Blue Lock

To be the best. You have to work the best, you have to train the best, eat, and sleep the best. Sometimes, it even takes going through extreme measures, in order to find that best out of someone. Even if what is presented, wouldn't be called Football to you. Football may just be a sport to some, but for a load of people it's very serious business. People eat, sleep, dream football. People travel endless miles, travel to different countries, no matter the cost, to watch their team perform. It may be a sport, but it's a lifestyle for so many, to even many nations, ... who want to grasp it by the horns, and be the best in the world.

This is Blue Lock.

But to be the best, you need to basically start from somewhere, You can't be the best with mediocare, or just good enough level of talent. You have to find the best. Or even make and train the best.

Story and characters: 8
While there are flaws within it's story context, as there is a dozen other positions on a football picture, and you cannot win alone as a striker by yourself. Football is a team effort, and here in Blue Lock, they show it in both forms. Points where they'll show how good it is working within the team, but all the while showing the greatest, can do it by themselves. The best get results, the best deliver, where it be on their own, or with a team. It's proven within the game itself. Taking quotes from real footballers, in order to further prove their points.

The characters within the show are quite bundle. The best players aren't just known for their skills alone, they have the personalities to boot. Sometimes you need the right kind of characters, in order to succeed. You cannot be weak, you cannot be a weak link, you cannot suffer under pressure. With so many conflicting and determined characters within this line up, and with the story it presents. It's going to be a good product.

Art and sound: 8
Blue Lock has an interesting kind of style that sets it apart from different animes. Just by looking through the characters eyes, is proof in the pudding. Hell, some even look a bit soulless. As if there is a massive focus, a massive serious attention from everyone who is in this process. Everyone has the determination to be the best, and if you don't, you're weak, you're out. Simple as that. I've described some shows as having an in your face style, but with Blue Lock, it's more described as a determined seriousness to it. While one may laugh at the idea of Japan ever wining the World Cup, but with how this show is presented. It's no laughing matter to them. The sound quality too, is top notch, and can't put a foot wrong.

Blue Lock is a different spin on a usual Football anime that has come over the last few years. But it's certainly left a very serious, and impressive impression. Give it a watch for sure.

Excuse me, wtf?

Do people who didn't like the anime REALLY understand how it works?
Do you really prefer that the "sport" genre is ALWAYS THE SAME THING THAT WE ARE TIRED OF SEEING? (And i say this as an absolute sports fan, including animes).
The next football anime, what will it have NEW if Ao Ashi already addresses everything?

That's why i like different proposals when well executed, and Blue Lock does it perfectly.

Story: 10/10
In short, Japanese football cannot progress, they do not have decisive strikers and this is their weakest point, so they need drastic measures to solve this problem, in this way, Blue Lock emerged, which ... aims to create the best striker in the world, the one who will carry the Japanese national team and make the country win the world cup.
ONLY HERE we can already see something to be considered, ALL other football animes always have the same idea of ​​"joining a team and going out trying to win all the championships ahead", Blue Lock innovates, it manages to stand out precisely because it is different from the others. You can look at it and think that the purpose is empty, but the amount of plots that are happening involving Blue Lock is ABSURD, they are things you would never expect and that's fantastic.

Animation: 8/10
It's not perfect like Bleach's animation this season, BUT, it's still extremely good, even more so for a football anime. It presents different angles of view, graphical representations, solid transitions, an art with highlighted lines, and even has the apex moments where the animation becomes surreal, the only questionable thing in my view is the sudden 3D models that may not be to taste from everyone and they can save the budget (but it's still good) like it did in Episode 8, but it's clear that the focus is on the action scenes and that really has to be the priority.

Soundtrack: 8/10
Both the opening and ending songs in addition to the Ost's are very good, they are not memorable as Haikyu songs, the ones you even want to listen to on Youtube, but they represent the atmosphere of all events well, especially the hype moments omfg.

Characters/Development: 10/10
Players practically have their main skills where they are better than others, but at the same time they evolve their other points to become complete strikers, which is precisely the methodology, a PERFECT striker. The main characters have backstories where things are shown such as why they play football and why they enter the Blue Lock, many of them establish relationships between them, both positive and negative, like conflicts, not everything is a rainbow. Characters have a variety of personalities and appearances, I like, not much to say here.

And some quick answers

- Blue Lock has nothing cringe, the dialogues and facial expressions are the essence of the show, it works AND MUST exist
- No, they don't play football alone, in Episode 3 you'll see why that's wrong, selfishness doesn't mean picking up the ball and playing alone, it's just a mix of "knowing you're capable of deciding the match in hours needed + player confidence + will to win at any cost" :)

So the top reviews from what I read don't understand the story enough to say anything and it shows. With someone even "reading" the manga but not understanding anything about it. The story's start point is to create the strongest striker in the world for Japan, that much is straight forward. It is literally the same as "finding the one piece" every pirate aside from a few in one piece are trying to be the pirate king. Does that make the story/plot bad? nope. (im not even a one piece fan)

Story: 9/10
Like I said everyone has the goal of becoming the best striker ... in the world. That doesn't stop people from playing other roles like the biggest reviews say. In the anime the first couple episodes has everyone wanting to play forward so they can score but unfortunately that can't work. They have a "striker" play goalie for them every single time, the goalie didn't change so the argument of people don't play different positions is already just wrong. The story also progresses to have every position played because the characters all find what they are good at and use it to their advantage. It doesn't stop them from wanting to be strikers but they still play their positions well. Which is like the biggest point of the entire story throughout all of the manga, is finding what people are good at and making them better. For 99% it doesn't stop them from wanting to be forward and scoring goals but they all understand they have their own strengths. People focus too much on "they are just trying to make hot characters who kick ball" instead of how the characters themselves develop and what's good about them. The story is constantly bringing in new characters to enjoy while making them all develop at the same time, doing a really good job of making everyone have their own likeability.

