#also can’t isagi lose just one game

[miyamiwu]

One more match and we still haven’t seen Aomori’s Messi lmaaooo

and all those cool characters introduced at the end of the Second Selection still haven’t shown up.

You know what, Kaneshiro should’ve just eliminated those extras prior to the u-20 match if he had no plans to develop them. Would make the story cleaner

[kaiijo]

ok. bllk and jealousy rate. how jealous can they get over their gf and what do they do to cope lmao

HOW JEALOUS IS HE? — [BLUE LOCK]

characters: isagi yoichi, bachira meguru, itoshi rin, itoshi sae, kunigami rensuke, nagi seishiro, mikage reo, oliver aiku content: gn! reader (request says gf but reader is gender neutral) notes: some of these are lowkey toxic, minor spoilers for kunigami’s character arc, nagi is taller than reader

most jealous: bachira, rin, reo 

bachira meguru ✶

bachira has many, many insecurities. growing up isolated and without many friends, he is more possessive of those he’s close to, which obviously includes you. he just doesn’t want to lose you, which manifests itself in jealousy over anyone he perceives as a threat to your relationship

bachira gets really clingy when he’s jealous. he thinks that inserting himself into the situation, sometimes literally wedging himself between you and the other person. he usually chooses to drape himself over you, nuzzling into your neck and speaking low enough that only you hear, trying his best to divert your attention. third-wheeling is pretty uncomfortable for the other person, especially with the smiling sneer bachira’s shooting at them, so they make a quick irish exit 

itoshi rin ✶

an egoist to his very core, rin can get very jealous. while he’s very sure of himself in nearly every other part of his life, he knows that he is not an ideal partner a lot of the time, though he’ll never admit it. he’s not the most expressive or the most patient, and he’s sure that there are better partners for you out there. 

when rin’s jealous, it’s a silent but deadly thing. like when he’s locked in on the ball in a game, his focus you and his ‘competitor’ is unwavering. he stalks over to stand behind you, his chest bumping right up against your back, and he snarls, “what the hell do you want, you mediocrity?” usually the other person backs off after seeing rin’s bone-chilling glare but if they’re bold enough to answer back, rin bares his teeth and is poised to strike. it’s probably best if you diffuse the situation quickly before it gets uglier  

mikage reo ✶

we already know how jealous reo was over nagi so it’s safe to say that he’s definitely very jealous. having been bored with the world and other people for so long, he’s thrilled when you two get together. it makes his very protective of you and he wants to be one of the most, if not the most, special person in your life. 

reo can go a couple of ways when he feels jealous over someone else but it think his primary response is to tear down the person methodically. he tilts his head a little, looks the person up and down, and notes everything about their appearance — hair, skin, clothes (including brand and cost) and criticizes every little thing. it’s a strategic move in his opinion, using observational skills and knowledge he had given his upbringing to pick apart the other person. he also might make some underhanded comment that includes that he has a black card 

less jealous: isagi, kunigami, sae 

isagi yoichi ✶

he definitely gets jealous from time to time but he doesn’t feel the need to act on it a lot. he’s pretty mature and for the most part level-headed (plus his ability to piece together future events helps him keep his cool a lot). this doesn’t mean that he isn’t jealous 

when isagi is jealous, he’s sulky. he won’t take immediate action and watch from afar, arms crossed and a little pouty. he tries to look as dejected and as ‘wet-cat pathetic’ as possible to make you feel bad and come over to comfort him. when you inevitably do, looping your arm through his and kissing his cheek, he can’t help but smirk at the other person like a cat who go the cream 

kunigami rensuke ✶

i debated where to put kunigami since there are ‘two sides’ to him — pre- and post-wildcard. pre-wild card kunigami is definitely a lot less bothered; he trusts you 100% and is 100% confident and secure in your relationship and himself. post-wild card kunigami is less chill and more forceful. he’s not a hero anymore but even as he plays a more ‘villainous’ role in soccer, he won’t cross that line in your relationship. he’s still very secure in you and himself, but he’s more protective of your relationship. definitely a ‘i trust you/us but it’s other people i’m worried about’ kind of guy

when pre-wild card kunigami got jealous, he won’t act in the moment and will talk to you about it afterwards, in a private setting. open lines of communication were important to him and working out problems like this. post-wildcard kunigami is all stormy looks and intimidation. like rin, he also stands behind you but in less actively aggressive way and more just to be threatening. it’s 95% effective and the 5% of times it doesn’t work, kunigami is not above muscling the other person away 

itoshi sae ✶

i thought about putting sae in the ‘most jealous’ section but i just think that he is someone whose jealousy simmer just beneath his apathetic surface. he sees most other people as beneath him and believes that they are not worthy of speaking to you, let alone hitting on you, but because he’s sees them as so beneath him, he can’t be bothered half the time to do anything since they’re simply not worth it. he gets the most jealous when it’s people who he can potentially view as equals, like other professional athletes 

when he’s jealous, sae literally just pretends they don’t exist, only talking to you. if the other person tries to interject, he sends them a sideways glare — the only acknowledgment of their existence — and then turns away to continue whatever conversation, suggesting that you both get away from the other person as quickly as possible. if ignoring the person doesn’t work, sae doesn’t shy away from spewing vitriol at the other person

least jealous: nagi, oliver, michael

nagi seishiro ✶

simply put, being jealous is a hassle to nagi. it makes him too hot and too annoyed for him to want to feel it so he suppresses the feeling a lot. nagi’s height is already intimidating enough for most people so they don’t approach you when they see you two together but that isn’t a deterrent to everyone

when nagi gets jealous, he does one of two things: just gives a thousand-yard stare that freaks people out or he gets whiny and clingy. his stare is eerie and silent, and the lightness of his eyes doesn’t help it. he towers over you like some cryptid companion. when he gets whiny and clingy, nagi tugs at your sleeve and asks drily, “can we go yet? why are you still talking to them?”

oliver aiku ✶

sigh… oliver is undoubtedly someone who thinks and knows he’s the shit. with so many women and men alike fawning over everything about him, his ego is through the roof. he has very little worry about you leaving him for someone else. honestly, he finds it amusing most of the time when someone attempt to draw you away from him, and let’s it play out a lot for his own entertainment. of course, he’ll intervene if it’s making you uncomfortable but he also believes you can handle yourself 

when oliver gets jealous, he acts as casual as possible. he’s friendly towards the other person and but it’s not hard to uncover that it’s all fake, whether it’s from the glint in his eye or the way his smile is stiff and forced. common tells when he gets jealous is that he pokes his tongue against the inside of his cheek or he clenches his teeth and inhales softly but sharply.  he employs the good old tactic of calling the other person the wrong name and making all kind of underhanded comments that slowly chip at their nerves. (“haruya? haruki? oh! you’re haruto! right, right, you know, they’ve never mentioned you before! crazy, huh?”) 

michael kaiser ✶

kaiser in german literally means ‘emperor,’ and it’s no secret that kaiser views himself as one. similar to sae, he see himself as so above others that he’s not even bothered by other people hitting on you. it displeases him greatly, sure, but these cockroaches will never be able to steal you from him so why should an emperor deal with the plebians? the only time that ever happens is when a peasant is particularly forceful and then, kaiser intervenes

when he gets jealous, kaiser puts on a show. if there’s one thing about him, he’s a bit of a drama queen. he will absolutely posture and puff out his chest at the offending person, looking down his nose arrogantly and smirking. he makes a big display of wrapping himself around you, gripping firmly at your hips and saying, “liebling, you’re very charitable to entertain this insect, but it’s time to end this ruse.”

[snaillock]

★ video games with your bllk boyfriend

started playing hello kitty island adventure so yeah you can say i’m quite the gamer

y’all would definitely be that couple. you know the ones with the matching users and icons in almost every damn game you play together. lowkey making everyone else gag whenever you two speak in the voice chat. constantly surprising each other with merch of your favorite characters. always doing gacha pulls together.

he never wants to do his daily check-ins without you, even if he has a wait a while for you to get on the game. too many times have you guys accidentally pulled all-nighters because you completely lost track of time. but who really needs to stay fully awake in school when you got shit to play with your amazing boyfriend.

★- NAGI SEISHIRO, ikki niko, otoya eita, hiori yo,

has the worst gamer rage you’ve ever seen holy shit. what you thought was going to be a chill nice hangout with your bf turned into him cursing out an entire lobby. you’ve always known that your boyfriend could have quite the… attitude problem but jesus christ the words that flew out his mouth were truly something else.

even when you two are playing against each other, you ain’t getting a pass just because you’re his lover. he will destroy you. so uh yeah no more mario kart for a while. just relaxing chill games from now on.

though he somehow manages to find a way to make stardew valley an profit driven stressful capitalist hell but he really can’t help it. it’s just in his blood.

★- rin itoshi, isagi yoichi (when he gets really into it), RAICHI JINGO, shidou ryusei

doesn’t really care to play video games but does enjoy watching you play instead. usually sits right next to you on the couch or lays in bed as he watches. he also asks so many questions about the game that it becomes borderline distracting.

“what’s that? hmm ok… so what’s going on exactly?” “who’s that? why are they shooting at you?” “so what’s the goal here? why are you doing that?”

after watching you play for a bit, he becomes an absolute backseat player; nitpicking a wrong move you made, telling you what you should’ve done instead, or criticizing you whenever you lose like he could’ve done any better???

