Not gonna lie, 8bit should just rename this season "BLUELOCK: THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION." Keep it honest, you know?
Blue Lock Season 2, also known as Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan Arc, has been a slight disaster this season. It's arguably one of the biggest manga IPs in Japan at the moment, yet we're stuck with moving PNGs and JPEGs moving across a stock background with speed lines being overlayed over everything.
In all honesty, I was extremely excited for this season when they announced Yuauke Nomura's manga would be getting a second season. The season 2 arc is arguably the most iconic part of the entire manga, and many, including myself, expected a lot from this anime. However, a little more than 25% through this season, my expectations for this anime could NOT be any lower. I think.
To go over the bad:
ANIMATION. 🤮
Do I need to say anything more? Everyone knows about frame lock. They took the idea of animation and threw it straight out of the office window. It's horrendous. Some of the most important parts of the series (Isagi's new awakening, Reo's new weapon) are totally ruined by shitty "animation" sequences where a still image sits in the center of the screen while lines and effects move around. It's nasty. It's like listening to Ice Spice. There are even some points where they chicken out and throw CGI over everything. It baffles me how much 8bit wants to do everything but actually animate this show like an anime. At this point, the anime is better off as an audiobook on audible or as a reading guide for the manga.
Honestly, I think the rest of the show is being thrown under the bus for the one mishap that is a lack of a competent animation team. It's pretty faithful to the manga and pacing, although weird at some times, isn't the worst. The anime could introduce new characters better but other than that, there's not much that bad about it. Character designs are pretty good, voice acting is solid, and the opening and ending songs are pretty nice (although they don't come close to S1).
My final thoughts:
Blue Lock Season 2 is definitely held back by its trash animation, but is definitely enjoyable for some. I would recommend it mainly to extreme diehard fans of Bluelock or to people who want slightly more than their generic Isekai (I'm looking at you, Gigguk.) I would say that Blue Lock U-20 vs. Japan is worth giving a shot, but keep your expectations low.
So... when does the PowerPoint template come out, 8bit? I could definitely use it for my presentations 😁