Manga 'Ao Ashi' Ends Ten-Year Serialization

Yuugo Kobayashi's Ao Ashi (Aoashi) manga ended in the 30th issue of Big Comic Spirits on Monday. The 410th chapter marked the conclusion of the manga's ten-year run. Kobayashi began drawing the manga based on Naohiko Ueno's original draft in Big Comic Spirits in January 2015. Shogakukan published the 39th volume on April 30. Ao Ashi has a cumulative 23 million copies of its volumes in print. Production I.G adapted the manga into a 24-episode television anime in Spring 2022, roughly covering up to the 12th volume. A second season, produced by TMS Entertainment, is scheduled to premiere in 2026. Crunchyroll streamed the anime with multiple subtitles and dubs, and released it on two Blu-ray volumes in April and June 2023. Ao Ashi won the 65th Shogakukan Manga Awards in the General category in January 2020 and was nominated for the 10th Manga Taisho awards in 2017. Synopsis In a quiet rural town, the spotlight of a local junior high school football team rests on one player: Ashito Aoi. Known for his unpredictable moves and self-centered playing style, Ashito is the sole powerhouse pushing his team through an important high school preliminary tournament. However, their win streak is short-lived—an opponent causes Ashito to lose his temper and act violently, resulting in his removal from the rest of the game. Without their star player, the team is quickly eliminated from the tournament. Just as he believes all hope is lost, Ashito is approached by a youth team coach named Tatsuya Fukuda who senses potential in him, and Fukuda invites him for tryouts in Tokyo. In an unfamiliar setting surrounded by talent, Ashito must bring out the best of his ability to prove himself and secure what could be a life-changing career. [Written by MAL Rewrite]