Manga

Ao Ashi (Native: アオアシ) is a seinen, sports manga series written by both Naohiko Ueno and Yuugo Kobayashi, though solely illustrated by Yuugo Kobayashi.

It first started serialisation in January 2015 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits and has amassed over 9 Million copies in circulation (for digital and spin-off) as of October 2021.

The series also has a spin off manga dedicated to Ashito's brother, Shun, titled Ao Ashi: Brother Foot which started publication in July 2021.

Plot
Ashito Aoi is a young, aspiring soccer player from a backwater town in Japan. His hopes of getting into a high school with a good soccer club are dashed when he causes an incident during a critical match for his team, which results in their loss and elimination from the tournament. Nevertheless, he catches the eye of someone important who happens to be visiting from Tokyo. That person is Tatsuya Fukuda, a coach for one of the top J-League club's youth team, aka Tokyo City Esperion FC. After spending time with Ashito and teaching him a few tricks, he sees potential in him and invites him to the selection tryouts.

Hopeful that his dream is not all lost, Ashito makes his way in the big city to continue his path toward becoming pro.

Navigation
↳ Volume Guide (This page includes release dates & ISBN numbers including a link to where you can purchase the series.)

Trivia

 * In 2020, it won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the general category.