Anticipating The Trajectory Blue Lock Will Create For Sports Anime

Hit ani-manga series Blue Lock was authored by Muneyuki Kaneshiro to bring the ordinary folk interest in the beloved sport of football. Unlike usual sports anime, this series focuses heavily on individualistic skills and talent rather than team play – that only the best of the best individuals find sanctuary within the Blue Lock facilities.

Following the massive success of season one, fans were quick to demand season two, and for more reason too than just simply enjoying the first season. The second installment of Blue Lock is where the stakes are held to their highest regard – the fate of the Blue Lock Project rests on one match against the Japanese U20 National Team. The wildcard? La Real’s (Real Madrid) midfielder, Sae Itoshi, will be pitted against our main ‘heroes’ – the boys are always at odds with each other, so who can really be considered a hero?

Fans of the manga, including myself, will insist to a fault that the Blue Lock Eleven versus the Japanese U20 National Team is the perfect arc that the story has coughed up to date. As soon as the key visual for this season of Blue Lock dropped, I immediately took to social media to scream. In all his glory, my favorite redhead was finally shown in the announcements. I am very ready to witness what a sorry sight he will make of the Blue Lock Eleven.

Every four years, FIFA hosts the World Cup tournament, and every four years during that tournament, a feeling arises within any individual with the basic knowledge that football is a sport where you kick the ball into a goal – Rapture. Around the globe, no matter what age, people tune in, with patriotism beating in their hearts, to root for their country to traverse as far as they can, through the brackets, and into the battleground that is the arena.

Every World Cup also brings in new superstar sensations to be highlighted on the world stage; such cases being evident in players like Kylian Mbappe. But how is any of this relevant to the topic at hand, you may be wondering. The undying concept and the powerful sentiments of the FIFA World Cup will very much show itself in the narrative of the upcoming season of Blue Lock.

The story will kick off with the third selection, as Ego Jinpachi assesses the right fit and captain for the team, and that in itself will be a great build-up to the deciding match. Considering how the Japanese team are failures on the world stage in the anime, however weak or strong they really are is something to observe with the addition of Sae Itoshi. There may be the presence of pathetic desperation to rid of that failure tag they have been bitterly carrying.

Considering the ending of the first season, where the very mention of his brother had Rin Itoshi grit his teeth, you best believe something very sinister is cooking between him and the La Real player. Being a Real Madrid fan, the high of winning this season’s Laliga and the Champions League is still very much alive. Therefore, I, for the life of me, cannot pick between the two siblings. As for who gets to be picked for the starting eleven, that may be a fun drinking game for anime watchers.

Manga readers are gearing up as this is the arc that we wholeheartedly wish is adapted right. We want the anime to be as faithful as possible to capture the emotions Yusuke Nomura’s drawings instilled, maybe even better. Now, we lay in wait for what Blue Lock will bring in the month of October.
 

Jennifer
Editor, NoobFeed