“Blue Lock” Manga trends after Japan beat Germany in the World Cup
Japan's unexpected victory over Germany in the World Cup has led to a surge of interest in a soccer manga that was already popular among Japanese readers. The manga is called ‘Blue Lock’ (ブルーロック) and it was created by Japanese Mangaka Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yūsuke Nomura.
The Japanese team are competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar sporting the new kits that were created in conjunction with Adidas. The characters from the two series, GIANT KILLING and BLUELOCK, were shown in the new look in artwork by Tsujitomo and Yusuke Nomura in an effort to draw in younger followers to the sport.
“After reflecting on the current state of Japanese soccer, the Japanese Football Association decides to hire the enigmatic and eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego to achieve their dream of winning the World Cup. Believing that Japan has lacked an egoistic striker hungry for goals, Jinpachi initiates the Blue Lock—a prison-like facility where three hundred talented strikers from high schools all over Japan are isolated and pitted against each other. The sole survivor of Blue Lock will earn the right to become the national team’s striker, and those who are defeated shall be banned from joining the team forever.
Selected to join this risky project is Yoichi Isagi, a striker who failed to bring his high school soccer team to the national tournament. After choosing to pass to a teammate who missed instead of scoring on his own, he could not help but wonder if the results would have been different had he been more selfish. Using this golden opportunity given by the Blue Lock Project, Yoichi aims to clear his doubts and chase his ultimate desire—to become the greatest striker in the world and lead Japan to World Cup glory.”
The manga has been published in Weekly Shonen Jump since August 2018.
The popularity of Blue Lock surged after Japan beat Germany on Wednesday, with searches for 'Blue Lock' rising by more than 250% according to Google Trends.
“A historic match! Do your best Japan” - Special Illustration by Blue Lock Mangaka on Japan's first win in FIFA World Cup 2022!
Hayao Miyazaki had previously announced that will be returning to co-direct a new anime film — his first since 2013's The Wind Rises.
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