Ao Ashi Creator Congratulates Spain on World Cup Victory with Hand-Drawn Illustration of Lamine Yamal

The creator of the popular soccer manga Ao Ashi, Kobayashi Yugo-sensei, has shared a hand-drawn illustration on the official X (formerly Twitter) account to celebrate Spain’s victory in the recently concluded World Cup. The post, made on July 20 Japan time, has quickly garnered widespread praise from fans.

Ao Ashi has been serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits since 2015. The story follows Aoi Ashito, a junior high school student from Ehime Prefecture who meets Tatsuya Fukuda, the coach of the youth team for the J-League powerhouse Tokyo City Esperion. Invited to try out, Ashito moves to Tokyo and strives to become a professional soccer player through repeated setbacks and growth. The first TV anime season aired from April to September 2022, earning acclaim for its realistic soccer depiction and relatable character development, capturing the hearts of both anime fans and sports enthusiasts. The second season, Ao Ashi Season 2, is scheduled to air starting October 2026.

In the celebratory post, Kobayashi-sensei wrote, “Beautiful kingdom of football. Congratulations Spain! Kobayashi Yugo,” and included a hand-drawn portrait of Spanish player Lamine Yamal. The illustration quickly drew reactions such as “Kobayashi-sensei is so good at capturing features,” “The kingly aura of Yamal drawn by Kobayashi-sensei is too intense!” “As expected of his drawing skill,” “A permanent keepsake,” and “So good it’s funny.” Many comments of praise also came from Spanish fans.

The World Cup final, held on July 20 Japan time (July 19 local time), saw Spain defeat Argentina 1-0 to claim the championship.