VIZ Media has acquired rights to the Captain Tsubasa: Junior Youth Arc anime, based off the popular sporting manga created by Yoichi Takahashi. The deal struck with Shueisha Inc. includes digital streaming, TV, EST, home video and merchandise rights for North and Latin American territories. The series is set to launch in October 2023.
First serialized in 1981 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the soccer manga Captain Tsubasa centers on its main protagonist, Tsubasa Ozora. With a gauntlet of distinctive and unique characters, outrageous soccer attacks — like the famous Drive Shot and Skylab Hurricane — and intense battles on the turf, Captain Tsubasa has won over manga fans and professional athletes the world over. To date, the series has reached sales of over 90 million volumes (paper and digital) worldwide.
Synopsis: In Captain Tsubasa: Junior Youth Arc, the International Junior Youth Tournament in Paris, France, is about to begin, and Tsubasa, Misaki, Wakabayashi, Hyuga and Wakashimazu are ready. Japan’s team of elite players is to face off against the best the soccer world has to offer. Germany’s Schneider, France’s Pierre, Argentina’s Diaz, and Italy’s Hernandez await, along with a host of other new rivals. Let the battle begin!
Studio KAI (Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, 7 Seeds, The Prince of Tennis II, The New Prince of Tennis) is handling the production. The new series is being directed by Katsumi Ono (Yu-Gi-Oh! and Senki Zesshō Symphogear G franchises), with Captain Tsubasa veterans Hajime Watanabe and Atsuhiro Tomioka returning for character design/executive animation direction and series composition, respectively.
Voice Cast (Japanese):
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- Yuko Sanpei as Tsubasa Ozora
- Jun Fukuyama as Karl Heinz Schneider
- Kenichi Suzumura as Genzo Wakabayashi
- Takuya Sato as Kojiro Hyuga
- Ayaka Fukuhara as Taro Misaki
- Yuichiro Umehara as Ken Wakashimazu
- Mutsumi Tamura as Ryo Ishizaki
- Wataru Hatano as Hikaru Matsuyama
- Soma Saito as Jun Misugi
In North America, fans can stream the preceding season, Captain Tsubasa (2018) on Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV and Roku; the show is also available for purchase on Amazon, GooglePlay, iTunes, Microsoft and VUDU.
