#isagirin meta part 1

[bluelockednyx]

helooo! if u dont mind me asking, is there a reason u prefer the isagirin dynamic when rinsagi is the more popular one? sorry, it's just really rare to find ppl who kinda favor isagirin too, it's also my preference but my reasons are dumb af. and after looking at some of ur six-part analysis on the ship, im curious if theres any underlying reason you prefer isagirin over rinsagi ?

!!! Fellow Isagirin shipper!!!

It’s perfectly valid to ship whichever for the shallowest and dumbest reasons possible, anon. What is shipping but smashing two of your favourite fictional characters together like barbies for whatever things you want them to do? I have plenty of crack ships of my own, I even have ships that have never interacted with each other in canon at all lmao.

Ship preferences really comes down to 1) personal interpretation of character and relationship dynamics and 2) your personal likes and dislikes in a relationship. That's true for everyone, and true for why I prefer Isagirin to Rinsagi as well. But since you asked for a more in-depth explanation… buckle up, I love ranting.

Let's start with Isagi.

One of the most memorable bits of characterization for me from early Blue Lock, was the Team Z vs Team Y match. After Isagi makes the winning shot, we’re treated to several pages of his reaction. He walks through Team Y members crying on the ground, thinking that he won the game, that he trampled over their dreams with his goal, and then we’re treated to a close up of Niko’s crying face, and we have Isagi come to the profound realization that he likes how that feels.

Read this scene in the manga. Watch this scene in the anime. And if you come back and tell me that this scene doesn’t make you think that Isagi is a sadist dom in the making, unfollow me forever because that is my stance and I will die with it, however Blue Lock ends.

I've mentioned it in my meta, but Isagi is a pretty passive person when it comes to interpersonal relationships. He mostly goes along with whatever kind of dynamic they initiate.

Let's look at his and Bachira's relationship. Bachira is Isagi’s first and arguably closest friend in Blue Lock. In their relationship, it's Bachira that takes the lead, with Isagi following it. Bachira is the one who persistently reaches out, but Isagi is not always receptive or accepting of it. There’s a subtle personal and emotional distance that Isagi has in place between them, a barrier that he never quite lets Bachira cross. When Bachira tries to feed him meat early on, Isagi pulls away. When Bachira talks about how glad he is to be in Blue Lock because he found Isagi here to be friends with, Isagi’s reaction is… well, surprisingly cold, to me. Almost unbothered? Not because he doesn’t appreciate it the communication and honesty, but more along the lines of he views it as having very little to do with him, personally, if at all. Isagi says that Bachira gives him courage in the early chapters, but beyond that... well. I don't find much emotional draw in their friendship from Isagi's side. Bachira doesn't inspire much in Isagi after the Team Z arc. Again, this is personal character and relationship interpretation, so YMMV with this one.

That's not the case with Rin. That's not the case with Rin, at all. Isagi chooses Rin, over and over again even when he doesn't need to. He didn't have to fight with Rin in the first 3v3 -- he could have waited for more teams to come up, but he said it himself, he wants Rin. He specifically chooses to match up with Rin in the 4v4 until Barou wrecked their initial plans by wanting to duke it out with Tokimitsu, and Nagi then said that he wanted to match up with Rin instead. In the Blue Lock 11 tryouts he chooses Rin again over Nagi, despite acknowledging the challenge and difficulty of it. In the U20 match he still focuses almost entirely on Rin's actions and moves. After the U20 match, he didn't have to stay back and speak to Rin, to try and comfort him with 'That goal was our goal', but he still did. Even before the Neo Egoist League restarted, he could have chosen to avoid Rin after how poorly their last talk ended, but he still went to speak to Rin alone, separating from his other friends. Isagi is astoundingly assertive whenever Rin is concerned, and he's drawn to Rin as a person.

