If you missed catching Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- in theaters this past summer, you're in luck. It is headed to Crunchyroll this week!
The anime film will arrive on the streaming service on October 17th at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 8:00 p.m. Easter Time. It will be available in the following sub languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Arabic. For dubs, you can watch in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
The Blue Lock anime series first premiered in October 2022. Based on the award-winning manga written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura, the sports-theme series follows the development of a training regimen, called Blue Lock, which is designed to create the world's greatest egotist striker. Yoichi Isagi, an unknown high school soccer (football) player, joins the program with the hopes of becoming the best striker in the world. The synopsis for the series reads:
Japan’s desire for World Cup glory leads the Japanese Football Association to launch a new rigorous training program to find the national team’s next striker. Three hundred high school players are pitted against each other for the position, but only one will come out on top. Who among them will be the striker to usher in a new era of Japanese soccer?
Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- is a film adaptation of the spin-off manga that began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in June 2022. Also written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro, -Episode Nagi- follows the events of Blue Lock, but through the perspective of Seishiro Nagi. It acts as both a prequel and a side story that helped flesh out the anime prior to the debut of Season 2, which just debuted earlier this month and can also be streamed on Crunchyroll.
The synopsis for Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- reads:
“That’s a hassle.” That was second-year high schooler Nagi Seishiro’s favorite phrase as he lived his dull life. Until Mikage Reo, a classmate who dreamed of winning the World Cup, discovered Nagi’s hidden skill, inspiring him to play soccer and share his outstanding talent. One day, he receives an invitation to the mysterious BLUE LOCK Project. What awaits him there is an encounter with the finest strikers assembled from across the country. Nagi’s dream of becoming the best, alongside Reo, will take this prodigy to a world he’s never known.
A prodigy can only be shaped when someone discovers him….now, striker Nagi Seishiro’s incredible talent and persona will set the soccer world ablaze.
There aren't many reviews for Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- right now, but it seems those who watched it came away impressed. The film sits at an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes with 13 critic reviews, and an 88% on the Popcornmeter. That's pretty much in line with Season 1 of Blue Lock.
Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- is directed by Shunsuke Ishikawa (Sword Art Online Alicization episode director) at studio Eightbit. Ishikawa was the assistant director of the Blue Lock anime series. Character designs are by Yusuke Nomura, screenplay and composition by Taku Kishimoto, and music by Jun Maruyama.