Should you watch/read. 100%
If you have the mental capacity to not whine because an anime or manga has characters that don't look like rats you will most likely like it. Majority of all characters you are introduced to are unique and have amazing development. I recommend reading the manga if you do read manga's. I have read a lot of manwha/manhua but never manga, outside of :black clover, jujutsu kaisen, kaiju#8, and blue lock:. Out of all the manga I listed blue lock is easily my favorite simply due to the character personalities. Everything else is really good in the story but the characters themselves make it something really great.

I decided to finally make a MAL account purely to write a review of this show, and in all honesty I'm not surprised by the amount of people that called this show "cringe" or "awkward." Reading these kinds of reviews make it very apparent that the people writing these reviews are talking from a perspective in which they don't come from a background of playing sports growing up, or specifically playing sports at the highest competitive level.

With that being said, Blue Lock is probably the most creative show in terms of showing what goes on inside of an elite athlete's mind, taking not only the ... physicality required to perform, but also shines light on deep sports psychology. People that call the idea of the "monster" inside the players cringe don't realize that during interviews with people like Kobe Bryant and Michael Phelps, they themselves talk about having a "darkness" inside them that they tend to tap into when getting into their individual flow states. An entire chapter in a book called Relentless, written by Tim Grover (who was Michael Jordan's performance coach), is dedicated to this darkness that exists only within athletes of the highest level. There are countless other examples of this show getting into different aspects of sports psychology, and at times it gives me chills because of how accurate it can be (which would fly over people's heads if they haven't played sports at a higher competitive level)

So, for people that would like to explore the truth of elite athleticism and be open to this perspective, Blue Lock is definitely for you. But for those that don't understand what it actually takes to reach the highest levels of sports, where players dedicate their entire being to becoming the best (either because they haven't lived that kind of life or just want to watch this anime comparing it to shows like Haikyuu and Kuroko), then this show really is not for you.

Calling this show unrealistic just teveals that you have not lived a life where you dedicate your ENTIRE being to a sport, which is totally okay, but when giving a review of this show (or starting/continuing it), please take this perspective into consideration.

Let’s jump straight into the point. Blue Lock is an anime which shows different ways of achieving our goals. Understanding Blue Lock, as simple as it is, is understanding the reasons of different characters to move forward. By no means do I think that the anime is complex or anything. So, what is going on?
Characters:
Every character is stereotypical. We got the “goofy” Bachira, main character Isagi, friendly straight-face Kunigami and some edgelords. We’ve all seen these characters before, but all of them have something to share in common. They show us their own way of getting better, moving forward, striving for success. Kuon, for example, ... will do whatever it takes to be the last man standing, whether it is morally good or not. Barou – a beast on the field, unstoppable rebellious force- also shares his way to victory. By realizing his mistakes, by finding someone better than him in the field where he should be the “king”, he shows us that, whatever stops him from going forward, he will devour. Haven’t we felt the same way? Whether it is at school or at work, we have always encountered someone better than us. And that really bothers the ego of most people. What do we do then? We get better, and better till we beat that specific person “Those who continue to fight in spite of their despair are bestowed with the power to achieve their dream”-Ego Jinpachi.
Although, we have seen a little from Kunigami, he also has something to say: “If our heads drop down now, we’re done for!”(my favorite quote). Failure is merely temporary and if you accept defeat then you stay knocked down instead of getting back up. Sometimes things don’t always go our way, so press on! Try again and again and learn from failure. Some characters can get you really hyped up, getting goose bumps from what they are saying, and that is the whole point. That is why I admire most of Blue Lock characters.
Here come the problems. As I said in the beginning most of them are stereotypical, so I can’t really find a favorite character from all of them. If it wasn’t for the plot twists, they would be really bland and would fall flat. On top of that, their dictionaries are pretty limited (mine too, but leave that for my profile’s comments), by repeating certain words and phrases over and over again every single episode. Annoying.
8.5/10

Plot:
Fairly simple, easy to follow, interesting plot twists and pretty enjoyable to watch. In the middle of the anime, some characters just disappeared, but I guess that we will find out what happened to them at some point. Other than that the plot is smoothly running and most episodes are fairly interesting.

8/10

Sound:
From the opening theme, to the ending theme every little bit of sound effect is pleasant for the ears. The commercial break sounds, the heavily distorted sounds of shooting, the sound of electricity when characters are on a spree, Barou’s awakening guitar/drums. The sound effects of this anime are clearly made to hype you up, to go outside and kick a football as hard as you can, to beat the person better than you, to finally finish your assignment, to do some actual hard work, or to go back to play some competitive games and give all your best.
10/10

Art:
Here, is where the anime fails. Comparing the art style of the manga and the one of the anime is like comparing Berserk manga to the latest adaptations. Throughout this review I have praised the anime for hyping me up, but just by looking at the animation and art style the hype lasts a couple of seconds. The sparks and colorful mist around players is so poorly made. I understand the reason behind them, but just seeing the poor quality really ruins their whole existence. The 3D is just as horrible and noticeable as most of other 3D animations in anime. On top of that, the art is really just made to be commercially successful. 8bit really did not try to put the soul of the manga in the adaptation. After all we want hollow emotionless white eyes and impactful shots, which we do receive, but the budget version of it.

6/10

I have skipped some unnecessary parts, such as voice actors and illogical moments, the reason being that I find them not that impactful on the whole anime ( they don’t kill the vibe or make things better).

