We finally have a return date for one of the most popular ongoing anime shows – over a year after season 2 was announced

Blue Lock, the soccer series that enraptured a new generation of sports anime fans, is returning for a second season later this year.

As per the show’s official Twitter account, Blue Lock season 2 will hit our screens in October 2024. The announcement arrived accompanied by a new illustration of protagonist Isagi from manga artist Yusuke Nomura.

Debuting in 2022, the Blue Lock anime featured the madcap premise of Japan – fresh from being eliminated in the World Cup – on the search for a way to create the world’s greatest striker. The solution? Pit several of the nation’s greatest footballing wonderkids against each other in a prison-style facility with the aim of turning one of them into Japan’s leading forward. Obviously.

A second season was announced in March 2023 after the conclusion of its initial 24-episode run but, since then, we’ve heard very little about the show’s TV future.

In the interim, a Blue Lock movie (titled Episode Nagi) is on the way. Focusing on the precociously talented, yet often unmotivated Seishiro Nagi, the spin-off feature will be released on June 28 in the West.

The Blue Lock season 2 reveal is the latest fist-pumping news for sports anime fans. The Haikyu movie The Dumpster Battle is releasing in cinemas on May 31, with it being the first of a two-part farewell to Karasuno's volleyball team. 

On a general note, we can look forward to Demon Slayer season 4 this month. For more on that, check out the Demon Slayer season 4 release schedule – plus our long, long list of all the new anime out in 2024.