Spinoff manga focuses on Seishirō Nagi before main story
The April issue of Kodansha‘s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine revealed on Wednesday that Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura‘s Blue Lock soccer manga will have a spinoff manga that will launch in the magazine’s July issue on June 9. The manga will focus on Seishirō Nagi before he enters the titular Blue Lock facility. The magazine will reveal the artist for the manga at a later date.
Kodansha Comics is publishing the original Blue Lock manga in English digitally, and will also release it in print. The company describes the story:
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?
Kaneshiro and Nomura launched the manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018. Kodansha published the manga’s 17th compiled book volume in December 2021. The volumes have over 4.5 million copies printed. The manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award in Kodansha‘s 45th annual Manga Awards last year.
The manga is inspiring a television anime that will premiere in 2022.
Sources: Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine April issue, Comic Natalie