Isagi is the one that sets the tone for their dynamic. He’s the one who started up a one-sided rivalry in the first 3v3, and he also specifically mentions that he ‘wants to win with Rin’. Isagi is the one who gets emotionally attached to Rin first, who links his own wants and desires with Rin, and then when Rin tries to worsen their relationship, Isagi is the one who puts the brakes on that by being the more emotionally mature one and taking the high road, even playfully teasing Rin over being a ‘fake villain’ when Rin calls Isagi a ‘fake hero’ before the Neo-Egoist League begins properly.

So that’s one reason why top!Isagi works better for me where Isagi and Rin’s relationship is concerned. Now let’s look at Rin.

Continuing from the above, Isagi is the one who sets the tone for their relationship dynamic, and it’s Rin who responds to it. Rin is not the person who takes the emotional initiative in their relationship, though it may seem that way on the surface.

Rin goes along with Isagi setting up the first 3v3. He picks Isagi only after Isagi challenges and surprises/surpasses him in the 4v4. He thaws a little towards Isagi during the yoga session, after Isagi joins him and acknowledges him as his own person. As they’re training for the U20 match, Isagi is the one to reach out to him and offer him water, which he accepts after refusing it the first-time round. It’s only when Isagi tries to comfort him after the U20 match that he lashes out at Isagi. Again, before the Neo-Egoist League, he’s the responder, snapping at Isagi for being friendly with him after Isagi reaches out to talk to him first.

He is also not the person who has the emotional initiative in his other, closest relationship either. It’s Sae who sets their dynamic – Sae tells Rin to become the best forward after him when they were children, tells Rin to be the best forward while he becomes the best midfielder on that unknown snowy day pre-Blue Lock, and after Rin hurts him Sae is the one who starts the painfully strained dynamic of their relationship and continues doing so by ignoring and stonewalling Rin before the U20 match. All of Rin's attempts at reaching his brother never click until he gets into flow. At the end of the U20 match, too, it’s Sae who comes up to talk to Rin instead of the other way around. We don’t even see what Rin does or says to Sae after that, and it’s safe to say, I think, that Rin buried all his emotional wounds beneath the surface, and it’s Isagi who dragged it out of him after his little speech in the locker room post-U20 match, and he redirects all his anger at Sae to Isagi instead.

Remember Bachira’s conversation with Rin before the 4v4 rematch? Bachira telling Rin that Rin’s football seems lonely? Rin is lonely. He’s just not self-aware enough about it, and he thinks that all his problems can be solved if he just gets Sae's acknowledgment again. Which it really, really won't.

For all Rin appears to be aloof and stays apart from the Blue Lock boys by being both hostile and unfriendly, he’s a very emotionally needy person, and we know this through his relationship with Sae, and how he so very desperately wants his brother’s acknowledgment. He keeps playing football and pushes through alone by improving his individual skill after Sae left for Madrid, even when he finds it hard and restricting without Sae around. He would have willingly set aside all the pain Sae put him through just to have to his old, close relationship with his brother again. He was ready to forgive all the hurt Sae caused him at the end of the U20 match when Sae came to talk to him, but when Sae acknowledged Isagi instead of Rin himself, it sent him spiraling into hate for Isagi. I’ve already talked about this in my meta: it’s not healthy or good for Rin and Sae’s relationship that Rin hinges so much of his emotional needs on Sae. He’s realised some of the problems in the U20 match, but there’s still more work he needs to do on himself.

We haven’t had an equal relationship built up with Rin and Sae (as much as a relationship can be equal in a pretty hierarchical society with older and younger siblings anyway). It’s almost all about what Sae wants, and he never really tries to talk about things with Rin and figure out what Rin really wants. One throwaway line after four years of not seeing each other about how the world is really big and expecting Rin, who’s been playing at home in Japan (presumably in a youth team too, like Karasu and Hiori) to just understand you like that? What the fuck, Sae. And it’s hard for Rin to even bridge that gap, because Sae keeps stonewalling. Rin’s right here: Sae is a shitty big brother to him. We, as the readers, get some insight into Sae, so we can read deeper into Sae’s characterization and understand that beneath his callous attitude Sae does care for Rin and thinks highly of him, even going so far as to encourage Rin to fulfill his dream when Sae’s all but given up on his own. But communication is a two-way street. If one person doesn’t understand, and the other doesn’t try to talk/elaborate/explain or do something for them to understand, well. You get the clusterfuck that’s their relationship.

