Aoashi Season 2 celebrates its premiere with event in Kawasaki and live performance by Higuchi Ai

The anime Aoashi Season 2 has been airing since October 4 on NHK E-Tele, and to celebrate, a launch event was held on Monday, October 12 at Lazona Kawasaki Plaza. Taking the stage were Ōsuzu Kōki, voice of Aoi Ashito, and Kobayashi Chikahiro, voice of coach Fukuda Tatsuya, with Moriyama Shintarō from the comedy duo Mitorizu as master of ceremonies.

Later, Higuchi Ai joined them, performing "Triangle," the ending theme for the first cour of this second season. The singer offered a live performance and spoke about what connects her to the story.

The talk kicked off with a soccer-themed question: do they see themselves as forwards or defenders in life? Ōsuzu defined himself as a defender. "At work I can be a forward, but basically I'm the type who thinks a lot before acting." Kobayashi, on the other hand, was direct: "I'm a forward. I want to throw myself into trying new things all the time."

The leap to the A team and what changes in the series

The second season adapts the arc where Ashito finally moves up from the B team to the A team of Tokyo City Esperion. There he faces players like Kuribayashi, nicknamed "the greatest jewel of the youth team," and Akutsu, with an imposing physique. Ōsuzu himself made it clear: "The veterans are one step away from the first team. Only a handful will make it to the pros, but the gap with the B team is enormous."

Kobayashi highlighted that this stage allows viewers to get to know the A team players better. "Before, the inner lives and relationships of Akutsu, Kuribayashi, or Kiriki weren't explored in depth. Now that's delved into much more and it ends up affecting Ashito too."

The event included a screening of the first episode, and Ōsuzu praised the visual work: "The visuals are beautiful and the speed of the passes is very hard to capture in animation. The camera work in episode 1 is incredible." Moriyama, a self-declared fan of the series, added a detail that fired up the crowd: he shared that a former Japanese national team player told him the series reflects the youth academy stage "exactly as it is."

Memories of the past and live lines

There was also room to look back on the first season. Ōsuzu confessed that the moment Ashito has to give up the forward position was difficult even for him as an actor. "I knew it was a key scene before recording. The more I learned about soccer as a forward, the less I wanted that day to come."

The most emotional part came with the live line readings. Ōsuzu performed the line from episode 10 of the first season, when Ashito shouts that he won't give up being a forward because he came to Esperion to become the best in the world. Kobayashi responded with coach Fukuda's "I'll take you to the world" from the first episode, and the audience erupted in applause.

In the final stretch, Higuchi Ai talked about "Triangle" and her connection to the series: "Aoashi is a story about teamwork, but also about that selfish desire to be the best above your friends. That helped me accept my own feelings." Ōsuzu confessed that the lyric "I don't want a dream I can reach just by stretching out my hand" feels like an exact reflection of Ashito.

The second season will have 24 episodes and airs every Sunday on NHK E-Tele. Episode 3, arriving next week, marks the start of the first Premier League match against Kashiwa Commercial High School. If the first season had you glued to your seat, the A team arc looks set to turn up the intensity even more.