Grand Blue Dreaming

Grand Blue Dreaming, also known simply as Grand Blue, is a Japanese manga series written by Kenji Inoue and illustrated by Kimitake Yoshioka. It has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Good! Afternoon since April 2014. The manga is published in English by Kodansha USA under the Kodansha Comics imprint. An anime television series adaptation by Zero-G aired from July to September 2018. A live-action film adaptation was released in August 2020. A second anime season by Zero-G and Liber aired from July to September 2025. A third season by Zero-G and Saber Works is set to premiere in July 2026.

The story follows Iori Kitahara, a young man who graduates from an all-boys high school and moves to a seaside town to attend college, dreaming of a glamorous campus life filled with beautiful girls and youthful revelry. He moves into his uncle's scuba diving shop, Peek-a-Boo, expecting a peaceful new beginning. However, upon arrival, he is immediately greeted by a group of naked, muscular men from the university's diving club, who are engaged in drunken, chaotic antics including strip rock-paper-scissors and heavy drinking sessions. Iori is quickly coerced into joining the diving club by his senior members Ryujiro and Shinji. His two beautiful cousins, Chisa (prickly and obsessed with diving) and Nanaka (gregarious and protective of Chisa), witness his embarrassing initiation and lose respect for him. The series chronicles Iori's futile attempts to reclaim his idealized college life while being repeatedly dragged into the club's alcohol-fueled absurdity, all set against the backdrop of the scenic Izu coastal region.

Critics describe Grand Blue as a frat house farce comparable to American comedy films like American Pie or The Hangover. The series is characterized by exaggerated physical comedy, alcohol-fueled antics, male nudity, reaction face humor, and pop culture references. Yoshioka's art draws influences from hot-blooded fighting anime and horror movie framing, with direct references to franchises such as Great Teacher Onizuka and Attack on Titan. The series has established itself as a distinctive voice in comedy manga for its unique focus on collegiate party culture, a niche rarely explored in the medium.[modifica]