Aoharu Once More Keeps Its Drama CD Voices for TV. Blue Lock’s Isagi and Bachira Are the Couple

The light anime of Toworu Miyata’s boys’ love manga Aoharu Once More starts on TV Tokyo in January 2027, and it keeps both voices from its drama CD. Blue Lock fans will know them: Kazuki Ura, the voice of Yoichi Isagi, and Tasuku Kaito, the voice of Meguru Bachira, are the leads again, and they’ll talk about it on stage at a preview screening in Tokyo on 22 December.

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The cast, the broadcast window and a first teaser went out on 11 November through the show’s official website and the BALLOON label’s channels. Tasuku Kaito plays Hayato Kobayashi and Kazuki Ura plays Ritsu Onishi. That’s the same pairing listeners first heard on the Aoharu Once More drama CD, so neither part has been recast for television.

For anyone who follows voice casting in anime, that’s the detail worth noticing. A drama CD is an audio-only story, recorded by voice actors with no animation at all. When a title moves from CD to screen, the CD cast isn’t guaranteed to come along. Here both did.

The two actors also share a famous history. In Blue Lock, Ura’s Isagi and Kaito’s Bachira are teammates and close friends on the pitch, and Ura’s Isagi was his first lead role. According to his Japanese Wikipedia entry, it won him Best Lead Actor at the 18th Seiyu Awards in 2024. Kaito, who is with the agency Production Baobab, has played Bachira across both Blue Lock series and the film Blue Lock: Episode Nagi.

Hear the voices: Tasuku Kaito speaks as Hayato from the first second, and Kazuki Ura comes in as Ritsu at 0:11, in the official teaser. Video: BALLOON Project, on YouTube

Back in the booth, less than a year later

Both actors sent comments to the official website, and both talk about the drama CD first. Kaito says he was “really happy” to work on Aoharu Once More again, this time as a short anime. “It brought back memories of recording the drama CD, and a little nostalgia too. Although it hasn’t even been a year (laughs),” he says.

He also gives a small look inside the session. “This time again, I chatted happily with Mr. Ura, who plays Ritsu, about things that come up in the story while we recorded,” Kaito says. “This time, with the help of the pictures, I think we can bring you a different Aoharu Once More.”

Ura sounds just as pleased to be back. “Ever since I voiced Ritsu on the drama CD, I’ve been completely swept up in the youth this story has,” he says, “so I’m full of happiness that I get to meet Ritsu and the others again!” He adds that with the story reaching television, he recorded with everything he had, so that many more people can find out what makes it special.

Tasuku Kaito (Hayato) and Kazuki Ura (Ritsu). Photos: Aoharu Once More official website. Composite image: Voice Over Herald

That’s a familiar route for voice actors in Japan. Drama CDs have long been part of how boys’ love manga reach fans in Japan, and they’re often the first time a manga’s characters are heard at all. When the same cast carries over, fans who bought the CD hear the voices they already know, and the actors get to build on a performance instead of starting again.

What a light anime is, and why the voices matter so much

Aoharu Once More isn’t a standard TV anime. It’s a light anime, a format that Anime News Network reports was spearheaded by the printing company Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) “to create animation at a lower cost” and on a more “timely” schedule than the usual production workflow.

Miyata, the manga’s author, says so directly in a comment on the official site. “This time it’s a light anime, a format a little different from regular anime, but I’d be glad if you enjoy the new Aowan!” Aowan is the fans’ short name for the series.

The show belongs to BALLOON, a boys’ love label that IMAGICA Infos launched with DNP, CYBIRD and BLUE RIGHTS. Anime News Network reports that it’s the label’s third project, after Saioshi no Gikei o Mederu Tame, Nagaikishimasu! and Perfect Addiction, and that BALLOON “aims to produce four new titles in the 2026 fiscal year, with a goal of establishing a workflow capable of producing 10 or more projects a year by 2028.”

For working voice actors, that’s the part to watch. A format built to move faster and cost less puts more weight on the soundtrack, because the voices have to carry scenes that a full TV anime would carry with movement. Kaito’s line about “the help of the pictures” hints at the same balance from the other side. If the label hits its own target, these shows will need a lot more casts, and a drama CD role could become one of the more reliable doors into a TV credit.

Behind the microphones, Tadashi Jinbo is the sound director, Toshiya Wada handles sound effects and ASLEBEN is the sound production company. Rikako Machida directs at IMAGICA Infos and Imageworks Studio, and Morrigan (WAVE) writes the music.

The story they’re voicing

Hayato and Ritsu were never quite a couple at school. The official site describes how Hayato kissed Ritsu in an empty school library one afternoon, and how Ritsu let it happen without either of them ever naming what they were. High school ended, and only years later did Hayato realize he had been in love.

Then the two meet again at work. Hayato, the official character page says, is popular but hasn’t had a partner since junior high. Ritsu spent his school years on the library committee and seems to accept Hayato’s kiss as if nothing happened, though the site hints that his real feelings run deeper. Hayato’s answer to their reunion is the title: he suggests they try youth once more.

The teaser leans on exactly that. It opens on Hayato’s voice looking back at one summer, and then gives Ritsu the doubts he never said out loud. In 35 seconds, the two performances do most of the storytelling.

Tokyopop has licensed the manga for an English release, Anime News Network reports, so readers outside Japan have a way into the story before the anime arrives. No English dub or streaming partner had been announced as of 11 November.

Meet the voices on 22 December

The show’s first public outing comes before broadcast. BALLOON has announced a preview screening with a cast talk at Animate Theater in Higashi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, on 22 December. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m. local time. Kaito and Ura are both booked for the talk session, and goods using the key art will be on sale at the venue.

Tickets cost 3,000 yen plus tax, with a 150 yen system fee, and they’re being handed out by lottery through LivePocket, with the advance lottery opening at noon Tokyo time on 11 November. The organizers say event details may change without notice.

Hayato and Ritsu. Image: © Toworu Miyata, Shucream / Aoharu Once More Production Committee

For Blue Lock fans, it’s a chance to hear Isagi and Bachira’s voices in a very different kind of story, side by side again. For anyone who records audio drama, it’s a neat example of a CD cast being trusted with the next step. And for the light anime format, January will be a real test of how far two voices and a set of beautiful drawings can go.

Sources: Aoharu Once More official website (cast comments, story and character pages); AnimationID news releases of 11 November 2026 on the cast, teaser and preview screening; Anime News Network, on the cast and the Tokyopop licence, and on Perfect Addiction and the BALLOON label (30 May 2026); Wikipedia (Japanese), on Kazuki Ura and Tasuku Kaito; Wikipedia, List of Blue Lock characters. Quotations from Japanese sources are translated by Voice Over Herald. Images: © Toworu Miyata, Shucream / Aoharu Once More Production Committee. Video: BALLOON Project, on YouTube.

Lee este artículo en español: Aoharu Once More conserva las voces de su drama CD para la TV. Isagi y Bachira de Blue Lock son la pareja

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