After failing to win the last football tournament of his middle school career, a young, determined, and arrogant Ashito Aoi finds himself at a loss after a violent incursion during the match ruins his chance at getting into his choice high school. Compounded by both financial burdens and a lack of interest outside the sport, Ashito can only hope to find a future opportunity in the sport he so beloved.
In a stroke of luck, that very day he is approached by a mysterious man named Tatsuya Fukuda who invites him to tryouts for Tokyo City Esperion FC of the J1 League, which is home to the bastion of youth development for Japanese football. Later learning Fukuda was a legendary player who had a fantastic career as a midfielder both domestically and abroad in La Liga, Ashito is supported by his family to take a chance at entering the professional field via this opportunity.
Upon arriving, however, Ashito is soon faced with the realization not only does he face rejection from his fellow Esperion players, but his own unskilled and self-centered way of football may be his greatest weakness. Nevertheless, he pushes onward to fulfill the dream of his brother, to repay his mother, and to become the number one forward in both Japan and the international stage at large.
Written and illustrated by Yūgo Kobayashi, Ao Ashinote is a seinen manga currently serialized in Weekly Big Comics Spirits since January 2015. A spin-off manga written by the same author, Ao Ashi Brotherfoot, was released in July 2021 focusing on Ashito's brother, Shun Aoi, in his journey in J2 League football back in Ehime. A TV adaptation produced by Production I.G premiered in April 2022.
Ao Ashi provides examples of:
- The Ace: Kuribayashi is a teenager around the same age as Ashito's group and he already plays with the senior team.
- Always Someone Better:
- Kuribayashi again, to everyone in Youth Esperion. As Kiriki puts it as he remembers when he first saw him practise at the club: "As soon as we saw him we thought, "Oh, I guess I'll be the second best.""
- Damien Kant to Kuribayashi, spanning around a decade. They met as kids young enough to join the Barcelona youth academy and Damien quickly developed beyond what Kuribayashi has expected.
- And Then What?: Ashito is constantly faced with not having any ambitions beyond his short term goals. When he learns of Kuribayashi's and Hana's separate goals he realises that he has to start thinking about his future and what he plans to do if he continues football.
- "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: Invoked by by childhood bullies toward Sammy, who was condemned by their coach for fighting back after being harassed after a match. In truth he and his brother are incredibly amiable, who only want to be known for their skills in football.
- Arc Words: "A man is but a thinking reed," a line said by Hana to Ashito based on a quote from Blaise Pascal's Pensées, which argues that although man is of a meek existence, its ability to think for itself makes it more valuable than those that cannot, which reflects Ashito's ability to make up for his average build and poor football skills with his immense spatial awareness and game sense.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Those who possess the "Eagle Eye" trait, such as Ashito and Kitano, are able to read the movement of players on the pitch which allows them to both predict future actions as well as direct their teammates toward successful plays.
- Berserk Button: Makimura of Aomori Seiran High School despises Esperion FC due to being a trainee who was dropped by Fukuda due to being too short to stay. He ended up with a vicious complex about his former team and his relatively shorter height for a goalkeeper which comes out in full force when the two clubs play for the championship.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Yoshitsune is the captain of Esperion FC Youth's A-team and the previous season's league top scorer. Off the pitch he is more childish, fanboying about Kuribayashi when the latter is forced to take a break from Esperion FC's senior team. However, he is able to shut up Akutsu during an international tour, without backtalk.
- Can't Catch Up:
- Due to the highly competitive atmosphere, players who fail to showcase talent in the clubs either go play in university for a late scouting, transfer to another school for a second chance, or simply retire to find a stable career. While acknowledged as harsh, this is done to both ensure quality and guarantee the player will not be left empty-handed in the case of not going pro.
- Ashito enters severe Heroic BSoD when thinking about Tripone from Funabashi FC and Kitano from Aomori Seiran High School after mentally breaking down after pushing himself to reach their level. It visualizes as him sinking to the bottom of a body of water as the other two rise to the surface.
- Career-Ending Injury:
- Ashito's brother Shun failed his youth tryouts at Ehime FC due to a condition. Brotherfoot then picks up five years later and this becomes subverted after his treatment ends and he is given another shot at playing football professionally.
- Fukuda had one before the beginning of the story, cutting his professional playing career short just as he was rising as one of Japan's best players. Chapter 336 showed that the knee injury that killed his career had been building since his days in the Japanese leagues but a tackle from behind while playing in Spain crippled it beyond repair.
