Blue Orchestra (Japanese: 青のオーケストラ, Hepburn: Ao no Ōkesutora) is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Akui. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website and MangaONE app since April 2017. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nippon Animation aired from April to October 2023. A second season aired from October 2025 to March 2026.
By December 2021, the Blue Orchestra manga had over 3.3 million copies in circulation. In 2023, the manga won the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category.
Contents
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, Hajime swears to never touch the violin again. In his last year of middle school, Hajime comes across an aspiring violinist Ritsuko Akine, who loves to play in the infirmary. After meeting a few times, and Hajime 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, Hajime and Ritsuko 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 Ritsuko 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 Aono (青野 一, Aono Hajime)
Voiced by: Shōya Chiba
Hajime's violin performances are performed by Ryota Higashi.
Ritsuko Akine (秋音 律子, Akine Ritsuko)
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma
Ritsuko's violin performances are performed by Yurie Yamada.
Nao Saeki (佐伯 直, Saeki Nao)
Voiced by: Shimba Tsuchiya
Nao's violin performances are performed by Takuto Owari.
Haru Kozakura (小桜 ハル, Kozakura Haru)
Voiced by: Minako Satō
Haru's violin performances are performed by Kyoko Ogawa.
Ichirō Yamada (山田 一郎, Yamada Ichirō)
Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa
Ichirō's cello performances are performed by Harumi Sato.
Shizuka Tachibana (立花 静, Tachibana Shizuka)
Voiced by: Lynn
Shizuka's violin performances are performed by Karen Kido.
Yō Hatori (羽鳥 葉, Hatori Yō)
Voiced by: Shintarō Asanuma
Yō's violin performances are performed by Tomotaka Seki.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Makoto Akui, Blue Orchestra started in Shogakukan's MangaONE app on April 25, 2017; it also started in Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website a week later on May 2. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on July 19, 2017. As of April 10, 2026, 15 volumes have been released.
Elex Media Komputindo has licensed the manga in Indonesia since 2019.
Anime
In April 2022, an anime television series adaptation was announced. It is produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Seiji Kishi, with series composition by Yūko Kakihara, character designs handled by Kazuaki Morita, and violinist performances for the character Hajime Aono by Ryota Higashi. The series aired from April 9 to October 8, 2023, on NHK Educational TV. The opening theme song is "Cantabile", performed by Novelbright, while the ending theme song is "Yūsari no Canon" (夕さりのカノン, Yūsari no Kanon), performed by Yuika.
Following the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced to be in production. The season aired from October 5, 2025, to March 1, 2026. The opening theme song is "Amadeus" (アマデウス, Amadeusu), performed by Galileo Galilei, while the ending theme song is "Ao no Mahō" (青の魔法; lit. 'Blue Magic'), performed by ChoQMay.
Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia for simulcast release on Aniplus Asia.
Other media
A promotional video featuring Star Wars musical theme "The Imperial March", composed by John Williams, and including illustrations from the manga, was uploaded by Deutsche Grammophon's YouTube 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, Blue Orchestra won the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category, along with Call of the Night.