#u20 is also still best arc

[glamourscat]

¡Shidou’s hcs and character analysis!

tw// childhood trauma, violence, reference to possible SA in his past, my writing cause I didn’t proffered this

PHYSICAL TOUCH!! Friends, lovers or even just acquaintances, he has the bad habit of seeking touch, small or big doesn’t matter. From shoving to fidgeting. It’s different obviously base on the relationship you have with him. Are you two friends? Expect playful shoves, ruffling each other’s hair, if sat together legs or shoulders will touch casually. He is the type of person to laugh and slap your shoulder while laughing. 

If you two are lovers: hand holding (he does that thing of rubbing his thumb on the back of your hand), kisses, hair ruffling, legs intertwined, hugs from the back, nibbling/biting. Pressing his forehead against yours. SQUEEZES. Especially if you have more fat on you, he would *love* it. The need to hold you close and squish your rolls or chub. 

I personally see him as unlabelled. I know a lot like to hc him as gay. And it does make sense, but one can flirt with guys and it doesn’t erase the possibility of being into women too. That said, I do believe he has a preference for guys, especially aesthetically, but ultimately his choice of a partner would be base on mental compatibility and aesthetic attraction, no gender. I feel he is into someone who truly enjoys being their true self and doesn’t conform to society norms, more on this in a sec.

He is complex, as we see glimpses of this in the “egoist bible” and during his internal dialogue (like in the U20 arc). I don’t think he would be a bad boyfriend, but neither would he be perfect. Objectively speaking, he does have a rough, almost explosive side. But that’s a side he brings onto the football field. How he is outside of football we don’t really know. He is shown to be someone who values uniques, and also strength, complimenting other players strengths. He is not a demon, he just so happens to be a human with a deep complex personality. He seems to value peace in his life outside of football, which is something you don’t expect from him. Because he gets presented as this brute individual and yet he is the same who pops out this answers: “What made you cry recently?” At the end of the day when I become nothing, tears come out.

“What will you do on your last day on earth” Watch it as it reaches its end

“How would you spend your day off?” Be free from everything and become nothing

His answers are, intense, are they not? Which leads me to several thoughts. 1) He is very lonely. Using humour and anger to defend himself, a common trait of children who were abused, neglected in their childhood.

2) base on this, I feel in a relationship he would enjoy someone who has similar vibes to him but ultimately is different. Someone he can be chaotic with, someone he can laugh as loud as he wants, someone with who he can gossip and still have deep conversations at the same time. Ultimately, an artistic partner would be the best. Not only because he is into art, mostly as a way to cool down and shut down his brain, but because an artist or even a writer can see the world under different shades of colours rather than in greyscale. Classical introverted x extrovert duo, with the exception that the introvert individual becomes as extrovert as him when they are alone. His partner is his ancor. He will need to feel at peace from the turmoil inside of him. 

3)his home life was not the happy kind. Now, this has been long speculated and I will give my 50 cents on the matter. Let’s analyse his favourite movie, manga and song: 

Music > hide. Especially "Pink Spider" 

Movie > "A Clockwork Orange" 

Manga > "Chainsawman"

On the base line all three explore the darker sides of humanity, the need for personal freedom, and the consequences of defying societal norms. They create a raw and intense narrative about self-destruction, survival, and transformation.

But if we dive deeper > the movie mainly depicts SA, it’s a twist mix of violence, societal injustices and lack of free will… “Chainsaw man” it’s all about violence, power imbalance and manipulation. Denji was a tool from the start to end (again, lack of free will). The song, explored themes of internal chaos, the darkness in humanity, destruction and emotional turbulence and the psychological tool that that violence and abuse leaves on people.  I mean… can it be any more obvious? His whole character is shown to be this brute, rude, violent individual but slowly we are being feed details into his insight. Like how deeply philosophical he is, artistic and yet he is genuinely over sexualised. Maybe is a reach, but I don’t think that movie, the song and the manga choice are casual. They are a mirror image into the possibility that his childhood was pretty much terrible. That his sexual comments, which come off as almost distasteful, and feel icky in a way, are a projection of what he went through. Trying to use a distorted sense of humour and the violence he grew up with, to shield himself from what’s his personal life and past.

Like when he was locked up, his reaction was intense. He was close to begging to be set free. Again— lack of freedom, he hates not being able to be free. Something could have been taken away from him in the past. Maybe is as simple as a culture thing— as we know Japan is a rather modest country with certain unspoken rules. Its traditional outlook on things such as gender and sexuality are the total opposite of Shidou’s persona. His appearance is loud, his personality is loud and it alls screams “look at me I’m here” and yet at the end of the day he is still a lonely being.

I recently reread the U20 chapter where he enters on the field. His inner monologue he uses biology (specifically fertilization) as an analogy to scoring. Many people interpret it as him making a connection to sex, but for me, it didn’t read as such. Maybe it’s my literature student nerd ass, but, I took from his inner monologue a sense of need in terms of leaving a mark onto this world. He speaks how art leaves a mark, so does books, buildings and obviously children, showing the family legacy. Proof that something existed before them.

Shidou feels that his legacy, his needs, are validated through scoring. He feels seen, people are cheering. He is leaving a mark. Which ultimately could be validating a lack of emotional attention he received when he was a child. To me, all of these references and the constant sexual innuendos are a meaning for something deeper. We saw how each character with a heavy backstory has a trait or something in them that screams “something is not right”. Like Rin’s personality being a result of what happened between him and Sae. Can’t think of anything else to add, maybe I will add something later. If you have any opinions, I am more than willing to read them!! Feel free to reblog/comment :))

[miyamiwu]

Initially, what made Blue Lock great was its concept of ego. It was fresh and never before discussed at length in a sports manga. The story also clearly presented a theory—“Individualism, and not collectivism, is what’s needed for the Japan football team to win”—and then slowly elaborated on that theory until it finally proved it true in the U20 arc.

The manga could’ve ended right after the U20 match and just leave the World Cup happenings to the reader’s imagination, but it didn’t. Instead, it sought to put the Blue Lock Philosophy against different philosophies all over the world in the NEL arc.

This is a bold and exciting move, but now the position of the Blue Lock Philosophy being Correct is constantly challenged. And with each match they play, believing Blue Lock to be the right way is getting harder and harder.

Snuffy is right. Ego alone won’t get you anywhere.

On the world stage, where all the top players are egoistic, you need to have more than just ego in order to win.

Isagi gaining metavision was a good writing choice because it elevated him to the levels of pros…but then it turned out that many of these pros have metavision as well.

When ego and metavision aren’t unique, then that leaves actual physical skills to be the deciding factor on whether you gain an advantage on the field.

And Isagi… is not the best player physically. He never was.

And that’s fine! He doesn’t have to be talented in that regard in order to compete… but the thing is, we also haven’t seem him doing any focused training on his physical skills. And I don’t mean regular Blue Lock hell training because everybody does that. I’m talking about Isagi picking one weakness he has and just focusing on improving it. He doesn’t have to be the best in it, but there should be some effort.

He’s not so good at one-on-one’s, so maybe he can work on his dribbling. Or maybe he can practice how to trap the ball better so he’ll have more shooting options and not be overly reliant on his direct shot. Or maybe he can do some strength/core training so he won’t be easily knocked away by Rin again. Anything!

But so far, there’s been none of that in the NEL arc. (He did practice on a “lefty shot” before, but that turned out to be a hoax and it was also never mentioned again after the Ubers match.)

And it’s funny because Isagi has no excuse to not do this.

Kaiser, whose kick speed already surpasses Noa’s, had the time to come up with a new shooting technique. He’s also a Talented Learner like Isagi, so if he can do it, why can’t our protagonist?

I’m all for Talented Learners winning against Geniuses through hard work because that’s objectively a good message to send… but there hasn’t been any hard work. It’s all just ego mind games right now. Isagi winning in such a scenario would be unfair and idealistic.

----

I’m gonna be honest with y’all, I’m very worried about how the BM vs PxG match will turn out. Blue Lock was what got me back to Tumblr and also what kept me alive through the depressive pandemic years. If the game ends with yet another Isagi win, I am going to be extremely disappointed because that would mean that the manga had completely turned into a powerscaling fantasy.

(If Ness manages to get any development in this match in spite of that, then I might still wanna stick around. But with only 2 chapters left to the end of the volume, hope is starting to feel elusive 😞)

But yeah… if Isagi wins (and there’s no Ness development as consolation), then I might just drop the manga 😞

[animentality]

I'm not looking forward to season 3 of Blue Lock.

There will be good moments sprinkled here and there, like Bachira doing his monster thing, Chigiri stealing from Kaiser, Nagi and Reo getting re-married, but the Neo Egoist League Arc is way too long. It's gonna be like 25 full episodes, since the entire arc is over a hundred chapters long, and most of them will be Isagi beefing with Kaiser against players we don't care about.

Plus, all the matches are basically the same. Isagi's team wins every one, and he gets the final goal.

Also he calls Kaiser a bitch.

It's not that I hate Kaiser, I actually love him, I think he's the best character introduced in the NEL arc, it's just that the first arcs of Blue Lock knew not to focus on just one rivalry all the time.

We got new rivalries all throughout the First Selection.

We had an even dispersal of, ok Bachira's a new rival, now here's Kunigami, now here's Chigiri, now here's Nagi and Reo - these were all interesting characters who had space to breathe and develop personal relationships with our MC.

They all had matches where they got to shine as the main play makers. Kunigami got super goals. Bachira outdribbled an entire team on his own. Chigiri had the most epic First Selection moment, when he broke the chains weighing him down. Reo and Nagi were introduced as a demonic duo, and had an entire match to show how good they were together.

Even that side ass character Kuon had an interesting moment...hell, he had two. He fucked up two different games, betrayed his team, and then redeemed himself.

He wasn't even a major character, but he had a singular story to tell, that didn't rely entirely on the specific match he played in, or the goals he scored.

But the Neo Egoist League Arc is like...a rushed mess, that somehow managed to take up 40% of the entire manga at the same time.

It's got the dense, complicated character juggling of the U20 arc, except not good, lol. U20 had high stakes. It was intense, and every character was juggled, sure, but at least they all had their time to shine. That's 22+ characters who had to get some focus, plus the substitutions. I'd say Kaneshiro did a banger job of maintaining the tension, while still moving us around from person to person with consistency. But NEL?

The stakes were immediately lowered by the fact that winning the matches doesn't matter, scoring does.