Rin is simply not emotionally mature enough to handle his complex feelings for both Sae and Isagi well. He’s just sixteen, and he has been depicted with little, if any, strong relationships with anyone in the series besides his brother, so there’s not much of a template his own experience can draw off to handle them, or someone else he can really talk to about them to get a broader perspective. Which is why I’ve been speculating that if the author intends to go down the healthier, more wholesome route with Rin, Rin's character arc should involve him foiling with, and being the inverse of Isagi’s: establishing proper relationships with his teammates, growing to become actual friends with them instead of simply a revolving door of temporary partnerships and alliances. Authorial intentions are still up in the air (there’s been a lot of artistic foreshadowing that Rin’s going to suffer more later on and have ‘his life turned upside down’), but yeah.

So I guess you could say that I prefer to ship Isagirin more primarily for this reason: the emotional initiative and directional control of their relationship dynamic lies more in Isagi’s hands, rather than Rin’s.

For dumber, shallower and sexier reasons: it’s hot.

Shorter, smaller, physically weaker Isagi topping Rin? Nice. Very hot.

But more importantly for me: the power dynamics of their relationship??? Isagi being a sadist dom who got a goddamn high from watching Niko cry after he beat him, asserting himself and reaching out to Rin constantly in contrast to all his other relationships in-series, versus Rin who’s emotionally turbulent and deals poorly with them with a whole lot of repression and anger, is somewhat of a masochist, yearns to be wanted and needed and if that’s not… a sub… well.

I want to see Rin break under Isagi’s hands, fall apart completely and then have Isagi put him back together again. That's where my personal tastes run.

TLDR; Isagi’s has shades of sadist dom top in my interpretation of his depiction, takes both the initiative and has greater control of his and Rin’s relationship dynamic whereas Rin is an emotional sub with shades of masochism, and a deeply rooted emotional need to be wanted.

[bluelockednyx]

Isagirin meta part 1

“You should aim to choose, rather than be chosen”

AKA Blue Lock, its focus on ‘egoism’, the impact of that philosophy and Kaneshiro Muneyuki’s + illustrator Nomura Yusuke’s opinion on what constitutes a good relationship in the series and how it ties into Isagirin/Rinsagi

An Isagirin/Rinsagi ship manifesto/meta. Spoilers up till the end of Blue Lock Phase 1, where Isagi and co. return to Blue Lock after the Blue Lock vs U20 match. Do note that I am flipping between both the JP tankabon for the OG text + official + fan translations for the english.

I’m going to preface by saying that I adore Blue Lock for all the reasons I also think it’s ridiculous: the hyper-competitiveness amongst fictional teenage characters in their pursuit of becoming the world’s best striker, all done in a glorified high-tech jail cell (which, as of the Neo-Egoist League arc, also serves as a reality tv show background!), where they are able to do and think of nothing but football and football only. Yet with all that, the series has chosen a fascinating take on its characters’ relationships with each other: the pursuit of a relationship, that prioritizes individual growth and independence, and where the characters, after separating, come back together stronger both individually and as a unit.

To start off with, a quick look at egoism, the main theme of the series.

What is egoism? It is the doctrine that human behaviour is motivated by self-interest, as per Merriam-Webster’s definition. Thus, from an extreme viewpoint, a fully egoistic person would regard oneself as the center of every interest, and every action made is done for one’s own benefit and one’s own benefit only, without any regard given to others.

