The staff for the live-action film based on Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura‘s BLUE LOCK soccer manga confirmed three more cast members on Monday. The film’s staff also announced that the film will screen in MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema starting on August 21. Additionally, cheering screenings (in which audiences are allowed to shout at and interact with the film) will be held at five participating theaters in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, and Fukuoka. 

The newly announced cast members are:

FANTASTICS member Yūsei Yagi as Rin Itoshi

Keisuke Watanabe as Jyubei Aryu

Omi Natsuki as Aoshi Tokimitsu

The cast includes:

Yūsuke Taki is directing the film, and Tetsuo Kamata is writing the screenplay. Shinzō Matsuhashi is serving as a producer. CREDEUS (live-action Golden Kamuy film) is producing the film, and TOHO is distributing.

The film opened in Japan on August 7.

Kaneshiro and Nomura launched the manga in Kodansha‘s Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018. Kodansha will publish the manga’s 40th compiled book volume on August 17. The manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award in Kodansha‘s 45th annual Manga Awards in 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing is releasing the manga in English digitally and is also releasing it in print.

The original manga inspired a television anime series that premiered in Japan in October 2022 on TV Asahi and its affiliates in the NUMAnimation programming block. The anime ran for 24 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and is also streaming an English dub.

BLUE LOCK vs. U-20 JAPAN, the second television anime season, debuted in October 2024, and aired for 14 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.

The anime is getting a third season, adapting the “Shin Eiyū Taisen” (New Hero Wars) story.

Kōta Sannomiya‘s BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- manga spinoff focuses on Seishirō Nagi before he enters the titular BLUE LOCK facility. The manga launched in June 2022 in Kodansha‘s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine and ended in July 2025. Kodansha USA Publishing is releasing the spinoff manga in print.

The spinoff inspired an anime film that premiered in Japan in April 2024. The film sold 337,000 tickets to earn 463 million yen (about US$2.99 million) in its first three days, and ranked at #2 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. The film opened in North America in June 2024. Crunchyroll is streaming the film with subtitles and with several dubs.

Sources: Live-action BLUE LOCK film’s website, Comic Natalie

The official website for the television anime of Nao Iwamoto‘s Marronnier Ōkoku no Shichinin no Kishi (The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom) manga unveiled on Monday the anime’s first promotional video, main visual, cast members, and October 3 premiere. 

The anime will star:

Kengo Takanashi as Nemukunai (Insomniac), the eldest of the seven brothers

Makoto Tanikawa as Hakuai (Fraternity), the second of the seven brothers

Haruki Ishiya as Atsugariya (Feverish), the third of the seven brothers

Satoshi Inomata as Samugariya (Chilly), the fourth of the seven brothers

Kiyoto Mizuno as Kemono Tsukai (Beast-Tamer), the fifth of the seven brothers and one of the triplets

Taishi Murata as Tsurugi Jiman (Swordsman), the sixth of the seven brothers and one of the triplets

Reiji Kawashima as Harapeko (Hungry), the seventh of the brothers and one of the triplets

Akeno Watanabe as Baribara, the tenth general of the Marronnier kingdom and mother of the seven brothers

Show Hayami as Narrator

The anime will premeire on October 3 on the NHK Educational channel at 6:25 p.m. JST (5:25 a.m. EDT). 

The fantasy romance manga centers on seven brothers who are knights of the Marronnier Kingdom. The kingdom lies in the center of a group of eight kingdoms, and each brother is dispatched to a different kingdom as ambassadors, to go on an adventure to find their fated partner. The brothers are named: Nemukunai (Not Sleepy), Hakuai (Benevolent), Atsugariya (Sensitive to Heat), Samugariya (Sensitive to Cold), Kemono Tsukai (Beast Tamer), Tsurugi Jiman (Sword Pride), and Harapeko (Hungry).

Kiyoko Sayama (Skip Beat!, Vampire Knight, To Your Eternity seasons 2-3) is directing the anime at J.C. Staff. Shinzō Fujita (To Your Eternity seasons 1-3, The World Is Still Beautiful) is both writing and overseeing the series scripts. Yuriko Maeda (chief animation director for Requiem of the Rose King, One Punch Man TV 2) is designing the characters, Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Apocalypse Hotel, Land of the Lustrous, Love Live! School idol project) is composing the music, and Jin Aketagawa (Dr. Stone, Fire Force) is the sound director.

The manga launched in Shogakukan‘s Flowers magazine in 2016. Shogakukan shipped the 11th volume on June 10. The manga topped the list of manga for female readers in the 2018 edition of Takarajimasha‘s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.

Iwamoto’s Kingdom of Gold, Kingdom of Water manga inspired the Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom anime film that opened in January 2023. Seven Seas Entertainment released the original manga in English.

Sources: The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom anime’s website, Comic Natalie