A Soccer-Loving Detective Gets New Key Art
The newly drawn visual, revealed by Japanese anime news outlet Animate Times, shows Conan Edogawa with a soccer ball. Per the official announcement, the design choice is straightforward: soccer is essential to Conan, who regularly uses a well-placed ball to get himself out of danger mid-case, so the collaboration art pairs the soccer-loving hero with the tool of his trade.
The franchise's soccer roots run through its premise. Detective Conan follows high school detective Shinichi Kudo, who witnesses a criminal organization's shady deal, gets force-fed a poison, and wakes up in the body of a grade-schooler. Living under the alias Conan Edogawa, he keeps solving cases with his deductive skills fully intact. The TV anime has aired since January 8, 1996, on the Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV network, with Minami Takayama voicing Conan and Kappei Yamaguchi voicing Shinichi, and 2026 marks its 30th year on air. The J.League tie-up is one of several anniversary collaborations running this year.
The First-Ever Conan DAY Lands at Cerezo Osaka
The bigger announcement is Conan DAY, a first in the franchise's history. On Sunday, September 6, 2026, Conan will appear at YANMAR HANASAKA STADIUM, home ground of J1 club Cerezo Osaka, as the club hosts Tokyo Verdy in Matchweek 6 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. Kickoff is planned for 7:00 p.m.
There is a personal connection behind the venue. Cerezo Osaka's chairman is Hiroaki Morishima, the former Japan international who appeared as himself in the collab episode. Beyond Conan's stadium appearance, organizers are planning assorted events in and around the ground, with the standard caveat that events may be changed or canceled without notice. Full details are promised at a later date, and the announcement adds that further collaboration plans are in the works.
Episode 1207 and 14 Years of J.League Crossovers
The collab episode, "J.League Kaimaku no Keiteki (Whistle)" (roughly, "J.League: The Opening Whistle"), aired July 18 at 6:00 p.m. as episode 1207 and is streaming on TVer, Japan's free catch-up service. According to MANTANWEB's episode preview, the story sends Conan and the Detective Boys to a packed J.League season opener where a bomb is set to detonate at the final whistle. Morishima and actor Yuka Kageyama, a well-known soccer devotee, both voice themselves in the commentary booth.
Conan and the J.League also have real history together. The partnership began with the April 2012 film Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker, produced for the league's 20th anniversary, then continued through TV collab episodes in June 2014, July 2018, and May 2023. This year's crossover is the first in three years, and the first to move beyond the screen to an actual matchday.
Looking Ahead
Conan DAY specifics, from event lineup to how fans can take part, are still to come. In Japan, episode 1207 is available through TVer's catch-up window, while no international streaming plans for the collab episode have been announced. The J.League's new season kicks off in August, putting the September 6 Cerezo Osaka vs. Tokyo Verdy match early in the calendar. The anime, meanwhile, keeps its Saturday 6:00 p.m. slot as the 30th-anniversary project continues, with more collaboration announcements teased for the months ahead.