In the context of Blue Lock, our main character, Isagi Yoichi begins to discover his own egoism through participating in the project. Over time, he learns to develop his skills while trusting in his ego, and on occasion even use other’s egos to his own advantage, and every step of the way he encounters/learns from his teammates and opponents in Blue Lock, then the U20, and as of now, the Bastard Munchen team.

And even with this hugely colourful cast of characters, Itoshi Rin still manages to stand out from the rest of the cast since his very first appearance, as well as Isagi’s first meeting with him.

As this is again, mostly a shipping meta, and an organisation of my thoughts about Isagirin’s relationship with the primary focus being the series’ narrative – Isagi’s egoism and his path to become the world’s best striker.

A note: I use football and soccer interchangeably throughout this series of posts. Fight me on my British English centric education. This is also very long (at least 5 parts, I'm still editing pics and whatnot), to say the least, because there are so many things to talk about where they are concerned in relation to the story.

As this is all about Isagi/Rin, I’ll start with Rin’s first appearance as part 1.

First impression (C40)

The first time Isagi (and we, the readers) meets Rin is in Chapter 40. Everyone is exhausted after the two weeks of physical training, and Ego has just announced that beyond the doors are the second selection trials. While everyone is hesitating over being the first to go in, Isagi included, Rin takes the initiative. We know immediately that this guy’s gonna be important: Rin appears larger than life by artistic positioning of his full body before the manga panels.

Isagi, along with several team Z members are immediately impressed by his first shot. Isagi calls it a ‘beautiful kick, a tall gentle curve’. He’s taken aback by the second shoot Rin makes, which hits the first. Rin declares his warm-up over and tells the AI system (or Ego?) to open up the doors, and becomes the first person to head inside the Second Selection Trial.

Upon seeing his surname, Igaguri immediately links Rin to Sae, who is, as of yet, a minor character who appeared early on in the story, and is already considered one of the top 11 players in the football world stage. It further reinforces Rin’s future importance in the series.

This chapter is the start, though definitely not the end, of Isagi’s, uh, fixation on Rin.

C44

Isagi’s the first person from Team Z to go through and complete the individual ability challenge. He teams up with Bachira and Nagi, (who leaves behind an upset Reo), and they head to the next stage, where they immediately encounter Rin, Aryuu and Tokimitsu, who’ve teamed up. Ego explains the rules, and emphasises that to play, both teams have to agree to the match-up. At first, Isagi is hesitant to clash head-on with Rin, Aryu and Tokimitsu, and Aryu, too would prefer to fight against better opponents rather than Isagi and co. Then Rin says he wants to win quickly and move on.

Rin’s self-centredness and stand-offishness is out in full focus here, and it almost causes a fight between him and Aryu. His speech about getting into the Japan U20 to crush Sae reveals his fixation on his brother, but at the same time incites/intrigues the other five present. Then we get this:

Neither Bachira nor Nagi seem to be all that keen to duke it out against the top 3. Contrast Bachira and Nagi’s reaction to Isagi’s upon seeing the top 3’s antics, and finally Rin’s declaration. Bachira’s amused, while Nagi looks a little perplexed, or perpetually bored.

But Isagi.

“But… my ego is telling me – I want to fight this guy! And most importantly… I want this guy!”

So yeah. The most important story theme to Blue Lock, one’s ego, and Isagi uses it in reference to wanting Rin. Okay, I’ll concede, he wants to fight Rin first and foremost, but, even within story and context included, this line is definitely an eyebrow raiser. And even in other fujoshi bait sports anime, this line is definitely a 'wow they laid it thick' moment.

At this point, Rin definitely couldn’t care less so long as he moves ahead. So they match up. The first 3v3 in Blue Lock is set.

C45

Game starts in a mini field, Isagi-Bachira-Nagi team score, but all it gets from Rin is a scoff. It’s in this match that Isagi encounters the concept of football being a deathmatch, and the field a battlefield.

‘This is… a battlefield.’

‘Soccer is a death match as far as I’m concerned.’

