#that was a nice pass isagi that bad shot of yours was scrumptous it was a feast

[strikermind]

What exactly happened in the Wild Card?

So what exactly is the “Wild Card"? As of now, we know that it’s an experiment to create a player with the same exact characteristics as Noel Noa, the world’s greatest striker. Additionally, only Blue Lock participants who had lost were able to participate. One of those losers in question was Rensuke Kunigami.

Not knowing what awaited ahead of him, unwilling to give up, Kunigami went through the Wild Card door, with only a slither of hope left. When he opened that door once again, he was a completely different person.

Ego himself had explained he forced different philosophies on the ones who competed in the Wild Card. And yet with every visual depiction of the Wild Card, you can see corpses lying on top of eachother, with only one survivor being emphasized.

So what does this mean? What does this say about Kunigami, the only one who survived the Wild Card? After theorizing and thinking about it for a long time, I kept on reaching the same conclusion…

Kunigami is a c*nnibal. Now does that sound absurd? Yes, but there’s a surprising lot of evidence pointing to it. By the end of this analysis, you’ll be convinced. Now the best way of explaining this is splitting it into sections.

How? Why?

Symbolism

Mannerisms

Conclusion

1. How? Why?

Old tribes, like the Aztec or the Tonkawa, had two main types of c*nnibal customs: those who ate their own people, and those who only ate their enemies. The wild card, being the latter, is comparable in this respect. It is first and foremost a group of competitors trying to defeat each other by any means possible. Now this doesn’t immediately mean c*nnibalism, what if they just killed one another? That’s also a plausible theory, but think about it, what else would they be able to eat and drink?

I highly doubt that the ones fighting for their lives were being malnourished and given supplies to survive. That’s what they got spoiled with in blue lock already, and they already failed. Now this isn’t to say they got told, “Go eat each other!”, because how would that help their strength in the slightest? These participants are probably doing something similar to endoc*nnibalism, eating humans only after they have died. I imagine it could be something like a fight to the death, and whoever dies has to give up their body to the survivors. It could be even less literal like whoever loses a soccer match dies.

But how would this be possible? Wouldn’t this be incredibly illegal? Think about it this way, no matter what had happened down there, it definitely wasn’t safe. What’s even more surprising is if people actually made it out alive, because as of now, nobody but Ego, Noa, and Kunigami has even mentioned what the Wild Card is about. It’s very likely those bodies are all still down there. But if that’s true, wouldn’t Ego be worried people might find the bodies and Blue Lock would be shut down? That’s why he thought of the quickest and efficient way of getting rid of them.

Back to Ego and Noa, isn’t the entire goal of this to get a player to have the same abilities Noa has? Even to surpass him? Why would Ego go through all this effort for something that isn’t even related to football? If you guessed it, then that’s right. Noel Noa is also a c*nnibal. That is his core component that makes him the best striker in the world, one that no one can beat, not Isagi, not Sae, not even Ego. That is Noel Noa’s true power, and that’s what Ego set out to create.

2. Symbolism

Even with my theory aside, there’s symbolism hinting at Kunigami being a c*nnibal.

In mythology, c*nnibalism is a method for revenge or hatred. From the moment Kunigami lost that match against Shidou his ego has only grown larger. I can only assume he wants to play against Shidou once again for revenge, but even if that isn’t his main goal, he wants to prove to everybody how much stronger he’s gotten so he can beat them.

And this might sound like a stretch, but comparisons to mythology have been used before. One example is the animals that represent the players. Shidou’s dragon in mythology represents supernatural power, untamed nature, and is the embodiment of chaos. Reo’s chameleon represents transformation, balance, and the passage of time.

C*nnibalism also often symbolizes others that are less than fully human in some way. Take stories with c*nnibals into consideration like "Hansel and Gretel," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and "Little Red Riding Hood." You have witches, giants, and wolves. None of them are entirely human. And just like Kunigami, he’s lost part of his humanity and personality from when the series began.

There are other comparisons I could make, but I think those two are enough to understand how c*nnibalistic symbolism fits Kunigami’s character perfectly.

3. Mannerisms

Kunigami becomes much more cold post Wild Card, similar to someone like Rin or Barou. He also seems to reject how he acted in the past. He’s a lot more cruel towards people too, even ones he considered to be friends. He might be pushing them away from him on purpose. Not just so he can be the singular best striker, but maybe because he’s also resisting the temptation to eat them every second of the day.

Besides the fact Kunigami throws insults from time to time, he’s usually eerily quiet, even when they’re losing. His face also remains the same, neutral frown. This might seem insignificant until you see it happen ALL the time. Even in important frames, he either stays silent or says something short.

Whenever we’re learning about Kunigami and his skills, it's always from Isagi’s perspective. We almost never get any explanations from Kunigami himself. We know so little about him even though at the time of making this he’s been in three games with Isagi post Wild Card. So many panels wasted with just Kunigami’s face looking upset without knowing his true thoughts whatsoever.

Considering Blue Lock spends so much time explaining things through other people’s POV, the lack of Kunigami’s has to be on purpose. The authors don’t want us to know what’s going on in Kunigami’s brain, his thoughts are supposed to be a secret from the audience. But now we know… He is constantly thinking about eating the players in Blue Lock.

Every second, every minute of the day, Kunigami is stuck in a battle between his urges and his rationality. He tries his hardest to stay away from his friends because he wants to eat them so badly. He’s reminded of the trauma and pain he had to go through in the Wild Card, and wants to take out his hunger on his closest comrades. He spends so much time looking at them, not saying a thing, wondering the value of their lives day by day. That is Kunigami’s true nature.

He wants to eat Chigiri the most.

4. Conclusion

To sum it all up, Kunigami is most definitely a c*nnibal. From the symbolism, to the plot, it all matches up in the end. I recommend you to re-read Blue Lock from chapter 155 and replace all the silence Kunigami has in those panels with his c*nnibalistic thoughts. It truly enhances the story and further strengthens my theory.

How do I think the story will go on from here? I believe once Isagi finds out the truth about Noel Noa and how he’s a c*nnibal he will be shocked, but he will also ask Kunigami for advice. I’d say the most likely to get eaten would be Nagi, but that might cause an uproar and ruin Kunigami’s reputation, so I have come up with three possible solutions.

1: Kunigami eats Isagi and goes to jail

2: Isagi and Kunigami team up to eat someone together who is not well-known

3: Kunigami goes to recovery therapy

And that’s the end of this theory. Remember, this is all speculation and I could be wrong! But there's technically no way of disproving this theory either since none of us knows what actually happened in the Wild Card. Have a good day everybody, Mod Bachira signing off!

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