And it like, cycles through every important character, gives them a single goal, and then proceeds on to the next player who needs to get a goal. Then it neglects that character for another twenty chapters.

There's no even pacing here.

And what's worse is that most of the players on these teams are...not that interesting. Karasu and Otoya, most of the European team members, who basically don't exist... I personally don't like Niko, who just does the same thing Isagi does, or Yukimiya (although at least Yukimiya's backstory is depressingly real, and kinda compelling, even if he himself isn't utilized that well).

I like Hiori, but Nanase and Kurona and Kiyora...I mean, they're kinda just there to give Isagi assists...

They're not quirky and weird and relatable like the freaks of First Selection. They don't get the time and spotlight they need for me to really care.

Like any of these characters could probably be great if the pacing was better, but... it's like the mangaka will just speed through a backstory before one of them passes to Isagi. And then that's it.

The only true spotlight is given to Kaiser or Isagi.

Now Isagi is the MC, so that's alright, although can I just say, he's kind of unlikable during the NEL arc, like, Jesus Christ, was he...awful when he was against Man City...if he hadn't apologized to Yukimiya...hmmm...and after an entire match of calling Nagi and Reo slurs too, lol...but I digress...

And Kaiser is good, he's great, but can you imagine how boring the First Selection arc would've been if it was entirely dedicated to Isagi just beefing with Barou?

Like come on.

It's basically just a glorified training arc, that abandons what made Blue Lock interesting in the first place, which is the high stakes, but then doesn't have the decency to at least still give us the great character drama that we've come to expect from BL.

And that's a shame.

It's also fucking ridiculous for a training arc to be so long.

God.

I hope it ends soon.

Please get back on track.

[boinin]

A question I've been dwelling on recently: the Egoist Four each have two goals apiece in the Neo Egoist League.

Bachira had his Bee Shot, and also scored FC Barcha's sole goal against Ubers.

Kunigami scored the last goal against Barcha, and BM's second goal against Manshine, threatening to break the net each time.

Chigiri got to show off his 44° Panther Snipe against BM, and also managed to score against PXG. (Someday Episode Nagi will show us how he did it!)

Slow to start, but Isagi is now level with his buddies, following his two goals against Ubers.

While Isagi is undoubtedly the star of the bunch, the other three are important companions of his. Narratively, they've followed and kept up with him through every arc shh blame Ego for making Kunigami for missing the U20 match

They're his friendliest rivals. But I'm so curious about how they'll all fare at the end of the NEL.

Isagi has to score against PXG... if not twice, then certainly once.

So too has Kunigami, if they don't completely fumble his character development in favour of Isagi, Kaiser and Rin (the outcome I fear).

Chigiri and Bachira have two matches each to play. It's almost a given that they'll each score at least once. Besides that, Bachira doesn't have a rival striker on FC Barcha, unless Otoya decides to up his game.

So, what will the outcome look like?

Isagi: 3 goals? He could hit 4 if he humiliates both Rin and Kaiser to beat PXG. He's also got three assists to his name.

Kunigami: 3 goals. Please. It's all I want for him as a player. I'll be so cross if he doesn't score against PXG.

Barchira: 4 goals...? 5 goals...? Best case scenario... 6 goals? Cos Barcha ain't beating Manshine or PXG, let's be real.

Chigiri: 4 goals, one each against Ubers and Barcha. The number 4 is a recurring motif for him. Besides that, the dramedy that is the Nagireo show means our princess is unlikely to do more. But that's still better than Yukimiya or Kunigami... or possibly Kaiser.

Either way, Isagi will come out on top. But I sincerely hope he's closely followed by his three Team Z companions.

[bluelockednyx]

Am I the only one who's worried abt Rin in PXG? Like it's looking to be an absolutely chaotic team, with Karasu, Zantetsu, Tokimitsu, Nanase and Shidou all in one place, all managed by a 17 yr old. ( lights a candle for loki's sanity). But Rin currently has 7th place in Nel.

Pretty sure bro's going through some stuff, Esp with the last panel we had was of him looking out at the sea deciding to change. Thoughts on Pxg?

I've always thought reddit was not the best place for fandom analysis in comparison to tumblr. But it's the complete opposite for Bllk 😭.

With the exception of you and a few people, everyone in tumblr is either in Character × reader mode( these kids are teenagers..)or Isagi× everyone mode and idk which is worse( Isagi would actually hate how they see him tbh,we see how he treats kaiser when he babifies him). But Reddit surprisingly has great football and character analysis.

Off topic but I just found out Leonardo Luna is 27 and he said THAT line to 16 yr old Rin in the world 5 match.

I know I'm more concerned about Karasu's blood pressure than Rin himself, proper, lmao.

I'm personally not worried about Rin, because of my opinions about what direction Rin's character arc should be heading towards, and I'm of the opinion that Barou's development with Ubers (working together and developing decent relationships with his teammates and mentor) supports my reading of Kaneshiro-sensei's intentions with the story.

PXG is going to be so fun because of who's there. Gonna assume you read my meta, since even the choice of who is in that team serves my guesses of the direction of Rin's greater character arc, that is, he has to learn to communicate with others and develop proper relationships with them to become the best version of himself possible, in service to the narrative's end goal of Japan's World Cup win + Isagi becoming the number one striker.

Tokimitsu - Rin's former teammate whom Rin trusts and has shown concern for Rin before. Nanase and Zantetsu, people who are less good at strategies and tactical gameplay whom Rin will have to communicate his thoughts to, to get them on the same level of understanding. Karasu is one of the few other characters whom we know played for a youth team instead of a school like Rin, and like Shidou, he's also a rival to Rin, with just as good as, or maybe even a better understanding, of game tactics and strategies. Finally Shidou, who Rin has a lot to learn from in figuring out his ego independent of Sae. That Loki is their master is just the icing on the cake for me.

A little bit more on Loki: his overall character seems level-headed, and in the extra materials from the official Blue Lock game he actually gets along all right with Rin, all things considered.

If it helps, Rin won't fall off that easily to the wayside. Anime merch sales may vary (god there are some HIDEOUS merch of him) but he is consistently popular amongst the JP manga reader base, and that's what matters the most, really. Not to mention Rin still has to reconcile with Sae, and if my guesses are correct, defeat the Spanish team (either U20 with a possible rival(s) that defeated Sae, or Spanish team/Real with Luna), while Isagi takes on either U20 France with Loki, or France with Loki + Noa/Bastard with Noa.

If it's not obvious yet, I would really, really like to see Team Japan with Isagi face off against France with Loki + Noa.

asjkl; the series is about football, anon, and tumblr is more USA-oriented in userbase, imo, so it's just generally less popular tumblr-wide as a sport. Also, Blue Lock's premise turned off a lot of traditional sports animanga fans, because the spirit of it, especially in the early stages, is a huge deviation from the usual friendship and team building that has come to define the genre as a whole.

Enthusiastic reddit bros who like football have really come through for readers like me who really does not care much for it (TQ for analyzing the minutiae of character movements in-game + what moves/techniques they use).

Eh, leave fans be. My only beef with characterxreader fans is they wind up clogging up the character tags and don't use the read more, which I especially despise because some of them are stupid long to scroll past. Use the block button liberally if parts of the fandom annoys you, anon, otherwise, just take a break and find something else to fixate on.

I recommend Gekkan Shoujo for a fun time, or for something even more mind-numbingly dumb with all the flanderization of typical anime tropes, Baka to Test. If you like a slightly more serious shoujo fantasy with action/adventure, I would recommend Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden.

When Luna was first introduced I thought he was around 25. 27 surprised me a bit (I didn't think he was older than Adam lmao), but not much.

Luna's the first person who's said such sus words to Any character in the series, and he was basically the beginning of all the increasingly sexual lines in the manga. Before this, the gayness was more in a pure love kinda way (re: Bachira -> Isagi and Reo -> Nagi -> Reo). He also feeds into why I think Isagirin is the ship to look forward to, because the blatant?? Sexualisation??? Of Rin, of all people, whom Isagi attached the motif of heart to. And I've said this before: most of the other characters get pretty obvious and blatant fanservice scenes, but Rin's is weird.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAOOP YES IVE SEEN THE RWVENT YUKI POSTS too real omg ok but this era third selection and u20 yuki fr my fav he’s so gorgeous and Karasu is giving big asshole bully energy rn LMAOOO can’t wait for those little scenes of him in Shibuya or when he’s catching otoya from falling off the bench

STOP RHE POKEMON REPRESENTING THE FANDOM IN SHIP WARS GOODBYEEEE LMAOOO not them also being chronically online pulling out evidence of their ships that has me rolling

OOOHOHSOSHO OTOYA OR KARASU OEAU im so excited RAHHHGHH its ok they both make up for the lack of aikulations we’ll still feel the oaeu vibe

Bro that scene with otoya doing the weird finger gun things is FR promoting tf out of otoya I see so many people converting because of that scene (real honestly his face card is serving there) but IVE GOT EVERY KARASU PANEL BURNED IN MY BRAIN IK THE EXACT SCENE YOU MEAN also cannot wait for him to shove Isagi around LMAOOO a Mira classic wc HAHAH its ok you got this!!! Oaeu comeback soon after use that as your motivation LOL

Also im crying not you having meetings and doing hw on your horse LMAOOOO

- Karasu anon

HELPP i fear i have been going more than a little insane over yuki 😓 he’s just so so perfect and handsome and incredible and sweet SHFJSHSHHS agreed though third selection/u20/shibuya yuki >>>> he was okay in vs manshine as well but my man has been a ghost ever since 🙁 manifesting he gets a comeback in the next arc though!! since there will be hopefully be fewer characters to focus on that might mean characters like yuki and karasu can get their spotlight back

LMAOAAOO the pokémon are all chronically online post-aegislash 😭 i bet reuniclus is writing ESSAYS about how nagi is actually a really loving and kind guy (he’s a mira kin #nagidefenderforlife) like bro is def analyzing every single thing nagi does to explain how it actually shows his deep trauma and how he’s risen above it JFHFSHJS omg reuniclus 100% has a tumblr nagiy/n stan account where it’s just explaining why they are the top ship HAHAHA its posts are all insane too…like “y/n challenged nagi to a battle. this shows that they are deeply in love because they are sharing their passion for battling and coming together to bond. they also made eye contact two times, and their hands touched when nagi gave her money for beating him.” and then someone hydreigon comments “nagi doesn’t even like battling UNLIKE OTOYA so there’s no passion there basically he hates her and you’re problematic for shipping them” so reuniclus is forced to block

YESSSS I MISS MY SILLY BOYS even if i don’t do oaeu for them i’ll do smth for one of those two most likely (or maybe yuki) just because they’re my goofs 🥹 HELP no you’re so right otoyalations especially can def compete with aikulations…not quite on the same level but i def sense his pov being really fun to write (karasu is just him d1 pining like usual so it’ll be fun in a diff way)

HELPP NO LITERALLY THAT EXACT SCENE HAS EVERYONE GOING CRAZY honestly i was not expecting so many people to convert to otoyaism??? i expected more karasu fans at this point but they really did their best to make otoya silly and dumb asf whereas karasu is still giving mysterious villain energy lowkey so maybe that’s why 😭 BROOO THAT PANEL IS SO GOOD I LITERALLY MADE IT THE COVER OF BFB 🤩 i need to see it live sooooo bad 😍 and yeah another mira wc incoming unfortunately but hopefully i can finish it soon!!

