Aoashi

Aoashi tells the story of young Ashito Aoi in his third year at Ehime City Middle School and his meeting with football coach Tatsuya Fukuda. Ashito, although talented, is a difficult boy, but Fukuda believes in him and invites him to join his own team. Ashito could well change the face of Japanese football. ==Characters==

Tokyo Esperion ; : :Ashito joined Team Esperion from the Ehime Prefecture after impressing Coach Fukuda with his vision, dedication, and commitment to improving. In the beginning, he played as a forward, but Fukuda converts him into a left back, much to his chagrin. ; : :A central/holding midfielder for Esperion's B Team and Ashito's first friend at Esperion. Although he looks like a coward and has quite a childish personality, Ohtomo is praised by his teammates and coaches for his composure, leadership, and link-up ability. ; : :A center forward for Esperion's B Team and friend of Ashito. He was a former player for Tokyo Musashino. ; : :A center-back for Esperion's B Team and Ashito's roommate. ; : :An Esperion academy graduate and central midfielder for Esperion's B Team. ; : :An Esperion academy graduate and full-back for Esperion's B Team. ; : :An Esperion academy graduate and forward who was newly promoted to Esperion's A Team. ; : :An Esperion academy graduate and center-back for Esperion's B Team. ; : :The head coach of Tokyo Esperion Youth Team A and former footballer. ; : :A center-back for Esperion's A Team. He tends to be Ashito's harshest critic. ; : :The playmaker for Esperion's A Team. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : :The head coach of Esperion's B Team. Supporting characters ; : :Fukuda's younger step-sister and nutritionist. She does not understand football, but she declares herself as Ashito's biggest fan. ; : :The heiress of one of Tokyo Esperion's sponsors. She has substantial football knowledge and hopes to be a manager one day. She also develops a crush on Ashito. ; : ; : :Ashito and Shun's mother. She is initially against Ashito joining Tokyo Esperion due to lack of funds. ; : :Ashito's older brother and former footballer. Tokyo Musashino ; : :A former trialist at Tokyo Esperion seeking revenge against Ashito. ; : :Another former trialist at Tokyo Esperion who makes friends with Ashito at the trial. ; : ; : :The head coach of Tokyo Musashino. ; : :Sōichirō's younger sister. ==Media==

Manga Aoashi is written and illustrated by Yūgo Kobayashi, and based on an original concept by Naohiko Ueno. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits from January 5, 2015, to June 23, 2025. Shogakukan collected its 410 individual chapters in 40 volumes, released from April 30, 2015, to August 29, 2025. An alternate edition for younger audiences, called , began publication on March 17, 2022; this edition, published under the Shōnen Sunday Comics imprint, features furigana and a full-color guide written by former Kawasaki Frontale player Kengo Nakamura. As of June 16, 2023, 31 volumes of the Junior-ban edition have been published. The series is licensed in Southeast Asia by Shogakukan Asia. On May 26, 2025, Titan Comics announced that they had licensed the series for English publication beginning in May 2026. The series will be released in 3-in-1 omnibus volumes. Spin-offs A spin-off manga series by Kobayashi, titled , was serialized for five chapters in Weekly Big Comic Spirits from July 12 to August 23, 2021. The series is set to resume on April 6, 2026. Its chapters have been collected in a single volume as of August 30, 2021. A two-part spin-off manga by Kobayashi, titled was published in Big Comic Original from May 20 to June 5, 2024. The first part was included in the main series' 36th volume, released on June 28, 2024. The series is produced by Production I.G and directed by Akira Satō, with scripts written by Masahiro Yokotani, and character designs by Manabu Nakatake, Toshie Kawamura, Asuka Yamaguchi, and Saki Hasegawa, with Nakatake and Yamaguchi also serving as chief animation directors. Masaru Yokoyama composed the series' music. It aired from April 9 to September 24, 2022, on NHK Educational TV. The first opening theme song is "Mushin Hakusū" by Alexandros, while the first ending theme song is "Blue Diary" by Rinne. The second opening theme song is "Presence" by Superfly, while the second ending theme song is "Color Lily no Koibumi" by Kami wa Saikoro wo Furanai. On April 30, 2025, a second season was announced. It will be produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Kazuki Yokoyama, with Asami Taguchi and Junko Yamanaka handling character designs alongside Nakatake. It is set to premiere on October 4, 2026. Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Asia. On April 11, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on April 23. Disney Platform Distribution licensed the series in Southeast Asia. Episodes ==Reception==

Manga By April 2020, the manga had over 4.5 million copies in circulation, including digital versions; over 10 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, by February 2022; over 12 million copies in circulation by June 2022; over 15 million copies in circulation by August 2022; over 17 million copies in circulation by February 2023; over 21 million copies in circulation by September 2024; over 23 million copies in circulation by January 2025; and over 25 million copies in circulation by March 2026. Aoashi was nominated for the 10th Manga Taishō awards in 2017, and ranked fourth with 60 points. In 2020, along with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, the manga won the 65th Shogakukan Manga Award for the general category. The series ranked 20th on the 2022 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine. In March 2023, the manga was recommended by Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta. Anime Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network reviewed the complete anime series: She was critical of the first half for Ashito's interactions with the adults being made up of "cryptic statements and ultimatums" instead of actual coaching, the one-dimensional supporting players and the scarce character designs but was positive towards Ashito's motivation and the potential development for him and the rest of the cast. While critical of the lack of coaching, a better "balance between development and gameplay" and Hana's character going into "stereotypical territory", Silverman praised the second half for Ashito and his friends going through "strong character growth", the payoff to "baffling plot choices" from the previous half and a "solid finale", concluding that "Aoashi has its issues, but it still ends on a particularly strong note, with Ashito lacing up and taking the field with the big boys. It's a good show when all is said and done, and we can only hope that someone licenses the manga or decides to animate more so that we can find out what happens next." Silverman placed Aoashi at number four on her top 5 best anime list of 2022, calling it "an addictive experience, with everything dialed up almost as high as it can go without making it feel like a parody of itself. It's frustrating, it's intense, and I desperately hope we get another season." ==See also==