Overall: 8
Don’t get me wrong here. The overall score is just the overall enjoyment and fulfillment after finishing the anime. For me a good anime is an anime, which can make a person change or understand new things, such as worldviews and mindsets. Blue lock made me play football again ( not for long, I guess), made me continue with my work and not just slack off. This is a temporarily feeling, but I love that it exists.

The reviews for this series have been quite polarising, and essentially you can separate based on one factor:

- Whether the viewer has ever played a sport competitively or not.

The drive for self-improvement, the need to win - Blue Lock as a series provides a multifaceted view of this idea via its main cast. If you have played a sport competitively (at any level really), then you'll be able to understand and empathise better with many of the characters. Unless you've experienced a competitive setting yourself, it'll be hard to really enjoy what makes each character tick and just write it off as unpalateable.

It really doesn't ... matter whether sports anime would "conceptually" make sense in real life either (see Kuroko no Basket, Hajime no Ippo, Haikyuu!, etc) because having anime as a medium itself allows for more flexibility for the entertainment of the viewers. It doesn't make sense for someone to tune into a sports anime just to make sure that everything is accurate to real world rules to a tee.

Personally, I like Blue Lock because it brings me nostalgia to those days and it's an easy watch that you don't have to think too deeply about. It's exciting, it's enjoyable seeing every character develop on both a "football" level and a personal level, and you really do end up waiting week-to-week in anticipation on what will happen next. In my opinion that's all you need in a series really.

It's fine if you find this series cringe, but having an inability to empathise with any of the characters just tells me you've never worked hard to try to be the best at something (which is fine, your life and all).

This is my first time writing a review lol, so bear with me + this is all MY OPINION :)

To be honest, these other reviews calling blue lock trash are quite confusing and a bit tasteless. I mean compared to other sports anime, Blue lock takes a different approach and brings something new to the Table, like and anime that is based only on strikers is quite cool. Yeah some people may say oh why is it only focused on that, without watching the rest, but along the story we do see the importance of other positions on the team, so that is a ... new approach.

For something to be interesting it doesn't always have to be complex, sometimes simple and straightforward storylines like the one Blue lock has is all we need.


Regardless of its flaws or what people say, I am very much enjoying this, and this is coming from someone who plays sports (soccer included).

In conclusion Blue Lock is cool, so give it a try lol.

I feel compelled to write a review for Blue Lock expressing my appreciation for it in response to the top three reviews for this anime being strongly negative, which I don't think did it justice at all. This review will address the main detraction I've heard directed towards it and offer my counter perspective in hopes of providing you with some context to my appraisal of it. Skip to the end for a quick TL;DR if you're not interested in all that noise and just want to know if the show is for you!

The main argument provided by people who dislike Blue Lock is ... (in my own words): "Blue Lock is not accurate to real soccer, and its premise is highly unrealistic and immersion breaking." There are other common gripes with it, like some dialogue being over the top or cringeworthy, but I think many of those complaints can be traced back to this core thought.

While I understand the sentiment behind this reaction, it strikes me as a problem of expectations. No one with common sense is under the delusion that the soccer portrayed in Blue Lock aligns with real soccer. Why does it have to? Anyone who enjoys fantasy buys into much crazier premises without sparing it a second thought, because we find it more interesting to consider the space of possibilities not limited by reality. Everyone gifted with an imagination (most people) is capable of becoming invested in unrealistic stories, and we apply fictional ideas to help us understand reality on a day-to-day basis. I think that we're able to suspend our disbelief to the extent that the story respects its own internal set of rules as well as the extent to which the story can engage us with its original ideas. This way, even an avid soccer fan could enjoy a story which doesn't directly match real soccer.

So does Blue Lock succeed on this front? Hell yeah, it's fun as hell and I was totally sold. While the concept of this sports facility is obviously completely unviable in the real world for a myriad of reasons, this extreme high-tension environment permits exciting situations that wouldn't be possible otherwise and serves as a constant reminder of the stakes. All of these young athletes are so desperate to become the best that they have willingly allowed themselves to be locked up in this brutal facility, betting their dreams on their talent and perseverance. It's a great metaphor through which the heart of the story is clearly visible.

Blue Lock is about analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, the nature of talent and the question of how much selfishness is necessary to become the best. Visually it's incredibly strong, selling key moments with maximum hype, and puts its vibrant cast of characters who live and die on the strength of their ego front and center. Easy recommendation from me!

P.S. Did you know the Blue Lock manga is really popular in China, even more than One Piece? Makes sense, China probably already does this with its student athletes. lol

It's not the best, it can't even be compared to the manga in many cases, but what this anime of kids kicking balls with abruptly high egos has achieved doesn't make any sense, the Blue Lock project is real.

To begin with, the soccer that is narrated here can be taken in many ways; impress you, disgust you or love it, but one thing here is true, this is fiction. All of this coupled with a dark aura (technically edgy. and it's awesome) makes the anime something unique, making a sport seen as "simple" (without analyzing it too much, since all sports have a lot of ... content) into something absurd. , but entertaining and fun. As the characters threaten each other with death for the simple fact of having lost the ball or because they are simply jerks, but each one is unique, thus having their own weapon, differentiating them from the rest (along with part of their attitude, aura and representative color and further).

Now I would like to talk more in depth about the series, setting aside the context and the amazing (and edgy) characters.