“well if you used your burst right when it was ready, you would’ve gotten all three stars in that chamber.”

“what are you talking about?! i had to explain to you what a burst was five minutes ago.”

though it feels pretty flattering when he does get genuinely impressed by your skills or compliments you on a personal high score you just beat.

★- sae itoshi, kiyora jin, michael kaiser, reo mikage, barou shoei, chigiri hyoma

totally clueless. needs your help since he’s basically new to everything. whenever you two play together, it mostly just ends with you carrying him for every match or so. you do find it quite adorable that he needs your help so often, even if you do have to clean up after him whenever he makes a mistake. he would like to get better but honestly, he doesn’t care since he just enjoys spending time with you.

though you are starting to suspect that he’s purposely staying bad so you could keep carrying him.

“hey, i’m cool with being the support again for this match. it’s just you clear out the other team so well babe.”

★- tokimitsu, nanase, oliver aiku(cheeky ass mf), zantetsu tsurugi, isagi yoichi

please read and respect my byf/dni before reblogging/following

taglist (sign up): @userwithlotsoftime @lucas2060 @kiiyoooo @remy-roll @maochira

[blasphemecel]

Michael Kaiser — Language Barrier

PAIRING: Michael Kaiser/Reader WORD COUNT: 0.9k TYPE: Humor, Bad flirting WARNING(S): tw BOTCHED GERMAN (because I was always on that damn phone in german class) NOTE(S): Translations for whatever the hell I was trying to say at the bottom

Unlike what most people might assume, football is not your favorite game.

Well, you did come to Blue Lock to play football, and yeah, you do like it, maybe at times to the point of lunacy. But this turned out to be some grand orchestration with the purpose of showing you a much more fulfilling game to play — taking out your earbuds whenever Kaiser approaches you with his superiority complex drivel. Not like it stops him from talking to you (or, more accurately, talking at you), but you take great satisfaction in not having to listen to him. Especially since he always makes that cute displeased expression before you turn to walk away from him, much like a disgruntled cat.

You kind of wonder what crap he says about you behind your back sometimes, but it’s imperative for your image to hide your curiosity. He is a loser. You’re playing the game, and you’re winning, and he’s losing because you’re getting under his skin. (Just an example of your daily affirmations.)

Today, a new opportunity for entertainment presents itself. When you approach Kaiser before practice to get some shit talk out of the way, you notice that, for some reason, he isn’t wearing his pair either. Not like he needs them since his ass doesn’t have any friends other than Ness, who speaks the same language as him, but still. Does he think he can beat you at your own game, which you made up in your head? Over your dead body.

“Shithead,” you greet with a smile.

“Ich kann dich nicht verstehen.” He points at his ear in confusion.

“I see you had time to put on your clown makeup this morning.”

“Du kannst mich auch nicht verstehen. Was ist das Ziel?”

“Anyway, so,” you say, despite not catching a single word that came out of his mouth, but you want to give off the impression of dismissing him. “What should I talk about? I didn’t think this through.”

He grins back at you, apparently undeterred by the insufficient communication going on. “Du hörst gerne zu, wenn ich für dich Deutsch spreche. Ist das richtig?”

“Why do you look so slimy when you smile? Seriously, your face is disturbing.”

“Gestehst du dir endlich deine Gefühle für mich ein?”

“And you know what else? I was the one who wiped my snot on your jersey a few days ago, not Isagi.”

“Es ist ok, wenn du schüchtern bist. Du kannst es mir später noch einmal sagen. Vergiss Yoichi. Mit mir zu spielen, würde dir viel besser stehen.”

You know you’re the one who brought him up, but Kaiser is so obsessed with Isagi, and you can’t even blame him for the fascination. He’s always talking about devouring people and ruining their dreams and how happy it makes him or whatever while on the field, but the moment you stop playing, he starts acting all friendly. If your frontal lobe wasn’t eroding more and more the longer you stay in this football prison, there’s a slight possibility you might’ve found him weird.

“Aber ich kann zusehen, wie du verärgerst werden, wenn ich deine Schüsse abblocke, also ist es mir so oder egal,” he says, looking smug. “Ich liebe alle Gesichter, die du machst.”

Irritated by the sound of Kaiser’s voice, you take this up as a challenge to say more words than he did. On principle, you can turn any occasion into a competition. “The worst thing about you is that you’re a pretentious theater kid. ‘Ooh, look at me, I’ve got this shitty tattoo ‘cause I’m beautiful like a rose! Get it? And the thorns signify my awful personality, which is repellent to the general population. Get it? It shows I contain multitudes. Do you GET it yet?’”

Kaiser takes one of your hands between his, leaving it sandwiched, and stares at you as if he is trying to spontaneously make himself sparkle. To distract yourself from the urge to punch him, since you don’t want to be put in timeout, you mentally debate if German sounds like goofy gibberish to you only because you cannot understand it. “Deine Leidenschaft lässt mein Herz rasen. Und ich rufe diese Gefühle hervor? Wie schmeichelnd.”

You don’t know why, but you’re getting the feeling he said something sarcastic and annoying just now.

“You think you’re so much better than everyone else, with your Skype-colored eyes-”

Kaiser ignores the way you wretch your palm out of his hold and interrupts you with a mocking raise of his eyebrows. “Skype? Es ist unmöglich, dass du es noch benutzt… Willst du aus Kontaktdaten tauschen?”

You bet he’s talking mad shit about you right now. Actually, he doesn’t seem bothered by you at all, so you need to step it up. It’s dead serious. As serious as cholera.

“Hey, Kaiser.” This is a phrase so bare bones, he doesn’t need any fancy Mikage-brand translator to understand you.

He blinks at you in mild surprise, self-approving demeanor making way for a tamer, perhaps more neutral facial expression, and then he asks, “Ja?” as if it’s the only German word you know and he’s being accommodating. But you’re not going to deny or confirm this assumption.

You beam at him, then avert your eyes somewhere up to the ceiling while running over it in your head again, of course dragging out the suspense. Maybe this is your wishful imagination at play, but you think he’s kind of sweating. Then finally — finally! — you announce, “Sucken deezen Nutschen, Bozo.”

“Shithead,” he calls you. With a glare at that!

It lights up your whole world.

___

Translations:

Ich kann dich nicht verstehen = I can’t understand you

Du kannst mich auch nicht verstehen. Was ist das Ziel? = You can’t understand me either. What’s the point/what’s the objective?

Du hörst gerne zu, wenn ich für dich Deutsch spreche. Ist das richtig? = You like listening to me speak German for you. Is that it?

Gestehst du dir endlich deine Gefühle für mich ein? = Are you finally confessing your feelings/affections for me?

Es ist ok, wenn du schüchtern bist. Du kannst es mir später noch einmal sagen. Vergiss Yoichi. Mit mir zu spielen, würde dir viel besser stehen = It’s ok if you’re shy, you can tell me again later. Forget about Yoichi. Playing with me would suit you much better

Aber ich kann zusehen, wie du verärgerst werden, wenn ich deine Schüsse abblocke, also ist es mir so oder egal = But I get to watch you get mad when I block your shots, so I don’t care either way

Ich liebe alle Gesichter, die du machst = I just love all the faces you make

Deine Leidenschaft lässt mein Herz rasen. Und ich rufe diese Gefühle hervor? Wie schmeichelnd = Your passion is making my heart race. And I’m causing all of this emotion? How flattering

Skype? Es ist unmöglich, dass du es noch benutzt… Willst du aus Kontaktdaten tauschen? = Skype? There’s no way you still use that… Wanna exchange contact information?

[onceonafullmoon]

I was wondering if I could request Isagi x reader headcannons pleasee!

No pressure tho! <3

I think that when you meet Isagi, you’d meet him before bluelock actually, I think you’d be a classmate of his

And I think that you wouldn’t really take notice of each other until the day you see him play football for the first time in middle school

He’s determined, unlike anything you’ve seen before and it has you captivated

Not enough to say anything to him of course, courtesy of preteen embarrassment, but it's enough to make you stare at him as he walks by to class sometimes

It goes on like this for sometime, you going to his games occasionally, always in slight awe of him as he plays until highschool where you find yourself busy with your own after school activities and clubs

Eventually after a while a friend suggests that you go to a football game and you agree, after all, you were kind of curious to see how the team had changed\

But to your slight disappointment, you see that Isagi has changed his playing style, molded to fit more into his team and it kinda… irks you a bit

It’s just a little disappointing to you that you’ve seen this spark in him get snuffed out, even if you don’t know him personally, so you decide to write him a letter

It's a bit cheesy, but you write to him about how interesting of a player you think he is and how you think he has a lot of potential

A little encouragement never did anyone wrong, right?

