Anime Expo hosted the “Meet the EGOISTS at AX!” panel, featuring a Q&A of cast and production members of the esteemed soccer anime, BLUE LOCK on July 5th. Present at the panel were the voice of Yoichi Isagi, voice actor Kazuki Ura, voice of Seishiro Nagi, voice actor Nobunaga Shimazaki, manga editor Moe Tsuchiya, and anime producer Ryoya Arisawa.
Throughout the panel, attendees enjoyed hearing the panelist’s perspectives on the series as they answered questions about BLUE LOCK’s international success, first impressions of the movie, which characters they feel they relate the most to, and how they were enjoying Los Angeles and Anime Expo. As a surprise to the panelist, part of the Q&A included poll answers from the fans of the anime, sharing their thoughts about their favorite characters of the anime thus far. The questions and their results were as follows:
Who is your favorite BLUE LOCK character?
1st: Seishiro Nagi
2nd: Yoichi Isagi
3rd: Meguru Bachira
Who do you think the most relatable BLUE LOCK character is?
1st: Seishiro Nagi
2nd: Yoichi Isagi
3rd: Hyoma Chigiri
Which BLUE LOCK character’s soccer skills would you want to have?
1st: Meguru Bachira
2nd: Yoichi Isagi
3rd: Seishiro Nagi
Which BLUE LOCK character would you like to play with?
1st: Meguru Bachira
2nd: Yoichi Isagi
3rd: Mikage Reo
Who do you believe will win the BLUE LOCK program in the end?
1st: Yoichi Isagi
2nd: Rin Itoshi
3rd: Seishiro Nagi
“I’m so happy! I’m so glad I’m finally number one”, Kazuki Ura playfully said when the fan poll revealed they believed his character Isagi would be the one to win the BLUE LOCK program. Joining in on his excitement, attendees rallied behind Ura, chanting #1 as he celebrated his victory on stage.
To conclude the fan poll, Kazuki Ura and Nobunaga Shimazaki were asked to do a reading of their respective fan favorite lines. After completing his reading from the first episode where Isagi realized he had to change, Ura said, “This moment depicted Isagi’s ego at the beginning of the series. It was a scene where it naturally flowed out of Isagi so I really wanted to put that effort into my voice acting for the moment.” Finishing his reading of the iconic moment where Nagi showcased his motivation in episode 13, Shimazaki said, “Seeing the lazy and unmotivated Nagi slowly change from meeting pivotal characters like Isagi and the others, and watching him find his ego made this an important moment for me and I wanted to put that into my voice acting as well.”
BLUE LOCK, has surpassed 40 million copies in cumulative comic sales in Japan and was the best-selling manga of 2023. Many fans were thrilled by Season 1, and to conclude the panel, attendees were treated to the premiere of the trailer for Season 2 of BLUE LOCK which is set to air this October, as well as announcements of new merchandise available both at Anime Expo and online, and the launch of the official English social media account. “Thank you so much! The love for Blue Lock from the LA crowd is so immense and amazing. I am going to go back to Japan to work and make an amazing season for you guys. Thank you again for your support and stay tuned,” said producer Arisawa.
The Blue Lock booth also saw a lot of excitement, featuring key animation art, a digital photo shoot with the anime characters, stills from the anime, and a database showing each of the main participants of the BLUE LOCK project. The highlight of the booth was a life-size statue of Isagi that fans could take photos with.
PANELIST COMMENTS:
Producer Arisawa said: “Blue Lock is about making the Japanese soccer team stronger, so I didn’t know how it would resonate with international audiences. I’m so glad it was able to resonate with all of you and I hope you enjoy the upcoming season.”
“When I saw the final cut of the movie, I was so confident that it was going to be great and that you all would love it. It was great to see the first season again through Nagi’s perspective. The movie was really well done and I think everybody did a great job!”
“For the TV series, we have to create a 30 minute story with a beginning, middle, and end, but we can end things on a cliffhanger for the next episode. In a movie, we have to tell an entire story in about an hour or an hour and a half, so we have to make sure we tell a full story. I’m very proud of the movie and how it came out, thank you!”
Manga Editor Tsuchiya said: “Making the original manga with Kaneshiro-sensei and Nomura-sensei, we wanted people in Japan to like the manga, but we wanted to make it for international audiences as well. We’re happy that it’s seen such success and we’re happy for the future of Blue Lock as well!”
“The animation and quality is amazing, absolutely phenomenal. Episode Nagi was such a great thing, thank you all!”
Voice actor Ura said: “Blue Lock is a very popular story in Japan and has exceeded all of my expectations. I am very thankful for that.”
“Seeing Isagi really push himself as he climbs to the top reminds me of myself and makes me really want to root for him as he continues to push himself.”
Voice actor Shimazaki said: “Like Nagi, I can be kind of lazy and I love video games which I know many of you understand. Seeing Nagi and how he was able to find what matters to him most and discover his ego was probably how I relate to him the most.”
