Blue Lock
“Ego-Driven Soccer or Psychological Thriller?”
Regarding the sports genre, anime has a lot to choose from. I think there's not a single sport left that the anime industry hasn't tried to go full ‘Dragon Ball Z mode’ in. The other day, I saw an anime with fishing as the central concept. Who can forget about Rising Impact, the newest golf anime with superpowers? Who thought golf could ever be made interesting? Even more surprisingly, it's done by the same author behind Seven Deadly Sins. Some mangakas are really something.
Blue Lock, the soccer maverick
Anyway, coming back to the anime in question, Blue Lock, the series that thrashes soccer left and right just to make it known that you need nothing but some pretty boys playing Edge Lords to get an anime over in this day and age. Egoistic, prideful, and envious of each other, the characters in Blue Lock treat soccer as if it's a sport that's all about scoring with everyone in it to become Japan's next big striker. But we've seen how the show has grown so popular in a year or two, and at one point during last year, it was also the best-selling manga series, which blows my mind, honestly.
With the second season airing and the popularity off the charts, let's talk about the series' first season so that the newcomers know what they're getting into and whether they should pick up this show. This is quite strange to me, as I can't imagine anyone who wasn't infected by the Blue Lock virus when it came out two years ago, but still, let's kick some players around!
It's the new soccer anime that no one wanted.
I don't know if you know, but some people hate Blue Lock. A huge reason for that hate comes from the fact that it makes a complete mockery of the sport that humanity itself has transformed over the years thanks to players who are world-level athletes and still going strong. In Blue Lock, if you're fortunate enough to be called to the tryouts, then consider yourself rather unlucky since they're going to make sure you're nothing but an OCD-driven prick who cares about nothing but himself all the while playing a sport that relies on teamwork as its bread and butter.
Characters face numerous challenges, having to take on all these different players in different scenarios, all to increase their rankings and advance to the next stage. What's the point of all this? We want to uplift Japan's soccer team to its glory days, but is this the best way to do it? Yeah, this is an anime from the 2020s, and that's just what the audience wants right now. Blue Lock is primarily based on psychological warfare on the field, which involves outplaying the opposing player while performing incredible moves. Now, they don't go all ‘Inazuma Eleven’ mode, but still, some of the stuff these characters do makes soccer itself seem like a joke. I think they've overdosed on the edgy pills, even more so now, and that's taking away the charm of Blue Lock. Some people still like it, so who am I to say anything about the show? I don't want a million balls to hit my face from every direction!
Diverse cast
I'd like to give Blue Lock credit because it has probably one of the most diverse character rosters the sports genre has seen. Of course, the protagonist isn't very likable since he's shown to be the 'weakest link' wherever he goes, and that doesn't seem to change even after the first season. But it's almost wild how every other character is miles ahead of him, and he still manages to outplay them using his “Metavision.” Honestly, his crying on the field gets me at times, getting saved by some unusual unseen aid and advancing to the next stage repeatedly, only for it to be revealed how he's not all that despite being the protagonist. Girls love the characters since Blue Lock focuses on making them tall, pretty, and athletic. Why doesn't the show have a ‘Bishounen’ tag since that's what it's becoming right now? The show has all these different personalities to choose from, and while it won't be wrong to say that their playstyle is quite different, they're all playing the forward or the striker position.
I hate to say this, but the ego-driven, edgy story can only be pushed to the teens since they'd be the only ones receiving it nice and well. Most of the people who are looking for a proper soccer anime are much more likely to be drawn towards something like ‘Ao Ashi’ that not only approaches the sport through a realistic point of view but also explores the qualms and doubts that exist when you're passionate about the game, how change is sometimes the need of the hour and the missing piece that ends up carrying you to the finish line.
Nothing but a PowerPoint presentation most of the time.
It was unbelievable how they hyped the first season of Blue Lock back in the day. I remember how they put out trailers every two months so everyone could have this title on their radar. The last time I saw such try-hard marketing was when ‘Fire Force’ came out back in 2019, and that did work in its favor. The same can be true here, even more so because Blue Lock became a worldwide phenomenon after the first season.
