Blue Lock Announces Surprise Hiatus

Everyone's favorite football manga Blue Lock is taking a brief hiatus.

It's hard to deny that Blue Lock has become not only one of the biggest sports anime in recent memory but one of the biggest anime adaptations period. In 2023, the manga was the highest-selling publication in Japan, proving that the soccer anime has some serious juice. As fans wait for the second season to arrive this fall, the manga is still going strong with new chapters that are released on a regular schedule. Unfortunately, Blue Lock fans are going to have to wait a little longer for the next chapter.

Blue Lock might be releasing its second season beginning this October but 2024 has been a big year for the sports anime franchise. Hitting theaters in Japan and North America, the series released its first movie in Blue Lock: Episode Nagi. Focusing on another main character who was made a part of the "Blue Lock experiment", the film saw box office success worldwide as anime continues to coast on some well-earned popularity. 

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(Photo: Eight Bit Studio)

Blue Lock's Hiatus Explained

Weekly Shonen Magazine announced that Blue Lock creator Nomura Yuusuke would need to take a one-week break from the series due to health issues. The brief hiatus will only push back the next chapter for one week as the series has confirmed that the manga will resume on August 28th. As the manga continues and has no end in sight, the anime adaptation still has quite a bit of material to cover in both its second season and beyond.

If you haven't had the chance to catch-up on Blue Lock, the first season is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll. Here's how the streaming service describes the popular sports anime, "After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan's team struggles to regroup. But what's missing? An absolute ace striker. The Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, so Blue Lock -- a rigorous training ground for 300 of Japan's best and brightest youth players -- is created. To survive this battle royale, the last striker standing will have to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in his way!"  

Want to see what the future holds for the soccer anime? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest on Blue Lock and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime. 

Via Manga Mogura RE