by Award-winning animated manga
With the start of the fall 2024 anime season, various works are attracting attention. Many works have been whispered as “candidates for dominance” even before this season’s broadcast, and many people have been looking forward to the broadcast. After the broadcast, many viewers were immediately captivated.
This article contains spoilers up to episode 3 of “Chi. -About the Movement of the Earth-“, episode 26 of “Blue Lock VS. U-20 JAPAN”, and episode 52 of “Re: Zero -Starting Life in Another World-” 3rd season. “Chi. About the Movement of the Earth-” “Chi. -About the Movement of the Earth-“, based on the manga of the same name that was serialized in “Big Comic Spirits” (Shogakukan), is also one of the works that are on the list of candidates for dominance this season.
The story is set in a particular European country in the 15th century and tells the story of a child prodigy, Rafał (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto), who encounters the heliocentric theory, which was considered heresy at the time and becomes fascinated by its beauty and absorbed in its research.
The original manga has won various awards, including the Manga Grand Prize at the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and the anime was highly anticipated. In the first episode, Rafał meets Hubert (voiced by Sho Hayami), who is researching the heliocentric theory and is drawn to it.
In the second episode, Rafał’s fascination with the heliocentric theory is about to be discovered by the inquisitor Novak (voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda), and Hubert is executed in his place. In the third episode, Rafał’s father-in-law informs the church that he is researching the heliocentric theory. When he is put on trial, Rafał declares that he believes in the heliocentric theory and commits suicide before being tortured.
After the first episode, comments such as “The drawings are beautiful, and the movement of the viewpoint in the scene where he falls is easy to understand because it is visualized,” “The torture and burning at the stake always have an uneasy atmosphere, so it’s always suspenseful,” and “The torture scene of Novak was quite painful at the beginning, but I’m glad that the merciless world view was drilled into me there.” The TV anime “Chi. – About the Earth’s Movement -” is broadcast on NHK General TV every Saturday from 11:45 pm.
“Blue Lock VS. U-20 JAPAN”, which was well received in the first season and has now started broadcasting its second season, is also attracting attention. This work is based on the manga of the same name that is serialized in “Weekly Shonen Magazine” (Kodansha) and is a unique work that combines soccer and death games.
The goal is to train the world’s best striker who will lead Japan to victory in the World Cup, and high school students are called up to fight in “Blue Lock (Blue Prison)” under the harsh condition that if they drop out, they will lose their eligibility to join the Japanese national soccer team in the future. At the end of the first season, Blue Lock’s plan was in danger of being canceled. To keep the plan alive, the selected members of Blue Lock were required to play against the U-20 Japan National Team and win.
The second season began with selecting members for the U-20 Japan National Team match. It was announced that the Blue Lock team would comprise the top six players, and the aptitude test to decide the remaining regulars began. In the aptitude test, the top six players split into pairs, and the remaining members joined in three pairs for a one-match five vs. five match.
The key is to assert and coexist with the top six players. The protagonist, Kiyoyoichi (CV: Urawa Nozomi), notices that the top two players on his team do not get along well and finds an opportunity here. While the first season’s novel story of the soccer x death game was famous, there were also scenes that some viewers said were a failure of the animation.
However, the quality of the first episode of the second season has improved, with delightful comments such as “The animation has been improved and is now beautiful! It may even be better than the movie version” and “The animation is good overall and the colors seem to be thicker. The original anime was also good, so I’m looking forward to this.” “Blue Lock VS. U-20 JAPAN” is currently airing on TV Asahi’s nationwide “IMAnimation” slot every Saturday night from 11:30 pm.