-FIRST, the animation... this causes a lot of commotion, it is true that it is not up to what it should have had, but some scenes are visually incredible, and the drawing almost never disappoints, to improve would be the use of cgi (for background characters or far shots) and still images with the ball moving or with sound effects or something that makes it appear that the image is moving.
-The first and second arc, the first and second selection... are quite good. The material is entertaining (the second half seemed like a video game to me, and I love it) and it makes new characters or characters that hadn't been seen before shine and become very fond of them, each one having their moment of prominence. Although they are little compared to what will come in future seasons (hehehe).
-And lastly... the amazing and mostly overlooked (by vast majority though it may not seem like it) amazing music and OST's. BLLK's OST's are incredible, they give a lot of emotion to the scenes and make you feel motivated, or scared, like many of Rin's OST's, causing a feeling of danger to the viewer. And then, that it is not important in the reviews, the Openings and Endings. To start with, the 2 Op and Ed have great animation and amazing music, even though the first Op is controversial because it doesn't reflect much of BLLK (the lyrics do it perfectly, but we're not Japanese and we understand almost nothing or nothing), and then there is the madness of the second Op, Judgment, with a quite innovative and new artistic section, as well as a very good song by the group ASH DA HERO.

Beyond this there is not much more to say about Blue Lock, the truly good is yet to come and we are not prepared for it, luckily everything manages to live up to it.
If you have come this far, I thank you and I hope you support my review, I wish you a great day.
(I don't speak English very well, so much of this review has been done with a translator, I hope I didn't mess it up and that your eyes didn't hurt from reading some mistake, once again I say goodbye, thanks for reading).

The amount of haters I see is actually crazy, as somoene who read and is caught up with the manga I can confidently say that blue lock is going to be one of the most enterntaining shit ever. Now, I myself is not a football fan which is probably a good thing when it comes to blue lock. as we all know blue lock is an unrealistic potrayal of football and to be honest I'm quite happy that it is because im not just about to watch an anime for it to just show people kicking balls, thatd just be so boring. As a ... football ANIME, it very much delivers because again its an anime. anime isn't medium known for its realism but theres certainly realisitc anime out where however, expecting a battle shounen anime to have realism in terms of football is just plain stupid. A lot of people say the dialogue is cringe because it doesnt fit in the genre of football, but like I said it isn't really real life football its anime football. So if you're somoene who likes battle shounen, or just sports ANIME then you should definitely give blue lock a try it wont disapoint. if you have more spare time try reading the manga since its a lot more consistent, and every chapter of it is enterntaining and wont bore you.

The plot is dumb, the characters and dialogue are over the top and awkward, and the football isn't actually football.

Basically, this show is mad cringe, and that's what makes it so great.

If you came in here looking for thought provoking narratives, or interesting and dynamic character arcs, or even just actual Football then it fails in all aspects.

However, if you're an avid enjoyer of fun like I am then this show is a very good time.
The energy this show gives off is just great, from the overdramatic character monologues to the unapologetically cringe dialogue, it fits the setting and plot to a T.
(Side note: If ... your main issue is that the plot is cringe and stupid, the premise is literally Football Squid Game.)

The animation, top notch. (The CG is not that bad, I've seen worse)
The OST, very OK, I think it's fine.
Characters? Hit and miss, while pretty one note and tropey, they are still a fun cast to watch.
The voice acting? Pretty good, I especially love Hiroshi Kamiya's portrayal of Ego. He's great.
Is it hype? Absolutely. When the ball goes in the net, my dopamine goes crazy.

Bottom line, this show doesn't try to be believable, or fit in with the standards that you might generally find with most sports shows. It doesn't care how cringe or awkward it comes off as. It's just a fun, fresh take on an otherwise stale genre.

“What is the missing piece to complete this puzzle ?” -Isagi Yoichi
The fookin animation and budget for any scenes that do-not-lead-to-a-goal you dumb c***
I think the easiest way I can define the problem and make a TLDR is with this,
it feels like that blue lock is more of a SCORE them GOALS anime than a Football anime.

Make no mistake, Blue lock is truly the only anime that comes even close to the legendary status of Haikyuu season 3 but the real frustration and gripe that I have with this show are that it falls just short because of how many corners are cut from ... the animation on off the ball moments and any other moments unrelated to scoring, Can one forgive this bad animation as long as they have Good music, Well-drawn art, Amazing VA, Good plot, and real hype with good animation on high stakes moments?

I know the answer for many is a resounding yes, but seriously the amount of time the hype was under shadowed by janky movements, speed lines-based animation, and just a little bit of VFX where the real sakuga must have gone will leave you cuckolded.

Now I know that animating a football show is hard, and there are some great scenes in the blue lock but most of the animation and art hits only when someone is about to score a goal, ao ashi which was another football anime, we see the game for as it is, players, moving in the frame as a response to the ball, great passes, and pre positionings, actual bird's eye view at certain points. and the thing is, the animation overall was better in Blue lock than in Ao ashi, but,

The distribution of the animation budget is completely fucked.

The person who is about to score IS THE ONLY FOCUS almost 90% of the time, there are very few frames in the blue lock game that have more than 3 characters in them, so we only see a portion of the pie all the time. Every sprint, pass, or defense maneuver is animated with either terrible CGI or just uses still frames or default running animation for it.

Cmon guys, the football I love is not just about scoring, It is the most important factor yes, but not the most important variable.

Plot 9/10
As I said Blue lock from the get-go, had immense potential, but only as a sports-based anime. It Is NOT a real football anime. Though I will admit they took out (very arguably but sadly true) the best aspect of football which is the striker, dramatized it, by making the main character be actually good at his game but just lacking the final piece in most games. added real stakes to it by having a battle royale kind of formula where each loss has real and sometimes permanent consequences, and still manage to have many colorful side characters who arent just plot devices but real threats and competitors to our main Protag who nearly always steal the cake from him. Some of my most memorable moments and high-octane goosebumps have been thanks to blue lock and the final few episodes with isagi vs top 3 were probably the only time a sports anime made me actively grin from ear to ear. It is a flawless combination of tales of passion, talent, hard work, and the concept of winning and losing.

