Blue Lock is the newest sports anime to entertain viewers with over-the-top action played out through soccer. It has a unique premise that incorporates aspects of death games into it. Instead of dying, the young soccer players risk ruining their potential in a project designed to break them down until only one great final product remains.
This is the crucible that brings the best and the worst out of these promising strikers. In this hostile environment, the characters of Blue Lock accept their own selfish desires to score and be the best, even if it means ruining others’ chances. While cruel, it facilitates a space where the best plays are possible.
10 Isagi & Bachira Team Up To Eliminate Kira
The first major hurdle in the anime is posed when a game of tag is used as a qualifier. The group must eliminate one player in order to advance to the next round. The game is pretty uneventful until Bachira gets up and causes chaos.
He recognizes the potential in Isagi and has him realize that the point of the program is not to survive, but to win. Instead of knocking out the weakling Igarashi, they team up to eliminate the early favorite Kira. This takes out a big threat and establishes them as players who really understand the point of the program.
9 Isagi Crushes The King By Devouring Him
In an important match between Kunigami, Chigiri, and Reo versus Barou, Isagi, and Nagi, the latter team find it impossible to work with the self-appointed king, Barou. He hits a ceiling with his abilities but refuses to adjust his play style. It becomes an exploitable weakness that irritates Isagi.
Instead of working with his teammate, Isagi uses Barou as a distraction, essentially making him a pawn in his plans. When it results in a goal for Isagi, the realization of his inadequacies shatters Barou. However, his ego rebels against the inferiority, and his level of play evolves. In one move, Isagi secures a goal and forces his teammate to reach a new level of dominance.
8 Gagamaru & Reo Halt The Sae-Shido Connection
Japan U-20’s revitalized offense because of a serious threat towards Blue Lock. Sae’s play making and passing sets up for Shido’s explosive kicks perfectly. At a critical moment, Reo and Team Z’s lovable Gagamaru step to smother the offense’s momentum. Reo defends Shido closely, limiting his scoring options to the upper and bottom left corners of the goal.
As the goalie, Gagamaru is forced to gamble on which corner Shido will shoot for. He dives for the bottom left corner, but Shido kicks it to the upper left. With incredible tenacity, Gagamaru, forces himself to a handstand, blocking the shot. This allows Reo to follow it up with a jumping turn kick, saving the team.
7 Rin Steals The Game By Aligning Himself With Luck
The most heartbreaking match from the protagonist’s perspective has to be when Rin wins the rematch by being lucky. Isagi brings a virtual super team comprising himself, Nagi, Barou, and Chigiri to face Rin’s team. It is a close match that pushes both sides to new heights, however, the final play is the difference maker.
Isagi outplays Rin by realizing Bachira will try to secure his own goal rather than passing. This allows Isagi to block Bachira during the final seconds of the match. However, Rin is able to quickly react. Instead of stopping Isagi, he runs to the best position to score, just in case luck hands him the ball after the block. He trusts in his abilities and his luck, and fate follows through, denying Isagi the win.
6 Isagi’s Pass To Yukimiya Surpasses Kaiser’s Vision
The game between Bastard München and Manshine City has two different conflicts. It is a fight between two elite teams, but the internal struggle within Bastard München is also present. Isagi is trying to surpass his teammate Kaiser. During the match, he accesses the same field vision Kaiser has. This gives him the potential to outdo Germany’s rising star, as well as defeat Manshine City.
For the final play in the match, Isagi challenges himself to exceed Kaiser’s vision, but Kaiser meets him near the goal, denying a clean shot. What sets the two apart is that Isagi sees that Yukimiya has the ability to score on his own, so he passes to him and secures the win.
5 Barou Devours Isagi By Watching Rin’s Movements
Trailing Japan U-20 by a point, Blue Lock subs in their trump card, Shoei Barou. The task Ego gives him is to stalk Isagi and try to steal the spotlight from him. Unlike Rin and Isagi, Barou’s field vision is not as impressive, but his power and shooting abilities are incredible. He monitors Isagi for an opportunity to steal his goal.
In a crucial moment where Sae counters Isagi’s plan and Rin is smothered by Aiku’s defense, Barou slides in, overpowering two defenders, and rockets the ball into the goal. He manages to predict where the ball will be by monitoring Rin reaction to Isagi’s plan. In a way, he devours his team’s ace players.
4 Rin Sacrifices His Face To Deny His Brother’s Play
During the Japan U-20 game, a lot of the focus and attention steered towards Isagi, Nagi, and Barou. Rin saw the match as his way to destroy his brother. He could not handle seeing that the narrative had shifted away from his grudge, and towards Isagi’s play making.
Rin wanted to do whatever he could to get in his brother’s way. This included seeing through Sae’s pass to Shido and intercepting the kick with his head. While Shido is an eccentric person, he is not wild enough to intentionally kick a player during a play. That effort was all Rin, and it was worth it.
3 Nagi Dazzles The World With His Trapping
Nagi’s acrobatic and intuitive movement, mixed with his tricky trapping, is what makes him one of the most fearsome strikers in Blue Lock. In Manshine City’s match against Bastard München, Nagi finally has a chance to defeat Isagi. He wants to prove his genius, and defeating Isagi is the best way to do that.
Reo sets up the play for him, but it’s Nagi’s incredible trapping that steals the show. He fakes a volley 4 consecutive times by trapping the ball. This throws off both Isagi and Kaiser. No amount of anticipating could match Nagi’s dexterity and control. This leads to an emphatic goal.
2 Shido Ascends For A Superb Bicycle Goal
The spectacular thing about Shido’s bicycle kick is that his body does it on instinct. With the ball high overhead, with the goal being a significant distance away, Shido’s body lifts him up to receive the ball. Ego states that he is the first person on the field to enter the state of flow.
It is an intense goal that has no business going in, but Shido’s uncanny reach and athleticism make it happen. It is the goal that shocks the Blue Lock players, causing Isagi to confront Ego for a new game plan. A lesser roster would have folded under the weight of this single goal.
1 Isagi Wins The Match By Finding His Luck
The final minute of the match against Japan U-20 is defined by Rin rising to meet his brother Sae. They clash as Sae dribbles the ball, and Rin manages to finally outplay his other brother. He intercepts the ball with his heel, and it flies overhead. It even flies over Aiku’s head, meaning that Japan U-20’s best defender cannot prevent the ball from moving past him.
Isagi positions himself behind Aiku just in case luck would reward him with the final goal. It is a reversal of what Rin did to him during their earlier match. He sees the best chance of scoring a goal and relies on his luck to deliver. It results in a thunderous win for Blue Lock.
#Plays #Blue #Lock