This is somewhat of a rehash of Ego’s speech in the earliest chapters of the series, when the 300 strikers were first gathered before him.

“True strikers tread a path of winning or losing everything… every single day, in order to keep on surviving.”

Isagi’s response?

"Interesting... I'll join this death match!"

C46-48

The match is quick, and brutally one-sided. Besides the first goal, scored from the joint effort of Bachira-Nagi-Isagi, Rin, Aryu and Tokimitsu score one goal after the other. Isagi struggles to keep up with Rin the whole time, and the game ends with Rin scoring thrice. Isagi hardly does anything worth mentioning, other than the first goal and successfully blocking one of Rin’s goals.

Chapter 48 is a real goldmine for this ship, and sets the course for Isagi’s future skills growth and character arc in the manga very deliberately.

‘Think you found a good space or something? At least go study how human eyeballs work, you trash.’

As the realisation of his impending loss sinks in, this is his reaction:

From a shipping perspective, Isagi’s whole response to the loss is spectacular. Note the blacked in panels of Isagi’s monologue of despair, the inevitability of losing dragging his movements down putting him distantly in perspective. Then note the switchover from black to white again in his monologue, down to the way his eyes widen, and the light in his eyes when Rin makes that final goal to trounce Isagi-Bachira-Nagi team 5-2. The monologue itself reads like a love confession, even with context.

‘We’ll lose. Are you kidding?! With my current capability… I can’t even measure… how much the difference between me and Rin is – I can’t tell… the difference is just that overwhelming… and despairing… Even so... why… In spite of the fact that we’re going to lose… my eyes… my heart… I’m completely smitten. by the beauty of the parable that his kick drew --’

In the OG Japanese, Isagi says his eyes and heart were stolen.

「敗北という現実とは裏腹に　俺の目は　心は　奪われていた　糸師凛のけり描く　その放物線の美しさに　―」

In this moment, Isagi should be absolutely devastated by the loss. Yet, he’s not. He’s hung up, he’s smitten, his heart is stolen by Rin's beautiful kick, which neatly bookends with the first time he sees Rin shooting back in chapter 40, where he was surprised and fascinated by the tall, gentle kick that Rin made.

And isn’t that fascinating?

I’ll be wrapping this up here for now. Part 2, covering the rest of the Second Selection Arc coming soon!

[bluelockednyx]

Isagirin meta part 2

Part 1 of my Rinsagi/Isagirin relationship meta, which covers Isagi’s first encounter with Rin, and the first match of the Second Selection arc is here.

Part 2 of my Rinsagi/Isagirin relationship meta picks up where I left of, and will cover the rest of the Second Selection Arc.

C49-55 vs Barou + Naruhaya

The loss doesn’t entirely sink in for Isagi until after Aryu and Tokimitsu decide to take Bachira onto their team. In a future flashback monologue, Isagi realizes that that was the point where he was the one who would have to do the chasing from now on.

Much like Nagi points out, they’re both now in a ‘lonely’ state, having lost their previous partners, though in differing ways. Nagi moved on without Reo by choice, while Isagi and Bachira were forcibly split by their loss to Rin, Aryu and Tokimitsu.

In this mini arc, we further witness Isagi’s growth as an individual, and his skill in 1-on-1 matches. He ‘steals’ Naruhaya’s skill in c53, realizing that the moments when he’s not having the ball is also considered a 1-on-1. He ties it back directly to Rin’s insult in the previous match, complete with a flashback, and after successfully stealing it, proceeds to win the game with Nagi.

The other interesting bit is chapter 55, where Naruhaya, after losing and not being selected to move on, tells Isagi that he has to struggle to death and keep winning. It’s yet another reinforcement of Rin’s mindset and Ego's philosophy towards the game – that a football game, in Blue Lock, is a death match.