Characters 9/10
Many memorable and passionate young players each have a talent in them that differentiate them from dreamers and makes them achievers who are ready to put their trust, experience and even friendship on the line to achieve what they want, each character is quirky in their own way and one would easily love their interaction during blue lock additional time. Some of the characters are quite animyfied and do break the realm of realism at times (the brothers in one match). It is nice to see the friendship blossom even in the midst of cutthroat competition and rivalry and I love most off-match moments as well which have additional character depth moments. The matches themselves are still able to add meaning to quirks rather than have them become irrelevant.

Sound and VA 10/10
Amazing sound and OST some of which went instantly to my playlists, so many of the scenes are transformed so well due to the absolute banger of goosebumps and hype-inducing soundtrack accompanied by great voice acting, you would feel like rewatching just those scenes over and over, just like that potato chip scene from death note. Most monologues which are frankly for Animation budget saving are delivered so well that you can be forgiven to take those scenes as great ones even though not much might actually be going on in the screen, THe VA and sound team definitely deserve some awards for this, THe OP and ED are all bangers as well.

Art and Animation 6/10
The art of Blue lock is great and unique and some scenes which depict the aura of the players are well drawn, the animation however the Achilles heel of this anime and I have already mentioned a lot about it above so lets just leave it at that.

This is an absolute must-watch for everyone, Though it would be preferable that you treat it as a regular sport-inspired show rather than a football anime, that would let you enjoy it very thoroughly.

After watching 11 episodes of this series I can say. I LOVE IT. The exaggerations of the characters in the show are thrilling. It's about time a sports manga creator tries to do something different. To sum up many peoples complained they just wanted blue lock to be haikyuu but football/soccer. Personally, I find that boring it would've never peaked anyone's interest if it was just haikyuu v2. There are many soccer anime out there already that are like haikyuu but soccer.

What I love about Blue Lock is the selflessness of wanting to be the best, the Mamba mentality. The shooting, dribbling, and the ... character's development during the games are very thrilling also.

What I have to say is watch at LEAST watch until episode 6 until you critique it. A lot of things people complain about are literally debunked from watching the show. For instance, people say that the characters have no common sense which is an insult to the characters I guess. When in the first episode ego tells everyone to "Abandon all common sense".

If you don't like the show it's fine it is not for everyone but I recommend it.

PROS:
+ great animation, OST, direction
+ exciting soccer battle sequences will get you pumped up
+ fast paced, suspenseful, compelling

NEUTRAL:
~ total sausagefest/no waifus

CONS:
- predictable, formulaic plot
... - literally every character is an expy
- lame, angsty dialogue and melodramatic internal monologues detract from action sequences


RECOMMENDED... with some caveats

Blue Lock, or BL (not to be confused with "boys love," though the show is almost as gay), is not a masterpiece, but it's a fast-paced, punchy watch that will scratch your shonen itch. If you want pure shonen energy directed right into your veins, you'll like this show. But you might be disappointed if you're expecting clever twists, fresh characters or any spice whatsoever because BL is as vanilla as they come.

Blue Lock pretty much came at the right time for me. Coming right after Ao Ashi which I really enjoyed and with the World Cup right around the corner, football fever was indeed very high. And yes, it’s called football, not soccer you goddamn Americans. Blue Lock though was prepared to offer something quite different from your standard sports anime. Something that would go against the typical, “power of teamwork” kind of show; where we test to see how one’s skill and ego can influence the people around you and change the course of any match. This is a show about a boy’s desire to ... improve and evolve his game in order to take it to greater heights. This ain’t just your typical sports anime, this is Blue Lock and I’m going to tell you why this show in particular was my favourite show in fall 2022 and subsequently in Winter 2023 and why I believe you should watch it as well.

Just a heads up though, if you are looking for a sports anime that’s more, “traditional”, then this show may not be the show for you. If anything, go watch Ao Ashi. More people need to watch that show anyway.

So let’s hype our egos, put on our football kit and smash the football into the net as I present to my anime review for Blue Lock. Let’s begin.


Story: 9/10

Isagi Yoichi had failed to win a crucial game that would have taken his team to nationals. While contemplating whether or not he should have taken the shot instead of passing it, he receives a letter from the Japan Football Union, telling him that he, among 299 other “Diamonds in the rough”, have been invited to take part in a program called “Blue Lock” with the promise that whoever completes the program would end up becoming the best striker in the world. Not missing that chance, Isagi joins the Blue Lock program as he aims to come out on top, even if it means crushing the hopes and dreams of the other Blue Lock candidates.

Blue Lock is all focused on how much one’s ego can push them forward in order to achieve victory, to disregard the people around you so only you can focus on how you can do it. Right from the word go, the show makes it very clear that friendship is not something that can help you survive Blue Lock, you and only you can make a difference in order to proceed. That what makes this so interesting because it is the opposite of what is the underlying plot line of any sports anime. Sports anime start off with character being the individual before realising that he/she can rely on their teammates to win. Blue Lock breaks that down and tells you that you should not count on your teammates because if they screw up and you lose, it was out of your hands. It tells you that you must be the one to decide it, you must be the star that your teammates follow to victory. It is made very clear from the first episode when Isagi passed to a teammate instead of taking the shot for himself and they lost because it was out of his hands and it carries that mindset throughout the show. “Don’t be the follower, be the leader. You can use your teammates, but be the one that stands tall in the end.”

