The announcement of its episode count and 2-cour release was made following the anime’s recent premiere in Japan. The premiere also featured a stage event that was attended by members of the voice cast and staff.
Specifically, the upcoming anime will have a consecutive 2-cour run, with each cour having 12 episodes. This means the Blue Lock anime has a total episode count of 24. In case you’re unfamiliar with anime season terminology, a cour is essentially one anime season. So, a 1-cour anime will broadcast during one anime season and typically has 11-13 episodes. 2-cour means the anime will air in two seasons with 24-26 episodes in total. There are also anime with split-cour releases, meaning it is 2-cour but with a season-length break in between. One example is Spy x Family which aired its first half in Spring 2022 while the second half airs in Fall 2022. Blue Lock is an anime based on the manga of the same name by Muneyuki Kaneshiro that started serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine on August 1, 2018. Typically, sports manga follow high school sports teams, but Blue Lock is different as it is instead about a unique tryout for the Japanese national football team.
In its story, the Japanese national team suffered a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup. In response, the Japan Football Union started the “Blue Lock” program developed by coach Jinpachi Ego to produce the country’s best striker. The program gathers 300 of Japan’s best youth soccer players, and they are put into a prison-like facility where they are pitted against each other. Players who lose will be banned from ever joining the national football team, and the last remaining player will become the national team’s star striker.
Given the manga’s popularity, the TV anime features a stacked voice cast that includes Souma Saito, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kouki Uchiyama, Junichi Suwabe, Hiroshi Kamiya, Yuuma Uchida, Takahiro Sakura, and more. Blue Lock will premiere in Japan on October 9 at 1:30 AM JST. The series can also be streamed online in the US, some parts of Europe, and other regions through Crunchyroll. In Other News: Jujutsu Kaisen Stars Cast in Upcoming Blue Lock Anime