PLSSSS online school got to me 😓 my teacher was just rambling abt nonsense i was like eh might as well exercise my horse while i’m at it 🥱 it fr gave me a six pack though because i had to control him almost entirely with my abs so that was nice ig (even though no one ever saw them before they vanished because we had to stay at home 😔💔)

[lunarcloak]

I love this!! I remember when the concept of "New Gen 11" was first introduced, I was a little confused on whether they'd be able to interact with each other because they're basically supposed to be the best players in the newest generation for those particular spots on field, right? There's no real inkling that they've played together before.

But then Lorenzo seems to know Kaiser well enough that they can read other. Assuming that the teams have remained the same for atleast the past two years, if not longer, that means Real Madrid and Bastard Munchen MUST have gone against each other enough that Kaiser and Sae are familiar.

(I was honestly expecting Kaiser to make a comment to Rin about his older brother during the PxG match, but seeing as he's having a mental breakdown and there's no inkling-- there's no real foundation for this.)

But technically speaking, Sae's striker dream was crushed somewhere in that four year bracket. Judging by the timeline, Sae returns to Japan roughly a year or under two years from present date. Briefly, assuming, because the start of the series has him returning for a second time for his passport.

BASICALLY. All of this to say. The timeline would match up perfectly. I'd try to get it to match up better but we don't actually know for sure how old Kaiser is. I want to say he's maybe the same age as Sae, maybe a year older? But literally EVERYTHING points to the fact that they've played against each other atleast a handful of times.

YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE THIS REMINDS ME OF??

I can't remember the chapter, but at some point Ego makes that big speech about how a Japanese player is worshipped in the media as their next prodigal genius, and then they get crushed under European talents before returning to Japanese football to finish in some mid level national leagues. This is almost Exactly what Sae does, except Sae still has an ego, just that it manifests in a different way.

He's talented, and he knows it, so rather than opting to get crushed as a striker, he flourishes as a midfielder. This is why there exist parallels between Sae and Isagi.

But I am curious-- why do you think this strips us of a badass character? I'd like to pick your brain on that.

Besides, if Rin were to be the world's best striker, then he would also need the world's best midfielder too, you know.

This is so interesting because, the way Sae behaves once he gets back from Spain is literally the exact opposite of this. He tells Rin to stop playing football, to stop pursuing that dream-- and it really makes you wonder. Obviously Sae is not very open with his thoughts, and often contradictory in his speech and actions. (Hilarious example, but see how he talks to Shidou vs acts with Shidou in the U20 arc.)

If this is true, and Sae chose to stay as close to Rin through his dream, then that means Sae is as dependent on Rin as Rin is dependent on him. Honestly? i think that was exactly what Sae wanted to break when he got back from Spain. He's not quite succeeded yet, but I think in his mind he was doing it for the sake of Rin. Except I think he needs it too.

I just. I was really looking forward to Kaiser picking on Rin for being Sae's little brother in some shape or form, yknow?? If they had history, I feel like he'd be more crass about it. But of course at the moment he's not doing too well LMAO. But if it happens, then that will easily give us some more evidence to work off of.

I APOLOGISE FOR THE LONG REPLY REBLOG!! Your thoughts just sent my brain into analysis mode and I had to add on my ideas and interpretations. Hope you have a good day!!

It was the end of Ubers match when I first stumbled upon a tweet on Pinterest which sowed the theory of Kaiser destroying Sae's dream in my mind. And honestly, after this seeing panel:

I'm starting to believe more and more in that theory.

It was evident way before Ness's backstory that Kaiser is definitely NOT a newbie in the soccer industry which gives an ample amount of time for Sae to face Kaiser in a match considering Sae didn't return to Japan for straight four years.

And I highly think that Sae faced off Kaiser in the later moment of those four years.

Why?

Because:

He looked miserable when he first returned from Spain in comparison to his later return (almost a year later) from Spain:

And I do think that if you were to lose a long-term dream, then it'll show on your face much more during the earlier days rather than a year later when you get used to the feeling of losing your dream.

Further, Kaiser crushing Sae's dream fits well in two questions that revolves in my mind whenever I think about Sae's backstory:

Why Sae started hating his own country, Japan?

The above question can be modified as:

Why Sae started hating Japanese soccer players?

As I said in one of my previous posts, I do believe that when Sae stepped into Spain, he realised that he was the Frog in the well—he realised how vast the world is and that he wasn't as great of a player as he thought he was. He probably struggled a lot but was somewhat successful in maintaining a balance when Kaiser came in like a wrecking ball to strike the nail in the coffin.

Of course, considering Sae's personality, he would've surely put up a fight against Kaiser just like Isagi did, but unlike that blueberry boy, Sae was already very exhausted and sadly, after some time, he gave up.

Now to address the actual answer to the question: Sae hated how much Japan celebrated him when he was just a child. He was showered with the title of prodigy since he was a kid and he hated that his own country made him feel like he was someone special when in reality, he was just the best among the worst. Further, even if he wanted to be better, there was no one in Japan who could help him do that. He hated how he was made to believe by his country's people that he had what it took to be the world's best striker.

Kind of like a betrayal of some sort.

This gentle soul explained it very well too:

Also, a bit unrelated, but this panel piqued my interest:

German you say, hm?

Moving onto next question:

Why Sae chose to be a Midfielder then?

I have two reasoning for this question:

Firstly, what is the position closest to the striker? Yes, a Midfielder. So, by being a Midfielder, Sae is still trying to be as close to his dream as possible. It is his type of compromise.

Secondly, do you remember what Rin really liked? Yes, Sae's passes. And which position's main role is to pass? Yes, a Midfielder.

You getting me?

It's like Sae is trying to get some kind of closure by reliving those good old times when Rin and Sae played in the Kamakura United (their soccer club). Besides, if Rin were to be the world's best striker, then he would also need the world's best midfielder too, you know.

You getting me?

The only reason I don't want this theory to come true is because it kind of strips us off from an opportunity to get a new badass character.

I also don't want this theory to be true is because I'm solely holding onto this panel:

I'm desperately holding into this panel as a hope that Sae still cares for Rin.

After we got an insight of Kaiser-Ness relation in chapter 261, I can't help but fear that Sae may think of Rin in the same way—someone for his own selfish needs.

And if anything like this happens, I'll transform into the biggest Kaiser's hater alive. Even after chapter 261, I still somewhat defend him for his behaviour, but Itoshi brothers have been the closest to my heart—istg I'll rip Kaiser's hair from his scalp if the brothers' bond gets tarnished because of him.

That's all, I guess.

[gachagon]

Kunigami can’t save himself

His “Hero Complex” is his downfall

Hi I’m about to gush all about Kunigami and also mention somethings that have to do with the 2nd Phase arc, the U20 Arc, and other chapters past the Second Selection Arc, so pls do not click if you haven’t read past Second Selection arc.

Kunigami has always struck out to me as an odd character to have in Blue Lock because he, unlike the other characters, has his own philosophy about soccer that he already follows really closely. He wants to be a “Hero” that other people can look up to, like how he looked up to soccer players when he was a kid, and so he “acts” like a hero when he plays.

When we first meet Kunigami the first thing he does is reprimand Bachira for “playing dirty” since he kicked Igaguri in the face.

The reason I’ve always thought Kunigami’s hero complex was strange was because of chapter 2 specifically, since this is the chapter where we learn about Ego’s philosophy, and we are given a character who fails at trying to disprove it. That character was the one who beat Isagi’s team in chapter 1 and who decided to only stay in the Blue Lock project to “prove Ego wrong”.

Kunigami clearly has his own philosophy and it at first doesn’t seem to conflict with Blue Lock’s ego philosophy, but there are a lot of moments where his chivalry act holds him back.

In fact after the above scene, he ends up getting tagged by Igaguri because he was too busy scolding Bachira.

And another interesting thing about the tag game is that everyone else who is playing is going for people who are weaker then them in skill, or people who are stronger. However, Kunigami was the only one who wanted to “get revenge” by tagging the person who tagged him. Instead of going after someone else entirely new, he just aimed for Igaguri again. He missed and hit Isagi anyways, but that’s beside the point (and it was an accident as he apologized afterwards lol how heroic of him)

One could say Isagi also tried aiming for someone weaker, since this chapter almost ended with Isagi tagging Igaguri when he was down, but Isagi immediately switched gears to tag Bachira since he realized the best way to win at this game would be to get people who are better then you out first.

Because he never actually went through with it and realized right before he did it, I’m going to say Kunigami was the only one who decided tagging someone who tagged you back was the right decision. One could even say he probably aimed for Igaguri because it was “fair”.

The tag game is the most important game the characters play besides the U20 match in my opinion since it shows early on what each of their ideals are plainly. Isagi wants to get stronger and so decides he will crush those who are stronger than him to climb higher, and not go for people who are weaker. Bachira wants to have fun and sees no merit in people who decide to hold themselves back when it comes to playing, which is why he goes for Kira (the kid who decided to stay to “prove” Ego wrong) instead of a “stronger” opponent like Isagi did. And Kunigami wants to play fair so he always aims at taking out people who do him wrong or who don’t “play by the rules”.

Another thing I noticed is that when Bachira climbed on to Kunigami to make him an easier target for Isagi, Kunigami throws him directly at Igaguri who Isagi was already aiming for. In a way it’s like making Bachira an easy target now since he’s  directly in Isagi’s path. Even then he was still “playing fair” by evening their own circumstances.

