But what if he failed? What if he fumbled? For all his talent, Isagi was an ant among gods, an enthusiastic teen still struggling to perfect his craft. He could not afford to lose because defeat in Blue Lock meant the end of his dreams.
Then I turned the page and fought the urge to flip the table; Chapter 164 was not yet out. I had to wait another week to discover Isagi’s fate.
Soccer is boring. No, let me amend that statement; I don’t like sports in general. And you have to understand my opinion of soccer to appreciate my excitement over this manga. I don’t like sports. And yet, if I made a list of my favourite anime of all time, sports shows would secure prominent positions in the top ten.
Anime makes sports entertaining. Take Blue Lock as an example. The manga follows Ego Jinpachi, a coach Japan has tasked with building the perfect soccer team.
The national team finished 16th in the FIFA World Cup. Tired of accumulating losses, the Japanese Football Union wants Ego to create a new training regimen to transform Japanese Football. Ego responds with Blue Lock, a program designed to catapult the country to global success.
People are already touting Blue Lock as the best sports manga ever written, and for a good reason. Unlike shows like Kuroko no Basuke and Haikyu that nurture camaraderie and teamwork among the characters, Blue Lock’s Jinpachi has one goal: to create the ultimate striker.
Therefore, his students are rewarded for prioritizing their individual victories over the team’s success. In fact, in the first chapter, Isagi’s team loses because he chose to pass the ball to a teammate rather than take a shot at the goal. To get ahead, he must shed his charitable nature.
Blue Lock exceeds expectations in every sector. Isagi and his companions have a vicious drive to essentially devour one another.
The protagonist spends as much time fighting his own teammates as he does the opposing team. And the art adapts to match his mindset. Again, I don’t like soccer, and I don’t watch it.
But with this manga, I could follow every dribble, every pass, every furious kick. Yusuke Nomura, the illustrator, depicts the fighting spirit of the characters as jungle animals ripping each other apart on the field.
Whenever a character awakens a new skill, the art becomes sharp and crisp. You can see the passion of the players in the black streaks and trails radiating from their bodies, not to mention the crackling sparks that encase the players during particularly heated games.
A Blue Lock anime is coming out later this year. But I urge you to read the manga beforehand. The black and white pictures do a better job of rendering the blend of agony and ecstasy that explodes when an athlete executes a fantastic play.
katmic200@gmail.com
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