Ao Ashi

[Guardian Enzo]

From high on Newman's "What took you so long?" list - strong-selling, much-awarded, and generally excellent soccer manga Ao Ashi will finally be getting an anime (but not till 2022, unfortunately).

The funny thing is that probably more than any series I remember, Ao Ashi has had many, many "big news" teasers that had fans jumping the gun and turned out to be nothingburgers. Not this time, though.

[MisaoFan]

Announced for April 2022 premiere on NHK by Production I.G

YouTube

https://youtu.be/PQbCVl_CDzI

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[MisaoFan]

More info with premiere date on April 9

[LG-MAX 2.o]

Music

NHK show

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...rtists/.183566

[leongsh]

Episode 1
Solid start to the series. There's some budget behind the show but they are judicious in using it. The more important parts have good solid animation while the less important parts are slideshows.

I have been following the manga for some time. I am relieved that this first episode does a solid job of kicking off the series.

[Guardian Enzo]

Better than solid for me - genuinely excellent. A great start in a genre not typically known for great starts.

[Decel]

Definitely on my watch list. Loved it when Tatsuya was grinning ear-to-ear after Aoi showed him the field setting.

[grecefar]

He remids me of sawamura, he is not the best out there but he is a real hidden jewel that needed to be discovered.

I'm looking foward for more.

[Dextro]

Very good first episode. Like mentioned before, the time budget was clearly limited but it was allocated to the most important scenes leaving the rest as slide shows which is absolutely fine. Hopefully they can keep this balance throughout the season (though seeing it happen on episode one is always a bit worrisome). The bits that were animated were pretty great though. Fluid movements, action felt exciting. Good job.

I can see some very familiar tropes from the show and the main character was getting on my nerves a bit with how hot-headed he was but in the end I think it worked out fine. Hopefully this hot-headedness is going to get exploited for some character development later down the line.

Overall I'm happy with this. Haven't properly watched a sports Anime since Welcome to the Ballroom (that counts right? )

[Guardian Enzo]

The thing with soccer (football) is, strikers need to be selfish. It’s the nature of the game. Balancing that with being a functioning part of a team on and off the field (pitch) is a fascinating theme for a sports manga.

Honestly, my only concern here is episode count. Typically with NHK you get two+ but the lack of any announcement is worrisome. If this only goes 12 episodes there’s no way it gets remotely into the meat of why the manga is as good as it is.

[leongsh]

Episode 2
Another solid episode. Nicely adapted from the manga. Despite where the episode ended, it should be no surprise that he squeaks through into the final 11 selection for the next test. It's in this episode that they show what is Ashito special skill over the rest - having a bird's eye view of the whole field and how the players move. We also meet a couple of his future teammates in this episode if you have paid attention to the OP and ED.

[grecefar]

Yeah his skill is a good one, he may work better as a midfielder instead of a forward, let's see.

[Guardian Enzo]

That was some beautiful sports anime right there.

[leongsh]

Another solid episode. Trust Production I.G. to get the balance right in terms of when to animate and when to cut back.

[Blaat]

Yeah fun episode although my two reactions are: they should have gone for the classic 'park the damn bus' tactic and Aoi should have Zidane'd the bad guy. Okay fine the latter would not have helped but it would have been satisfying to see.

[grecefar]

they are really using the trash talk in this anime and I kinda knew there was something like that about the youth playing in different positions, there was that guy in defense that looked like an ace striker, it was weird.

With one goal and they prove themself and shut up akutsu.

[Goshin]

I was hooked the moment the MC channeled his inner zidane. The motivation was almost verbatim. ��. Like someone mentioned above it's interesting the directtion they are taking this theme of teamwork vs individual brilliance. Many times you see teams with solid teamwork and work ethic do everything right but can't snag the win because they just didn't have a Ronaldo or Messi on their team. That palm to solar plexus was also very authentic. My friend was a defender in a youth team in he explained low blows aren't taught but expected. defenders and strikers have a way of putting the hurt on inconspicuously

[grecefar]

Great chapter and the obvious that he was accepted in the team, it was a nice play and great score.

[Goshin]

Sometimes even when the part of the plot is predictable you can't but enjoy it's execution. I haven't read the manga so it's still fun to speculate where things are going. I appreciate the fact that they showing the MC question his motivation for trying so hard. Up until now soccer was easy for him and he had never been challenged to his core. He simply liked to play. A properly motivated mc is always fun to watch no matter the plot

[leongsh]

Originally Posted by Goshin

Up until now soccer was easy for him and he had never been challenged to his core.

You're going to enjoy the upcoming episodes. He will be challenged to the core and more. Ashito was a big fish in a small pond in Ehime. If he had continued high school in Ehime, it would have been him entering a tributory stream/river. However, by entering Esperion's Youth Team, he is directly entering a big river with a lot of fish much bigger than him and fishes faster and more agile than he is.