It has been announced that Season 2 of Grand Blue, a TV anime based on a manga currently being serialized in "good! Afternoon" (Kodansha), will be produced. Six years have passed since Season 1 was broadcast in 2018, and Season 2 is now in production. A teaser visual has been released, depicting members of the diving club Peek a Boo (commonly known as PaB) toasting under a summer sky.
Following on from Season 1, Season 2 will be directed, scripted, and sound directed by Takamatsu Shinji, and Zero G, who produced Season 1, will team up with Lieber to produce the anime. Uchida Yuuma will play the main character Kitahara Iori, and others will appear.
Original author Inoue Kenji commented, "I was very surprised and delighted when I heard that a second season of the anime was decided after six years. 'People are so interested in diving that they want a sequel even after such a long time!' It makes me very happy. This manga was originally intended to raise awareness of the marine sport of diving! I hope that through the second season of the anime, we can convey to even more people the wonders of the ocean, how to build friendships, the difficulty of physics experiments, and the importance of staying hydrated." An illustration celebrating the production of the second season by Yoshioka Kimitake, the creator of the original manga, was also released.
Director Takamatsu said, "Yeeeeeeeeyyyyy! After years of waiting, another season of the anime Grand Blue has come around! After all the mistakes made in the last broadcast, I thought there wouldn't be a second season, but I received the kind words, "Once the threat is over, whatever happens," and I'm back to take the reins as director. I'm so happy. The crazy days of diving, stripping, drinking, and partying are coming back. I can't contain my excitement! Please look forward to it!"
Uchida, who plays Kitahara Iori, commented, "Grand Blue!! It's finally back!!! In this day and age when compliance is definitely stricter than it was six years ago, what a surprise! The recording site was very heated, and we all laughed together while creating the last season. This time too, I'll do my best to make sure everyone enjoys the world of Grand Blue! Let's all drink, strip down, and dive in! Let's toast to a drink!!!!"
Kimura Ryohei, who plays Imamura Kohei, said, "Even the cast thought it was a miracle that Grand Blue would be made into an anime, and who would have thought that there would be a second season?! Please enjoy their silly yet incredibly fun youth together! Cheers!!!!"
Yasumoto Hiroki, who plays Tokita Shinji, commented, "I can enter the world of Grand Blue again. I'm happy. I'm so happy. But will it be okay? Won't the bosses scold me? And will this time we really have a great diving romantic comedy? Or will there be a lot of alcohol, muscles, and nudity? I don't know! But I'm looking forward to it. I hope everyone will wait naked while they wait."
Konishi Katsuyuki, who plays Kotobuki Ryujiro, said, "With the decision to make a second season of the TV anime Grand Blue, the nude youth diving comedy, I'm excited that the festival will start again! It's amazing that it's coming back after six years, and I'm glad we've received so many requests for it to come back from all of you! Drink! Play! We'll do the voice recording! Make sure you watch it!"
Anzai Chika, who plays Kotegawa Chisa, said, "It's been six years since then... that passionate youth is back in the anime...! It's all thanks to the support of Grand Blue fans. Thank you! I'm really looking forward to seeing the beautiful sea and thrilling love stories! I think it's a pure and lovely story, just like the radio show celebrating the 10th anniversary of the original work. Let's enjoy it together!" Maaya Uchida, who plays Nanaka Kotegawa, said, "Congratulations on the decision to make a second season of the Grand Blue anime! I've been waiting for this moment to come! I'm excited to think that I can spend that summer again. There's no doubt that Grand Blue with this cast will be the best! I hope everyone looks forward to the broadcast!"
Toa Yukinari, who plays Azusa Hamaoka, commented, "Wow... it's finally coming back!!! The show and the filming are so amazing! It's really hard to hold back the laughter during each recording. I'm so happy to be able to get together with such great friends again... thank you so much!!! Azusa-san! And everyone at PaB! See you again!!! Let's laugh and drink a lot! ☆ Cheers!"
Asumi Kana, who plays Yoshiwara Mana, said, "I'll say what everyone is probably saying and thinking. Are you serious? Are you sane? Are you okay?! (laughs). But actually, it's definitely a good work, full of passion and emotion, and I love it so I'm very happy to be able to play Mana again. Maybe she'll have a change of heart (or go crazy?) and it'll become a real, sparkling youth story...!? Anyway, please look forward to it in many ways!!"
To commemorate the decision to make Season 2, Kodansha's web manga service "Magapoke" and other sites will be running a free campaign for "almost all episodes" of the original manga, excluding the latest chapter. The campaign will run for 96 hours only from September 30th to October 3rd, in honor of Spiritus' 96% alcohol content.
"Grand Blue" is based on a manga written by Inoue, who is known for "Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu," and illustrated by Yoshioka. The story is about the protagonist, Iori Kitahara, who moves into his uncle's seaside house when he goes to college, and meets passionate men who devote their youth to scuba diving, and his cousin who grows up to be beautiful. Season 1 of the TV anime aired from July to September 2018. A live-action film starring actors Ryo Ryusei and Takato Inukai was released in August 2020, which also became a hot topic.
◇Staff (titles omitted)
Director, scriptwriter, and sound director: Shinji Takamatsu▽Character design and chief animation director: Hideoki Kusama▽Chief animation director: Yoichi Ueda▽Art director: Reiji Kasuga▽Prop design: jimao▽Color design: Aiko Matsuyama▽Director of photography: Naoyuki Kato▽Editing: Shun Tokuda▽Sound production: Saber Links▽Music: Yukari Hashimoto▽Animation production: Zero G x Lieber
◇Cast (respectful) (abbreviated title)
Kitahara Iori: Uchida Yuuma▽Imamura Kohei: Kimura Ryohei▽Tokida Shinji: Yasumoto Hiroki▽Kotobuki Ryujiro: Konishi Katsuyuki▽Furukawa Chisa: Anzai Chika▽Furukawa Nanaka: Uchida Maaya▽Hamaoka Azusa: Yukinari Toa▽Yoshihara Mana: Asumi Kana▽Nojima Hajime: Eguchi Takuya▽Yamamoto Shinichiro: Enoki Junya▽Mitarai Yu: Hanae Natsuki▽Fujiwara Kenta: Robert Waterman▽Kudou Chairman: Fukuyama Jun▽Furukawa Toshio: Kawada Shinji▽Mizuki Kaya: Mizuki Nana