It what makes the battle royale format this show has a great compliment to the egotistical individualism the characters will eventually end up being. I’ve always had a love, hate relationship with BR/death game anime because they always start out interesting but fall off quickly when the usual tropes kick in when the protagonist gets suddenly stronger and more edgy, the dreaded team-up that slows the pace down, etc. Blue Lock isn’t immune to these tropes but I would say it executes them better than other shows. It’s mainly the because of how well Blue Lock’s plot fits the BR style and the plot progresses smoothly along with it as the number of participants starts to get lower, the competition starts to get tougher. As such, the characters’ must adapt and evolve quickly in order to survive. It makes the transition of someone like Isagi’s character from thoughtful teammate to a “devourer” seem appropriate because of what he has to strive for in order to stand on top and use his teammates to stand on top. So it uses the tropes to it’s advantage because it is so ingrained in the plot as to what the show wants to be and what it wants to show.

Characters: 9.5/10

Isagi’s character arc is one of the highlights of the show for me because, like I said earlier, it is the opposite of a typical sports protagonist. Isagi starts off by relying on his teammates and tries to play it as a team sport, but slowly realises that in order to survive Blue Lock, he has to try and think how he, himself, must be the one to bring victory. Instead of relying on his teammates, he must use them in order to succeed. That’s a crucial point, he doesn’t go hero ball and try to do it alone, but tries to figure out way to use his teammates skillsets to set himself up for victory. What I also like about him is his constant desire to evolve his game; seeing how he can bring victory by “devouring” his opponents. How he must take himself apart and then put back together, represented by puzzle pieces. It gives him something to achieve, something to strive for as he looks for stronger opposition to improve, otherwise he’s just going to stagnate.

It’s also helped by the supporting cast around being just as fun to watch and Isagi and what helps is that the show isn’t always strictly focused on Isagi and we actually get to know more about some of these other characters as well and what drives them to play football. But what makes it interesting is that each of these characters have their own kind of Ego. Yes they all strive to be the main character but they go about it in different ways. For example, Barou, the king, the lad, the man that has the dog in him has an ego where he is the king of the field and everyone around him are just peons, regardless if they are his teammates or not. Give him the ball and you will win. Whereas you got someone like Nagi, who’s own ego strives from him to join people who will get the best out of him and gets him excited to play football. They all strive for self importance and to be the best on the field but it’s the way they go about it differently that makes them stand out individually, besides their individual skills.


Animation: 5/10

Blue Lock’s animation is pretty much hard carried by its presentation. The show just nails the intensity of each football match with great angles and just capturing the look on our character’s faces to really sell that these characters are giving their all. The use of colour as well is well used; with it being distinct with each character and is mainly used to capture their fiery passion. That aspect of the animation works to its advantage to hide the fact that this isn’t a well animated show. It relies heavily on still images and sliding panels to capture each scene and while each panel looks good, it doesn’t capture motion well, only really saving it for the most important scenes, mainly when Barou is on screen to steal the budget. It is a shame because we see that this show can be animated well and it does, it just doesn’t do it often enough. That’s why the presentation makes it better than it is because you can capture the look of an intense football match and not worry about how fluid it is.

It’s also really inconsistent with its use of CG. I’m fine with the football being CG as it works well and I really do like it when it’s used with Isagi putting himself together using puzzle pieces to represent how he is evolving his game. The use of CG there is done really well. Other times it’s used poorly, mainly when we are looking from a bird’s eye view and characters are CG to capture movement and it just sticks out like a sore thumb.


Sound: 9.5/10

I usually don’t talk about sound design in reviews because anime tend to use to same sound effects so it just blends into one another. But my god does Blue Lock’s sound design kicks so much ass. The wind of someone running past you, the power of a shot kicking into the back of the net, capturing the moment before the strike, Blue Lock’s sound design really enhances whatever is on screen and it’s how it is used as well. Sometimes the music would stop just so we can hear it before kicking back in.

That’s not to take away from the soundtrack itself as I really liked this soundtrack. It has a nice blend of dubstep, techno and electronic with some piano in there as well. They are not really genres (besides maybe electronic) that are high among my favourites but the show puts them to really good use and spreads them out well. What sells it I think are the beat drops. That sudden pause isn’t just to let the sound design do its work, it’s also used to drop that hard beat at the climax for that added effect. It also tends to focus on a specific genre when one character is the focus. For example, Barou is usually associated with an electric guitar that goes really hard with it being really heavy to signify that the king is on the prowl and you best not get in his way.

Then there are the openings. The first OP “Chaos ga Kiwamaru” by Unison Square Garden is a very good opening. It is very nicely paced so that the visuals can match the pace of the song and how it times itself when switching scenes with the lyrics. The visuals themselves are well done, seeing the Blue Lock participants fall as Ego grins, knowing he’s got them in the palm of his hands, the puzzle pieces and showcases the more important characters’ weapons. It just gives you a taste to what’s to come and is accompanied by a song that is able to match what is going on what’s on screen.

But while the show’s first opening is very good, it’s the second opening that absolutely steals the show here. “Judgement” by ASH DA HERO is without a doubt, my favourite OP from this season. First off, that guitar. Second, the colour pallet used here is so good. It makes the whole OP feel so vibrant; especially during the chorus where it looks so damn good. It’s to the point where almost every frame can make a damn good wallpaper. Third, the tone is appropriate for the second cour, as if Isagi is not prepared to lie down and submit. No he’s going in with everything he’s got and with a change of attitude. And Fourth, the song is so damn catchy with the way it uses those instruments to get you pumped. Again, that guitar, but the drums at the end were also very well used. All complimented by that last shot of Isagi grabbing that last puzzle piece with a grin on his face and with a fiery desire to win as it cuts to the title logo. This is such a fun opening to watch and listen to and I really can’t stop listening to it. Again, this is easily my favourite OP of the season, as well as easily being top 3 this season at least. Great, great OP.

As for the EDs, they’re pretty good. "WINNER" by Shuugo Nakamura is a rather standard OP that has a very nice calming song to wind down after the tense action of the episode beforehand. Although, it is a nicely animated OP with some good visuals. Same goes for,"Numbness like a ginger" by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN. It is also nicely animated as well although I do like the song more in this one and it’s mainly the instrumentals that made me prefer this over Winner.