So all this goes to show is that Kunigami at this point has a stringent policy about fairness and evening the odds in a game. If someone isn’t playing fair he will literally just make it fair by making them both even. One thing I will also point out is how when Igaguri is down, Kunigami surprisingly is the one to urge Isagi to tag him even though he can’t move. That doesn’t seem to be entirely fair in a game now does it? But I think this moment is also an example of how despite Kunigami’s hero complex and his need for a fair game, it doesn’t directly conflict with his own egoism.

He’s willing to tag someone who’s down, and even encourages others to do so, if it means getting to stay in the game longer. And I think that is an important quality to have in Blue Lock since you really don’t get anywhere in the facility by always playing fair. And one could even say Kunigami views Isagi tagging Igaguri as a fair “punishment” since Igaguri was also the one using Isagi as a shield in the first place (if Igaguri had never grabbed a hold of Isagi and literally used him as a shield Kunigami would’ve never hit him)

So his Hero complex has a little balance here and there, but it’s not really enough to keep him going in Blue Lock. And it was kind of apparent that there would come a time where he would have to confront his own egoism and ideals directly. Moving on to the second selection arc, Kunigami and Chigiri decide to team up immediately and you know what is really interesting about their time together?

They decide to team up together immediately since Isagi, Bachira, and Nagi left them behind. If you’ve ever been on my blog for more then 5 seconds you will already know I am the loudest kunigiri shipper there is on this website. This post will be about Kunigami and his ideals though so I will gush about Kunigiri another time.

I bring this up because during the Second Selection arc, Kunigami is paired together with two people who have singular ideals rather than 2 like he does. Chigiri and Reo both have ego’s that fit perfectly in Blue Lock, but Kunigami is the only one of their troupe who still holds on to the old ideals from his past.

Ultimately, I believe this is why he wasn’t picked when he and Reo lost for a second time. We don’t see the match that happened, we just see the aftermath of it. And I think with Reo being mindlessly focused on getting back at Nagi for leaving him, and Chigiri’s new found passion for soccer, Kunigami never really stood a chance.

Because up until that point, each character had an arc where they were confronted with the ideals they held in the past and were forced to forget those ideals for new ones that were more egotistical and selfish. Kunigami never had that kind of arc and we don’t see a major change in him until we see him again in the second phase arc.

And now we can move on to current Kunigami who is this robotic, closed off asshole who is so unlike himself that he completely has a different aura then he used to.

Now when we first saw this panel it was the first time we’d seen Kunigami AT ALL in the manga since he had been shown going down the mythical wild card path that appeared out of nowhere. And here he looks completely different, and not at all like a “hero”. He looks almost like a villain actually, like he’s there to be an obstacle for the others to move past when he’s literally on their team.

The Wild Card path is the one story point that has been completely left as a mystery. We never really find out what happened on the Wild Card path, or what Kunigami went through to have become so twisted. And whatever it is couldn’t have been simple training since Ego says he’s the “only one who survived” the Wild Card path, as if it was some hellish battlefield.

When Kunigami returns he’s also much more selfish in playstyle as well, no longer holding himself back to “play fair”. He’s also much, much ruder to everyone on his team including people who he deemed his friends. He constantly insults their skill, looks down on them openly, and brags about his own accomplishments in front of them. It’s like he has embraced the true nature of being an egoist to the fullest extent and decided he no longer needs to “play nice” with anyone to get ahead or to be good.

You may be thinking “Great so Kunigami’s ideals are singular now and don’t conflict with one another anymore because he’s like everyone else, and now just has one set of ideals to focus on.” but you would be wrong. Kunigami having a singular ideal and philosophy he follows was never the issue he faced. The problem was that he didn’t know how to balance his own ideals with the lessons being taught in Blue Lock.

He didn’t know when to be chivalrous, and when to be egotistical. He had no idea what it meant to be a “Selfish” hero. And this “selfish” version of Kunigami is entirely different then the egotism that the other Blue Lockers learnt during their training. During the first match in the 2nd Phase arc, Kunigami tries to whole heartedly play for the sake of his own goals, but it backfires really badly because he’s outmatched in skill by the other team entirely, and doesn’t mesh well at all with his own teammates.

At first this seems like Blue Lock walking back on it’s whole “don’t rely on your teammates to score” lesson, but really the lesson this entire arc is trying to hammer in is that you shouldn’t blindly go in with your ego whenever you want. You still have to pay attention to your surroundings. Being egotistical and taking chances to score is one thing, but completely ignoring everything around you and leaving yourself open is another.

And Isagi knows this because he doesn’t want to get ignored like Kunigami is being ignored throughout the match. Even though Kunigami scored a goal, many of his teammates like Ness and Kaiser don’t like him because he doesn’t take into consideration the people around him and just tries to go for the goal as if they aren’t really there.

So even this new ideal that Kunigami has taken on is not helping him, and really is only serving to hold himself back. The only reason he’s still made it this far is because of his physical attributes and his scoring capabilities. He is still dangerously close to losing everything and isn’t seeing the bigger picture fast enough. It is truly only a matter of time before Isagi decides to take care of Kunigami himself and “devour” him.

And to bring it all back, just like in the tag game when he was tagged by Igaguri because he was too busy scolding Bachira about playing fair, he is now about to be “crushed” because he cannot see past his own ideals. Just like all the way back in chapter 2.

[diabunnies]

u can rlly tell how a person is based on how they perceive the itoshis' relationship. like this has been simmering in my head for the longest time now bc ive been trying to find exactly why i agree w sae so much despite having been in rin's position time n time again.

bllk manga spoilers under the cut!

ok so i gotta scribble this rq lest i lose my train of thought hence why there are zero manga panels attached. most of this basically refers to the u20 arc anyway so if u've read that i hope that u get what i mean ! a lot of this is rambling n very common shit but whatever!!!

we know that rin has p much worked his ass off for a good decade to get to the level that sae is on. that's his entire appeal: hopeful younger brother who tries so hard to be like the best person he has in his life. n so when sae comes back from spain all cold n stone-like, spewing shit abt how he doesn't wanna be the #1 striker anymore, rin saw his entire life fracture into unrecognisable pieces. but he still hopes! he still thinks that he can get sae to pick up his dream again, get sae to turn back into the kid he was before spain. even after losing that 1v1 when sae came back, rin never fully left behind the possibility that sae could just take back his words; the u20 match was one of - if not The last - opportunity for rin to prove to sae that he can still afford to dream that dream. to play soccer together, be number 1 n number 2 in the world. i mean the look on his face when sae spoke to him after the match looked like that of a child who retained such naiveness, like he was 7 again and not 16 fucked over by everyone. but the world he was slowly rebuilding shattered again when sae spat out isagi's name n not his, n u can see how much of an impact this had on rin ever since then (in the rare instances he shows up).

he's become more selfish, thought more for himself than anyone else (if this was even possible), gained even more of an ego. for once this ego is his n no one else's. it's not tied to some dream he had with his brother, it is his and that's why i think pxg matches will probably show rin at such a heightened state that his evolution from u20 will tower over everyone else's (bar isagi bc bro is blanketed by mc privileges). think abt it, sae improved so much during his time in spain bc he learnt to detach himself from everyone. he learnt to fall and grow by himself. rin was still tethered to him until their confrontation after the match. it wasn't until then that rin can also fall and grow by himself, for himself.

yea sae may be cruel but what he did, at least how i see it, was necessary bc rin would never grow to be the player he wants to be if he keeps tying himself to the idea that he needs his brother's approval. no, it's apparent that rin needed sae's cruelty to grow as a player. it's time for lil emo guy to own his dream as his n not some shared fantasy with sae. n idk fs if sae is cruel to him for this very reason but i am glad bc it got rin off his moping pity party ass. blue lock needs u to become the worst person imaginable before becoming the best, that is ego's entire mantra (as we are all v familiar w). sae was the last piece in rin's puzzle to become the best he's always wanted to be. n for that i do not and cannot look at him as a "horrible" person. everyone in this manga sucks in one way or another, that's what happens when too many people try to be the best! hurt people hurt people! sae and rin being the loudest example of this does not necessarily make one of them horrible.

yea it sucks n it hurts to read but it is one of my favourite relationships in media ever bc it is realistic. i believe that one of the hardest lessons u gotta learn is knowing when to detach urself from ppl and/or dreams that will limit from becoming the person you've wanted to be. to be able to listen to hurtful things from ppl u've always loved n turn them into reasons to become the best u've ever been even if it means leaving them behind. i love it (◞‸◟；)

[luv4leilynn]

My Predictions of how the different seasons of Blue Lock will be set up with the previous arcs.

INTRODUCTION & FIRST SELECTION ARC: Of course these two arcs will be in the first season, since they are the first arcs in the manga. But the introduction arc is really short only 4 chapters so I think it will all be jammed into the first & second episode. On that note I think 2 chapters will be put in each episode. Since there are 38 chapters in total I think it would 19 episodes for season one. S1 might have some fillers of Team Z when they aren’t playing, probably some end credits of Gagamaru and Naruhaya too.

SECOND SELECTION & WORLD’S BEST ARC: I think since there are more chapters, 53, it’ll be 26 episodes for season two. Since World’s Best has 5 chapters I think they’ll jam chapters 3,4 and 5 in one episodes. And based on the amount of chapters in current arcs this would make season two the longest season. I think there won’t be a lot of fillers for s2 maybe in World’s Best but not really in Second Selection.

THIRD SELECTION ARC: I believe season 3 would only be this arc solely because of how long the U20 arc is by itself. And since there are only 16 chapters it’d just be 8 episodes.

U20 ARC: The U20 Arc is the second longest arc in Blue Lock, but it isn’t put with the Third Selection Arc how Second Selection and World’s Best are put together. I say season 4 is just the U20 Arc because I feel like it’d be a better break between seasons since season 3 is relatively be short. It would be But I do think s4 that will have some fillers showing us what’s going on in the BLLK locker room and also at the end of the arc when the match is over. S4 should have 21 episodes.

NEO EGOIST LEAUGE ARC: The Neo Egoist League Arc currently has 16 chapters but it’s still ongoing. I feel like NEL (Neo Egoist League) will drag on longer than the other arcs because of the reality show part of NEL will add some filler episodes and show us what’s going on in the other 4 stratum’s, making it a longer season than season 2.

EPISODE COUNT (EXCLUDING FILLERS AND NEL): 74

[nntheblog]

Sae Itoshi Blue Lock : How Strong Is He ?