But of course, you’re a bit too shy to just give it to him, so you end up putting it in his locker when no ones around

At least, when you think no one is around, because unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) he sees you

He doesn’t confront you then, his mind racing at thoughts of a possible confession (it would be his first one after all) but he instead finds something he appreciates even more when he opens the note

Naturally, he approaches you to thank you for it the next day, saying that your words meant a lot to him, much to your embarrassment

But even though you are slightly flustered, you can’t help but feel happy that he was touched by your words, and the two of you end up forming a friendship

You start going back to his games and he starts showing up at your events too, the both of you guys also hanging out after class

He doesn’t really realize that he’s been spending so much time with you until Tada starts teasing him about how “it’s so cute that you have a crush”

Isagi denies his words at first, shoving him playfully, but later that night when he reflects back on it, he realizes that his friend might actually have a point

It only grows stronger on the day that he loses to Kira, and you’re there to comfort him, but he still doesn’t say anything about it

He does, however, inform you of this interesting new program that he’s been invited to a few days after, and he tries to hide his blush when you enthusiastically offer your support for him

Blue Lock offers Isagi some much needed confidence, he comes to find, and he thinks about the words you first wrote to him as he progresses onwards

And when the U-20 match hits half time, he’s ecstatic to see you in the stands next to his parents with a smile on your face

To which he gets a few jeers and comments made at him for

But after the match he can’t help get the image of you out of his head, and when they allow a two week break from Blue Lock, he knows he has to see you

To be honest, he isn’t really intending to confess, but when he sees you again and takes in the sound of your sweet praises and concerned inquiries about how he’s been doing, he can’t help himself

He just ends up confessing straight up, and though you’re taken by surprise, you tell him that you’ve kinda felt the same way

Well, it’s not like the two of you can really explore much of your relationship together as he has to leave soon again, but the rest of the day turns into your first date

You’d move to give him a kiss after it was over and he dropped you off at home (ever the gentleman) but he stops you, pressing his fingers against your lips

You look up at him slightly confused, to which he replies that he’ll get his kiss from you after he becomes the number one striker, with a cocky smirk

Yeaah… you might have melted into a puddle that day

But needless to say, you do end up getting that kiss

As a boyfriend, Isagi’s very thoughtful and observant of you

He’ll notice when you have a bad day immediately, and he’ll also know the best way to comfort you

He’s also really good at giving you gifts for this reason, which you’re slightly jealous of

Very supportive also though, if you ever want to take up a new hobby or work towards a new goal, he’ll be there to hype you up

Almost no fights between the two of you because he’s just so chill, though when an argument does arise he’ll definitely come check on you after

Read: no sleeping on the couch after an argument, you both are sleeping in the bed

A big fucking simp though, will talk about you to almost everyone and the worst part is he doesn’t even realize it himself

Loves to wear matching couple fits when you guys go out because he’s just that flattered that you’re his and he’s yours

He’s honestly pretty fucking corny most of the time, though it’s something you adore about him rather than find cringy

But other times… especially after a game, you get pleasantly surprised by how forward and confident he can be

In all he’s a very loving guy and basically the epitome of the word “boyfriend”, but he still has his egoist moments

[profectua]

》ＢＬＵＥ ＬＯＣＫ Ｈｅａｄｃａｎｏｎｓ

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ; ɴᴏɴᴇ! ᴘᴜʀᴇ ᴄʀᴀᴄᴋ ʟᴍᴀᴏ

ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ; ɪꜱᴀɢɪ, ʙᴀᴄʜɪʀᴀ, ᴄʜɪɢɪʀɪ, ᴋᴜɴɪɢᴀᴍɪ, ɴᴀɢɪ, ʀᴇᴏ, ʙᴀʀᴏᴜ, ʀɪɴ, ʜɪᴏʀɪ, ᴋᴀʀᴀꜱᴜ, ʏᴜᴋɪᴍɪʏᴀ, ᴏᴛᴏʏᴀ

Isagi: Back when he was younger, he had a phase where he would do the dab whenever he scored a goal. It could be completely outdated too and people would cringe at him LMAO. Might’ve also done fortnite dance (he doesn’t even play fortnite). His teammates try to go over and celebrate but he randomly breaks into the orange justice (he can’t even do it properly) so they end up just standing there like 🧍. Let him have his moment I guess???

Bachira: He was one of those kids that played with insects outside or something (speaking from experience) 😭. You’d catch him playing outside and there were 3 worms, each with different names. He probably gave them sad backstories too. The neighbors thought he was weird as hell. If someone pointed it out, he’d be like “Stop being rude to them! They’re my friends!” And he’d actually look pissed off, exactly like this emoji 😠. If he comes back to the same spot only to find that they aren’t there, he’ll come home crying 😭 🙏 Please help him.

Chigiri: He’s canonically a moody guy…I feel like he ‘decides’ his mood for the day ykyk 😭. If it’s a clear sky, sunny day, he’ll choose to be happy but if he wakes up and it’s raining, he decides that he’s gonna be angry. Always ends up breaking character though. If he's laughing and suddenly remembers that he's supposed to be angry, he’ll immediately put on a blank expression again like 😐 and the people around him think they did something wrong LMAOO. Like??? What happened bro???

Kunigami: His go-to pose for photos is the thumbs up or the peace sign and HE LOOKS SO STIFF. He’s just there like 🙂 ✌️. He looks so awkward pls 😭. His little sister is trying so hard not to laugh and he’s just like ???? What's so funny?? If he’s accidentally photo-bombing and realises too late, he’ll strike that EXACT POSE until someone tells him to move cus his brain couldn’t process it ITS SO SAD 😭

Nagi: Once, when he was younger, he tried doing one of those free robux application things where you play a bunch of games for robux and he thought it was legit because some youtuber did it. His parents were like “Seishiro what are you even doing” and he was like “I’m grinding robux mom, you wouldn’t understand” Like Nagi…don’t even get your hopes up 😬. Long story short, it didn’t work and he ended up with some virus on his ipad. He woke his parents up at 3am and was like “um…I think I got hacked ☹️” His parents WERE NOT pleased 😭

Reo: Had a little rebellious phase where he only used cringey Gen Z slang. In front of his parents too and they’d stare at him like 😨. “Zamn ngl this food is bussin’ fr goated no cap,” said young Reo, at a luxurious 5-star restaurant. His mom almost choked on her food. Probably got side-eyed by the waiter too. He didn’t even realise that it wasn’t cool until he found out that NOBODY actually says all that 😭.

Barou: When he’s eating other people's food or eating at a restaurant, he judges it like he’s Gordan Ramsey or something??? Imagine he’s at someone's house for dinner and then when they’re eating he has this whole routine. First he sniffs, feels the texture, then he examines with his eyes, and finally starts eating. You’ll tell if he likes it or not from his expressions 💀 He’ll start interrogating too LMAO. He’d be like “What kind of spice is this?” “How much salt did you add?” HE’S NOT PLAYING YALL.

Rin: Took elementary dodgeball SERIOUSLY. He’d yell at his teammates. Losing? Not on his watch. “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?! IT’S DODGE BALL NOT GET HIT IN THE FACE BALL YOU LOSER!”. If he ever lost a game in PE, he’d start crying and throwing a fit, all while blaming his teammates. He would act like an angel if Sae was there though LMAO.

Hiori: He tries to re-enact cool moves from video games. Like if there's a character that has a cool playstyle he’ll literally hop out of his gaming chair just to swing a spatula around 😭. He got the sound effects goin on too, you can hear little pews and booms. Or if there’s a specific voice line from the final boss that he thinks sounds cool he’ll say it out loud (sometimes his parents hear and they think that he’s lost it not that they care though.)

Karasu: He had a huge chess.com phase, probably in middle school. But he was that one kid that goes ‘I wasn’t even trying tho lol’ when he lost (behind the screen he is SCREAMING in rage). ALSO He’s the type to be super expressive (kinda like Barou) 😭. You’ll know when he’s judging you cus’ his face will go 😬 😲 ☹️ 😧 🤔 in that order 💀. He could say something but his expressions reveal all there is.

Yukimiya: When he first got his glasses, he probably forgot them a lot LOL. Like he’d show up to football practice without them and one of his teammates would go “Yo where’s your glasses, Yukki?” and he’d be like…oh yeah. There was probably one point where he thought his eyesight was getting better. He woke up one morning and just decided that he suddenly felt like he had good vision again. It was all in his head 💀.

Otoya: He once tried hitting on a girl when her boyfriend WAS RIGHT THERE and he didn’t even notice. Let’s just say he ran for his life. His older sister has a video recording of it and uses it as blackmail. Worst of all he genuinely thought he could've ‘stolen’ her from him 😭 LIKE OTOYA NO. 😭

[katsutora]

— DIAL

ft. isagi yoichi ; itoshi rin ; nagi seishiro ; bachira meguru ; itoshi sae

summary: call routine with them

note: i’ve seen some shit bro. being on this hell-site changes you fr. tag system is an absolute bullshit too. i can’t link jackshit. wow too many “shit” mentioned. shit.

