To get into the Christmas spirit, the official social media accounts and website for the BLUELOCK soccer anime adaptation have been updated with a new key visual and opening theme announcement for the second cour of the series, which will premiere in Japan on January 7. The new opening theme artist is ASH DA HERO and the song is titled “Judgement”, the updated key visual is found below:

Key Visual

In addition to the updated opening theme and key visual, a new digest video for the first cour has also been released, for those that want to relive the best matchups, or for new viewers that happened to start watching during the World Cup last month.

“Primary Selection” Digest Video

Written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura, the BLUELOCK manga has been running in the pages of Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine since August 2018. It was the recipient of the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the category of shonen in 2021, and there are currently 20 volumes in publication in Japan. Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in English and has released 14 volumes so far.

Crunchyroll currently streams the anime adaptation and describes it:

After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan’s team struggles to regroup. But what’s missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win. The Japan Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match…and to do so, they’ve gathered 300 of Japan’s best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team…and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?

Sources: BLUELOCK_PR On Twitter, Comic Natalie