- Child Prodigy:
- Kuribayashi is the Japanese prodigy among Ashito's age group. He not only trumps everyone of his peers to the extent that as a teenager he plays in the Esperion senior team, when he played casually in Spain as a 7-8yo he was scouted by Barcelona's youth academy.
- Damien Kant, Kuribayashi's personal rival. At first Kuribayashi was better than him but as soon as Damien learned through his Awesomeness by Analysis ability he became the better player.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Ashito and Ōtomo, both of Esperion FC. Ashito is initially very ignorant of the basic tactics of football and lacking the simplest skills like effective passing and ball-trapping. Once he understands what is being asked of him (one time greatly surprising Fukuda) he quickly develops multiple levels of the task he is given. Ōtomo is a Casanova Wannabe who goes feral when he thinks his teammates are having success with girls, and he tends to foam at the mouth before taking the field. Once he joins the action he is cool, calm and collected, even able to give firm instructions to his upperclassmen.
- Freudian Excuse: Akutsu is unabashedly a cruel player whose ego and poor demeanor make him unable to respect other players, often resorting to physical violence to demean and harass those he despises such as Ashito. He also comes from a broken home, forced to live in garbage and never looked at by his neglectful mother who abandoned him the first chance she got after he signed up with Esperion FC, with him subconsciously fearing being abandoned once more which pushes him to be the number one player so as to never relive such experiences ever again.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Played for laughs with Ōtomo who can't stand seeing his teammates hanging out with girls.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: The Rufin brothers of are mixed heritage, but despite being Japanese citizens are harassed for their Black heritage. This leads to Tripone wanting to prove himself on the world stage to show those like him there are those who will support them.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Ashito has his first when Fukuda tells him that he is no longer a forward and can only now play as a fullback. Hana has to find him at the bus stop and, along with an impromptu call to his mother, raise his spirits before he somewhat returned to normal. He has a second after experiencing the sheer gap between him and Tripone during the match against Funabashi which saw him red-carded. Along with discovering the prodigy Ren Kitano from Aomori Seiran High School, this state continues for a long while.
- Tachibana goes through this during the B-Team's losing streak. He feels he doesn't deserve his place as a starter and when the match against his former team Musashino approaches it just gets worse.
- Honor Before Reason: Subverted with Kiriki. When he has to captain the A-Team in Yoshitsune's absence he refuses to lower his ability to cater to the less-experienced and skilled members of the team. Fukuda says this is actually the best thing he can do because by dropping his own level he would be jeopardizing his own career and it's his teammates' responsibility to respond to him, not the other way around.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Tatsuya Fukuda was once considered by many the star player of Japan and a rising hopeful in Spain, being hailed by some as a possible contender for best player period of his era, but an unfortunate injury cut his career short leaving him unable to reenter the professional field.
- Downplayed with Shiba Akitaka. While he admits he wished to have played abroad, his time spent at Esperion FC effectively made the club what it is today, with his reputation effectively being one of the men who made Japanese football recognized on an international level.
- Idiot Hero: Played With Ashito, who although is a comparatively unskilled player to other Japanese youth players and admits he struggles to comprehend basic concepts, is of value specifically for his talent at reading and directing the field during matches that others cannot comprehend. A minor running gag consists of how he struggles to understand something so much that smoke comes out of his ears, to the extent that it shocks and impresses Fukuda when Ashito actually understands what he's being told to do.
- Innocently Insensitive: Observed by Fukuda during his time in Sabadell FC, where many players called him Chinonote without reflection, to which he argues as idols they have a responsibility to be better and avoid such casual racism.
- Jerkass:
- Nagisa Akutsu, a member of the A-Team in Esperion Youth. He hates Ashito, badmouthing him and assaulting him in equal measure. He very rarely has anything nice to say, even to his teammates. He looks down on the B-Team, considering them wastes of time and unwilling to accept them as part of the overall club. Even when he takes the captain's armband he remains as abrasive as ever, preferring to only refer to the teammates he already had and still ignoring everyone else.
- Kaneda, a dropout from the Esperion FC tryouts, looks down upon his fellow candidates and former teammates. He provokes fights from Ashito and condescends Tachibana, who used to play for the team that Haneda now does.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Brotherfoot begins after Ashito has joined the Esperion FC A-Team and had his first game at that level.
- Love Triangle: Between Ashito, Hana and Anri.
