Blue Lock

Yoichi Isagi was mere moments away from scoring a goal that would have sent his high school soccer team to the nationals, but a split-second decision to pass the ball to his teammate cost him that reality. Bitter, confused, and disappointed, Isagi wonders if the outcome would have been different had he not made the pass. When the young striker returns home, an invitation from the Japan Football Union awaits him. Through an arbitrary and biased decision-making process, Isagi is one of three hundred U-18 strikers selected for a controversial project named Blue Lock.

The project's ultimate goal is to turn one of the selected players into the star striker for the Japanese national team. To find the best participant, each diamond in the rough must compete against others through a series of solo and team competitions to rise to the top. Putting aside his ethical objections to the project, Isagi feels compelled to fight his way to the top, even if it means ruthlessly crushing the dreams of 299 aspiring young strikers.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Bachira, Meguru Main

Kaito, Tasuku Japanese

Isagi, Yoichi Main

Ura, Kazuki Japanese

Chigiri, Hyouma Main

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Kunigami, Rensuke Main

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Nagi, Seishirou Supporting

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Barou, Shouei Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Itoshi, Rin Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Shidou, Ryuusei Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Mikage, Reo Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Itoshi, Sae Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Furukawa, Shin Producer

Arisawa, Ryouya Producer

Nakayoshi, Haruhito Assistant Producer

Watanabe, Tetsuaki Director

Reviews

May 28, 2024

200px

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by 200px (4)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 18, 2024

MyNameIsMike

Mixed Feelings

I started watching this show right after I finished Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood which I remember a friend of mine said was a bad idea since this show in comparison would be bad.

To an extent he was right because truthfully it wasn’t nearly as good but at the same time I didn’t expect to be and I don’t think it really intended to be. I think there’s a misconception that every piece of media needs to be some revolutionary, ground-breaking story in order to be any good but I don’t think that’s true. I think a piece of media can be just as good (a ... 10/10 even) if it succeeds at being pure entertainment and by all means Blue Lock is exactly that.

Sports were never really my thing, I never hated them, I’d watch them if presented the opportunity but I never really understood or wanted to pursue my knowledge in that so there is a bit of a disconnect for me here since I have almost no interest in sports as it is.

But I would be lying if I was saying I still wasn’t hooked from every soccer match. For the matches I felt like I was genuinely in that match, the adrenaline from the players was also apart of me creating this sense of catharsis for every goal, every victory, and every defeat. One thing I adore about this show is the fact that both teams each have compelling enough characters + their motivations so I honestly go back and forth who I should root for. Every match has the right amount of drama and stakes, one wrong step and the dreams crumble down. The moves, weapons, strategies feel unique to each specific character, I couldn’t get enough. If nothing else, watch the show for the matches alone.

Another really, really good thing about this show is how different it feels from typical sports-genre stories. They’re like biopics in the sense it’s the same movie just with a different mc in their place. Blue Lock stands apart from most other sports stories, while it has the same theme of defining the meaning and passion of the sport, this story feels much more radical as opposed to the more wholesome stories. It’s a nice change of pace.

The characters are good enough to carry the show but feel relatively surface level which honestly I don’t mind since this show isn’t a study about complex morals or characters but still as a result the characters don’t really feel memorable as a result. However, like I said, they work for this show and I like how unique they feel even if somewhat one-note.

The episodes tend to feel formulaic but not in the good way. Obviously having a formula is okay but if, to me, I feel like I’m watching the same episode over and over again then it takes me out of the experience again. The second arc is better at than the first arc in this regard but still I felt that feeling creep in.

Everything else in this show feels just right on a technical and writing level. There’s just enough substance to hook you in but not enough to want more.

So in that case you may wondering why it’s ranked relatively low. Truthfully I rank shows from a 60-40 system where (about) 40% of it is dedicated to the technical aspects with (about) 60% coming from the enjoyment factor. Part of the enjoyment factor is if I see myself yearning for more or see myself rewatching it and as mentioned, soccer isn’t really my thing and I while I’m definitely interested in a season 2 I’m not feining for it and I honestly don’t think about it much outside of watching it which is both a pro and a con about it.

Still with that said, this is a really entertaining show and while it’s toward the bottom of the list for the animes I’ve enjoyed, it’s still a 7/10 meaning I believe it is a good show and I would recommend it and say it’s a good time just not something I see myself remembering it or going back to it. It’s definitely a “in-the-moment” kind of show where it’s not something you’ll be thinking about after watching it but while you’re watching it you’ll definitely be hooked.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by MyNameIsMike (8)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Oct 6, 2023

exvxa

Not Recommended

Funny

Story: Literally non-existent. Each episode resolves of pseudo-developing football skills. The characters get a pass from another player and than stand face o face for 30 seconds and talk toxic redudant bullshit to each other to make sure the one speaking is more alpha than the other.

Characters: Nothing special here. Typical shounen character set, fancy hair styles. There is the already mentioned pseudo-developing of each character's individual skill set, which some people might find interesting. While this is a shounen anime i can understand this doesn't have to be near to realism, but it gets boring pretty soon. Its a typical schema: Isagi faces a ... better oponent which is depicted as super overpowerd, then he get's an epiphany on his oponents individual skill and tactic set and becomes better in ca. 45min. And this repeats on each story stage. Boring. Only Bachira's stoy background is kind of interesting and supports his development but thats all. The other 40 characters are not very individual to each other, they are all a bunch of toxic, narcistic losers who should better go to college.

Music: Typical shounen garbage.

Design: Some chars look cool, most of them have guffy hairstyles. Another boring part about the anime is the surroundings. These wannabes are caged inside a isolated cage. There is nothing, really nothing, that makes this anime in any way beautiful and a piece of art.

Animation: Literally non-existent. There is maybe 5min of total football animation in this anime, the rest are stand alone pictures. I didnt know time pauses when you play football.

Overall: Bad, redundaant, meaningless shounen anime, A score of 8.25 is blasphemy but shows, how bad anime fans can judge art lmao

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by exvxa (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Boys Kissing Boys

by floopydisk

28 Entries · 37 Restacks

Animes no Brasil

by AndreFoltran

24 Entries · 18 Restacks

Anime with Sport

by LUakaPAIN

13 Entries · 1 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for May. Week 1: May 7 - 13 Anime Releases Hyouken no Majutsushi ga Sekai wo Suberu (The Iceblade ...read more

May 5, 10:47 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (0 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for November

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for November. Week 1: November 7 - 13 Anime Releases Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman. (More than a Marri...read more

Nov 11, 2023 7:34 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (0 comments)

	Poll: Blue Lock Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) KANLen09 - Mar 25, 2023	344 replies	by MatheusMS »» May 31, 3:58 PM
	Poll: Blue Lock Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Jan 7, 2023	165 replies	by ooospooky »» May 31, 1:02 AM
	Poll: Blue Lock Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Nov 19, 2022	223 replies	by rahneyskies »» May 20, 2:15 PM
	Poll: Blue Lock Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Oct 8, 2022	760 replies	by bubba460z »» May 19, 11:53 PM
	Why is it a power point? Leon888 - May 14	46 replies	by Kaitaka12 »» May 16, 11:56 PM