But you can't help but notice how the animation is just ‘not there.’ When I first watched it, I thought this animation quality was wild. But it took a couple of episodes for me to figure out that no animation was happening in the show. It's mostly just very well-drawn imagery that makes it seem like the animation is excellent, but when it comes to actual soccer stuff, it's just characters standing still in their frames most of the time—nothing but a couple of movements here and there. Some kicks feel out of place, which takes away most of the charm. Looking back to something like ‘Kuroko no Basuke’ where they showcased how sports animation is to be done thanks to those zone vs. zone showdowns, that was some great sports anime stuff right there, and Blue Lock doesn’t capture that.
Even worse, the animation problem persists, with the most recent season appearing to be a step backward. Now, it isn't that the people at 8bit didn't have enough time to prepare—they didn't since they had only a year and a half. However, there is no denying that 8bit was not designed for fast-paced, action-packed sports animation.
Now, the fans are trying to badmouth and thrash the series so that it will shift studios with the following season, but I don't think that will happen. The newest season has no animation at all up until now, and that's quite concerning to me. Sure, they've said how the whole budget of the show is going to go into the vs. U20 match, and that's cool and all, but is that explanation going to work for the anime fandom of 2024? Not at all!
Unison Square Garden is all over the place.
I love how Unison Square Garden is becoming the musical symbol of the anime. It’s sort of like how TK more or less defines Tokyo Ghoul and Psycho-Pass, just like SID defines Black Butler. The music is excellent, and the voice acting is top-notch, making some of the goals and moments from the show have much more meaning. The series features many themes, and the lighthearted atmosphere created by some of them fits the theme song itself.
But we can’t let the ‘additional time’ segments slide. They were just not that good, honestly. I don’t know; some people out there are such die-hard fans that they would eat anything thrown at them as long as the letter B from Blue Lock exists on it, so yeah, it's to each of their own, I guess. But all in all, the music department isn’t lacking one bit, and thanks to the OSTs, you can feel the tension, the emotions, and the adrenaline rush that defines a bunch of high school ego-driven adolescents attempting to become the soccer stars that the nation would worship in the time to come.
I can’t help but describe it as a psychological thriller anime with just soccer added to it. At times, it reminds me of Kaiji, where you use your soccer skills as the currency or chips to bet and see if you win the jackpot. But you will not find it here if you are just looking for good anime soccer. So, keep that in mind when diving into this maverick of a soccer title!
No one can deny Blue Lock's popularity over the past year or so. The title went from being largely unknown to becoming the best-selling manga of the year, even when Jujutsu Kaisen was in the mix. That’s not an easy feat, but they’re starting to get much more complacent with the success. Even looking back at ‘Episode Nagi’ that came out earlier this year, the movie had a lot of stuff cut around the edges to fit into the time slot, and that enraged fans of the spin-off who were looking forward to the adaptation. It would have been much better if they had gone with a two-part concept like "Haikyuu," but it is what it is. Furthermore, as I previously stated, the second season is not promising, and I am confident it will fall even further in the ratings before the U-20 match.
And still, fingers crossed because no one knows what will happen regarding animation quality during the game. Blue Lock might take a massive hit in popularity, but I doubt that will affect the production of a new season since it’s just a similar case to Jujutsu Kaisen. They can mess up however they want, but fans will keep returning, thanks to their popularity.
As for the rating, I’d give the first season a 7.5. Now, that’s quite ironic after all that I’ve said above. Still, the high-stakes mental warfare involving everything other than soccer on top of the different personalities grew on me at the end of it all, and that made the series a lot more enjoyable at the very end. I don’t know where these newer, weirder characters are spawning from because some character designs look suspicious. But I’ve heard that it gets kind of crazier from this point onward, and as someone who’s read the manga, I can vouch for that. Let’s hope they don’t mess up the match because that will make Twitter or X a living hell, even for the ‘non-weebs' out there.
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