Major League Baseball has announced that it is launching an anime-themed promotional campaign called “Heroes of the Game” that will feature several prominent professional baseball players such as Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes, and Juan Soto.
A key visual featuring the four players and a promotional trailer were also released. The trailer uses the song “Show” by Ado.
The official MLB website and Twitter/X account states that it is collaborating with several anime artists whose credits “range from One Piece to Fullmetal Alchemist.” The anime project is being spearheaded by animator and director Hiroshi Shimizu, whose credits include character design work on Michiko & Hatchin, Megalobox, and Giant Beasts of Ars, among other series. The company also claims that “every scene was hand-drawn to bring to life a new world of baseball.”
The “Heroes of the Game” anime will initially be focused on Ohtani, Skenes, Judge, and Soto, but the company also teased that more players will be featured in the future.
MLB most recently released a promotional anime video in collaboration with ufotable and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba earlier this month, ahead of the MLB World Tour Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
Several MLB teams have also hosted anime-themed game nights, including the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners with One Piece, and the San Francisco Giants with Naruto Shippuden.
Source: MLB Official Twitter, MLB Official Website
