The official website for the TV anime adaptation of Yūgo Kobayashi's Ao Ashi manga has released a new key visual, additional cast, and theme songs for the second cour of the anime.
The new opening theme titled, "Presence" will be performed by Superfly.
The new ending theme titled, "Calla Lily no Koibumi" (The Love Letter of a Calla Lily) will be performed by KAMI WA SAIKORO WO FURANAI.
Akira Sato is directing the anime at Production I.G Masahiro Yokotani is in charge of the series scripts. Manabu Nakatake, Toshie Kawamura, Asuka Yamaguchi, and Saki Hasegawa are all credited for character design, with Natake and Yamaguchi also credited as chief animation directors. Naho Seike, Yukiko Watabe, Miho Daidouji, and Eisuke Shirai are credited as sub-character designers. Kenichi Takeshita, Jun Soga, and Kenji Iizuka are credited for soccer supervision. Masaru Yokoyama is composing the music.
Tsukasa Kakizakai and Yūsuke Takeda are the art directors, while Kazushige Kanehira and Osamu Ii are credited for art setting. Emiko Ueno is the color key artist. Arisa Ito and Miori Tsuzaka are the prop designers. Akiko Hamanaka is credited for 2D works. Tsunori Maeshima is credited for pre-visualization. Shiguma Morimoto is credited for 3D. Maiko Imazeki is the compositing director of photography, while Yoshinori Murakami is the editor. Shōji Hata is the audio director.
The anime premiered on NHK Educational TV on April 9, 2022.
NEW KEY VISUAL:
NEW CAST ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Takuya Eguchi as Akinori Kaneda / Koutaro Nishiyama as Jyunosuke Nakano
Yūki Ono as Chiaki Muto / Tomoaki Maeno as Kouji Satake
Kei Shindō as Miyako Tachibana
The first opening theme song titled, "Mushin Hakusū" (Innocent Beat Count) was performed by [Alexandros].
The first ending theme song titled, "Blue Diary" was performed by Rinne.
The cast includes:
Ashito Aoi: Kouki Osuzu
Eisaku Otomo: Tatsumaru Tachibana
Soichiro Tachibana: Seiichiro Yamashita
Keiji Togashi: Taku Yashiro
Kanpei Kuroda; Shun Horie
Jun Marchis Asari: Wataru Kato
Yuma Motoki: Junya Enoki
Ryuichi Takeshima: Kentaro Kumagai
Tatsuya Fukuda: Chikahiro Kobayashi
Hana Ichijo: Maki Kawase
Ashito Aoi: Kouki Osuzu
Eisaku Otomo: Tatsumaru Tachibana
Soichiro Tachibana: Seiichiro Yamashita
Keiji Togashi: Taku Yashiro
Kanpei Kuroda; Shun Horie
Jun Marchis Asari: Wataru Kato
Yuma Motoki: Junya Enoki
Ryuichi Takeshima: Kentaro Kumagai
Tatsuya Fukuda: Chikahiro Kobayashi
Hana Ichijo: Maki Kawase
Shunsuke Takeuchi as Nagisa Akutsu
Yuichiro Umehara as Haruhisa Kuribayashi
Hiroki Yasumoto as Nozomi Date
Reina Ueda as Anri Kaidō
Kensho Ono as Taira Nakamura
Kouki Uchiyama as Yōichi Kiriki
Makoto Furukawa as Eita Takasugi
Mie Sonozaki as Noriko Aoi
Yoshiki Nakajima as Shun Aoi
Mikako Komatsu as Aoi Kaneko
Kazuyuki Okitsu as Kenta Yoshitsune
Akira Sato is directing the anime at Production I.G Masahiro Yokotani is in charge of the series scripts. Manabu Nakatake, Toshie Kawamura, Asuka Yamaguchi, and Saki Hasegawa are all credited for character design, with Natake and Yamaguchi also credited as chief animation directors. Naho Seike, Yukiko Watabe, Miho Daidouji, and Eisuke Shirai are credited as sub-character designers. Kenichi Takeshita, Jun Soga, and Kenji Iizuka are credited for soccer supervision. Masaru Yokoyama is composing the music.
Tsukasa Kakizakai and Yūsuke Takeda are the art directors, while Kazushige Kanehira and Osamu Ii are credited for art setting. Emiko Ueno is the color key artist. Arisa Ito and Miori Tsuzaka are the prop designers. Akiko Hamanaka is credited for 2D works. Tsunori Maeshima is credited for pre-visualization. Shiguma Morimoto is credited for 3D. Maiko Imazeki is the compositing director of photography, while Yoshinori Murakami is the editor. Shōji Hata is the audio director.
KEY VISUAL:
Ashito Aoi, a junior high school student living in Ehime Prefecture, is the ace of a weak soccer team. On the day he loses his last junior high school tournament, he is running on the beach to vent his frustration. Then he meets a man who was watching the game. That man, Tatsuya Fukuda, is the coach of the Youth Team, an organization that trains high school students at Tokyo City Esperion FC, one of the leading clubs in the J-League. Fukuda sees infinite potential in Ashito, who has a special talent despite his rough edges, and begins to talk about his own ambition. "I have ambitions, and with the club I've built, I'll take on the world. It's not a stepping stone to the world. My club is the world. Youth is responsible for all of that ambition." Ashito accepts Fukuda's invitation and decides to go to Tokyo to take the entrance exam (Selection)...