Blue Lock

[neflight86]

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"* Based on a sports manga written by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and drawn by Nomura Yuusuke.

After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan's team struggles to regroup. But what's missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win. The Japan Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match...and to do so, they've gathered 300 of Japan's best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team...and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?

Source: Kodansha"

Genre(s): Sports, Shounen, Death Game

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1-2

Real fun, this. So, we have the usual shounen sports tropes of victory, friendship and teamwork, but strip out the friendship and teamwork. Though this is technically a huge tournament arc, it feels much more like a death game series with 'losers dropping out', 'there's no rule against that dirty play, is there?' , and my favorite: armband number rankings! Totally absurd, but the sale is strong. Essentially L is administering the program and is playing no favorites, supposedly to the last man standing. There has already been the teasing of outside forces/characters' involvement as the program is outwardly controversial, so the story has room to broaden as it goes.

This is your typical 'how will they survive this situation' style show, but based on soccer adjacent activities that serve as the 'death games'. The animation and pacing are great, and I have no complaints about the copious trash talk, either. Strong recommend if you enjoy 'only results matter, here' style series.

[neflight86]

3-6

Much better than I expected. The mixture of strange rules and betrayal give a fresh twist on the shounen sports tropes, as this team is still, ultimately, looking out for number one. The pacing is also very satisfying. Don't skip out!

[MFauli]

Why did this get so much hype? And wtf at the MAL score :/

Just watched episode 6. It's easy to watch, that's the only positive I'll give it.

But it's not a football anime at all. And I hate the character designs. Way overuse of "freaky" faces. This reminds me more of something like Danganronpa or Persona, a shallow story, meme characters and nonsensical twists at every corner. Football only is windowdressing in this anime.

I'll finish this one, but reading on other places where people praise this as "one of the best football anime", I'm getting angry ...

[MFauli]

episode 10:

Is this an adaptation of a manwha? It's so shallow ...

And I can't get over the overuse of "special faces", especially their eyes. In pretty much most other anime, these expressions are reserved for rare, unique situations. In Naruto you see it when Naruto transforms into Kyuubi Level 4 or when Sasuke activates his Sharingan. In Kuroko it happens when someone enters "the zone". In HXH Gon and Killua change their expression during the climax of a dire situation.

Here? EVERY other scene has them. It feels like parody due to this overuse.

Other than that: Why the hell did the traitor guy commit such blatant foul, causing a red card?! He could have just gone for the ball instead of jumping and grabbing the genius guy lol.

[neflight86]

I don't recall most manwha I read being any more deep or shallow than manga.

What is wrong with stylized faces? Thay are visually interesting and convey a change in state of mind or motivation. Them being 'reserved' in most other anime (older anime, really) was more of a pacing issue where climaxes occurred every 8-10 episodes rather than pretty much each episode.

This is plenty entertaining; one of the best watches this season as far as shounen go. Do you have any other soccer anime you would recommend over it?

Honestly the sport itself is window dressing, as you put it. Shounen sports series are a vehicle for exciting face offs, gradual power ups and eccentric characters bouncing off each other in the spirit of non-lethal competition. Sorry you're not lining it, but this is banger for me.

As for Kuon, I think he tackled because it was established no one could stop that kid once he has the ball, at least through normal means. Him giving up his guaranteed pass to bet on the others who didn't give up on soccer is a pretty good character moment.

[neflight86]

13-14 (oops, it didn't end after all!)

So... much... edge... Guys, did you know... the soccer field is actually a battlefield!?!?! At this point, that's so cringe it has actually come full circle and is amusing again. Long live shounen anime taking itself far too seriously!

So we got the jobbing out of the way and now have to focus on improving more and using weapons that we don't currently have. It is almost jarring when the characters break into technical revelations like "our weapons only work when we receive passes; we can't take one-on-ones!" because the series hold our hand so much in building up and explaining the elements of the conflict, as sports anime often do. Either way, watching their growth is the main appeal of these shows anyway, so bring it on!

[MFauli]

I hate how insecure the hero is. The whole point of the competition is to find THE ONE guy with the biggest ego. Well, our hero certainly is not that person lol. He keeps thinking like an underdog, which is fine for typical shounen-stories, just not this one. Really wish he'd stop thinking like a loser.

[neflight86]

15

It's actually kind of impressive how Barou can maintain his stubborn pride even after losing two straight games.

Isagi being a genius of adaptability essentially means he'll be a genius at being an underdog every game until he figures out a new skill/component to subvert the geniuses around him. A tried and true shounen trope.

[MFauli]

"Genius at adaptability" actually made me lol irl. Adaptability is basically EVERY shounen hero ever lol.

[MFauli]

Episode 23:

"That's a pose called 'youll never beat me'."

Okay, gotta hand it the anime, that was one of the funniest lines I've heard in a long time

[neflight86]

25

Back, like it never missed a beat. I'm immediately back in. Unreasonable challenges and self searching to evolve in the heat of the moment, here we come!

I almost forgot last season ended off against those world star players, and now we're back to Ego's bet with the Japanese Soccer league. Layers of conflict is what makes this so... boisterous!

[neflight86]

26-29

In this week's 'Top Ten Betrayals in Anime', Blue Lock shows that everybody is a potential enemy, and alliances are only formed for in-the-moment benefit. Shidou has some serious bi-polar issues, though. One moment he's recalibrating cells in his body to score goals (I love anime) and complimenting his teammates for good passes, then the next he's kick fighting Itoshi Rin and head slamming dudes for speaking to presumably assert his dominance. Suit shock devices, Hannibal Lecter straight jacket/muzzle comboes; dunking on mere national players who settle for supermodel wives... It's so dumb, so forced, and so.... committed that I gotta slow clap the sheer hubris of this writing.

In that way, the self-importance really reminds me of Kokuro's basketball; another series who gladly butchered the supposed sport it was about to squeeze out some cheap thrills and hype at every opportunity. Whereas Kokoro leaned into interpersonal melodrama, Blue Lock continues to ape the death game vibe of 'all tension, all the time' with constantly raised stakes and no room to maneuver. I am certainly impressed how long this typically goes without letting up.