Unlocking the Exciting Promises of Blue Lock's Second Part!

Warning: Spoilers for Blue Lock episode 19!

Unfortunately, the second half of Blue Lock's debut season fails to address the unique conflict and descent of its protagonist Yoichi Isagi into villainy, despite the promises made in the initial episodes. Initially, the soccer anime introduced the inevitable tragedy that Isagi and his teammates would eventually face each other in a fierce competition known as the eponymous deathmatch, where only one person can emerge as the winner in Blue Lock.

This ruthless competition naturally requires participants to adopt a mindset that is not conducive to maintaining friendships. As the series intentionally subverts the conventions of typical sports anime, viewers had hoped that Blue Lock would fully embrace these unconventional tropes.

Tragedy, as Told By Blue Lock

In episode 19, Isagi has already participated in his first match against two of his former teammates with little attention, and he hasn't become the antagonist as promised in Blue Lock. Before the highly anticipated 3-vs-3 game, Isagi's former teammates, Chigari and Kunigami, discuss seeking revenge on him. But as soon as they voice this plan, Isagi and his new team arrive and all negative feelings towards him vanish. This remains the case until a random moment after the match when Chigari tells Kunigami to continue competing for the sake of their revenge. Isagi shows no discomfort during these reunions. However, he momentarily embraces a malicious attitude when he uses Barou's derogatory term "donkey" against him during the match.

Ironically, at the end of the highly anticipated match, only Isagi's teammate Nagi fulfills the moment fans had hoped Isagi would have with Chigari and Kunigami in Blue Lock. Nagi completely dominates his former friend and teammate, Reo. As a shonen series that goes against the norm by putting "friendship" on limited time, it would have been more impactful if the hero, Isagi, had defeated Kunigami in this manner instead of another character taking on the villain's role as expected. Although Chigari and Kunigami have a moment confirming their desire for revenge on Isagi, the damage has already been done. Fans were preparing for tragedy since Isagi was destined to have a heartbreaking rematch with his teammates. Even though the series surprised everyone by having that moment happen earlier than anticipated, there is nothing that suggests future rematches will be significantly different. The first rematch should be the most challenging, but it seemed relatively easy because they kept their emotions hidden.

Isagi Isn't "Evil" Enough

On the other hand, Isagi's mistreatment of his teammate Barou was undeniably thrilling, but he later tries to excuse his actions by attributing them to being caught up in the moment. However, this scene should not have occurred in the first place due to Barou's unsuitability for Isagi's team. A more effective storyline would have been if Isagi deliberately did not choose Barou out of spite. This would have further solidified Isagi's expected villainous image while also aligning with his understanding of Blue Lock. Previously, Isagi willingly challenged the top three players despite the unlikelihood of success, as that is the kind of mentality required in Blue Lock's competition. Isagi choosing not to proceed with Barou would have been realistic for his character, as not having Barou on his team would have pushed Isagi to work even harder to secure victory. It would have also resulted in a potential rematch between Isagi and Barou.

Supporters of the second cour of Blue Lock could argue that these developments were intentional, aiming to gradually build up to these pivotal moments instead of rushing into them. However, several events have already been expedited, such as Isagi's immediate confrontations with Chigari and Kunigami. Additionally, Blue Lock has positioned itself as a groundbreaking departure from the conventional genre, and failing to fulfill this promise ultimately leads it to conform to the same formulas employed by other series it seeks to challenge.

Blue Lock is streaming on Crunchyroll.