Many fans were gutted by the recent news that production for the highly anticipated prequel film for the wildly successful ice skating anime Yuri!!! On Ice, titled Ice Adolescence, has been permanently canceled by MAPPA. However, while mourning the loss of this film, sports anime lovers can find some salvation in looking forward to two other sports anime movies that will be playing in cinemas worldwide within the next few months.
First is HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle (also referred to as Battle at the Garbage Dump or Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump). After earning an impressive 8.5 billion yen (approximately 57 million USD) since its opening at the domestic box office in Japan on February 16, the film is coming to theaters in North America and the United Kingdom on May 31. You can view the full list of international release dates, including Latin America and francophone Europe, here. This movie serves as a direct sequel to the anime’s fourth season, Haikyu!! To The Top, which aired in 2020. It was said back in 2022 that the film would be split into two parts and cover the remaining 111 chapters of the manga, but there has been no word on the status of Part 2. You can watch the official Japanese trailer below:
Next is BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-. While most of its international release dates have yet to be announced, we do know that it is coming to North America on June 28. This film just opened in Japanese theaters this weekend, so we don’t know its domestic box office performance yet. It takes place before the events of the anime’s first season (which aired between 2022 and 2023) and focuses on supporting characters Seishiro Nagi and Reo Mikage rather than protagonist Yoichi Isagi. You can watch the official teaser trailer below:
