The BLUELOCK soccer manga by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura is still riding the wave of hype from the performance of the Japanese men’s soccer team in the FIFA World Cup still underway in Qatar, and the franchise is now getting a stage play that will be held in Tokyo and Osaka next May.

Key Visual:

The Stage BLUELOCK play will be held in May 2023 in two locations, with the first engagement being held in the Sankei Hall Breeze venue in Osaka from May 4 to 7, 2023 and the second venue in the Sunshine Theater venue in Tokyo from May 11 to 14, 2023. The initial cast has also been confirmed and is listed below, while Naohiro Ise has been confirmed as the screenwriter and director for the production:

STAGE BLUELOCK Main Cast

• Ryohei Takenaka as Yoichi Isagi
• 
  Nobunaga Satō as Meguru Bachira

• 
  Shota Matsuda as Rensuke Kunigami

• Ryô Saeki as Hyoma Chigiri

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?

Source: Comic Natalie