⚘ ISAGI YOICHI

ㅤㅤcalls you at a sensible hour if you haven’t agreed on a specific time. he knows your schedule by heart so don’t worry because he won’t bother you in the middle of work, etc. if you do have a call schedule, then he’ll make sure to call at exactly that time. can be very punctual about this and will start seeing everyone as bowling pins once he realizes he’s gonna be a minute late. they don’t call him a STRIKEr for nothing. will listen and rant equally! he always has interesting stories; wbk being in a call with isagi is never boring. also expect his teammates popping up in the background because of course they want to bonk him in the head after running them over know the person who can temporarily turn him into chigiri. ah yes, the furious yelling ambient noise, a classic. “isagi yoichi istg—” “get your ass back in here wtf was that about?!” “you have a competition, princess.” “EVERYONE STFU!!!” never fails to make you giggle. bonus: screenshots you laughing because he adores you sm <3

⚘ ITOSHI RIN

ㅤㅤhe has a routine and you’re in it: three times a day; square meal style. his early calls are short and mostly consist of “good morning”, “have you had breakfast yet”, and “take care”; (borrowing his word) lukewarm shit like that. i love you. even though he usually prefaces his afternoon/evening calls with “i pressed it on accident” (back to back for months straight? yea sure), it’s clearly an excuse because he just wants to hear your voice but his pride isn’t letting him. i love you. it has also recently been brought up to his attention that he can’t seem to sleep peacefully without hearing your voice first. so tell him something, anything, or don’t. he’ll settle with just the comfortable silence after a “hello”. it’s also the only time of the day he’ll say it loud and clear: “i love you”.

⚘ NAGI SEISHIRO

ㅤㅤwhat’s a timezone? it can be in the middle of the day after practice or he can randomly hit you up at 2am after losing yet another round of game. acts out of impulse: when he misses you that’s when he calls you. it’s mostly video calls too! props up his phone so you can see choki his beloved but gets so pouty when you open up the conversation with “how’s choki?” before he can even show you the cactus lmao. “y’re supposed to be asking about me ( ´•︵•` )” he loooves long calls too (re: letting you watch him play without him saying a word whatsoever and no he did not lose track of time + the game after dedicating his next win to you?). is absolutely against ending it unless you really need to go. rip your phone battery.

⚘ BACHIRA MEGURU

ㅤㅤyou’re like an emergency call button but for whenever there’s something crazy going on. his living diary. a breathing, talking, and confused log entry. that being said, he contacts you at least once a day without a fail. well, that’s actually an understatement because he keeps calling then hanging up after telling you one (1) sentence?? “chigiri just ran me over; ok bye!” “my mom painted something inspired by you; later!” “rin-chan just said we’re all lukewarm, boo— ow, ouch!” gotta rely on his teammates to inform you about his well-being because calling him back is no use. “meguru?” “[unintelligible] [intense fighting ensues]” it’s fine, he makes up for it by showing up at your door later in the day. you think it’ll be funny if you close the door as soon as he finishes a sentence? “hi!!” [door closing] “h-wha- you won’t believe what happened today—” [door closing #2] “?? ok so it wasn’t chigiri who ran me over but isag—” imagine doing this after every sentence to teach him a lesson lmfao.

⚘ ITOSHI SAE

ㅤㅤhonestly? in the middle of a fucking interview because man is so unhinged i tell you. “so sae, are you ready for the next match?” ugh, this is so boring. “wait let me ask my s/o.” ??? this is broadcasted live, btw. you think just because he has a tight schedule and it’s nearly impossible to have a free time he won’t call you? he’ll find a way, he always does. likes to call you at the end of the day too and will never lose to the “who can stay awake the longest” game. is more of a listener than a talker, so go ahead and talk his ears off. he doesn’t mind if it’s you + he loves being the last one to end the call, making sure you get some rest (ps: he’s counting on you to wake him up the next day). you’ll receive a call from his manager in the morning saying that he won’t answer his phone and that they’re gonna be late for the next event. “goddamnit sae, not again.”

© 2023 katsutora ; do not repost and/or translate and/or claim my works

[tigreblvnc]

YOUR LIFE IN BLUE LOCK — @nikonautic

BACKGROUND HEADCANONS;

♤ As a kid you had good academics, i’d assume your parents put much care into your activities.

♤ So naturally, selecting a sport/extracurricular was expected as well. Soccer was pushed on to you, but you weren’t against it as you were able to use your creativity in a more physical manner than usual.

♤ Eventually you were scouted by Ego, since he caught on to your desire to make an impact, and wanted to see just how hard you’d work for it.

♤ His answer is a lot.

♤ In bluelock, you met a few people who you connected with. And knew that there’d be more along the line. If there was any place where you could meet people who you felt most comfortable with, it’d be in bluelock.

♤ So you endured and adapted through everything they put you through.

♤ And it paid off!

COLOR AURA;

♤ Yellow.

♤ A nice dandelion yellow

♤ A perfect mix of your socialness, weirdness, and ideals.

♤ You want a color that’ll leave an impact? Can’t think of anything better. The brightness of yellow is often used to balance out other parts, and can often do so on its own, without relying on other colors.

♤ Yellow looks amazing in so many palettes. It can work in many situations, even ones you think it may not look good in. But if you darken or dim it too much, it becomes much harder to appreciate.

♤ Because of that, for yellow to look its best, it must be used in usually similar tints and tones as its surroundings. As long as there aren’t too many mismatches within an environment, yellow can always pop out and support the picture in the best way.

TEAM SELECTION;

♤ Bastard München

♤ With understanding being one of your main strengths, it makes sense that you can quickly gather the details of a situation.

♤ Whether it be emotional or logistical details, both help you understand the whole situation on the field

♤ No one on BM handles failure well, there you’ll be fighting with people with the same underlying fear of losing. Although things may vary between you guys, that will remain the same.

♤ Emotions aren’t something you have to worry about either. BM is the last team to judge you for getting overly intense on field, it seems to be the case with everyone.

♤ The lead players on BM all have incredibly strong goals, and will put almost anything on the line to achieve them, spectacular plays are the expectation.

♤ This I feel you would link into very quickly.

BEST FRIEND;

✦ What a magnificent duo, Niko :)

✦ I'm not only talking about your BFF… but about your overall dynamic, not just with your BFF but with your rival as well.

✦ Not to mention your position on the field.

✦ (Although, I am going to talk about it.)

✦ I think Isagi is perfect for supporting you in your desire to grow and affirm yourself through your successes. It's a strong trait that stands out in your entire description: you seek recognition for who you are through your achievements.

✦ Isagi is very skilled at analyzing and understanding every type of player, as we've seen multiple times in the manga.

✦ And I believe he quickly grasped your intentions, how you play, and why you play that way.

✦ We also know he's someone who performs better in a tandem than alone. I'm convinced that with you, he forms a formidable duo on the field.

✦ He not only helps you achieve your goals but also makes an excellent companion in your growth. It's entirely mutual, as he also learns from your game and personality.

✦ In short, one of the healthiest duos in the lore.

RIVAL;

✦ I didn't choose your rival by chance.

✦ I find that Kaiser is one of those characters who craves recognition more than almost anyone else in the Blue Lock cast.

✦ There's a huge identity quest behind why he plays. He seeks to define himself through his achievements, through his victories. He's someone who wants to be acknowledged for what he can accomplish on the field.

✦ And like you, he has doubted himself a lot. His self-esteem is complex, even damaged by his past. These are things he hides, trying to repair through everything he's building in the present.

✦ Seeing someone else on the field, motivated by similar intentions, could hit him like a lightning bolt.

✦ Understanding someone's intentions because you share them doesn't make that person a friend. This can even spark a rivalry, as a form of ego establishes itself: "It'll be me, and me alone."

✦ At the same time, I also think you’re both capable of recognizing each other's worth. You just don't openly admit it. On the contrary, I even think you tend to hold back from each other in public.

✦ But I know that in private, you both acknowledge that you have a formidable opponent who can teach you, even indirectly, how to surpass yourselves. How to turn weaknesses into strengths.

POSITION ON THE FIELD;

✦ Striker.

✦ The first striker of this matchup series :D Pleased to meet you. 🤝

✦ It's not a position for everyone: it requires boldness, courage, and an initiative that not everyone has.

✦ This position further amplifies the dynamic between you, Isagi, and Kaiser.

✦ You become the eye of the storm during the tense moments of the match.

✦ On one hand, you're supported by Isagi. On the other, you know that the threat of a Kaiser pushed to his limits could cost you the victory.

✦ In this particularly stimulating environment, you can give your best, highlight your qualities, and challenge the greatest opponents.

✦ The emergence of Niko in front of the whole world :)

© TIGREBLVNC 2024 | OCTOBER '24 MATCHUPS EDITION.

[fyeahbachisagi]

Hi...if you don't mind, can I ask something from Blue Lock? What do you think are Bachira and Isagi’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

(This has been in my drafts for over 6 months jhdfgjhdgjhfd)

Bachira

Strengths:

He is so mentally strong. Even as a child, he wouldn’t let other kids’ words get to him. He never backs down from a challenge, and also quickly picks himself up. Even when he felt lost in the 4v4 match during the second selection, he was able to shake it off fast and force a rebirth.

Weakness:

... We haven’t seen much of Bachira in the manga recently, so I can’t tell. And after second selection, it’s hard to pinpoint a weakness he has. He has lost multiple games in the NEL arc, but I believe that’s more of the writer’s problem and not really in his character itself.

But if it’s not a writing problem… then perhaps his weakness is that his goal is not clear enough. He’s getting stronger and evolving his monster, and like everybody else in Blue Lock, he is aiming to be the #1 striker but… I guess his goal is not concrete or focused enough? (Or it just seems that way coz we are hardly privy to Bachira’s thoughts.) I really don’t know.

Isagi

Strengths:

Everything he does, he does for the sake of winning. And it’s this one-track mind that lets him excel at Blue Lock. His insights on the game also gives him the confidence to direct other players, allowing him to use anything and anyone to his advantage.