- One-Steve Limit:
- Aoi (surname), the main protagonist, and Aoi (given name), the female reporter who hangs around Esperion Youth.
- Opposing Combat Philosophies: A recurring trend lies in the various players, teams, and clubs all possessing differing ideas as to how football should be played. Such as with Esperion FC, which focuses on basing itself on European clubs, namely those in La Liga, whereas Aomori Seiran focuses on the values held by most Japanese high school clubs and is against the nature of youth development.
- Perpetual Smiler: Shimura is basically never seen without a smile.
- Pet the Dog: For as much as Akutsu would rather boot Ashito out of the club and out of his life, he does recognize him as a valuable asset as time goes on and that they both are from poor households with single mothers. When he notices Ashito wearing a new pair of boots gifted by his mother he sincerely praises them. He also has a terse but sincere heart-to-heart with Ashito during a half time break where he explains that any degree of going pro, whether it be overseas or a local professional club, still means going pro.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Anri gives one to Togashi for looking down on Ashito. She opens his eyes to the idea that Ashito can teach him something just as much as he can teach Ashito.
- Replacement Goldfish: Hana latches onto Ashito because he reminds her of Fukuda during his playing days. He catches onto this and, despite Hana denying it in a Tsundere-like manner, asks her to cheer for him because she wants to support him.
- Serious Business: Most of the players take the sport to extremes, becoming incredibly aggravated at the simple idea of losing in any capacity, or being out-shined by others. Justified, as if they ever underperform they are effectively kicked out of a possible professional career, meaning their entire time spent in youth development would be for nothing.
- Sliding Scale of Realistic vs. Fantastic: Ao Ashi tends to fall on more the realistic end of the spectrum, with the various tactics and techniques utilized being possible within the realm of reality.
- Teen Genius:
- Ren Kitano of Aomori Seiran High School, grown up from a Child Prodigy. He is the captain of his club as one of its younger members, already signed to a provisional contract with a professional club, and possesses the same "Eagle Eye" technique Ashito does.
- Motoki jumped straight to Esperion FC's A-Team's starting team upon entering the club. Ashito acknowledges just how brilliant he is in an inner monologue before sending him a pass that led to a goal against Aomori.
- Kuribayashi, again. His peers already knew he was on a whole other level when they started at the club as preteen youths and he's so good that he plays with Esperion FC's senior team. He eventually receives a contract offer that also allows him to play wherever he wants overseas once his time at Esperion is over.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Many of the various teams throughout the series, especially in Esperion FC, tend to have players with strong egos who conflict with their teammates more often than not. Nevertheless, it is expected for all to pick up the slack while on the pitch, and those who fail to contribute are harshly criticized for undermining the team's chance at victory.
- Tempting Fate: When the international tour rolls around Kiriki condescendingly wishes Akutsu well with the A-Team, assuming he's a shoe-in to be selected. It turns out he's the one who gets left behind for Akutsu, which provokes Akutsu to return the favor.
- Underdogs Never Lose Inverted for the most part with Esperion FC, who by their very nature are seen as the number one seed in the Japanese scene. Every team in the club, even B-Team, is seen as a Worthy Opponent by their rivals with a loss being seen as a monumental upset for all parties involved.
- Unique Protagonist Asset: The "Eagle Eye" that Ashito possesses is acknowledged as being extremely rare even at the professional level, allowing him a greater field of range that next to none can compete with barring the exceptions such as Tatsuya and Ren.
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Asari is the most stick-in-the-mud amongst the first years but that doesn't stop him hanging out with them and partipating in private practices (albeit unwillingly).
- Wax On, Wax Off: Aomori Seiran High School incorporates this into their football training. Due to the constant heavy snow players are tasked with shovelling and practices with the ball involve dealing with the harsh conditions.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Ashito gives himself a mental one when Otomo has to save a goal with his face during an interclub friendly. He chides himself for being hung up on his new position instead of buckling down and being a team player.
- In one of his few angry moments, Fukuda pulls Akutsu aside during a game and threatens to kick him off the A-Team if he keeps screwing around and ignoring Ashito. As he puts it, Akutsu should be using those around him as pawns rather than running around and picking up their slack.
- Worthy Opponent: Despite Ashito's trauma after playing against him and getting ejected via a red card, Tripone from Funabashi laments that they couldn't play against each other a second time. Kitano also recognises him before their match even starts and acknowledges him during the dying moments of the season-ending game between Esperion and Aomori when both players are fully utilising their "Eagle Eye" techniques.
