season 2 (2025–2026) Other media A promotional video featuring Star Wars musical theme "The Imperial March", composed by John Williams, and including illustrations from the manga, was uploaded by Deutsche Grammophon's YouTube channel on May 4, 2022, to celebrate Star Wars Day and Williams' 90th birthday. ==Reception==

By December 2021, the manga had over 3.3 million copies in circulation. ==Notes==