Ao Ashi season 2 announces 2026 release with new visual

On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, the staff of Ao Ashi season 2 announced that the anime is set to premiere in 2026. This announcement was made with a production decision visual featuring protagonist Ashito Aoi. In addition, Ao Ashi season 2 unveiled its new animation studio, TMS Entertainment.

Ao Ashi, written and illustrated by Yuugo Kobayashi, based on a concept by Naohiko Ueno, is a Japanese football manga serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine since January 2015. After already having over 23 million copies in circulation, the manga series is soon set to conclude with its 40th volume.

Ao Ashi season 2 unveils new Ashito Aoi visual ahead of 2026 premiere

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On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Ao Ashi anime announced that Ao Ashi season 2 is scheduled to air in 2026.

This announcement was made with a production decision visual of the protagonist Ashito Aoi. The protagonist can be seen tying the laces of his cleats while looking straight ahead. Not to mention, he can also be seen wearing his Tokyo Esperion Youth Academy kit with number 33 on it.

Ashito Aoi as seen in the Ao Ashi anime (Image via Production I.G)

Even the background, which is supposed to be a football field's green color, has been majorly turned yellow in the visual to match the team's primary color.

Lastly, the announcement unveiled that for Ao Ashi season 2, the series will be switching its animation studio. Production I.G produced the anime's first season, while TMS Entertainment will be animating its second season.

What is Ao Ashi anime about?

Ao Ashi follows the story of Ashito Aoi, a third-year student at Ehime City Middle School who played as a forward for his team. In a chance encounter, the protagonist met the legendary youth football coach Tatsuya Fukuda.

While Fukuda knew Ashito lacked the fundamentals of football, he instantly recognized Ashito's talent and invited him to join his own team, Tokyo Esperion Youth Academy.

Coach Tatsuya Fukuda as seen in Ao Ashi anime (Image via Production I.G)

Ashito faced numerous troubles along the way. Despite everything, he got selected for the team and started working towards the A-Team. To his shock, just as Ashito began performing well in the team, coach Tatsuya Fukuda had a piece of shocking news for him. As per Fukuda's plans, Ashito wasn't meant to play as a forward but as a fullback.

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About the author

Gokul has been an anime writer in Pop Culture division at Sportskeeda since 2022. His love for watching anime and his interest in the ever-growing anime industry inspire Gokul to produce insightful content about the genre on a daily basis. He holds a Master's degree in Communication & Journalism, and has worked for close to 3.5 years in the field.

Gokul likes to thoroughly research about the anime he is writing about and only credits a source after verifying its credibility. He loves the popular Shonen anime, Black Clover, for its memorable characters and their development throughout the story.

When not racking his brain behind his next anime story, Gokul likes to play video games, read manga, and play football.

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Edited by Gokul Chettiyar