Comedy Manga 'Grand Blue' Spawns Anime Adaptation [Update 3/1]

by removed-user
Feb 27, 2018 9:58 AM | 84 Comments

This year's April issue of Kodansha's good! Afternoon magazine will reveal on its release on March 7 that an anime adaptation for the comedy manga Grand Blue has been green-lit. Avex Pictures' booth at AnimeJapan 2018 will be featuring the series with more information.

Synopsis
Among the seaside town of Izu's ocean waves and rays of shining sun, Iori Kitahara is just beginning his freshman year at Izu University. As he moves into his uncle's scuba diving shop, Grand Blue, he eagerly anticipates his dream college life, filled with beautiful girls and good friends.

But things don't exactly go according to plan. Upon entering the shop, he encounters a group of rowdy, naked upperclassmen, who immediately coerce him into participating in their alcoholic activities. Though unwilling at first, Iori quickly gives in and becomes the heart and soul of the party. Unfortunately, this earns him the scorn of his cousin, Chisa Kotegawa, who walks in at precisely the wrong time. Undeterred, Iori still vows to realize his ideal college life, but will things go according to plan this time, or will his situation take yet another dive? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kenji Inoue pens the story of Grand Blue with illustrations by Kimitake Yoshioka. It has been serialized monthly in the magazine since April 2014. Kodansha has published nine compiled manga volumes with the latest shipped on October 6 last year, with the tenth volume scheduled to be released on March 7. The series won at the 41st Kodansha Manga Awards under the General category.

Kodansha Comics USA has been publishing the manga digitally in English as Grand Blue Dreaming since September 2017. The fifth volume of the manga was recently released in January this year.

Source: Yaraon

Update March 1

An official website and Twitter account opened revealing a key visual (pictured right; featuring characters Iori Kitahara and Chisa Kotegawa) and cooperative enterprises involved in the anime's production. Main staff members were also listed. The TV anime is slated for Summer 2018 broadcast.

Staff
Director, Script, Sound Director: Shinji Takamatsu (Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou)
Character Design: Hideoki Kusama (Battery)
Studio: Zero-G

PV

Official site: http://grandblue-anime.com/
Official Twitter: @gb_anime

Source: Moca News

Grand Blue on MAL

20 of 84 Comments Recent Comments

i'll think about reading the manga before the anime comes out.

May 2, 2018 8:39 AM by Katholic

Wasshio said:
Let me guess. You pretty much regretted what you said prior? xD

But hey it happens to anyone with series to be fair so xP

Of course there's no way I wouldn't want to not properly retract from what I hadn't said.

And who knows, maybe more readers will give this manga a shot and not just drop it after chapter 4 or 5. The start was really random but the manga actually did great on setting up the character traits. I found myself laughing at the punch moments of the situations even before they are shown in much later chapters, like around chapters 10 and beyond because I could already see it where it was heading. It has the classic Baka to Test punch moments in it. And then there are absolutely random moments as well.

And like many others said, it does have the same feel like Gintama. Like those classic moments when you can tell what a certain character is gonna do even before they do it and start laughing because you know how retarded yet hilarious that would turn out to be!

Mar 5, 2018 12:01 PM by shanimebib

shanimebib said:

shanimebib said:
Good for the fans. But the news was already available since early Jan.

Read the first few chapters of the manga but it didn't really catch me after I was recommended by multiple users. I will see how it goes when the anime becomes available.

OMG! I AM STRIKING OFF WHAT I SAID ABOUT THIS MANGA! I DROPPED THIS MANGA AFTER CHAPTER 5 BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD GIVE THIS ANOTHER SHOT AND EVERYTHING FROM CHAPTER 7 HAS BEEN A BLAST! I HAD A LOT OF LAUGH TO THE POINT MY SIDES HURT LIKE CRAZY! AND I JUST REALIZED THE AUTHOR IS THE SAME AS BAKA TO TEST! AND NOW WE HAVE GINTAMA'S DIRECTOR ON BOARD!

Let me guess. You pretty much regretted what you said prior? xD

But hey it happens to anyone with series to be fair so xP

Mar 5, 2018 11:29 AM by removed-user

Mar 4, 2018 10:38 PM by shanimebib

Come on people you really shouldn't take someone who spouts "Overrated" as an argument seriously.

Clearly he had too much Oolong Tea (PAB style).................-_-

Mar 3, 2018 12:49 AM by Dragon_Slayer_X

keragamming said:
This manga is soooo not funny! and those face expression are horrible looking. Overrated to the core.

You have to much free time to post on a news about a manga you don't like so it really looks like you are looking for a fight.
You should just stay in the shounen manga section.