Sae Itoshi is an antagonist to the Blue Lock (Manga) in Japan U20 Arc. Sae, a prodigy soccer player and the older brother to Rin Itoshi, is considered the best Japanese player. Sae is also part of the New Generation World 11 as well as the Real Madrid Youth team. He is widely regarded as one the most talented youth football players in the world. Before the series began, his main goal was to be the best striker and then the best player in world football. However, after leaving Japan and playing in the professional league in Spain, he decided to change his goal and become the best midfielder of all time. He arrives in Japan to renew his passport. However, after hearing about the Blue Lock, he decides to stay. Later, he joins the Japan Under-20 to take on the Blue Lock Eleven during the Japan Under-20 match. Appearance Of Sae Itoshi Sae, a young man of average size and build, has reddish brown hair and green eyes. His eyes are set by a series of long lower lashes like Rin. He wore the Japan U-20 White #10 jersey, a black shirt under it, and black gloves during the National Representative match. Personality Of Sae Itoshi Blue Lock Sae is a cold, blunt, and serious person from a young age. Sae has always been focused on becoming the best striker in world football and has made little time to do things that will help him get there. Sae is sometimes arrogant and condescending, even though he has more authority and are older than him. Although egotistical, he has proven to be able restrain his self and play his position without trying to outdo others. Sae takes pride in his football career and looks down on Japanese football players. Sae says he would rather live in Europe or die with a group of college students than to play in the J- League, or be a member of the Japan National Team. Sae is confident in his abilities and believes that no one in Japan is worthy of him as a teammate. He doesn't like the fact that he was born and raised in Japan. Sae commands respect from everyone in the room due to his reputation and skills. He can even manage to entice tough and rowdy people to listen to him and do things his way. Although Sae can be difficult to work with, he can still be a good friend and a great helper if he's getting something in return. After hearing about the Blue Lock Project, he decides to stay in Japan out of pure curiosity and joins the Japan Under-20 team for the match against Blue Lock Eleven. When his curiosity is satisfied, he will not hesitate to abandon those who are unworthy of his attention. Sae is not arrogant, but he doesn't mind playing his role as a key passer and midfielder. Sae provided every chance for the Japan U-20 forwards to score during the Japan National Representative match. Only after repeated failures does Sae decide to score. Abilities Of Sae Itoshi Archetype - Playmaker - A player who directs the team's offensive play and often participates in passing moves that lead to goals. They are skilled at vision, technique, creativity and passing ability. Sae is known for his cold, calculated play style. Sae creates ideal plays using his passing and his dribbling. He also controls the offense and fills any gaps that the defense might have. His vision allows him to reach the most crucial point by using his vision. Sae's goal is to "beautifully" destroy his opponent with every play he makes. Skills Pro Football Technique: Sae has been regarded as a brilliant player in the world of professional football. He is a European football player and is considered to be a professional, but he has not yet become a full-time pro due to Spain's age requirements. His immense popularity makes him the most popular player in Japan. He is a league above even high-level players like Ryusei Shidou and Rin Itoshi. The Perfect Kick Technique: Sae is able to control the speed, intensity, speed, and accuracy at which he kicks. He is not only able to perform complex passes with his excellent footwork and technique, but he can also manipulate the ball perfectly to ensure that his passes are both easy to receive and difficult to block or intercept. - Long Driven Pass This is a pass that allows the ball to travel a long distance, typically between 40-50 meters, and avoids interception. - LobPass: Also called a Chip, a shot where the ball is kicked with precision but less force from beneath to propel it high into the air and pass it over opponents' heads. - Line Drive Shot Sae can score with a strong drive shot from the byline, aimed at the opposite side of the goal. This shot can surprise the goalkeeper and defy the expectations of anyone inside the box anticipating a pass. - Trivela: This technique involves putting spin on the ball with the outside of one's foot. Sae can make a precise pass by using his left foot. This is done in an instantaneous move with his reflex. Sae can also use his weaker right leg to make a pinpoint pass. - Ultra-Fast Pass Sae can make a pass from a set piece that is almost as fast as a shot. He uses his reflex to take all circumstances into consideration, so he can pass to a spot that the opponent can't reach. It is almost like threading a needle. Counter Dribbling Sae's dribbling style is "passive" in comparison to the more active dribbling of Yukimiya and Bachira. Sae won't actively move past defenders but will instead observe their rhythms and movements before moving past them in a counter. Sae's dribbling skills are the best, allowing him to easily pass through the likes Isagi and Bachira in one fluid movement. In each of their encounters, he nutmegged Rin with relative ease. Rin noticed that his dribbling speed is extremely fast due to his European experience. Sae is a natural passer and will prioritize passing the ball to move the ball up the field. However, when he wants to play seriously, he switches to dribbling by himself, greatly increasing his options. Sae's dribbling can be used to quickly defeat Nagi and Isagi (while nutmegging them), and also overcome Baro, Karasu, and avoid Rin's challenge. He also nutmegged Yukimiya, and avoided Hiori’s attempt to dismember Blue Lock's formation. - Hyperspeed Scissors Sae executes a scissor feint with incredible speed. It is difficult to follow. - Double touch: Sae moves the ball from one foot towards the other before moving the ball with the second foot past his opponent. This move was performed at a very fast pace, which left Rin little time for reaction. - Marseille Turn: Sae stops and shields the ball from his opponent before turning the wheel. - Nutmeg: Sae passes the ball quickly through the legs of the defender, effectively getting past their defense.- Cross Elastico nutmeg: Sae does an elastico by crossing the ball behind one of his dominant legs and then knocking it between his opponent’s legs with his non-dominant leg. This move was first used on Rin by him after he returned from Spain. Rin also tried it during the Japan National Representative Match. - Elastico nutmeg: Sae uses a regular elastico in order to nutmeg a defense and get past them. During the Japan National Representative Match, he did the same to Isagi as he broke through the midfield. - Rabona nutmeg: This is a technique in which a player kicks the ball with their kicking foot crossed behind their standing knee. This technique can be used by Sae to place the ball between two opponents' legs before passing it, as he did against Yukimiya. - Shoulder Block Sae uses his shoulder to block his opponent. This reverses his centre gravity and allows him to avoid being tackled. Reflex: Sae's incredible reflexes allow him to assess all conditions and make crucial plays to get the ball to the forwards as quickly and efficiently as possible. Sae will identify who is the "heatest" towards the goal, and then play the ball to them. This means that he doesn't have any bias towards specific strikers. It is difficult for Sae to read or stop because of this incredible reflex. He makes split-second judgments to move the ball around and change positions. This reflex allows Sae to work on the same wavelength with Shidou, and to maximize his talents to the fullest extent. Get Quotes Of Sae Itoshi - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) Who is this Fatso-Bobcut duo ?...? That speeds things up. Hey you old geezers. I looked at the videos of all the Japan U-20 players. They're all crap. I was especially impressed with the forwards. They are a stinking heap of insect turd. - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) I joined the team to see if I could play against the Blue Lock boys, but if I find out that this is School Team-Level Trash I will be leaving. - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) I'm looking for a forward in Blue Lock.  - (To Rin Itoshi As long as you keep trying to be my brother, you won't be able surpass me.  - (To Rin Itoshi). Rin, Rin... It turns out that the world is vast. There are players far better than me. I have changed my goal to become the best striker. I will be the best midfielder anywhere in the world. - (To Blue Lock). I will raise the game level. Only those who can follow me ..... get to see the next scenery. Etymology - Sae is a name that means "happiness," blessings, fortune or grace. - Itoshi, Sae's surname means "soaring favorite" - Sae Itoshi can be translated as "The flying/soaring favourite of grace". Trivia - He first returned to Japan to renew the passport. - He doesn't like Japanese football or anyone who plays it. - After the Second Selection, he turned 18 years old. - He loves "Chibi Marukochan", his favorite TV show. It reminds him of his home. - He believes his weakness is not knowing anything other than football. - Read the full article

[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!

[popponn]

isagi's observation note through the years. (could be headcanony in some part because my head hurts, but is intended to be an observation) (spoiler)

lil isagi aka yocchan. crybaby, get scared at the smallest, has sharp senses, probably doesn't have any friends. cry because of teddy bear, even. meet soccer at 4 and get better and grow well. is said to be a softie because his parents are very soft and kind too—aka good childhood home. cry at kindergarten too

lil yoichi after soccer up until middle school is said to be the best striker in saitama. indication of natural talent in soccer. play because of noa and still have noa as an idol (tho for nel yoichi arguably the idolazation level is way lower and more of a mentor/role model of sort. more humanized in his eyes, for the lack of better words. this is a heavy hc). fell asleep when watching a match at least once and also forgot to do his homework because of soccer.

ichinan yoichi—a very conscious teenage boy. people pleaser (will agree with his friends if the atmosphere pushes him too) and most of the time either just go with what his peers (& coach) want rather than following his own want because he doesn't want to get the negative sort of attention or just escape the situation. will simulate the day in the morning as part of his routine (unknown if he still does this in blue lock or not). tada said he often spaces out—keeps a lot of things to himself, his thinkings especially. the tendency to keep most of his thoughts and emotions in his head do presist even in nel—though it does got better (ichinan yoichi would never say 100% kill you to anyone). is already twisted ("soccer is cruel" & the whole chapter 1 being filled with faceless mobs + imaginary 1v1 with the GK), but doesn't seem to realize this (team z yoichi is the one who realize this). is considerate—too much, as most probably this is rooted in his people-pleasing tendencies. 0 valentine chocos aka yeah not popular. hie family while is still in good relationship and seems to be supportive, doesn't seem to know how he truly feels in soccer. can we even call tada his friend????

team z yoichi or what i would like to call fetus yoichi. literally like a baby who is trying to figure shits out. didn't realize his weapon is his spatial awareness until chigiri told him, which later evolve in nel. honestly kind of "confused but get the spirit" and compared to nel yoichi? ...yeah. weak as hell. that 299 rank speaks for itself. the whole "not the most physical player" has been there from this arc. the "yeah he is kinda messed up" realization with niko really plants the seed of how egoistic he can be tho. by all means, it's good the antagonists he faces here is niko, nagi, & barou because rin & kaiser would probably chew and spit him. his partner in this arc is bachira.