“When I first watched the Episode Nagi movie, I thought …damn Reo, I’m so sorry! But I thought it was really good to see the relationship between the characters, watching their ups and downs together on the big screen.”
“Nagi’s personality doesn’t change between the tv series and the movie, but since the film looks at the scenes from Nagi’s perspective, I did have to change the acting a little. I really enjoyed getting to show that side of Nagi and I was very blessed to work with the team.”
Story
BLUE LOCK follows the dreams of 300 high school students who aim to lead the Japanese Men’s National Team to the next World Cup championship as their ace striker! To become the best, they join the BLUE LOCK project, a high-risk training program where anyone eliminated is forever barred from joining the Japanese National Team. Pitting the best-rising players in Japan against each other, only the most confident and skilled will emerge from this program!
Thirty-five participants survived the grueling selection process and now they face their greatest challenge yet in this ego-driven frenzy, the U-20 Japan National Team! Can they meet this challenge and prove the value of the Blue Lock player improvement project?
The hottest battle in history is about to begin, where rising egoists will have the chance to leave their mark on the world of soccer!
About BLUE LOCK
BLUE LOCK is a TV animation series based on the popular manga of the same name, which is published in Kodansha’s “Weekly Shonen Magazine”. The BLUE LOCK manga has sold more than 30 million copies (as of April 2024) and won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the Juvenile Division. The first film version, “BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-,” premiered in April 2024. In addition, the second season of the TV series will be broadcast from October 2024.
STAFF
Original story: Muneyuki Kaneshiro Manga: Yusuke Nomura (serialized in Kodansha’s “Weekly Shonen Magazine”)
General Director: Yuji Ikuhara
Director: Shintaro Inokawa
Series Composition/Screenplay: Taku Kishimoto
Story supervisor: Muneyuki Kaneshiro
Character Design / Chief Animation Director：Kenji Tanabe
Chief Animation Director：Tomoko Mori, Kosho Shimizu
Action Director: Tadami Okimura
Chief 3D Layout Artist: Mio Sakuma
Prop and costume design: Tomoko Mori, Kaho Iida
Animation Special Effects：Akane
Color Design: Sakura Komatsu
Art Setting: Mio Sakuma
Art Director：Masakazu Miyake
Background: Creative Freaks
Director of Photography: Yasuhiro Asao
Photo by Chiptune
3DCG Director: Tomoki Yamashita, Yuji Ikuhara
3DCG Chief Animator: Norimitsu Hirosawa
3DCG: Aura Studio
Special Compositor and Graphic Work: Yuji Ikuhara
Special Effects Processing: Kanako Yamada
Edited by Mai Hasegawa (edits)
Sound Director: Hiroki Gohbun
Sound Production: Bit Groove Promotion
Music: Jun Murayama
Producers: Ryoya Arisawa, Naoya Sato, Yusuke Kawakatsu, Hiroshi Yanai
Animation Producer: Hidenori Kosuge
Animation Production: Eight Bit
Production: “Blue Rock” Production Committee
CAST
Yoichi Isagi – Kazuki Ura
Bachira Megumi – Tasuku Kaito
Ego Jinpachi – Hiroshi Kamiya
Anri Teieri – Eri Yukimura
Hyoma Chigiri – Soma Saito
Shoei Baro – Junichi Suwabe
Gin Gagamaru – Shuugo Nakamura
Gurimu Igarashi – Aoi Ichikawa
Seishiro Nagi – Nobunaga Shimazaki
Reo Mikage – Yuma Uchida
Jingo Raichi – Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Zanetsu Tsurugi – Kazuyuki Okitsu
Junichi Wanima – Ryota Suzuki
Ikki Niko – Natsuki Hanae
Jubee Aryu – Katsuyuki Konishi
Aoshi Tokimitsu – Sinnosuke Tachibana
Rin Itoshi – Kouki Uchiyama
Sae Itoshi – Takahiro Sakurai
Yo Hiori – Eiji Mikami
Tabito Karasu – Makoto Furukawa
Nijiro Nanase – Kakeru Hatano
Eita Otoya – Kengo Kawanishi
Ryusei Shidou – Yuichi Nakamura
Kenyu Yukimiya – Takuya Eguchi
Official website: https://bluelock-pr.com
X (Japanese): https://twitter.com/BLUELOCK_PR
X (English): https://x.com/Blue_Lock_En
Instagram (English): https://www.instagram.com/blue_lock_en/
TikTok (English): https://www.tiktok.com/@blue_lock_en
About Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.
We at Bandai Namco Filmworks develop and produce film video titles. We not only distribute them through various media such as television, movie theaters and Internet streaming but also bring them to fans throughout the world by licensing and managing their copyrights, developing and marketing film video-related merchandise and other services. As a comprehensive entertainment enterprise handling the A to Z of film & video business, we continue to create “Awesome works” and make them readily available to everyone.
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