Conclusion

Blue Lock is an absolutely fantastic time that really offers something different than the usual standard. It’s emphasis on individual actions to improve and win games is different than your typical, win through teamwork, mentality that is the base of a lot of other sports anime. I guess that what makes me gravitate towards it more than other sports anime because I can watch any of these popular sports anime and see the base groundwork for the rest of the show to follow. Blue Lock flips that groundwork on its head to be more unique while still doing some things that feel similar.

Through an intense and engaging storyline, well developed characters, very good presentation, excellent sound design and OST, as well as probably having the best OP of the Winter season, Blue Lock offers a very enjoyable experience that has made it my favourite show to watch for the past two seasons now. But again, this isn’t for someone who is looking for a traditional sports anime, this is for someone who is looking for something different than the norm although you can still like this if you are looking for something more traditional. It’s just so fun and gripping to watch to see a main character develop in the opposite route to become the main man, rather than just a cog in the machine. It is a show that I highly recommend as one of the best anime of the past few seasons and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.


My Personal Enjoyment: 10/10


Overall Score: Recommendation: 8.6/10 Recommendation: Go F**king Watch It

The anime & manga is a mixture of hunger games and soccer: A survivor game between teenagers between 16-18. If you lose the game you are eliminated and your career is over forever. That sounds extremely scary for the 300 players who are passionate about football. The only one standing becomes the best striker in japan, and maybe in the whole world! The anime is extremely well constructed. It keeps the suspense up to the end, especially the first episode doesn't leave you with enough and you always want to know more. The voice actors do a very good job and you can really feel the emotions ... through their voice. Also, the animation is clean and looks smooth! There´s nothing I can complain about since I really enjoyed it. Of course teamwork is very important in football but some seem to miss the plot. Blue Lock is looking for a striker who is that good and can even compete with Ronaldo. I've been playing football in school teams since I was in elementary school. So I can say: Why are you complaining? Everyone on the team has a different task. Strikers have to score the goal, be quick. They bring success and are responsible for the goals and without goals no team can win. This is the most important task. You can't expect the striker to play with the defender. They will play teamwork yeah..if they are playing real football. Everyone plays their own role until teamwork is required. Funny how non-football players are complaining the most.

However, I also think that Yoichi is a very good protagonist. Although he has a cool personality, he still has a bit of a 'blank canvas' as well, he's not 'over-described' yet, which makes him a very good identification figure for the watcher. Jingo or a Meguru, who stand out because of the stubbornness of their personalities, that wouldn't be so possible. Yoichi's character leaves more room for development and potential in all conceivable directions.

I know people who are really into sports and I can confirm they are exactly like this.


Blue Lock manages to be absolutely overflow with charm by sheer virtue of being as over-the-top and deranged as humanly possible. Every single episode you'll hear a teenager talk about their pride in their skills or resolve to be the best Soccer player they can be through saying it in the most unhinged ways imaginable, accompanied by an extreme visualization of that exact phrasing. Even if the amount of depth a character has can vary in how deep or shallow they are, everyone manages to be really memorable in ... their own distinct brand of insanity that contributes to the constant high-energy feel of thhow. A big contributing factor to that is its stellar voice cast. Pretty much everyone here brings their absolute A-game into their roles with a powerful intensity that's unique to each and every one of them. My particular favorites were Kazuki Ura as Isagi and Tatsuku Kaito as Bachira, which is especially impressive given that they're pretty much entirely new faces in voice acting. I'm really happy that these leading roles were given to such promising newcomers, and I really hope that their phenomenal performances lead to really bright futures in their careers.


Another one of the core pillars that makes Blue Lock what it is are its visuals. However, I should address the fact that its animation is an area where it stumbles a bit. It feels a bit apparent that it wasn't given as much of a large budget as it could have, or if it ran into issues in production, but it does have a noticeable impact on its animation. It often relies on stills or really rough-looking CG models in a lot of areas in a way that's pretty off-putting to see when those cracks show. That being said, its animation often being a tad inconsistent is more than made up for with its fantastic direction. Its use of incredibly intense expressions and shading that feels reminiscent of Attack on Titan at times, effective use of distinct imagery like the puzzle pieces connecting to and breaking off of Isagi or the "monster" that resides around Bachira, and incredibly strong storyboarding that makes its big headlining shots land with the same impact as a spread from a manga page give it a striking sense of style that feels very unique to it. And make no mistake with my earlier complaints about its animation, when they need to sell an impactful moment, it shines really brightly. I just hope these production issues get ironed out by the time season 2 comes around, so both the animation and direction get to work in harmony and shine ever brighter.


The thing I found most compelling about Blue Lock story-wise is the nuance of Blue Lock's goals as a facility and the type of player it's trying to be. I've seen a good amount of criticism towards the series' supposed notion that a striker is the only player that matters in a soccer team. That's obviously entirely true, but I think that angle is looking into the whole "making the best striker" aspect of it a bit too literally. The way I see it, Ego sees the problem with the Japan team being that their focus solely on fighting as one made it so that the players' individual strengths suffered as a result, so the goal for Blue Lock is to refine the selected players as individuals and bring out their latent strengths. It's an approach that encourages the players to have somewhat selfish and egotistical mindsets in how they evolve, which doesn't sound like it'd work all too well. However, the show ironically makes it so that this drive ends up strengthening their teamwork. It invites a spirit of competition between its team members where they manage to work in harmony by spiritually devouring each other (the show's words, not mine) in order to make major bursts of improvement, and those clashes of wills end up letting the players work in harmony very well. It's a very unique angle to take a sports series in storytelling wise, one that I haven't really seen before at least. I imagine that it's definitely really unrealistic and over-the-top, but the series fully embraces that aspect of itself.