team white yoichi in some ways could be called the yoichi with the most amount of growth, especially regarding the way he perceive himself. the whole "keep changing himself" and "adapting" that becomes the key parts in his strength appears here after all. also the whole devouring thing. a lot happens here. (and biased note but team white dynamic is everything to me and they were like there for a really short time. idk what's up with barou-nagi-isagi trio but it's gold.) blue lock vs u20 arc yoichi should probably get a section for himself, but tbh that yoichi is more of a payoff for this arc's setups (his rivalry with rin, "luck", etc.). team white yoichi's partner is nagi while u20 is rin. but even though his character growth is already massive, comparing to ichinan yoichi, it seems off field a lot of his traits still remains. (i.e. "spacing out", is pretty casual & nice, polite but still has a distance). the concept of "flow" that laters grow into metavison (along with spatial awareness) appears here.

intermission: honestly than saying isagi is nice, he just acts nice & polite. decent human being, still, but because he is in the same series with bunch of rude boys he really does seem nice. as i have mentioned a lot of times before, there is always a sense of "distance" and "detachment" when it comes to people with him. not "cruel" but more of "apathy" or "polite purposeful ignorance"

which time to raise my own opinion because this is my post: i will kill for reo & isagi combo because there are a lot of potential interesting shits that could happen with "polar opposite mindset & ideology". reo is popular, isagi is not (pre bllk), both are nice but reo before nagi doesn't seem to get a real friend, so does isagi before bachira despite how nice they are. both are playmaker i can go on.

nel yoichi — ironically, while egoistical and values his own goal a lot, is not self-centered in the way he even calculates how other thinks in his calculation to score a goal (i.e. vs nagi reo combi "NO MORE MIRACLE" scene). —side note: i will argue vs manshine is A LOT for his character development with metavision and the realization about protagonism— and his beef with kaiser aside, in match he doesn't seem to get angry really fast during the play even when kaiser directly taunt him. he usually get angry outside of the match, it seems. one of the positive side of his detachment, ig. is so so op compared to the previous arcs' yoichis. his partner in this arc is... actually changing in each match, it seems. in barcha match it's kind of none if you don't count the combo with kuni in the end. mc + uber first half is kurona, then hiori. pxg is just starting at this time so who knows. but with how often his combo is changing now it really cements how adaptive he has become and how independent he is.

i don't know if i count wrong but despite how many bonds & rivalship he gets, the successful pep talk from isagi is scarce. chigiri (which is debatable, as the pep talk itself end up in a sort of argument), reo, igaguri. 2.5 is really low. bllk truly is not about magic of friendship.

will nel yoichi get a combo with kaiser that is not defense? idk. but i hope so. it will be cool & hilarious. i love my man but his beef with kaiser is very very entertaining to watch. you can insult his playstyle and at best all you get is a harsh "you really don't get it", you pair him with kaiser and he starts acting like barou.

note to self i really need to examine what is it about kaiser that is that abhorent to him. pride? we got barou & at some degree they still get along (after everything). touchy? we got bachira & nagi & chigiri; they touch and cling to him a lot. so hypothesis: 1) isagi hasn't beat him & get interaction with him off field afterwards, at least on screen. his relationship with rin and barou and nagi get better after he "beats" them and to some degree develop a combo with them. 2) the combination of touchy and pride right from the get go. it's the "ew" that presists and kaiser keep taunting him. 3) both 1 & 2 but who knows.

things about isagi yoichi

i'm keeping a list about isagi for reasons (mostly personal amusement) (please do feel free to add or correct them). contains possible spoiler for manga up to chapter 230 so far and light novel. will get longer, probably, as time goes on. (update, it gets longer and up to uber match ending as of today.)

considerate. almost like a people pleaser. actual people pleaser at first.

pragmatic. thinks very calmly, even when angry it seems, but his words still sometimes get too much.

think things through, sometimes too much.

is confident, but not unaware of his own weaknesses

start pretty insecure.

seems to be sheepish - happy when someone praise / support / pay a large attention to him (pretty humble) (interview, that one kid in station, his family)

how he acts depends on who he is interacting with

switch to a more polite speech pattern whenever nervous (pretty obvious in japanese text, like in the interview scene after bm vs mc).

seems to be less competent on other things other than soccer

looking at his favorite manga / song / shows (most are medias with children as the main audience in mind), either really loves his childhood or doesn’t pay attention to many things after soccer. seems like the latter.

a really healthy family dynamics. his parents are very supportive of his dream.

loves katsu curry.

is a pretty 'normal' high school guy it seems. tissues near the bed, thigh fetish, read manga. speaks normally.

i really don't get why he has a habit of making sure his ahoges stand up in v before a match but god thats cute.

can be really rude and impatient sometimes

is good with people, but seems to enjoy alone time too. seems to be an introvert.

at least on screen, never really talk about how it was in ichinan with the blue lock guys. either it didn't bother him that much consciously or is the type of person who gets along with everyone but no one really knows the background of in details. (put it simply might be more introverted than he appears to be, especially considering how he usually is with people)

seems to be uncomfortable with new people in his personal space (early bachira + kaiser)

while doesn’t ‘like’ rude people, seems to grow ‘used’ to them and even openly admire them (barou + rin)

does not seems to easily prejudice / be judgmental to someone. is really patient (respect to barou, that one chapter with tada from ichinan, still praises kaiser despite the antagonism between them)

his fashion sense is pretty... this is very subjective as i don't have the word for it yet, but yeah, is either not good or pretty old fashioned. (in anime official arts)

when it comes to soccer often looks angrier expression wise

really egoistic. unsurprisingly.

sometimes is pretty self centered in the way that “this is my fault” sometimes, rather than focusing on someone else. but most of the time his self centeredness comes out as “i want this and i will get this”.

on some moments also seems to focus more on what he is not satisfied with rather than what he is satisfied with. might be caused by the storytelling beats, but if taken into consideration how he always wants to improve, it's not unsurprising.

seems to be more goal / result oriented, but is not dismissive towards the process.

whenever he sees someone better than him or something seems to be ‘impossible’ for him, most of the time his responds are ‘i have to work harder for it’. sometimes there are moments of insecurity, but they are fleeting and always went back to ‘i will overcome this / him’ as a respond.

very!!!! competitive. but it’s blue lock.

both in and outside soccer, seems to be very independent

seems to be more analytical by nature rather than intuitive, especially in learning style. complete opposite of nagi.

often starts noticing things from little things and details first before going and getting the bigger picture. detail oriented person? at least in soccer.

yeah soccer nerd.

if the 0 valentine choco, his reaction to seeing live two women getting played in karaoke, and how he didn't immediately went to girls in bowling alley—yeah. definitely 0 experience with girls.

is not wishy washy. knows what he wants and is not the type to change his preference because of his surroundings. did just act as if his preference is different / just doesn't say a thing or walk away when it isn't, back in ichinan these habits are obvious. in blue lock, he doesn't actively try to make other people uncomfortable and even still accommodate some out of the field, but clearly has become more outspoken in his preference or for his comfort. boy really grew more confident (and i love him for it).

he asks santa for ps4 and other than yeah normal highschool boy behavior idk how to dissect or overanalyze this yet give me a sec or a year.

like treats!!!! seems to be partial to sweets, but he also enjoys sour candies according to egoist bible.

doesn't like being ignored. and it kinda shows.

his beef with kaiser is hilarious—but it make sense because kaiser obviously bring it up even out of field (that locker room scene after yukimiya isagi argument), taunts isagi every chance he got (vs barcha, vs mc), and whatever happened in the match. isagi better than some bluelockers and me fr frfr considering he still did not try to punch kaiser's mug.

which bring the point doesn't seems to enjoy fistfight. either shitty at it or just chose not too. but looking at his trend of being shitty at things that are not soccer and his canonically low stats especially before blue lock. yeah might be shit at fistfight (with also a bit of the latter because how do one not try to sock kaiser in the face after *gestures wildly* all that. footnote, i admit the bias). (karaoke, shidou vs rin duking it out pt.1—my guy was dying and he wasn't the one duking it out)

tidy, but not overly tidy to barou level. but realistically comparing it to stereotypes of high school boys? real tidy. (could be seen in blue lock exhib's display of his u20 arc locker and team white bedroom)

wants lil sis or big sis because of my neighbor totoro. idk how to dissect this either but—yeah not a rare thing for an only kid to say, actually.

seems to be more of a street smart kinda guy.

his tenacity in befriending or at least interacting with rin is admirable. shipping lense or not it really is.

he gets along with almost everyone. shipping lenses or not, also amazing especially for an introvert.

he says the wildest shit on field like uh yeah things he said with yukimiya was said to be cencored a little because in jp someone said he was calling yukimiya something else i don't know to say in english.

but is actually not an absolute asshole in field, saw yukimiya broke down and bro actually took a second to pay attention and moved on. until he got provoked, that is.

actually rarely become the one who approach other people first (kira, bachira).

can really got extreme when in high tension (shoving chigiri off, that 100℅ kill you @ kaiser).

turns out he talks about the thigh stuff bashfully. (it's cute.) but i still wonder why he likes lobster. like i feel like something is there. why is his taste in everything that is not soccer makes me wonder what the fuck is up with him. favorite song? cm jingle. fashion sense? honestly casual, but his sense in pattern and color is genuinely so bad im hurting. this point is so full of personal bias feel free to skip it.

seems to be pretty oblivious to things about not-soccer. especially his surroundings. not to the dense point but seems like it stems more from his focus at soccer. but this trait seems to go hand in hand with his self centered tendencies.