Weakness:

He thinks of everything that Ego says as some kind of gospel. He never once questioned the man’s teachings because, at the moment, it serves him well. The one time he went against Ego was probably during the U20 match, but back then Ego was just pretending to throw in the game, so I’m not counting it.

I’m not updated on the manga, so I don’t know how he’s playing right now but… As long as Ego’s philosophy keeps him winning, Isagi will never be able to see past it. If one day he loses despite following everything Ego says to the letter, then it’s gonna break him immensely.

And he will lose. He must lose if Kaneshiro wants to keep the story going after the NEL arc. The protagonist cannot win all the time. And once you’re at the top, the only place left to go is down.

BachiSagi

I am a sucker for friends to lovers, but even more so for teammates/partners to lovers. Two individuals diligently working on themselves so they can stand by each other’s side as equals. Supporting each other every step of the way and inspiring each other to aim even higher. That’s the good stuff.

[gachagon]

Isagi Yoichi is a weak protagonist

And that’s why he’s perfect for Blue Lock. I like Isagi a lot as the protagonist but many people who are reading and watching Blue Lock for the first time find him to not be that suitable as a protagonist. I’ve already written about how Isagi is a great protagonist for Blue Lock’s themes on egoism here

But I want to talk about how he sort of deviates from the normal shounen protagonist role and how that might be why some people also don’t like him as the protagonist. In many other shounen, the protagonist is an Under dog that we the viewer get to see rise up in their own world and become #1. Right off the bat, some of them are already incredibly confident in their own abilities and believe they can reach the top all on their own.

However, often times these protags can’t reach the top in the beginning and are nowhere near strong enough or smart enough to be #1. For example, Luffy proclaims he’ll be King of the Pirates one day, even though he doesn’t have his own crew, he’s never really been in a fight before, he has no experience being a “real” pirate in the beginning. He’s an underdog who’s talking big when we all know he hasn’t quite reached that level yet. And often times these characters are also unaware of just how “weak” they are in the beginning, they’re so blinded by their own self confidence that they don’t actually see their own flaws until it’s too late.

Isagi however is a bit different then this:

Chapter 1 we see that from the get go Isagi is really determined and that he’s already got his own goal in mind. Sure it’s not a “huge” goal, but we’re actually seeing him fail and lose from the jump rather than learning about the unfortunate circumstances of why he failed in the past.

Isagi has no sad backstory for why he didn’t make it to nationals, there’s no terrible consequence for him losing this game other than his own disappointment.

Even when his own team is sobbing because they’ve lost and this is the last time they’ll play together, Isagi is just disappointed because he lost the game. There’s a clear separation between him and his teammates that becomes really apparent  just from this panel. And compared to the guy who did win? Isagi almost looks like a background character in his own manga:

Blue Lock starts with us seeing the failure of the protagonist, and we see what skill he is at from the very first chapter. Isagi lost a simple game that he had everything riding on, and he lost to a character who looks marginally better and more charismatic then him. So when this scene happens

its clear to the reader now that Isagi’s motivations are entirely selfish. He didn’t care that he would never get to play with his teammates, he didn’t care that it might be his last year playing beside his team, he only cared about winning. So now we have this “bad” quality that is attributed to our own main character, this selfishness even in the face of loss makes Isagi look a bit like a sore loser.

And I can see why this would kind of make people not like Isagi from the jump, since he’s being incredibly selfish here. He’s upset for the “wrong” reasons when it comes to losing the game, he isn’t okay with just playing “for fun” and to be with his friends. All of the usual friendship tropes many shounen protags are not present in Isagi at all.

Isagi’s selfishness and ego can also feel “unearned” to some people because of this. Isagi has no sad backstory, he wasn’t “the best on his team”, he was completely unremarkable and even says so himself

“He has no feats” is what some might say to prove how lame Isagi actually is. At this point in the story there is no reason one would really believe Isagi could make it anywhere because that’s just how boring of a player he is. But despite this he has the audacity to feel upset he lost, and not only is he pissed that he lost, but he’s got an ego that says he should’ve won. If he hadn’t passed then, if he had just taken the chance to actually try and score on his own...if he hadn’t decided to rely on his teammates in that moment, he feels like he could’ve won that game.

Its why he becomes so angry and frustrated in chapter 1 because he realizes he made the wrong choice in deciding to rely on players who he deems were lesser than him.

So not only is our main character incredibly selfish when it comes to soccer, he laments about his choice to rely on his own teammates in the moment he was at his lowest. And this can feel “unearned” to people because there’s nothing Isagi has really done to let us know that he could’ve won without the help of his other teammates.

However, I don’t think that is really the point of these scenes in chapter 1. Or at least, it doesn’t actually matter if Isagi had the skill to win. What matters here is his ego and selfishness despite how mediocre he is. It doesn’t matter to Ego Jinpachi that he lost this game, all Ego cared about was how deep Isagi’s ego runs and whether it can persist in the face of adversity.

If Isagi had decided to be humble and calm himself down in this scene with weak platitudes about how “Soccer is a game played by 11 and not 1″, if he had decided to be content with losing because “At least he got to play with his friends one last time”, he wouldn’t have ever stepped foot in Blue Lock, or even been invited.

Teamwork is not the end goal here. “Working together” to win is not the goal. Playing as a team is not the goal. The goal is to simply be better than everyone else, and that includes the people you’re working together with.

Isagi’s egoism is entirely selfish and it isn’t rooted in his own ability, it exists simply because he wants to win and he feels like he deserves to because he, like Ego Jinpachi, felt that he shouldn’t have relied on others to try and win that game.

In a sense, Isagi’s egoism is almost like that of a villain rather than a hero. He doesn’t become this way after failing over and over again, but rather because he passed the ball in a moment where he could’ve scored. He held himself back so he could play “as a team” and he regrets it.

So Blue Lock’s protagonist is one that is different from others in the shounen category because unlike the others, he’s a selfish, egotistical person right from the beginning and he has no intentions of ever changing that. In fact, throughout the manga he just gets “worse” at this, and all the moments he does score goals are because of this selfish nature of his.

[kungukingi]

Meditations on bris/isbr [2/?] "On That Shared Core Ego"

Link to previous part

This is continuation from the excerpt in the previous post, where Isagi watches Noa’s interview as a child (from his light novel, translated by @hoshi801_):

“......Winning isn’t the only thing in soccer. Of course I want to win the World Cup, but I want to feel everything about soccer. Like for example……” Isagi will never forget the line that follows until he dies. “Instead of assisting my teammates to win by 1-0, it feels better to pull off a hat trick and lose 3-4. You can't sell that kind of emotion anywhere, can you?” How thrilling! An electric shock ran through Isagi's body. (This person knows why I love soccer!)

And then then it continues into this paragraph:

When he saw soccer for the first time. It wasn't just the feelings of "how cool" and "how awesome" it is that deeply moved him. More than that, he found it "beautiful." Soccer is a team game, 11 players against 11, and it is also an individual game. There are also the surrounding spectators, the stadium, the show and the battle for life. He wants to be that striker, the one at the center of it all.

The first quote is the same one Ego repeats in chapter 1 of Blue Lock when he talks to the Blue Lock recruits, using it as an example of the kind of ego he is looking for. And while Barou has never explicitly said a similar line, he does state repeatedly that he does not care about losing as long as he does not have to make compromises about the way he plays the game. And the way he plays the game is explicitly focused on his own goals.

What Barou says in this scene and the way he goes about playing football showcases clearly enough that he seems to share this mindset with Noa, and by extension — Isagi (to the point of being stupid about it, considering Blue Lock focuses on victories first, point scorers second).

When Isagi is trying to get through to Barou in this scene, he’s thinking of his own ego only, not realising that Barou wants to be at the centre just as much as he does — which is why he fails to get through to him. But he continues to be “hung up on Barou” as he later says himself, in my opinion because there is something in Barou’s stubbornness that he recognises and resonates with.

As such he doesn’t write him off as simply stupid, but rather gets frustrated with him and — as I see it — rationalises his frustration to himself as being caused by Barou “wasting his talents”. I say “rationalises”, because while I think that does frustrate him, I don’t believe Isagi is actually trying to help Barou here for altruistic reasons. Rather, I think he's trying to recruit him to be someone who would play according to Isagi’s own ideas and help him score — which Barou instinctively recognises and rejects outright.

Isagi doesn’t quite yet internalise just how serious Barou is about his ego, leading to Barou having to reiterate himself on the pitch later. This in turn will consequently lead to Isagi eventually changing his tactics with regards to him when he realises he can’t just make Barou into his supporting actor, because Barou wants to be the lead just as much as he does.

Bottom line is that Barou and Isagi love football for similar egotistical reasons (that is reminiscent of Noa’s ego), even if neither is consciously aware of just how similar they are before the 3v3 game against Team Red, because of their contrasting pasts and confidence levels at this point in time, as well as their differing methods of going about getting to be at the "centre of it all".

There's much more to this scene that I will touch upon in time, but I needed to get this out of my system.

Link to next post.

[usagi-yoichi]

A while ago, @lizzieonka , @echarie and I were discussing the possibility of Nagi getting kicked out of Blue Lock and uh last chapter isn’t exactly reassuring ?

