is a Japanese
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series by
Naoshi Arakawa
is a Japanese manga artist, known for his work ''Your Lie in April''.
Early life
Naoshi Arakawa grew up in the Rural area, countryside of Japan with an older brother. They used to get manga magazines like ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''Monthly ...
about
women's association football
Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...
. The manga serves as a sequel to Arakawa's 2009 work, ''
Sayonara, Football''. The series was serialized in
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's ''
Monthly Shōnen Magazine
is a monthly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Kodansha. It was launched in 1964 under the name . In 1969 it was retitled as and its publication frequency increased from quarterly to monthly. After suspension in 1974 it started ...
'' from May 2016 to December 2020, with the individual chapters were collected in fourteen volumes. The series is published in print and in digital in North America by
Kodansha Comics
Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...
. An
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation of the series by
Liden Films aired from April to June 2021.
Plot
Sumire Suō and Midori Soshizaki are the stars of their respective middle school girls' soccer teams. As they graduate to high school, they end up joining an eclectic cast of other new girls at Warabi Seinan High School, with hopes of taking the school's normally poor-performing team to the top. With the help of former
Nadeshiko Japan
The , commonly known as Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), represents Japan in women's association football and is run by the Japan Football Association (JFA). One of the two countries to win every FIFA competition and the most succes ...
player Naoko Nōmi as their new coach, they must find a way to defeat powerful new enemies ranging from other nationally-ranked school soccer teams, to their own school's administration.
Characters
Warabi Seinan High School
Girls' Soccer Club
;
:
:A skilled girl who played on boys' soccer teams for several years (as the main protagonist of ''Sayonara, Football''), thinking the overall level of competition of girls' soccer teams was beneath her, until her middle-school coach convinced her to join a women's team in high school. Despite putting in little effort in practice, Nozomi is an incredibly skilled attacker who tries to stay motivated no matter the opponent.
;
:
:The manager of the Warabi girls' team who tries to support them from the sidelines with everything from video analysis to nutrition.
;
:
:The captain of her middle school team despite said team winning very few matches. An incredibly fast player with little patience for the eccentricities of her teammates. She decided to join Warabi after seeing Eriko's effort during a losing match and finding a kindred spirit with her.
;
:
:Sumire's friend and rival throughout middle school who played on a different team, Midori decided to follow Sumire to Warabi so she would not play alone. A newspaper article calls her the #3 defensive midfielder in the nation.
;
:
:An arrogant prima donna who seems to model herself after
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa.
Balotelli started his ...
, a striker who plays incredibly close to the offside line to get scoring chances but makes multiple mistakes that frustrate her teammates.
;
:
:The Captain of the Warabi Seinan girls' soccer team who struggles to keep the team together when several players leave after the team's poor performance last year. A second-year student who plays on the right wing.
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
:The former
Nadeshiko Japan
The , commonly known as Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), represents Japan in women's association football and is run by the Japan Football Association (JFA). One of the two countries to win every FIFA competition and the most succes ...
player and World Cup champion who was distraught at the decline of women's soccer throughout the nation. Naoko returns to her alma mater at Warabi to act as the new coach of the women's soccer team.
;
:
:The incumbent coach of the Warabi women's soccer team who seems apathetic to their performance, spending more time burying his head in a horse racing magazine than paying attention to the team.
Boys' Soccer Club
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
:
Fuji Daiichi Junior High School
;
:
;
:
Kunogi Gakuen High School
;
:
:Captain of the Kunogi girls' team who normally plays at center-forward, she has a short temper and shows little tolerance for slackers on her team. However, when her crush Ōshio Kohei is nearby, her personality flips, which Sumire used as leverage to make her join their team for the futsal tournament.
;
:
:An attacking midfielder and gifted technical player for the Kunogi girls' team. After a practice match against Warabi, she became infatuated with Nozomi's playstyle and quickly agreed to team up with her during the futsal tournament.
;
:
;
:
Urawa Hosei High School
;
:
: The ace of Urawa Hosei playing in the role of midfielder, key to the catenaccio tactic played by her team. During middle school was in the same team of Soshizaki and resent her for joining a rival team in high school.
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:
Korenkan High School
;
:
:A physical defender who was jealous of Haruna's talent while being her teammate in middle school, Rei decided to focus on using her body instead of technical skill.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by
Naoshi Arakawa
is a Japanese manga artist, known for his work ''Your Lie in April''.
Early life
Naoshi Arakawa grew up in the Rural area, countryside of Japan with an older brother. They used to get manga magazines like ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''Monthly ...
, ''Farewell, My Dear Cramer'' was serialized in
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's
manga magazine ''
Monthly Shōnen Magazine
is a monthly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Kodansha. It was launched in 1964 under the name . In 1969 it was retitled as and its publication frequency increased from quarterly to monthly. After suspension in 1974 it started ...
'' from May 6, 2016, to December 4, 2020. The title refers to German footballer and manager
Dettmar Cramer. Kodansha has compiled its chapters into fourteen volumes. The first volume was published on August 17, 2016, and the last on April 1, 2021.
The manga has been simultaneously released in English on
Kindle and
Comixology
Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, g ...
.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
published the manga starting in 2018. In July 2019,
Kodansha Comics
Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...
announced the print release of the manga. The first volume was released on January 26, 2021, and last on March 28, 2023.
Volumes
Anime
An
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation was announced in the October issue of ''Monthly Shōnen Magazine'' on September 4, 2020. The series is animated by
Liden Films and directed by Seiki Takuno, with
Natsuko Takahashi handling series composition, and
Masaru Yokoyama
is a Japanese composer and arranger, known for his work on television dramas and anime series.
Biography
Yokoyama was born in Nagano Prefecture. He started to take piano lessons at the age of three, taught by his aunt who is an alumna of Kunita ...
composing the music.
It aired from April 4 to June 27, 2021 on
Tokyo MX
JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
.
Aika Kobayashi performed the series' opening theme song "Ambitious Goal", while
Mikako Komatsu
is a Japanese voice actress and singer.
Career
Komatsu passed an audition held at the first corner of Nippon Broadcasting System "Takashi Fujii's All Night Nippon R". A member of "Younger Sister", she left the group in September 2007. She worke ...
performed the series' ending theme song "Kuyashii koto wa Kettobase".
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
streamed the series worldwide outside of Asia. In Southeast Asia,
Muse Communication
Muse Communication Co., Ltd. (also known simply as Muse) is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the distribution of Japanese animation. Based in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, the company also distributes Asian and E ...
licensed the series.
Episodes
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Women's association football
Anime and manga set in schools
Anime series based on manga
Association football in anime and manga
Crunchyroll anime
Kodansha manga
Liden Films
Muse Communication
Shōnen manga
Tokyo MX original programming
Women's association football television series