is a Japanese

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by . It has been serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's ' website and ' app since April 2017. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with its headquarters in their Tama, Tokyo, Tama City studio and an administrative office in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō. Nippon Animation is known for prod ...

aired from April to October 2023. A second season is set to premiere in Q4 2025. By December 2021, ''Ao no Orchestra'' had over 3.3 million copies in circulation. In 2023, the manga won the 68th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is ...

for the category.

Plot

Hajime Aono, a boy who loved to play his violin and one who used to win many prizes in violin competitions, had greatly admired his father a professional violinist. After a bittersweet divorce of his parents, caused by headlines of his father's scandalous affair, Aono swears to never touch the violin again. In his last year of middle school, Aono comes across an aspiring violinist Ritsko Akine, who loves to play in the infirmary. After meeting a few times, and Aono showing interest in her 'horrible' playing skills, he is set up to teach her by a teacher. This teacher later pushes him to regain his talent by joining the orchestra club at a prestigious high school, which have won national competitions eight years in a row. Once persuaded, Aono and Akine manage to get accepted to this prestigious school after diligently studying. After his opening ceremony into high school where the orchestra club gave a performance, he has a look around the orchestra club along with Akine where he meets Nao Saeki, a violin genius who has achieved the top score in many competitions and was admitted to the school purely on musical talent. From there on, they compete in their violin skills within the orchestra club.

Characters

; : :Hajime's violin performances are performed by Ryota Higashi. ; : :Ritsuko's violin performances are performed by Yurie Yamada. ; : :Nao's violin performances are performed by Takuto Owari. ; : :Haru's violin performances are performed by Kyoko Ogawa. ; : :Ichirō's cello performances are performed by Harumi Sato. ; : :Shizuka's violin performances are performed by Karen Kido. ; : :Yō's violin performances are performed by Tomotaka Seki. ; : :Sō's violin performances are performed by María Dueñas. ; : :Ryūjin's violin performances are performed by

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemp ...

. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; :

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by , ''Ao no Orchestra'' started in

's ' app on April 25, 2017; it also started in Shogakukan's ' website a week later on May 2. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on July 19, 2017. As of March 12, 2025, 12 volumes have been released.

Elex Media Komputindo Elex Media Komputindo is a publishing company in Indonesia that publishes books, comics, magazines, novels and other print media. Established on January 15, 1985, Elex Media Komputindo is a subsidiary of Kompas Gramedia Group. Elex is headquarte ...

has licensed the manga in Indonesia since 2019.

Volumes

Anime

In April 2022, it was announced that the series would receive an

television series adaptation. The series is produced by

and directed by

Seiji Kishi is a Japanese animation director. Works Anime series *'' Yugo the Negotiator: Pakistan Chapter'' (2004) – Director *''Ragnarok the Animation'' (2004) – Director, Storyboard *'' Magikano'' (2006) – Director, Storyboard *'' Galaxy Angel II' ...

, with scripts written by Yūko Kakihara, character designs handled by Kazuaki Morita, and violinist performances for the character Hajime Aono by Ryota Higashi. It aired from April 9 to October 8, 2023, on

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, documentaries, cultural, children's or intellectual n ...

, with Plus Media Networks Asia handled Southeast Asia release for simulcast premiere on

Aniplus Asia Aniplus Inc. () is a South Korean television channel and anime distributor. Founded in 2004, the company also operates different businesses including a video on demand platform and a merchandising arm in its own country. Aniplus is owned by JJ ...

. The opening theme is "Cantabile", performed by Novelbright, while the ending theme is , performed by Yuika. After the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced to be in production. The season is set to premiere in Q4 2025 and will consist of 21 episodes.

Episodes

Other media

A promotional video featuring ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' musical

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

The Imperial March "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" is a musical theme present in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It was composed by John Williams for the film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Together with "Yoda's Theme", "The Imperial March" premiered on Apri ...

", composed by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

, and including illustrations from the manga, was uploaded by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on May 4, 2022, to celebrate ''Star Wars'' Day and Williams' 90th birthday.

Reception

By December 2021, the manga had over 3.3 million copies in circulation. In 2023, ''Ao no Orchestra'' won the 68th

in the category, along with ''

Call of the Night is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 2019 to January 2024. In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Viz Media. ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Nippon Animation Anime series based on manga Coming-of-age anime and manga Drama anime and manga Japanese webcomics Music in anime and manga NHK original programming Nippon Animation Shōnen manga Shogakukan manga Upcoming anime television series Webcomics in print Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga Works about violins and violinists