Let’s just break down what happened :

- Nagi struggled to score a goal under the direction of Agni so he ditched him in favor of a less experienced player - Reo - because he expected his friend to anticipate his needs

- Using the new combination, Nagi surprised both Isagi and Kaiser by showing his innate abilities and training allow him to try riskier tricks and he scored

- With this stunt, Nagi decided he had defeated Isagi but during the counter attack of the Bastard München, Isagi beat him twice : preventing his goal and passing past him while attacking

- Despite their defeat, Nagi got a proposition of 80~millions - which is more than what Isagi got

- While Nagi was disappointed in losing the game, Reo encouraged him to set himself a new objective : to reach a value of 300 millions

So. Reo is such a bad influence here I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrated I am with him.

Right now, there are two issues with Nagi :

1) He doesn’t realise his goal was a one-time, circumstances-dependant lucky stunt.

2) His laziness seriously impedes any progress he might make.

So focusing on issue 1 : Nagi scored a miraculous goal based only on talent (he didn’t plan anything, it was pure luck he was able to do it) and on the lack of intel regarding his abilities for the other team. As shown later, Isagi can easily block Nagi if he knows what to expect from him. Which is quite the issue : Nagi can actually be countered by anyone who can foresee his actions and even more so if Reo isn’t here. He completely depends on Reo’s judgement and skill to be useful. The offer he got after this match is more related to the hype following his goal than to his actual ability and Nagi lacks the self awareness to realise he’s heading straight toward a wall.

Focusing on issue 2 : being with Agni was tough but beneficial to Nagi. I personally think that regardless of who he teamed up though, it would’ve ended poorly. Had he stayed with Agni, Nagi is too lazy to actually put in the effort and he gave up at the first obstacle and I think this cycle who’ve gone on and on because Nagi’s being actively delusional here. Being with Reo is also bad news since Reo is over anticipating Nagi’s actions : Reo is scoring through Nagi much like Isagi scored through Yukimiya. Although it seems like a symbiotic relationship, it’s far from fair for both parties : the scorers here are but puppets that act on the whim of another player. While Yukimiya has enough ego to realise this much and talk it out with Isagi, Nagi doesn’t seem to care or actually notice he’s virtually not doing anything but being a tool. Since it’s easier for Nagi not to think too much about all this, he simply concerns himself with winning the game and calls it a day. As a result, he can’t input any kind of imaginative process or any strategy in his style, all is thought and directed by Reo.

From this we get two conclusions : Nagi is extremely dependant on Reo and Reo isn’t acting in Nagi’s best interest.

Instead of reminding Nagi that his first objective is far from achieved, Reo urges him to move forward to another goal - one that makes sense for Reo but not Nagi. Reo reinforces the delusion that Nagi is suddenly the miracle ace striker of Blue Lock by reminding him of his salary proposition and the hype around Nagi’s goal. But considering how Nagi seems more and more like he’s returning to being Reo’s thing/tool, it feels more like Reo is basking in this glory through Nagi rather than being happy for him. He discards Nagi’s previous goal to urge him back into their duo. It almost feels like a toxic relationship.

In conclusion, Nagi is in for a tough wake up call sooner or later and sooner would be better as it’d be best to attend this issue before Nagi is either too far gone or lagging behind so much he can’t make up for it. I was hoping Reo would help Nagi with his current issues but it seems lizzieonka was right and he’s only going to make it worse.

[ecargmura]

Blue Lock Is the New "It" Sports Anime (Anime Review)

Honestly, I should be finishing the anime I need to finish. Why am I procrastinating and watching Blue Lock instead? I can’t help it. It’s so good (and I totally didn’t watch for Chigiri). I actually like watching sports anime. I love Kuroko’s Basketball, Haikyuu!!, and Yowamushi Pedal. There’s just something that’s charming about sports anime that I cannot fully explain.

The first thing that caught my attention with Blue Lock was the character designs. They’re all so detailed. I also love the way the eyes are drawn. I love how unique all of the characters look, even the minor, unimportant ones. Afterwards, I’ve been seeing a lot of fan art drawn by talented artists. I’ve been liking them left and right on Twitter. After liking a lot of fan art, I’ve decided that it was time for me to sit down and watch Blue Lock.

What makes Blue Lock so unique compared to other sports shows? This one has more risks as it’s a sports series mixed with a survival game. Given that I am someone who’ve watched Produce 101—all four of them—and got emotionally wrecked all the time, I knew this would be the perfect show for me. Was I wrong? I wasn’t. There was drama, suspense and everything else you can find in sports and survival shows.

The story is about Yoichi Isagi, who lost a soccer match by passing the ball to his teammate, costing his team to lose their chance at going to Nationals. He becomes frustrated at the fact that he decided to pass and not take a score for himself. Soon, he gets an invitation by Jinpachi Ego, a member of the Japanese Football Association, in order to partake in a project called Blue Lock where he’s searching for someone who can change Japanese soccer for the better—to become the best striker in the world. It turns out that he and 299 other strikers were selected. The Blue Lock project is one of survival—only the best can become the best striker. Isagi gets placed in a room with 11 other people and their first task is to eliminate someone and end their soccer career for good—those who get eliminated in Blue Lock cannot play for Japan Nationals ever again. With Isagi deciding to take out the strongest player in the room, Ryosuke Kira, the guy he had faced in his soccer match, he learns that he has to become selfish in order to become the best. In order to prove to his colleagues and to Ego that he’s the best, he needs to evolve, get stronger, and survive.

The first episode was super intense with the way Isagi decided to go for Kira and not Igarashi. The fact that he had ended his soccer career and felt good about it shows that this sports anime is definitely different than the norm. The episodes afterwards gets more intense as Team Z, Isagi’s team, are very dysfunctional and have to find a way to cooperate in order to survive.

The First Selection Arc was great in itself. This arc is getting to learn about Team Z and why they play soccer. For Kunigami, he wants to be a soccer superhero. For Bachira, he wants to find someone who can quench the monster inside of him. For Chigiri, it’s to find a way to give up on soccer. The fact that everyone has unique pasts makes the group diverse and makes people want them to succeed, even if it means they have to get eliminated later on. The matches with Teams X, Y, W and V were intense. Z vs X was pretty much a curb-stomp due to Z’s dysfunctional dynamic and X’s ace member Barou being too OP for them to handle. It’s when they face Team Y is when they finally cooperate, albeit begrudgingly. This is also when Isagi gets more aware of his ability of spatial awareness, where he can visualize the field and predict where a goal can be made and who he needs to use in order to utilize that path. My favorite match was Team Z vs Team W because of the Chigiri spotlight and also the fact that Kuon betrayed Team Z to Team W, a plot point that shows that no one in Blue Lock is an ally and that anyone can use whatever tactics they have in order to survive. If not for Chigiri finally getting motivation to play soccer again and doing it because he loves outrunning everyone, Team Z would have lost; this also cemented Chigiri as my favorite character. Team Z vs Team V was an intense match too. It’s second place because Chigiri doesn’t get as much focus here, but that’s okay. Team V is the strongest team because they have three aces, Reo, Nagi and Zantetsu with Nagi being their strongest player. Reo and Nagi only played soccer for six months while Zantetsu can outrun Chigiri, making them menaces. Nagi, who normally only moved whenever Reo asked him to do so, decided to move on his own once the score became equal. Team V loses because of Isagi and Team V experiences their first loss.

I think the best thing about the First Selection arc is the character bondings. While Isagi does befriend his fellow teammates, he becomes especially close with Bachira, Kunigami and Chigiri. Given that I am a fujoshi, this did fuel my BL kicks (It’s amusing how the initials of Blue Lock are BL). Because this is a survival game, the character bondings get a bit dramatic as characters need another in order to survive. Speaking of which, Reo and Nagi are probably fruitier than Bokuto and Akaashi from Haikyuu and that’s saying something.

The Second Selection Arc is where the drama kicks in as nobody are teammates any longer. You have to make a team of three and then advance by defeating other teams and taking their teammates. You only survive to the Third Selection once you get a team of five. Isagi causes two breakups to happen and he had to lose Bachira in the process. However, this arc is where many characters show off more of what they can do, so I feel like it’s a good ascension to the first arc. Isagi learns to handle the most unorthodox of people and manages to win via unpredictability, spatial awareness and main character power. While he had no specific rival in the first arc, the second arc solidifies Rin Itoshi as his rival as he is the cooler, most advanced version of himself. The fact that Isagi loses to Rin twice shows that while Isagi is improving, he still has a long way to go before he reaches his own full potential. I do like how while Isagi is strong enough to take down foes like Barou, Kunigami, Chigiri and Reo, it was because he had already faced them before. In Rin’s case, he had never played with him before and was only aware of his existence once the second arc started. I do like Rin’s inclusion into the story, as someone Isagi needs to beat.

The anime ends on the first half of the third arc, I believe. The Third Selection has two parts. The first being that the newly formed team of five has to challenge 5 world renowned athletes from different countries. I feel like Isagi got a bit cocky during the match and that was the reason why his team got pulverized. However, it also showed that Isagi still has a long way to go before he reaches foreign athletes’ levels. Fortunately, that portion was an assessment. Once six other teams of five make it to the Third Selection (RIP Kunigami), the anime ends with Ego announcing that his original plans for the third selection had changed and that his new plan is to get the Top 35 to face off agains the U-20 team with their recent addition being Sae Itoshi, Rin’s older brother. Given that the third selection was towards the last two episodes, there wasn’t much time for me to get used to it or Isagi’s new team since they haven’t really bonded as a team of five.