C58

While Isagi-Nagi-Barou are preparing to square off against Chigiri-Kunigami-Reo, we cut briefly to Rin’s team. Bachira tries to join Rin, who’s training by himself, remarking that Rin’s football seems lonely, fascinatingly paralleling them both with Nagi and Isagi, who are also without their usual partners right now. This is interesting insight from Bachira, which develops both Bachira's character and layers Rin’s complex relationship with Sae later on.

Throughout the match-up with Chigiri-Kunigami-Reo, Isagi finds it difficult to play together with Barou, thus leading to his evolution of choosing to ‘devour’ Barou instead. This entire match, besides Isagi learning the importance of evolution by ‘devouring’ other people’s skills, much like the way artists and writers ‘steal’ from other artists and writers, we also get an important mindset of Isagi’s.

And yes, this is the working title of the meta, because I love it.

After Nagi and Reo have their fight, Isagi, who’s been watching, tells Reo that he should ‘aim to choose’. To him, it’s important that he gets to choose. Not that someone else chooses him. He must be the one to make that choice.

And thus far, Isagi’s been focused on one person in a markedly different manner compared to his interactions with the rest of the Blue Lock cast. But we'll get to that.

C69

In the meantime, Bachira practises with Rin, and acknowledges Rin’s skill. Rin points out Bachira’s weakness, and remarks that Bachira’s soccer is reliant on instinct, but constantly searching for someone.

“Your dribble looks like you're having fun... but afraid of fighting along. That lukewarm ego… won’t make my heart dance.”

Hence, Rin himself is interested in someone who can fight independently.

Small moment at the end of the chapter, while Isagi-Nagi-Barou-Chigiri are bonding in their shared room, we have this tiny panel of Isagi wanting Bachira and Rin to wait up for him… which, Bachira, yes, because it was their shared promise after he, Bachira and Nagi lost to Rin, Aryu and Tokimitsu, and they’ve been friends since Blue Lock started. Yet wanting Rin to wait up for him? Bit of a strange, tall order isn’t it, for someone Isagi has, arguably only known for the duration of a single match?

C72 – C85 4v4

The 4-man match is close to a chapter by chapter replay, so bear with me.

While they’re prepping for the match, the original matchup they decided on falls apart. Barou gets irritated with Tokimitsu and decides to match against him instead. Nagi, subsequently, decides to match up against Rin, whom Isagi himself had decided to play against at first. He concedes to Nagi, taking on Bachira instead, but also adds this little bit.

"Ok. But, if you lose, I'll be stepping in to crush him..."

Bit possessive aren’t you, Isagi

In their match off, Rin acknowledges that Isagi’s improved, but still basically pulled a ‘mada mada dane AKA you still have lots more to work on’ ‘you won’t make my heart dance’ on Isagi, paralleling his earlier conversation with Bachira.

Isagi thinks of how to devour Rin to win. Rin outclasses him still, but unlike Nagi, Chigiri and Barou, he is perfectly capable of keeping up with Rin’s way of thinking. This suggests a level of similarity in their thought processes, something none of the others share, which is interesting. We then get a little of Nagi’s viewpoint, and it’s clear to him that he isn’t able to view the plays on the field the way Isagi and Rin can.

Nagi thus targets their 'relationship' to steal possession of the ball, then cleverly uses his trap to score a second goal for his team. For the first time, Rin loses in a one-on-one situation where he expected to come out on top. Bachira even teases him for it. While Rin responds rudely, Isagi monologues that he wants to beat Rin, using his own ability, without relying on anyone else’s skills.

Isagi views Rin as his current challenge, his ‘goal to beat’ on the way to become the world’s top striker. It’s also in this match up that Rin really starts showing his mettle. In revenge, Rin blazes past Nagi, draws Isagi in for a fake and passes it to the open Bachira, who scores. Instead of getting by with his overwhelming personal skill as he previously did, Rin’s starts to make use of his teammates and his opponents. Faced with this, Isagi’s reaction is admiration and self-doubt.

“A genius like him… can I actually devour him...?”

