Inazuma Eleven (TV series)

Inazuma Eleven (anime)

Company type	Animated television series
Industry	Entertainment, Animation
Predecessor	Level-5 video game franchise
Founded	October 5, 2008 (2008-10-05)
Founder	Katsuhito Akiyama (director), OLM (producer), Level-5, TV Tokyo
Defunct	April 27, 2011 (2011-04-27)
Area served	Japan, United States (Hulu, Nintendo 3DS eShop)
Products	Animated TV series episodes (127 episodes)
Parent	OLM, Level-5, TV Tokyo

Inazuma Eleven is an animated Japanese TV series inspired by the video game franchise developed by Level-5. The show, directed by Katsuhito Akiyama and produced by OLM, consists of a total of 127 episodes.

The broadcast took place on TV Tokyo from October 5, 2008, through April 27, 2011, with production efforts shared among Level-5, TV Tokyo, and OLM.

In the United States, the initial 26 episodes were made available on Hulu, while the first three episodes were released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop to coincide with the North American debut of the original game.

Music

Throughout the series, thirteen distinct theme music tracks are featured—six openings performed by T-Pistonz+KMC and seven ending themes. The opening songs include "Tachiagari-yo" (episodes 1–26), "Maji de Kansha!" (27–54), "Tsunagari-yo" (55–67), "Katte Nakou ze!" (68–87), "GOOD Kita!" (88–107), and "Bokura no Goal!" (starting from episode 108). The closing themes begin with "Seishun Oden" by Twel'v (episodes 1–26), followed by five tracks by Berryz Kobo: "Seishun Bus Guide" (27–50), "Ryūsei Boy" (51–67), "Otakebi Boy WAO!" (68–87), "Maji Bomber!!" (88–101), and "Shining Power" (102–112). The concluding ending theme, "Mata ne... no Kisetsu," is delivered by Inazuma All Stars, which features performances from Junko Takeuchi, Yuka Nishigaki, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Hirofumi Nojima, and Mamoru Miyano.

The anime’s soundtrack was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, who adapted and rearranged music from the original video game.

Broadcast and ratings

The anime was broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan between October 5, 2008, and April 27, 2011. During the week of December 29, 2008 to January 4, 2009, episode 14 secured a spot in Video Research’s top ten anime rankings with a 4.0 rating share. Viewer interest peaked at a 6.2 share for episode 90 during July 5–11, 2010. The series finale achieved a rating share of 4.8.

Following this series, a sequel titled aired immediately from May 4, 2011 to April 11, 2012. This was succeeded by , which began airing on April 18, 2012, and then , which started on May 8, 2013.

Home media

Starting February 20, 2008, Geneon Entertainment released twenty-eight DVD collections containing between three and four episodes each.