Ao Ashi Episode 24: Aoi Ashito gets promoted to the A team

Ao Ashi episode 24 gave the fans a beautiful conclusion to season 1 of the anime. Aoi finally got promoted to the Tokyo City Esperion A team as they managed to win the league game against Tokyo Musashino Youth FC. Ashito played remarkably as he was the man to watch out for in the game.

Other than professional progress, Ashito even made some romantic progress, as fans got to witness some cute moments between him and Hana. It was a surprise for viewers to recognize the final scenes of the anime to have been directly picked for the ending theme 2 this whole time, giving a smooth transition in the final scenes.

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Ao Ashi episode 24 sees Esperion win against Musashino

Aoi Ashito fooling the opposition players (Image via Production I.G)

Ao Ashi episode 24, titled From Now, started off with an emphasis on Aoi's perfect diagonal run that helped fool the Musashino defenders. With the scores tied, Musashino decided to mark Ashito, but his movement was more fluid than ever, thus allowing him to move into spaces and play perfect passes.

He switched the ball to Asari, hinting him to pass the ball back to him. Ashito, upon receiving the ball, made another diagonal run away from the goal and drew in two other players, causing the center to be unmarked. This allowed Aoi to cross the ball to Ohtomo, who hit the crossbar, a rebound, that Ashito scored to take the lead against Musashino.

Kaneda started gaining confidence after his team supports him (Production I.G)

As the match resumed, Ashito was double man-marked. This opened up the center, which allowed smooth transitional play for the other Esperion players, leading to a fourth goal, making the score 4-2.

Seeing Aoi excelling in front of him, Kaneda started losing confidence in himself. His coach asked him to help defend at the back and his team supported him. They believed that Kaneda was pivotal to their attack and his presence at the front was key for any possible comeback.

Kaneda got fired up and the match resumed, but there was no change in score as the match ended 4-2.

Coach Satake talking to Coach Nozomi (Image via Production I.G)

Later, as the team rested after the victory, Head Coach Fukuda came in with some good news as he had chosen to promote Togashi, Kuroda, Ohtomo, and Ashito to the A-team. The team members celebrated that night as Ashito headed over to Coach Nozomi to thank him for the guidance.

Later, as he went out for a stroll, he happened to meet Hana. He was happy to see her, and ran over to her with news of promotion to the A-team. Hana smiled as she subconsciously hugged him. Embarrassed by what she did, she was trying to run away when it started pouring heavily, causing the two to take shelter. Hana tries to make a run for it once again but Ashito is able to get her to talk.

Hana - Ao Ashi Episode 24 (Image via Production I.G)

Hana revealed how Aoi reminded her of Coach Fukuda. As a child, she liked him and believed that she was going to marry him. So, seeing Ashito play like him, and orchestarting the game, made her act weird.

Fukuda could have had a great career, but he succumbed to an injury. This broke Hana as she couldn't help him. So hearing that Hana was able to help Ashito, stirred her to kiss Ashito on the forehead. She ran soon after she kissed him.

Hana kisses Aoi on the forehead (Image via Production I.G)

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Final thoughts on Ao Ashi episode 24

Ao Ashi episode 24 was beautiful as fans can't wait for the announcement of the next season. Aoi had moved all the way to Tokyo from a rural town. Since then, he has been trying his best to become a pro.

He had a few good games as a forward, but he was soon made a full-back. Now, he has become an excellent full-back, one who is capable of dictating the game and moving all the players around him.

Tokyo City Esperion Youth A Team - Ao Ashi (Image via Production I.G)

Ao Ashi helped viewers get a better understanding of Aoi's strengths as a playmaker. He has come a long way, and at an excellent rate. Now, it is to be seen how he performs for the A team, and will he be able to retain his spot.

Fans will only get to know more about Aoi's journey if Production I.G gives the greenlight to the production of the second season.