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Blue Lock-Inspired Soccer Tournament in Dallas Slated For April 8

A soccer tournament inspired by the Blue Lock anime will take place in Dallas on Saturday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m. CDT (9:00 p.m. EDT). Crunchyroll, Saturdays Football, and the LA Galaxy soccer club are teaming up to host the tournament, which will also mark the release of Crunchyroll's final English-dubbed episode.

The following members of the English dub cast plan to attend the tournament:

• Ricco Fajardo (English voice of Isagi)
• Drew Breedlove (English voice of Bachira)
• Bryson Baugus (English voice of Nagi)
• Alex Hom (English voice of Kunigami)
• Matthew Elkins (English voice of Zantetsu)

The tournament will be held at Crossbar in Richardson, TX, just north of Dallas. Entry is free, but requires RSVP through EventBrite.

Inspired by the intense competitions depicted in the Blue Lock anime series, players will engage in a 3 vs. 3 “King of the Court” format across multiple fields that will take place over the course of 90 minutes of play. At the end of the 90 minutes, the four teams on the top two courts will play against each other in a semi-final match, with the winners going head to head in a final game to determine the ultimate victor.

The winning team will exclusively receive a prize back of Blue Lock merchandise. All participants will receive a free trial code to watch Blue Lock on Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll, Saturdays Football, and the LA Galaxy soccer club previously hosted another Blue Lock-inspired soccer tournament in Los Angeles on March 25.

Kodansha Comics is publishing Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura's manga in English digitally and in print, and it describes the story:

After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan's team struggles to regroup. But what's missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win. The Japan Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match...and to do so, they've gathered 300 of Japan's best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team...and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?

Kaneshiro and Nomura launched the ongoing manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018. The manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award in Kodansha's 45th annual Manga Awards last year.

The manga is inspiring a television anime that premiered on October 8 and is ongoing. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs, and started streaming the anime's English dub on October 22.

Source: Press Release