C78 is the chapter where characters start giving Rin eyelash-related nicknames, lmao. Barou’s the one who starts it. The OG Japanese isn't so rude, with Barou's nickname being along the lines of 'bottom eyelashes Number 1'.

C79

While Isagi and Rin fight to seize the ‘flow’ of the game through Barou, Bachira celebrates upon finally finding two people who are ‘monsters’ whom he can play with. Except…

Neither of them are even looking at him, or considering him at all in the game. Like Nagi, earlier, Bachira thinks that Isagi and Rin are viewing the field on a different level altogether, in a way that no one else can match up to/keep up with. He thinks of them as a pair of monsters, friends, whom he can play with. But right now, Isagi and Rin are so hung up over fighting/winning against each other that neither of them are even thinking of the others, except where relevant in the game.

Rin’s team gets a free kick, and while Isagi’s debating over whether Rin will immediately shoot for a goal or pass, Rin goes in for the kill. He even spells out Isagi’s thoughts, then declares that the only option for him was to make a goal. “It’s always that one last step. Just when I think I’m about to catch him, he slips out of reach!!”

In fact, they’re so caught up reading each other’s moves, it leads to --

Isagi was so fucking cool in this panel

Isagi legit makes this goal, and brings the score to 4-4, only because he knows that Rin knows what he’s thinking and what he can do. So. Yeah. Again, they’re mind-reading each other now. And they’ve only known each other for the duration of exactly two matches, and by my count, less than a week. Maybe slightly longer, but I really don’t think Isagi and Nagi took that long to 1) beat Barou-Naruhaya and 2) beat Reo-Kunigami-Chigiri. Rin is so surprised here, his hair got whited out.

C82

It’s do or die now, for both teams. Isagi explains his plan that got him the previous goal to Chigiri, Barou and Nagi. His trust in Rin's play and moves is especially fascinating, because, once again, unlike with Bachira and Chigiri whom he’s teamed up with throughout his whole time in Blue Lock, then Nagi and Barou whose abilities he’s went up against with firsthand, and also played alongside with, he has only known Rin for the duration of these two matches, yet he believes in Rin’s abilities, so much so that he forms the plan and succeeds in it because he believes Rin was just that good.

In response to the goal, Bachira realises that he’s so far away from reaching both Isagi and Rin, and he’s so crushed by this realisation that he basically falls into an existential crisis. His momentary lapse in concentration, naturally, gets picked on by his opponents. Chigiri steals the ball from him. Nagi questions him for it, and gives, to Bachira, the worst-case scenario possible: Isagi's team will win and take Rin, and Bachira will be left behind, unable to play with either Rin or Isagi as he wants.

Nagi’s words, ironically, gives Bachira his second wind in the game. Now the game is like a death match to him. He wants to win even if it kills him. He wants to steal back Isagi.

Which is also interesting, because Isagi, unlike the previous matches we’ve been shown so far, isn’t potentially being stolen by a rival team. Isagi and his attention, is being stolen by 1) the game and 2) Rin.

This shocks Bachira enough that he gets his ‘ego’s awakening’, pushes through, then fails to make the shot because of Isagi’s defending.

And there, to pick up the stray ball and win the game, was Rin.

Then in a complete 180 from his previous match-up against Isagi-Bachira-Nagi, Rin tramples over Aryu, Tokimitsu and Bachira's opinions and makes the decision to pick their new teammate. And he chooses Isagi.

Of note:

Isagi’s ego and skills development over the course of the 2v2 and 3v3 matches, from devouring Naruhaya’s skill to devouring Barou’s presence, to the point of using him as bait/decoy in the match vs Kuni-Chigi-Reo, ending with Kuni-Chigi-Reo’s loss, then the NagiReo fight, and Isagi’s suggestion to Reo that he needs to aim to be the one with the ability and power to choose, instead of being chosen (also the title for this meta/manifesto!), all of these are a reiteration of what I’ve already mentioned in part 1, about Blue Lock having a repeating motif in the characters’ relationships: Isagi separated from Bachira, and comes back stronger to challenge Bachira’s new team. Nagi separated from Reo, and came back stronger, then defeated Reo’s team.