Watching this show week to week was one of the most fun experiences I've had keeping up with a seasonal, and I'm glad I got to experience it so often through the phenomenal stretch of Fall 2022 and the admittedly less enticing stretch of Winter 2023. I'm fully hooked on checking out the utterly insane clash of wills through soccer that Blue Lock has in store for the future, and I'm looking forward to its eventual return with Season 2 and the Episode Nagi film.

Blue Lock is a refreshing take on the anime sports genre. There's no 'all for one and one for all' kind of sportsmanship here, they're playing based on their egos and they are not afraid to talk shit to each other. watching the first episode will definitely make you hooked. However, there are a few things that I want to point out about Blue Lock starting with the Pros.

The pros:
The story starts of simple, the MC Isagi Yoichi got invited to join the Blue Lock project as a candidate to be the best striker in the world. The premise and how the story goes plays ... similarly to a battle-shounen type of anime, with the power system being the Blue Lock rankings and the "weapons" that they use being a soccer skill. Every match feels intense as if you're watching a real soccer match. The characters are fairly interesting and have different motivations and backgrounds that made them stand out. The openings and endings are a banger, really makes you not want to skip it. The voice acting is great, and there's a lot of veteran voice actor in the anime

and now let's talk about the cons.

The cons:
The first episode has really good animation but as the time goes the animation gets less detailed and less fluid. The use of CGI is more apparent especially on the 2nd cour, and there's a lot of still shots and weird use of effects that makes it more jarring to watch. I don't get why the change Isagi's blue aura in the earlier episodes to green, which is a weird color choice for me. Certain important moments became less impactful because of the less detailed animation. When you draw a comparison between the manga and the anime, the manga easily takes the cake.

Overall Blue Lock is a good adaptation, although the animation may not be the best, I say they adapted the the manga pretty well. I just hope they adapt the Blue Lock vs U-20 Japan with better animation because it's one of the best arcs in the manga.

Thanks for reading

"Blue Lock," a manga adaptation that's all about soccer. But not the kind of soccer you see in your backyard. No, no, no, this is soccer on steroids! It's a story about teenage boys who want to become the best soccer player in Japan. And they're not just happy with being good. Oh no, they want to be the BEST, better than anyone else.
The story follows a guy named Isagi Yoichi. This dude got some serious talent when it comes to soccer. But he's not happy with being good. He wants to be the best. And he'll do whatever it takes to get there. That's ... where the Blue Lock program comes in. It's a special training camp designed to turn good soccer players into great ones, and Yoichi is one of the lucky few who get selected.
But here's the catch, kids. The Blue Lock program is not your ordinary soccer camp. It's more like a battle royale, where the players are pitted against each other in intense matches to see who's "the best" of the best. And these guys are not playing nice, oh no, they're playing dirty. They're using every trick in the book to beat each other, and it's all for the sake of becoming the best soccer player in Japan.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "this sounds like a violent show!" But don't worry, there's no blood or gore here. It's all the good old-fashioned soccer action. Only with some intense rivalry that is thrown in for good measure. And the best part? The story is frankly a good twist of the sports genre. Because it got a unique premise that's not been seen before in sports manga, and the characters are all well-developed and interesting.
Speaking a bit about how 8bit studio decided to animate this adaptation, the usage of CGI during the matches in "Blue Lock" might put off many viewers, especially the traditional animation puritans. While the CGI of this show isn't the best in the industry, it does get the job done. It's understandable why the producers decided to use CGI, as it allows them to depict the fast-paced movements and actions of the sport more realistically. However, some viewers might find it jarring to switch from traditional animation to CGI during the match scenes.
Although, when the time calls for it, the best scenes are animated well. When "Blue Lock" uses traditional animation, it can be stunning. The character designs are unique and memorable, perhaps too unique for sports. The action scenes are particularly well-animated, with dynamic camera angles and impressive use of color and lighting.
The opening and ending songs in "Blue Lock" are good, but nothing more. While they do a decent job setting the show's tone, they aren't particularly memorable or catchy. However, some of the OSTs used throughout are nicely complementing the scenarios. They help to build tension during intense scenes and create a sense of nostalgia during quieter moments.
The voice actors in "Blue Lock" are all respectably passionate about filling the shoes of those strikers. Each character has a distinct voice and personality, and the voice actors do an excellent job of bringing them to life. Whether it's the confident and ambitious protagonist Yoichi, or the passive-aggressive Ego Jinpachi, each character's voice is spot on and adds to the overall enjoyment of the series.
Even if "Blue Lock" is not up to the palate of some viewers, it's staying power is there. If memes have proven anything, there are moments in this show that can even be taken out of context as a memorable gifs. Some scenes in the show are just so over-the-top and ridiculous that they become instantly meme-able. This staying power can keep this show in the public consciousness long after it has finished airing. Which is always a good thing for any series.
So, in conclusion, "Blue Lock" is a great manga that's perfect for anyone who loves soccer or sports manga in general. It's got great action, interesting characters, and a unique story. That's sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The anime managed to surprise me. I planned to watch it in the background while eating, but from the first episodes I was drawn in.

This anime is not about characters or football, it is about healthy egoism, personal growth, the ability to say no to other people's desires in order to achieve your own. It helped me a lot, to cultivate egoism and the ability to be in a leading role, especially in online games, where I was transformed from a good support into a furious berserker in the core role!

The art is good, the characters are written well enough so as not to seem ... empty, but also not to draw attention to themselves. The plot is good and there is a good amount of tension and intrigue throughout.

In short, if you want to see how to break from Yuji Itadori to Ryomen Sukuna, you should watch this.