The Blue Lock anime is currently in the midst of its second season run, but new reports are circulating that the anime series has been green-lit for a third season. Nothing official has been announced yet, but Kodansha has reportedly approved of the new season which sources say will be helmed by Animation Studio 8bit.
The Blue Lock anime is an adaptation of the popular sports-themed Japanese manga written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura. Produced by 8bit, the anime premiered in October 2022. It was followed by a film adaptation based on the Episode Nagi spin-off manga in April 2024, which led to the start of Season 2, which premiered in October 2024.
The first season of the anime was a hit with viewers. It was praised for its characters and storytelling, as well as its ability to appeal to anime fans who don't necessarily know much or care about soccer.
However, Season 2 has gotten off to a much shakier start. While still popular, there's been a noticeable dip in the animation quality, especially when it comes to the fluidity of the show's soccer scenes. There's been tons of speculation as to the reason for the lack of quality, but one of the Season 2 animators finally provided a behind-the-scenes explanation.
Martin Reyes, who supposedly worked on five episodes of Blue Lock, explained in a TikTok video that the grueling schedule and intense workload led to a short turnaround that ultimately resulted in poor animation quality. The original video was in Spanish, but translated by ComicBook.com:
"I worked on the second episode of Blue Lock, and I can tell you why its animation is so bad. Months ago, I started working on Blue Lock season two where I worked not only on one episode… not even two or three but, rather, five episodes. I began working on episode two and had to do 20 cuts from start to finish.
“Strangely, problems [with Blue Lock] hadn’t arose yet. I’m sure I am not alone in this, but the work I did ended up not being released. Despite the low pay and short turn around, we did the best we could. Many of my animations were [cut] in the final edit; Basically, all their movement was eliminated. I don’t blame the person who worked on my cuts after me; They probably did all they could with the time they were given.
“These problems…are a result of certain production committees. They take on projects with profit in mind but don’t care about the condition their workers face. It’s because of this that I did not work on more Blue Lock episodes. Once I finished working on episode two, I decided to leave, and the final result ended up a disaster as I expected. I am not able to feel proud of the work that was uploaded.”
Tight turnaround and unrealistic animation expectations have been major issues in the anime industry, and it seems that Blue Lock is no different. With many unhappy with the current status of Season 2, reception to this news about a potential third season has been met with mixed reactions.
Blue Lock Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.