Mar 2, 2018 11:37 AM by Himawari9

Kittens-kun said:

keragamming said:

It does not deserve the score it has, therefore it is overrated to me, that is it. Not trying to change anyone mind on this series, just stating my opinion of it, just like everyone else, the only difference is that im on the negative side of this.

No, you're trying to bait people into an argument. Why else would you post in a news thread about a series you don't like? Only trolls would do it.

just ignore him, comedy probably wasnt his favorite genre. i probably seen him multiple time on grand blue thread just to bash on it

Mar 1, 2018 8:02 PM by marmondesu

keragamming said:

GoldenDevilGamer said:

There's a difference between not liking something and something being "overrated". Actually, the concept of 'overrated' is something that never works for anything, or else you'll be making a subjective statement (since not liking something that the majority likes ≠ overrated, since it's simply a matter of preference). And comedy is the most subjective genre for any medium and Grand Blue's sense of humor is simply not for you.

No, you're trying to bait people into an argument. Why else would you post in a news thread about a series you don't like? Only trolls would do it.

Mar 1, 2018 6:37 PM by TsukuyomiREKT

DatRandomDude said:

GoldenDevilGamer said:
A Gintama director working on a comedy anime is basically a recipe for success. As long as the source material is solid, Takamatsu can make a great anime out of it. Not to mention that his work tends to have the best voice actors you could ask for. Hopefully Kamiya as Iori and Sugita as Kouhei actually happens!!! PURIIZU!

Studio is pretty mediocre, but at least the director's good (because in a comedy series, directing is more important that production values. Besides, Battery had good production values.

PV is really troll though, as it's trying to fool the audience into believing that diving is the main focus of the series XD

Sugita is almost a given since he seems to always pop-up in his directed animes these days (Hes only missing in Nanbaka)

Yeah, ever since Gintama, Sugita's been a regular for Takamatsu. Hopefully he does get the casting for Kouhei :D

Mar 1, 2018 6:25 PM by GoldenDevilGamer

Sugita is almost a given since he seems to always pop-up in his directed animes these days (Hes only missing in Nanbaka)

Mar 1, 2018 4:33 PM by DatRandomDude

A Gintama director working on a comedy anime is basically a recipe for success. As long as the source material is solid, Takamatsu can make a great anime out of it. Not to mention that his work tends to have the best voice actors you could ask for. Hopefully Kamiya as Iori and Sugita as Kouhei actually happens!!! PURIIZU!

Mar 1, 2018 2:21 PM by GoldenDevilGamer

This is going to be Zero-G biggest project yet. (By biggest i mean this a popular manga compared to Tsugumomo). I trust Zero-G, they animated Tsugumomo better than i expected to be and convinced me to check out the manga. Too bad the BD sales are pretty low so i can't see a Season 2 coming.

Mar 1, 2018 2:09 PM by PolarCyrus97

Wasn't expecting Zero-G but hey they got the best pick for director for this series, nice!

Mar 1, 2018 9:25 AM by removed-user

holy fuck shinji takamatsu is perfect for this, for those unaware he did the first 105 episodes of gintama while doing tons of work for the rest of the series after that just not as the director, he also did sakamoto ixion saga and daily lives of high school boys.

the studio is a tad worrying, but im trusting shinji with this.

DatRandomDude said:
Zero-G is pretty bleh, however who cares when you have the best director possible to direct this anime.

Yeah im pretty hopeful for this just cause of him, though no offense to his legacy but i do think hes the 2nd best pick not the best, I think yoichi fujita would of been the best possible pick cause generally he has a way with art direction that takamatsu kind of lacks. Almost every show fujita mans has really good animation for great physical comedy.

then again grand blue is more reliant on uber detailed stills which takamatsu nails the timing of. still not to take away from the man talent, im uber excited they got him to do it.

I just realized, sugita is,in literally every show takamatsu has done in the last like half decade, so im gonna go on a whim and say sugita as kyohei confirmed

Mar 1, 2018 7:14 AM by JizzyHitler

News Update

Mar 1, 2018 6:52 AM by tsubasalover

Zero-G is pretty bleh, however who cares when you have the best director possible to direct this anime.

Mar 1, 2018 5:11 AM by DatRandomDude

GoldenDevilGamer said:

keragamming said:
This manga is soooo not funny! and those face expression are horrible looking. Overrated to the core.

Feb 28, 2018 1:52 PM by keragamming

Hope they will do the source material justice

Feb 28, 2018 11:48 AM by DankSgt

No manga deserves it more. I just hope that they'll be able to adapt the comedy well.

Feb 28, 2018 8:43 AM by Optim

Looking forward to see it. I hope the adaptation will be handled by JC Staff because of the previous work on Prison School. The art style would suit well for Grand Blue.

Feb 28, 2018 4:55 AM by AdrianRubinsky

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