Live-action anime adaptations were once universally looked down upon, with projects like Dragon Ball Evolution, Fist of the North Star, and many others failing to live up to their respective source material. In recent years, projects such as One Piece, Alita: Battle Angel, and Rurouni Kenshin have turned the medium around. While these aforementioned adaptations are movies and television series, live-action anime projects aren’t completely limited to the screen. As Blue Lock’s live-action adaptation continues, a new look at its upcoming stage play has been released, and it plans on taking fans back to the hit soccer series’ past.
Blue Lock’s next live-action stage play will arrive in Japan in a few days, hitting Theatre G-Rosso at the Tokyo Dome City from November 20th to 30th. To help build up the hype for the next performance in this sports anime franchise, a new preview has been released from the franchise. Blue Lock might have hit major heights as an anime and manga series, but the soccer-based story has been a wild hit on the stage. To date, there have been four different stage plays that depict the hard-hitting series in live-action, depicting the events of the first two seasons. For Episode Nagi, the prequel story should work well on the stage considering its subject matter. You can check out the new visual below.
Blue Lock Returns
If you haven’t seen Blue Lock: Episode Nagi and can’t hop on a plane to see this stage play, we have good news for you. You can currently check out the sports anime prequel on Crunchyroll, and here’s how the streaming service describes the film, “Nagi Seishiro, a second-year high school student, is living the life of apathy until Mikage Reo discovers Nagi’s soccer talent. Nagi receives an invitation to “Blue Lock Project” where he meets the elite strikers from all over the country.”
As for the future of Blue Lock, the popular anime adaptation has been confirmed for a third season, though the studio responsible for the series, Eight Bit, has yet to share when it will arrive. While many fans are crossing their fingers that it will arrive next year, no hard confirmation has been revealed as of yet. Luckily, the manga from creators Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura is still releasing new chapters and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Unfortunately, this live-action stage play most likely won’t be making its way to North America, as anime adaptations such as this have normally only happened in Japan. While there have been examples of these adaptations making the leap from the East to the West, more often than not, these performances can only be seen by North American anime fans online if at all. Luckily, there have been performances in the past that have made the leap, including the likes of Attack on Titan, Death Note, and Sailor Moon, but we’re crossing our fingers that all of these stage plays will hit the United States moving forward.
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