(this is bordering to hc, but) it seems like while is indeed obsessed with soccer, more than "oh he is only good at soccer", is more of a "if he wants it he will find a way to get it". but taking in account how his personality used to be in ichinan / pre blue lock, it's unsurprising that he doesn't want that mamy things. even in soccer that he is passionate about, he didn't back then. there is also the fact that he seems to have tendency to hyperfocus into something (i.e.: while still taking into account of others in soccer, think more of them as 'factors' than 'people'), so it may seems like the reason he got or became good at something is like "oh isagi is lucky / specialized in that", but it seems hard work and dedication really does put a big role into it, unsurprisingly. could reach that level in soccer because he is dedicated into it, tldr.

this part also became quite visible if taking into account he wants to play specifically as a striker. he is focused in this very specific thing he wants, that's why he managed to get it / improve in it.

if i did not miscount, he directly has a conversation with ego twice. and in both he is extremely impolite, calling ego names in one (u20 arc). while the other happened after he lost against rin in 4v4, and seems like he is still not happy with the loss. ans it shows. he is pretty rude when ego talk about luck which he himself noted was a big factor there. (man hold grudge.)

so yeah, seems like rather than "possessed in field" it could also be "possessed in everything related to soccer", though fudther research is to be conducted.

is pretty introverted even in blue lock. while sometimes he shares his insight to other people about his play, sometimes he also did not do this (recently you can see this the most in his interactions with ness). but yeah, this is the thing he shares about the most, something related to playmaking and soccer. but other than that nothing—at least on screen.

his pretty peaceful and uneventful background could be factored into, however ichinan highschool is pretty much his tragic backstort and not a peep about that to even bachira it seems. a possibility is that he is hyperfocused towards soccer. not to say his self centered part that is more of "what can i change about myself for this situation" and "i can't change others' way of thinking".

however seeing how that one meeting tada goes (post u20 break) and he said nothing to correct tada, even though he secretly disagrees—then also his parents who seems pretty oblivious to his soccer performance and how he casually acted about his lost against kira despite crying and screaming on public just before that—yeah, seems like a pretty private person. it's not that he is oblivious or do it out of malice, but mostly seems like he just doesn't comment about it and more of the listening type. and even when someone close ask the right question it seems like he doesn't try to show much expression or how he actually feels.

personal bias but yeah this is no longer """being polite""", this is actually being private to a very concerning degree. like the time he opened up about his worry, and still pretty related with soccer, that is completely visibly vulnerable seems like it was with nagi after 3v3 with rin (and see how that ended up. tho this make the fact that he and nagi became pretty close afterwards in such a short time a bit unsurprising. this two indeed kinda have quite a lot bonding moments outside and inside the field, shipping lens or not). like no wonder this guy snaps in soccer field, it's pent emotions fr.

but if how he is after u20 any indication, it seems like he really is very reserved outside of field that it kind of resembles how he was before blue lock. (who knows after nel arc (still bm vs uber rn when i write this, tho the match seems like ending), because boy seems grumpier there. not blaming him tho, it's battle royale inside that team.)

doing a little skimming but it seems like when talking about something he really never put focus on his feelings. it's either what's going on, others' feelings, or an opinion of his but if there are any feelings most of them stays in monologue and thoughts only.

adding to that nagi note, personally found it funny that he nearly get into same team with nagi TWICE (pre u20 team selection, nel choice where he is conflicted between german or england) but he never followed thru with it. this probably has more to do with nagi's motif & such rather than his, which this post wasn't here for sry nagi, and the fact that both that they are protagonists in the main and spinoff. but yeah, personally? it's funny it happened twice. especially factoring the fact they are close enough to have each other's number and isagi admits he has a nice chemical reaction with nagi.

i genuinely wonder how he interacts with kaiser outside of field. like. dude. i know it's funny.

might also add now that it seems the four people he is closest with is bachira and chigiri. was, with kunigami too but yeah. bachira especially, with the two keep being called two side of a coin/a soul. again, shipping lens or not, they are pretty close and isagi really seems to have come to a point where he is okay with bachira's habits no matter how odd. (personal bias, really sweet considering bachira has no friends before this and isagi while is friend with tada WE KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT). with chigiri, seems like the type of friends who look out for each other (isagi once shown checking his knee and messaging him, while chigiri is the first one jumping into action when shidou nearly kicked him). then you also add that chigiri only ever, on screen at least, opened up about his past to isagi and honestly yeah. shipping lens or not, these two definitely the looking after each other dynamic. kunigami come back, or at least interact with isagi more pls.

WHICH ALSO, seems like isagi is the only one reo kind of opened up to with his insecurities after the 2nd selection—kunigami and chigiri seems to get it too, but at least it was never shown on screen that he opened up the more vulnerable side of his anger at nagi and isagi to them. these two has a pretty good relationship it seems after that screening room scene. (might revise or at to this when epi nagi reach this part)

but this seems unsurprising in some ways because isagi really seems like the listening type. some people said these type of people is good when it comes to getting people opening up. also seems like isagi really never run his mouth so good choice actually. (look at him even he doesnt open up his own emotion how could he do that with other people's emotion. what is this a sign of pent emotion or just a sign of actual limited emotional intelligence when it came to processing them? who knows. blue lock's highly stressful and intense environment is also a factor here but hey, look at how isagi was in ichinan. might be old habits)

he is scarily cold and detached to his bonds when it came to soccer, it seems? like, he is still capable of sympathy even during the heat of the moment, unless you make him angry (both cases: yukki). but for the sake of his play his priority really is on "this is the play that i want" rather than friendships and stuff. on one side, professionality. on the other, yeah egoist.

outside of field doesn't seem to go out of his way to dig up about someone's backstory in "asking and digging and wanting to talk about feelings with them", but will listen if told. (i.e. chigiri acl convo, reo opening up, casually talking about soccer again after noa ego relationship bomb drop, etc.) seems to be more as 'minding his own business and being not nosy', which is kind of in line with his politeness.

then you bring soccer and his ideal play and it gets really cold. he really think of soccer as 'cruel' and it kind of shows with how little he thinks of outside-of-field-relation during a game. (really shows if you compare how most characters personal story, rin and reo for example, has a huge impact on their play) his brain really has an on and off switch with the niceness.

at some point in blue lock, his closest circle is bachira, chigiri, kunigami (could be canon or could be due to the fact these four are kind of the quadruplet of bllk). he is pretty much the guy most of everyone knows and has at least spoken with once after u20 tho.

but other than those 4, it seems that the one he have more highlighted rivalry are niko, barou, rin, and nagi, with yukimiya coming in later in bm. it's funny how isagi seems pretty attached to them in a pretty friendly manner in some ways. barou and rin is just on another level of "i will kill you" getting answered with "sure, okay, geez" (and it's hilarious. with barou, isagi shared meals, was a roommate, and went bowling together once. with rin, he did yoga, laughed at his death threat, and was pissed because rin was impolite. i can go on but moving on). nagi and isagi canonically get along pretty well out of screen. isagi is roommate with yukimiya—i didn't except this combo back then but i really want to know their interactions in that room, especially during and after their conflict.

then there is hiyori, kurona, and nanase's case whose relationship with him is more on the 'supporting side'. with reo, it seems to also fall into the rivalry category—but this guy's relationship with isagi is kind of more about reo-nagi relationship than with isagi himself. with aiku, it's rivalry between defender and attacker (resembles niko the most but the things these two said to each other is way wilder). then there is kaiser—i will wait til nel arc is done.

there are crumbs with some other charas like sae—but these two didn't interact (yet?) in canon. with noa, it's admiration and respect, to put it simply, but it seems it's leaning more into actual mentorship that is more casual compared to how most of bm is with noa (imo, take this part with a grain of salt). with ego, it's...surprisingly complicated on a meta level from my perspective at least.

isagi clearly agrees and thrives with ego's philosophy, but other than taking ego's words/guidance isagi was rude to him. then there is stuff like some part of their design being similar to each other (v hair, eyes on some panels tho this also happens with other charas, beta isagi sketch) and how during nel ego - isagi similarities get commented by noa and snuffy (tho on snuffy case is more of barou - isagi is like ego - noa, who is who tho we don't know for sure). it feels like there is more on these two for the future.

with his family, it's just sweet. his family is proud and supportive of him. and seeing how isagi is pretty independent as in his attachment style is very secure in blue lock, even with how ichinan basically turned him into a people pleaser, yeah definitely and canonically a good family there. he greets them every morning as part of his morning routine, and he is the only character who mention this in said trivia.

enjoys his alone time, based on his trivia. the introvert part is loud and clear.

he doesn't really get jealous easily. like rather than envy, it's more of frustration directed towards himself or straight up being pissed because said someone played a factor in why he couldn't make a goal. but most of the time, when he sees someone's strength, it came out more as an admiration and "i should do more and stand out more too!!!" rather than comparing himself and feels negativity. this especially never happen to his perception towards his capabilities. the closest thing we ever get to him feeling envy is perhaps the parts where he goes "i don't have weapon like them" when talking about chigiri's speed, kaiser impact, and others' specialities. but even then it never really lingers.

and from that probably also shows that isagi is really good at looking someone's strength or specialities. but this seems to also happen in looking at weaknesses and chances. he really does tries to take into account tendencies, skills, blind spots, etc. honestly thinking about this make sense why he immediately collapsed after vs mc, the information loading must be insane. but all in all, the main point is that he is pretty good at reviewing and observing stuffs indeed.

high achiever with an amazing durability. as said word by word by kaiser himself, this guy look at something way more amazing than himself and keep taking it as a challenge. aka his mental strength is insane—or his competitiveness is just that crazy. no wonder he thrives in blue lock where so many people want to him eat alive.

after thinking for a bit and connecting it with the 'not teaming with nagi during the u20 tryouts', it seems like also the guy who avoids his comfort zone, in area of skills and plays in this case. he seems to actively challenge himself.

seriously the type of guy who do and chase what he wants. egoist indeed.

but thinking about that, it also speaks of his adaptability and flexibility. while the part that definitely carries more tension, seriousness, and definitely didn't take shit came out so much in soccer, the way he interacts with those who are friendly with him is so different with those who are antagonistic with him. though so far, with the exception of kaiser it seems, he at some point ended up in a pretty good relationship with some of those—rin and barou are most telling. the antagonism is back on when they are in seperate team tho, but hey this is blue lock.

his moment of satisfaction is really fast—as in he like cheers for a bit, most of the time, then focus on the next challenge. this could be caused by: 1) blue lock highly competitive and rapidly changing environment; 2) it's just how he is build.

[nntheblog]

Sae Itoshi Blue Lock : How Strong Is He ?

