Ever wondered what a cross between sport and a survival game would be like? I’m pretty sure no ones actually thought that question, but hey look no further, Blue Lock is here and it does just that, in a way.
From the onset, Blue Lock differs from what other sports mangas strive to do. It clashes with the notion of teamwork in sport, it instead asks questions about how important could ego and more importantly could greed be is in sport (football in this case). I believe this is a risky approach, on one hand it’s easier to see everyone’s true colours, as they’re taken as individuals who aren’t undermined by let’s say, a stronger teammate. While on the other, it doesn’t really make sense to have a selfish striker, football is in essence a team sport, and it’s crucial for a striker to have a good connection with his teammates, but since the manga is still in its early stages I’ll wait and see how it combats this.
The art is quite simply, beautiful. The artist really spared no expense when it came to his depictions. I mean, it is a sports manga, of course I was expecting it’d be consistent but I’m not even joking it really just does not let up at any moment. But what I believe it shines at is the some of the panels that depict the most intense moments. The first thing that comes to mind was one panel where one of the guys (I forgot his name) was desperately trying to get the ball and score and what was above him resembled a massive, magestic lion who’s just about to hone in on his prey and that just left me amazed, if the anime drops that’s something I’m definitely looking forward to.
The characters are also pretty cool and diverse, we have our main protagonist Isagi Yoichi who’s pretty much and average Joe psychically, but excels in his ability to read the game and most notably his opponents and adjust accordingly. There’s also Bachira, who excels in dribbling skills, there’s also Ichigo Kurosaki (new name Kunigami) with his hammer of a left foot, and there’s also that long haired princess who’s name I forgot but you could also classify as speed demon. That’s cool and all, but there’s a a slight issue I have with someone like Itoshi Rin, he’s younger than the MC yet he’s already skilled enough to compete with the professionals.
In all, barring some issues I mentioned earlier, I’m enjoying Blue Lock and I’m pretty keen to see what it still has yet in store for us, after all it is my first football related animanga I've seen since Inazuma 11 was aring.
