Blue Lock

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

Honestly, out of all the sports anime I have read or watched, this was by far the most interesting. It doesn't focus on "friendship" but rather the "selfishness" and "egoism" of each character. I think stories like these are more realistic because it brings out the true human nature in people. What I mean by this is that the selfishness and egoism of humans are displayed. The characters rely on their egoism throughout the manga to achieve their goal. The main character is very interesting and so are the people around him. I highly recommend this manga because each chapter is amazing! Props to the ... author for keeping the readers entertained each chapter. I scored the manga high because it really deserves it.

Lots of 'first time reviewers' for Blue Lock, huh. I have some thoughts.

I understand why one would enjoy Blue Lock. The art and characters are real pretty, and it's hype in the way of popular sports series like Haikyuu and Kuroko, in the way that definitely eventually guarantees an anime season or two.

I just can't help but feel that the series misses the point of football? Blue Lock is about owning up to your own selfishness and ego as a player in order to prove your superior football skillz.It's interesting but, the problem is that soccer is.. truly a team sport. It doesn't matter ... if you have the best [forward, attack, whatever the position is], as they won't be able to operate without an equally competent team. WHICH BECOMES EXCESSIVELY CLEAR like twenty chapters in once all the [that same position] players except the protagonist just... default to regular football positions...Why are they even still in this training camp? Even worse, instead of regular football matches (which are great for supporting character conflicts, narrative development, etc, normal sports anime stuff) we end up getting all these fucking wacky and convoluted football-adjacent games and excercices, which aren't satisfying, because they're not football!

Honestly, while ripping off the Kuroko art style (yes, mixed with Bleach, yes yes), they should've also ripped off the rest of the fucking story format. Make sure each team has one of each position, but is just ultra-powerful in that one position. Like this, we can still get over-powered protagonist AND the satisfying functionality of football as the team sport it actually is!

Also again, the art is pretty, but the character designs arent anything special. Most of the characters look like Bleach or Kuroko background characters, unless they're irreparably evil, in which case they look like the weird teeth gangly guy from Yowamushi Pedal. Finally, and this might be just me reading into this a bit too much, but is the lack of women to act as supportive side characters in this manga sort of solved by having two very feminized / homoeroticized players close to the protagonist (I'm thinking of the guy who only ever dribbles and passes and the princess guy)? Much to think about.

Blue Lock… is not a football manga. Blue Lock is to football as Dragon Ball Z is to martial arts. This is a superpowered battle shonen in a football skin, though that skin is, admittedly, absolutely gorgeous.

Now that’s not necessarily bad — Kuroko’s Basketball does the same thing pretty well — but Blue Lock is plagued by a myriad of other issues. Of these, the most pressing one in my mind is its focus on the idea of egoism. See, Blue Lock desperately wants to say something, and the something it lands on is the idea that the best football players are those that discard ... the idea of winning and trample their teammates all in the goal of attaining personal glory. Now, whether or not you think that idea has any merit, it is at least an idea, and a pretty refreshing one at that. Where it falls flat, however, is in the execution.

I find it difficult to believe that Blue Lock’s ideas were fully thought through in the early stages of its serialisation, as many of the series’ stated themes are actively proven to be wrong even within the context of this story. At times, the series can feel like it’s fighting itself, almost as though its themes are getting in the way of the mangaka telling the story. The series perpetually feels like it’s on the cusp of realising that its ideas don’t make sense, which can make it pretty frustrating to read.

I also struggle to imagine anyone who’s fond of football finding much to like here. At its worst, Blue Lock comes off as a grotesque bastardisation of the sport, and feels almost disrespectful to those who play any role other than striker. It feels like a series that kinda… hates football, caring far more about the aesthetic and pointless showboating than about representing the sport in a way that is anything resembling authentic.

Now all of this can still work for a series with a strong enough cast. A good cast can make up for some of the worst grievances in fiction. And at a cursory glance, Blue Lock might appear to fulfil this requirement. It has some really bright and vibrant designs, and a lot of the characters have really bombastic and fun personalities. However, the characters that we spend the bulk of our time focusing on, especially as the series progresses, are some of the most dour and bland characters imaginable. Many of the series’ most prominent characters suck the joy out of any scene they’re in, especially when on the field.

The area that Blue Lock undeniably excels in most is its artwork. It’s dynamic and fun and it packs a punch in a way that few sports series do, but this is marred by the numerous issues I mentioned above, which often results in moments that would otherwise be fun leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I think that if the series were to play more to its strengths, being a rip-roaring good time, rather than attempting to frame things around Ego’s ideals, it’d make for a much less disappointing series.

Truthfully, I didn’t start this review intending to be this negative. But the more I thought about this series, the more its issues stood out to me. Blue Lock isn’t a series I could ever really see myself recommending to people in its current state, but hey at least it’s pretty.