My favorite match of this entire anime was the match between Isagi, Nagi and Barou vs Chigiri, Reo and Kunigami. I think this match was the most exhilarating of them all. The reason is that Isagi has to be up against two of the teammates he’s the closest to back in the first selection and Nagi has to be up against his ex-boyfriend former partner Reo whom he abandoned because he wanted to team up with Isagi. Barou had to learn how to cooperate after being completely disobedient since his introduction. It also showcases how good the Kunigami and Chigiri are without Isagi and how well Reo can play without Nagi. It was an intense battle that legit got me hyped up for what’s to come in future seasons.

My only gripe with this anime is the lackluster animation quality. For an anime that revolves around a lot of movement, the animation is only good during important sequences, but it’s not very good at slower, non-soccer scenes. There’s a lot of CG usage too, especially when showing scenes of other players chasing the ball. I think Episode 8 was the worst offender since that was the one with the worst animation quality.

I’m honestly wanting more Blue Lock now. I might read the manga just to see what’s ahead. Blue Lock Season 2 and a movie adaptation of the Nagi side story has been announced, so I’ll definitely check those out! Until then, thanks for reading my long review of Blue Lock!

[mvrdermeharder]

Part 2 of Kaiser-goal analysis

[This post is a continuation to my previous one, where I tried to theorize how Kaiser’s goal celebrations differ from other strikers’ and the reason(s) behind it. I highly recommend you to read that first. I’ll also edit this post and link the third part here, when I upload that.]

[Also, tagging u @pixie05love <3]

Okay so, in this part I want to talk about what happens between the third and fourth goal: the failed attempt of the Magnus (the culmination point of Kaiser’s desperation to reestablish and reinforce his shaken self-esteem) and the events leading up to it. I think it’s important to recap these events and Kaiser’s down spiral to have a better understanding of the Magnus and it’s significance later on.

Reaction to defeat:

We have left off with the results of his shameful third goal: he fixates on Isagi more than ever, not bothering to award Ness. The game ends, with his rival as the ultimate victor. And just like after his latest goal, he tries to hold it together: covers his expression with his hair, head held down, being silent. But he obviously can’t take it anymore: his frustrations break through the surface completely, even though Ness isn’t there this time to “provoke” Kaiser’s ire.

(I am NOT placing the blame on Ness for how Kaiser responds to him in a verbally abusive way. That is not what I’m getting at. Just to be clear.)

And I want to note the obvious difference between these two responses to a loss: at first, his anger is icy and chilling, we get to see his vicious expression and eyes (they are the focal point of the panel) and it literally freezes Ness. He’s mad, it’s showing, but he still stands straight as the bet is not lost just yet. At the end however, his anger is loud and startling, he is hunched over, expression covered with shadows. He’s even more on the edge of an identity crisis, embarrassingly losing the bet that he had proposed in the first place, and having his self-obtained “humanity” (causing pain to others) ripped away from him.

So obviously, he doesn’t give a shit about his new offer. Prestige, wealth, and an escape from BM are only secondary goals: they do not “make him human”, only causing despair does. That is the source of his ego. And so, we get to the first self-harm scene.

Psychology behind the self-harm:

I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways, as there isn’t a clear indicator whether he’s punishing himself intentionally or subconsciously. I am PERSONALLY leaning towards the second possibility because of this one reason: he’s feeling like “shitty trash”. And how I see it, this feeling isn’t evoked by him choking himself, it’s quite the opposite, actually.

It is the same phrase his father had told him while putting his hands on Kaiser’s neck, the exact words Kaiser used to identify himself with as a young boy. But for a while now, he’s been considering himself as someone with success, who has built up his humanity, and so feeling like trash again this suddenly could’ve triggered his memories of the times he felt this way the strongest = under his father (who had spat these terrible things in his face) being totally helpless, with a pressure around his neck.

In short: he’s feeling worse than ever -> it triggers his ptsd of the most intense moment he’d felt this exact same way -> he’s reliving the memory -> subconsciously chokes himself, to imitate the situation in real time.

(But, as I’ve said, this is only my interpretation. I do not study psychology, nor do I have personal experience with ptsd and trauma responses.)

Between the Ubers game and the PxG one, we first see Kaiser at practice, as he acknowledges that he can’t gain back his feelings of comfort unless he beats Isagi. Later on the same day, we get to the second time he chokes himself. With recordings of Isagi playing in the background, he is literally facing his own defeat over and over again. It would be no wonder if the reasons behind his self-harm were the same ones that I had theorized regarding the first instance (feeling like trash more than ever -> subconsciously imitating a traumatic moment)

But there is another possibility as well. It’s now crystal clear to him that crushing Isagi is the end all be all. So, maybe, to come up with a way to do just that, he is intentionally placing even more pressure on himself (both figuratively and literally) to find a way out. He overwhelms his psyche on purpose, so that his base instincts for survival would kick in, searching for newfound inspiration to escape the situation. And it works:

Magnus’ failed attempt:

After Isagi scores the first goal, Kaiser’s situation is even worse. Not only is his one satisfaction of ruining other’s careers is being ripped away, but also his other accomplishments (his position, his team). Now even more things are at stake. Again, his anger is loud, bigger than ever.

But he puts a lid on his frustrations again, maybe so as not to scare Ness away; after all he needs him to set up his goal. But his emotions and desperation are clearly showing, they make him utterly irrational. Which costs him a miskick.

And at this moment, we have finally arrived at the pinnacle of his accumulated despair: for the very first time we can clearly see and observe every detail of his overwhelming frustration on his face: his hair is completely out of the way and there are no shadows to cover his expression either.

(I know this last part about the failed attempt is more of a recap, but some parts that I’ve mentioned will be important regarding the actual Magnus analysis itself… or at least I think so…)

[bachirasbodyguard]

Best and worst match in the NEL so far

Thank you for the question!!!

My answer is going to be greatly influenced by what characters are in the teams that BM was facing and my personal preferences so this will be biased as fuck. Also, I think it’s a little hard to evaluate because the circumstances were so different for each one re Isagi’s role in the team, but here's my take.

The Barcha match: Way too short. A HUGE plus was simply Bachira being there though (and Otoya's scrawny ass as well). Also, I really like Lavinho. I think Barcha as a team has great vibes and swagger and I'm really sad we didn't get to see more of them.

Obviously, it's understandable why this game was so short - it just served as an introduction to how this arc was gonna work and who Kaiser is. Still, I wish there had been more...

The MC Match: The length and pacing of this game were great. Unfortunately, I can’t evaluate this match very fairly because I simply do not give a single shit about Nagi or Reo, and since so much of the focus was on them, I just didn’t enjoy this game that much. One big plus was Chigiri being a baddie and the amazing ending with the whole “how does it feel to be a clown in my story” spiel. Also, I liked seeing more of Noa and learning about his attitude towards Isagi.

I think Isagi's and Kaiser's relationship/rivalry was explored so well during this match. Additionally, and very, very importantly, I really liked seeing Isagi... struggle. I liked seeing him fail and lose his shit and be desperate and angry. It added stakes and anticipation, and really left me as a reader wondering what he was going to do next. It was great.

The Ubers Match: I love Ubers as a team because many of the characters I like are on it + Lorenzo was a great new addition + the team has a great dynamic.

The one huge fucking minus was that during this game things started going well for Isagi to an almost cartoonish degree. The flip from "Isagi is struggling! How will he ever beat Kaiser and become the best? The suspense is killing me!" to "Isagi can do everything and everything goes his way. C'mon, he's the main character," was a little too fast for me; I kind of didn't enjoy it. He became too successful too fast. I hope the PxG game fixes this somehow.

What I did enjoy immensely however was whatever the fuck was happening with Kaiser and his character development. Like all true Kaiser fans, I want to see him fail and cry and scream and throw up, and we actually got that here! Here's to more of that in the next game. 🥂

To summarize: I have no idea bro. I think that overall the MC game was probably the best one pacing, story-telling, and stakes-wise, but, again, I didn't personally enjoy it that much simply because of who is on the MC team. I liked reading through the Ubers game the most but I don't think it was the best writing-wise.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

And yes Nagi and Reo would not have been bad! I know the E4 were on the volume of the first version I figured they’d switch it up this time ofc the double itoshi is a big opp move but yeah anyways just glad to see tabieita getting their moments LMAO wait you had a Kunigami stan era omg LMAOO what happened to the no ginger rule /j but yeah he’s chill I just don’t have any heavy investment in him

Justin bieberitis LMAOO YUKI the “my culture is not your costume” has me wheezing otoya would definitely break the fourth wall too it’s such a dumbass otoya vibey thing

I remember that scene of Reo losing his mind screaming at zantetsu it was actually so hilarious LMAOO I do love their silly little dynamic but Reo got roped into the L taking club LAMAOA

SHAJS OTOYA REPARATIONS yeah I guess he can’t be catching ALL the strays I definitely also forgot ampharos has a mega (probably didn’t help that I don’t think I ever really had/used on) I’m still salty that megas were never brought back or continued like they could’ve just expanded and added more megas in the future games instead of swapping up mechanics each gen….but WHAGEVER RRJHSJRH Karasu fr just being surrounded by electric types that can kick his ass LMFAOOO