Reo never quite manages to grasp his ego and develop on it throughout the whole game, playing it with the intention of mostly stealing back Nagi from Isagi, and thus suffers a narrative loss, both via the game and via losing Nagi and damaging his personal relationship with Nagi as well. Bachira, who fights back at the last minute, losing the monster that’s both been his crutch and mental support, and together with Rin, who outclasses Isagi by sheer skill, manages to steal back Isagi.

Throughout the course of this, we can see that 1) Isagi’s skill development and growth was heavily influenced by Rin, and 2) he has a growing interest with duking it out with Rin on the field, to the point where by the time its the 4v4 team match, Isagi and Rin are already so aware/attuned to each other’s thought processes on the field that the others can’t catch up and view them as a separate unit fighting it out with each other the whole while, something that’s picked up on by the two people who are arguably closest to Isagi right now, Bachira and Nagi.

On the other hand, we also learn that Rin is potentially ‘lonely’, like Bachira, and that he has a preference for people who can fight independently. He outclasses everyone else in the match by far in terms of sheer skill, and underneath that cold attitude towards others, can get quite worked up when provoked and up against a decent opponent. Also, at the end of the match, he chooses Isagi. :D

Side note: I am so happy that I hadn't begun posting this series before tumblr updated to the new 30 pics limit, because it was torture picking out which 10 pics/panels had the most relevance to the meta.

Wrapping up part 2 here! Part 3 will cover the pre-U20 arc, from the 5v5 against the world team, to the vs U20 team selections.

[bluelockednyx]

Master Post

Hiya, I'm Niki, and this is my blog for all things Blue Lock. I write, make shitty mangacap edits sometimes, and generally yell about the latest chapters as they come up, and when I've read them.

I am first and foremost interested in Isagi's journey to become the best striker in the world, and my favourite characters are Isagi, Rin, Sae and Karasu. I have a soft spot for the main cast from the Second Selection Arc in general, and expect me to dunk on Kaiser -- guy just reads too much like your cliche trashy 2000s teenage high school drama antagonist, and Isagi's reactions to him are just plain funny to me.

Again, I'm a multishipper, and there is a high possibility that I will talk about relationships with significant age gaps (> 5 years diff), dead dove content etc. I simply like exploring varying relationship dynamics in different settings, and having fun with the characters in any way I like. You are responsible for your own internet experience and your actions, and if any of this sort of content triggers or upsets you, be the responsible person, do yourself a favour and block me now. That being said, I will tag all of them as #dovelocked, so if you're using xkit (which I highly recommend you download and use for desktop if you haven't already) etc. you can opt to block that specific tag.

My favourite ship is Isagi/Rin or Rinsagi as they're more commonly known, and will yell about them a lot. If top/bottom dynamics matter to you, I am a switch at heart, but I do favour Isagi/Rin in that order. I also have a soft spot for Nagireo, Karasu/Chigiri and the Bachira-Isagi-Rin + Rin-Sae-Shidou dynamics.

Isagirin/Rinsagi meta:

Part 1: Covers their first meeting up till the end of the first 3v3 match

Part 2: Covers the remainder of the Second Selection Arc

Part 3: Covers the vs World 5, Blue Lock 11 Selection Arc

Part 4: Covers the first half of the Blue Lock 11 vs Japan U20 Arc

Part 5: Covers the second half of the Blue Lock 11 vs Japan U20 Arc, up until the start of the Neo Egoist League Arc

Part 6: Manifesto, discussion of story themes, foiling and parallel of Isagi and Rin's individual character arcs, why I think they're a good ship, and some speculations on future story developments

Answers to asks are here.

If anyone wants to chat about blue lock, shoot me a DM!