Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Game Gets a Manga Adaptation

The November issue of Shogakukan’s Monthly CoroCoro Comic revealed on Tuesday that Level 5’s game Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is getting a manga adaptation drawn by Tenya Yabuno. It launches in the magazine’s next issue on November 14, the very same day the game itself arrives.

That release date is the result of yet another delay, with the game moving from August 21 to November 14 across Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. The company pointed to voice recording and translation work, including the English version, as the main reasons, along with general polish. The planned mobile versions for iOS and Android have also been dropped.

The story centers on Unmei Sasanami, a boy who oddly wishes for a world without soccer, and follows what happens when he meets the soccer loving Haru Endo. Fittingly for the long running series, the game boasts over 4,500 characters.

Victory Road has had a famously winding road to release. It began life back in 2018 under a different name, was renamed more than once, and slipped through several delays before settling into its current form.

There is even more on the way for fans, as a remake of the original game, titled Inazuma Eleven RE, is planned for 2026. Yabuno, who is drawing this new manga, also created the original Inazuma Eleven manga that ran in CoroCoro from 2008 to 2011.

My take: After so many delays, it is genuinely nice to see Victory Road finally near the finish line, manga and all. A boy who hates soccer in a soccer series is a funny hook, and I hope the long wait pays off.