LAZYTOWN BEING BLLK BORUTO this is too funny but SHSHS DW YOURE ALL GOOD yeah i didn’t realize tumblr sucked this much hopefully it fixes soon?? But also take all the time you need to respond LMAO

No serious young aiku….young aiku…….but alas the stubble exists guys if PxG can have that much hair gel why doesn’t Ubers have a razor…guys come one…..but I agree still in the oaeu bestie zone LMAOO I need him to be my wingman irl

BRO I KNEW IT ITS THAT ONE ARTIST im ngl their memes always have me teetering on conversion territory their art style also definitely evolved a bit since they last posted!!! I saw that and lowk I agree but let’s remain strong for now it’s not the time to fall….but FR we’re gonna be eating so well s2 im so excited to see the favs in action!! All the recent promo material has me losing it too bro THREE DAYS WE’RE SO CLOSE SHSHSKSNSJA you’ll be getting a lengthy ask in your inbox once it airs so you can trust that you’ll need to open it then LMAOO

OMG ANOTHER MIRA DRAWING I’m crying otoya would so say that also the fact that you write in cursive just makes it 10x better HAHAHAH but OOOOH hairstyles!!! Are you deciding between the two or are these two forms of Tullia that exist depending on scenario in pursuit? They both look CUTE THO

OOOOOOOH WAIT 1K EVENT REQ?? Very intrigued and very excited if it does come out by this week I fr will be so stocked on content between that and s2!! Actually wait either way it works because I forgot s2 will be weekly starting from this week (WAHOO) Also wait it HAS been awhile since I’ve been surprised LMAO “how long it ends up being” anytime you say that i know it’s gonna be on the heftier side /j

Also SPICY WHITE GOODBYE also spicy white what does that even mean I’m crying if he was drunk too you should’ve said yes and gaslit him into thinking you were speaking in irish

- Karasu anon

HAHHA yeah right when i started (like in the first couple of eps) i liked kunigami!! ig i was really determined from the beginning not to like isagi…in my defense before the match against team v my options were isagi, bachira, chigiri, the rest of team z who are lowkey irrelevant, niko who actually is rather pretty but is just a bit too little-brother-coded to be attractive, and barou but specifically barou in his UGLIEST era 😭 kunigami was the best in a bad lot SDLKFJ also in that time he was far and away the most talented of team z (esp pre-chigiri-awakening) so there was that aspect…as SOON as nagi showed up though i was like 😍 and never looked back (that’s a lie i actually didn’t think i was going to like nagi at first i was so determined to wait for rin but then i realized i was lowkey giggling at some of nagi’s scenes and rewinding to watch his goals again and shit and that’s when i was like oh…)

JUSTIN BIEBERITIS it’s fr spreading!! LMAOAO no poor yuki i feel like i shouldn’t bully him sm his illness is even worse in pursuit because he was supposed to be an elite four member (hence why chris prince is his mentor) but he was banned from proper competitive battling because the stress made his condition worse 😓 that’s why his team is crazy strong and lowkey not aesthetic-maxed?? like you would think the man would have a milotic or an altaria or some other such elegant pokémon but his starter is a breloom and his team has such stunners as steelix, noivern, and alakazam but it’s because he was meant to beat aspiring trainers’ asses 😭 he just switched to contests because they were less stressful on his eyes and body due to having more of a focus on artistry than sheer-force victory…that’s why he ends up being a good mentor for reader and co he really teaches them how to not waste any energy and be super efficient in every move instead of wasting time and effort!! he’s super cool actually i really do like him unfortunately he’s SOO easy to slander it’s insane 😩 otoya definitely looks into the camera like he’s in the office unironically while in blue lock HAHAH can you imagine one of his teammates does smth stupid and he just stares into ego’s soul with the most unamused expression ever…it probably starts as a joke w karasu and then they both start doing it without thinking because it’s like a habit

YESSS THAT’S THE ONE pls it has me cackling every time reo looks so silly and zantetsu is so miffed meanwhile nagi just looks so concerned in the background bro was fr met with a completely different side of reo than he was used to 😭 reo being roped into the taking l’s club because he was linked up with king of losers tabito karasu #real honestly i think a little bit of humbling is good for him…bonus points if tullia’s watching the battle and reo’s like “this one’s for you 😁😉🫵🏻” before proceeding to get his shit rocked by the biggest idiots on the planet KSDJHFSLKD the negative aura is unmatched it’s only salvaged because otoya is tullia’s number one opp so she’s still team reo and karasu even though they lost

I LOVED MEGAS imo they were the best gimmick because they were the first and truly felt original/well thought out?? like there was lore behind the megas and the designs were different and pretty instead of just being “pikachu…but BIG” it’s the same with the alolan forms like it was cool the first time but why does every region have its own forms now…anyways yeah i’ve never been a huge ampharos user (as in i’ve never used it) so i always forget it has a mega but it does!! it’s funny actually when i’m looking at it which characters can and can’t mega 🧐 of the main-ish (aka relevant to us) characters nagi, chigiri, and tullia all don’t have any pokémon with mega evolved forms!! meanwhile reo has gallade + mawile, reader has houndoom + gyarados, karasu has pidgeot + garchomp + lucario (i literally forgot about lucario until i checked my notion page w everyone’s teams lowkey this is a win for the karasu girlies??? bro is eating), otoya has ampharos + altaria, barou has houndoom + sharpedo, isagi has charizard, and even hiori has metagross 😭 ofc these are only options definitely not all of these characters will get megas let alone all of the pokémon for each character but it’s def fun to look at!! also wait it would be really funny if otoya can only evolve his altaria since mega altaria is even more fluffy cutesy “girly” as well as being a dragon FAIRY type so that would def make bro crash out just a bit (the coolness of mega evolution does ease the sting a bit though)

YOUNG AIKUUUU MY BELOVED no actually that’s so real should’ve switched rin and barou just so all of the hair product warriors (barou karasu shidou zantetsu) could’ve been on one team SDKLJFH lowkey i would love to see more zantetsu and barou interactions i think they’re so funny together 😭 fr though i know barou def has a spare razor lying around somewhere he’s too neat to NOT so aiku has zero excuse…okay wait actually can i confess that BAROU with the stubble in that one scene where he’s a depressed dilf was SO FINE SDLKFJHSDKLJ FHSL BROOOOO I LOST IT I NEED HIM TO FAIL AT SOCCER AND LIVE THAT LIFESTYLE (WITH ME)

hehehe barou just does it better SORRY aiku anyways yeah i need him to wingman for me HEAVY…IDEC WHO bro can set me up with barou karasu yukimiya nagi reo…i guess sae…otoya (i can actually fix him i know it) karasu karasu did i mention karasu??? karasu—

their art style is sooo pretty but agreed they post rlly infrequently (whenever they do it ends up on my fyp) and they always have a slightly different art style every time!! it’s cool to see the development in real time hehe anyways yeah trust i won’t fall!! although the character i’m writing a request for is pissing me off because they’re being too agreeable to it which is making me…not CONVERT but appreciate them yk (ig that’s process of elimination that i’m not writing a karasu rec but considering how the rest of the characters aren’t miraverse golden standard favs it doesn’t narrow it down too much)

SLKDJFHSD PLEASE i was between writing that or “‘humane euthanasia is the only option’ — eita otoya” for it HAHAHAH yeah i always write in cursive and i think it does add a layer of humor to things because it’s the most ridiculous nonsense written in my pretty handwriting LMAOO 😭 for her hair i was thinking it’ll be scenario dependent!! so like the base hairstyle is the one of her hair down but she ties it back in the messy bun (so #y/n of her) when she’s doing more gross or intensive stuff if that makes sense?? so like the bun is more of a rare find (kinda like no jacket rolled up sleeves karasu) but still present which is why i drew both hehe

1K EVENT REQ YESSSS i’m actually enjoying myself writing it idk if it quite fits with what the requester had in mind but eh wtvr i’m having fun so it’s okay!! it will all end up for the best…yeah unfortunately i do sense it getting to be to the heftier side we’re past 2k words and haven’t met the love interest yet soooo anyways…YESSS WEEKLY S2 I’M SO HYPEEE CAN’T WAIT TO CHAT ABOUT IT AND WATCH IT AND CONSUME EDITS NONSTOP!!

SPICY WHITE HAD ME HOWLINGGGG actually funny enough that was the same night as the coke dude that wicked game was based on as well as the linkedin guy SLDKFHSDLKFJDS anyways apparently spicy white is white but not like white anglo saxon protestant white??? so basically mediterranean and sometimes slavic i think…look i know i look really racially ambiguous and get mistaken for a lot of things (i’ve had people make fun of my parents to my face for not teaching me spanish since they think i’m latina and i have to be like “well they don’t know it either i’m actually indian”, almost everyone including other indian people think i’m either irani or afghani, and when i’m in europe i’m mistaken for spanish or italian quite frequently) so i wouldn’t have been as flabbergasted if he had just gone straight to greek (that was his second guess) but IRISH???? first of all irish is the opposite of spicy white regardless second of all i may be pale by indian/poc standards but irish people are on another level of whiteness typically…like NO ONE ELSE has EVER looked at me and been like “yup she’s irish” as you can tell that was just an insane night all around truly everything was happening