Sae Itoshi is an antagonist to the Blue Lock (Manga) in Japan U20 Arc. Sae, a prodigy soccer player and the older brother to Rin Itoshi, is considered the best Japanese player. Sae is also part of the New Generation World 11 as well as the Real Madrid Youth team. He is widely regarded as one the most talented youth football players in the world. Before the series began, his main goal was to be the best striker and then the best player in world football. However, after leaving Japan and playing in the professional league in Spain, he decided to change his goal and become the best midfielder of all time. He arrives in Japan to renew his passport. However, after hearing about the Blue Lock, he decides to stay. Later, he joins the Japan Under-20 to take on the Blue Lock Eleven during the Japan Under-20 match. Appearance Of Sae Itoshi Sae, a young man of average size and build, has reddish brown hair and green eyes. His eyes are set by a series of long lower lashes like Rin. He wore the Japan U-20 White #10 jersey, a black shirt under it, and black gloves during the National Representative match. Personality Of Sae Itoshi Blue Lock Sae is a cold, blunt, and serious person from a young age. Sae has always been focused on becoming the best striker in world football and has made little time to do things that will help him get there. Sae is sometimes arrogant and condescending, even though he has more authority and are older than him. Although egotistical, he has proven to be able restrain his self and play his position without trying to outdo others. Sae takes pride in his football career and looks down on Japanese football players. Sae says he would rather live in Europe or die with a group of college students than to play in the J- League, or be a member of the Japan National Team. Sae is confident in his abilities and believes that no one in Japan is worthy of him as a teammate. He doesn't like the fact that he was born and raised in Japan. Sae commands respect from everyone in the room due to his reputation and skills. He can even manage to entice tough and rowdy people to listen to him and do things his way. Although Sae can be difficult to work with, he can still be a good friend and a great helper if he's getting something in return. After hearing about the Blue Lock Project, he decides to stay in Japan out of pure curiosity and joins the Japan Under-20 team for the match against Blue Lock Eleven. When his curiosity is satisfied, he will not hesitate to abandon those who are unworthy of his attention. Sae is not arrogant, but he doesn't mind playing his role as a key passer and midfielder. Sae provided every chance for the Japan U-20 forwards to score during the Japan National Representative match. Only after repeated failures does Sae decide to score. Abilities Of Sae Itoshi Archetype {"origin":"gallery","uid":"AC3E3EF7-DDCD-4495-A226-A9DAD795BB7A_1625448068087","source":"other"} - Playmaker - A player who directs the team's offensive play and often participates in passing moves that lead to goals. They are skilled at vision, technique, creativity and passing ability. Sae is known for his cold, calculated play style. Sae creates ideal plays using his passing and his dribbling. He also controls the offense and fills any gaps that the defense might have. His vision allows him to reach the most crucial point by using his vision. Sae's goal is to "beautifully" destroy his opponent with every play he makes. Skills Pro Football Technique: Sae has been regarded as a brilliant player in the world of professional football. He is a European football player and is considered to be a professional, but he has not yet become a full-time pro due to Spain's age requirements. His immense popularity makes him the most popular player in Japan. He is a league above even high-level players like Ryusei Shidou and Rin Itoshi. The Perfect Kick Technique: Sae is able to control the speed, intensity, speed, and accuracy at which he kicks. He is not only able to perform complex passes with his excellent footwork and technique, but he can also manipulate the ball perfectly to ensure that his passes are both easy to receive and difficult to block or intercept. - Long Driven Pass This is a pass that allows the ball to travel a long distance, typically between 40-50 meters, and avoids interception. - LobPass: Also called a Chip, a shot where the ball is kicked with precision but less force from beneath to propel it high into the air and pass it over opponents' heads. - Line Drive Shot Sae can score with a strong drive shot from the byline, aimed at the opposite side of the goal. This shot can surprise the goalkeeper and defy the expectations of anyone inside the box anticipating a pass. - Trivela: This technique involves putting spin on the ball with the outside of one's foot. Sae can make a precise pass by using his left foot. This is done in an instantaneous move with his reflex. Sae can also use his weaker right leg to make a pinpoint pass. - Ultra-Fast Pass Sae can make a pass from a set piece that is almost as fast as a shot. He uses his reflex to take all circumstances into consideration, so he can pass to a spot that the opponent can't reach. It is almost like threading a needle. Counter Dribbling Sae's dribbling style is "passive" in comparison to the more active dribbling of Yukimiya and Bachira. Sae won't actively move past defenders but will instead observe their rhythms and movements before moving past them in a counter. Sae's dribbling skills are the best, allowing him to easily pass through the likes Isagi and Bachira in one fluid movement. In each of their encounters, he nutmegged Rin with relative ease. Rin noticed that his dribbling speed is extremely fast due to his European experience. Sae is a natural passer and will prioritize passing the ball to move the ball up the field. However, when he wants to play seriously, he switches to dribbling by himself, greatly increasing his options. Sae's dribbling can be used to quickly defeat Nagi and Isagi (while nutmegging them), and also overcome Baro, Karasu, and avoid Rin's challenge. He also nutmegged Yukimiya, and avoided Hiori’s attempt to dismember Blue Lock's formation. - Hyperspeed Scissors Sae executes a scissor feint with incredible speed. It is difficult to follow. - Double touch: Sae moves the ball from one foot towards the other before moving the ball with the second foot past his opponent. This move was performed at a very fast pace, which left Rin little time for reaction. - Marseille Turn: Sae stops and shields the ball from his opponent before turning the wheel. - Nutmeg: Sae passes the ball quickly through the legs of the defender, effectively getting past their defense.- Cross Elastico nutmeg: Sae does an elastico by crossing the ball behind one of his dominant legs and then knocking it between his opponent’s legs with his non-dominant leg. This move was first used on Rin by him after he returned from Spain. Rin also tried it during the Japan National Representative Match. - Elastico nutmeg: Sae uses a regular elastico in order to nutmeg a defense and get past them. During the Japan National Representative Match, he did the same to Isagi as he broke through the midfield. - Rabona nutmeg: This is a technique in which a player kicks the ball with their kicking foot crossed behind their standing knee. This technique can be used by Sae to place the ball between two opponents' legs before passing it, as he did against Yukimiya. - Shoulder Block Sae uses his shoulder to block his opponent. This reverses his centre gravity and allows him to avoid being tackled. Reflex: Sae's incredible reflexes allow him to assess all conditions and make crucial plays to get the ball to the forwards as quickly and efficiently as possible. Sae will identify who is the "heatest" towards the goal, and then play the ball to them. This means that he doesn't have any bias towards specific strikers. It is difficult for Sae to read or stop because of this incredible reflex. He makes split-second judgments to move the ball around and change positions. This reflex allows Sae to work on the same wavelength with Shidou, and to maximize his talents to the fullest extent. Get Quotes Of Sae Itoshi - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) Who is this Fatso-Bobcut duo ?...? That speeds things up. Hey you old geezers. I looked at the videos of all the Japan U-20 players. They're all crap. I was especially impressed with the forwards. They are a stinking heap of insect turd. - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) I joined the team to see if I could play against the Blue Lock boys, but if I find out that this is School Team-Level Trash I will be leaving. - (To Hirotoshi and Yasumori Buratsuta) I'm looking for a forward in Blue Lock.  - (To Rin Itoshi As long as you keep trying to be my brother, you won't be able surpass me.  - (To Rin Itoshi). Rin, Rin... It turns out that the world is vast. There are players far better than me. I have changed my goal to become the best striker. I will be the best midfielder anywhere in the world. - (To Blue Lock). I will raise the game level. Only those who can follow me ..... get to see the next scenery. Etymology - Sae is a name that means "happiness," blessings, fortune or grace. - Itoshi, Sae's surname means "soaring favorite" - Sae Itoshi can be translated as "The flying/soaring favourite of grace". Trivia - He first returned to Japan to renew the passport. - He doesn't like Japanese football or anyone who plays it. - After the Second Selection, he turned 18 years old. - He loves "Chibi Marukochan", his favorite TV show. It reminds him of his home. - He believes his weakness is not knowing anything other than football. - Read the full article

[hiorintruther]

I have so many thoughts about the potential for a rivalry here but most of said thoughts are completely out of pocket and require Hiori and Rin to actually talk 😭. Utterly delusional rant incoming:

For the longest time I’ve had a headcanon that while Hiori might admire Sae’s skills and mindset (since Sae is THE midfielder, being NG11 n all that) and Hiori would want to push to be better than Sae, I think he’d also slowly start to dislike being compared directly to Sae. It’s already happened twice and if it happens more, I think he should start to get a bit annoyed by it. His entire arc was about people placing expectations onto him to be someone he’s not, so if he now has an ego and resolve to ‘produce the greatest striker’ but people are just saying “wow you’re just like Sae” or “be more like Sae here”, I personally think he’d start to dislike it because it becomes an ‘expectation’ he can’t envision. He’s Hiori Yo the Ultra-Sadist Producer, not Sae 2.0 or Sae Lite.

And of all people, I think the person who would recognise that he’s different would be Rin. Rin grew up with Sae and as much as he dislikes Sae, he’d still understand the nuances and intricacies of Sae’s play style and intentions. To him, comparing Hiori and Sae would be stupid (at first coz Hiori isn’t as good as Sae, but also Hiori is generally more easy-going off-field and his personality is quite different). Hiori would probably appreciate the fact that of all people, it’s Sae’s brother who says they aren’t too alike. I also think that if Hiori ever found out how Sae abandoned Rin, he’d be reminded of how his own parents were ready to get divorced and abandon him if he couldn’t be good enough for their expectations and that should make him dislike Sae more.

I think Hiori would see potential in Rin for a few reasons. One is that Rin’s Destroyer needs to be brought about by ‘restriction’, which Hiori can provide with his Ultra-Sadist passing favouring strikers such as Isagi when Rin isn’t embodying the Destroyer, thus causing a bottle-neck where Rin is restricted and has to embody the Destroyer to earn Hiori’s pass. Another is that in Rin’s light novel, we see how he and Sae played as a duo and Rin would run to ‘where the enemy breaks’ to receive Sae’s passes, which is a very sadistic way of playing that I think Ultra-Sadist Hiori could also visualise quite easily. We’ve already seen Hiori and Rin link up in the Third Selection Tryouts and U20 Match (briefly). I think with Hiori’s new-found ego and Rin’s awakened Destroyer, they’d work really well as a midfielder-striker duo.

And then there’s the whole ‘battle of mentalities’ thing I mentioned. If Hiori sees a potential to be the ‘producer’ who is the key to Rin scoring goals, that would place him in opposition to Sae, who gave up on Rin and is currently eyeing Isagi as the future best striker. Having Isagi x Sae as a duo would give Isagi a chance to work with an NG11 midfielder and bring Sae more centrally into the plot. By then having Rin x Hiori as an opposing duo, it both affirms Rin and Isagi’s rivalry with each other, furthers Rin’s arc with Sae, AND makes good on Hiori’s resolve to ‘drop’ Isagi for another striker. Most of all though, it places Hiori and Sae, two very similar characters, on opposing sides even if they’re on the same team. So by becoming the ‘key’ to their respective strikers, they battle for who is ‘right’ about Rin. And ideally, the conclusion would be that there is no right or wrong answer even if ultimately Isagi comes out on top because he’s the main character (and hopefully the Itoshi brothers get some good arc development as a result).

That’s my overly indulgent rant done. Hopefully I didn’t sound too out of pocket 😭

I’m like 90% convinced it won’t happen but I love the idea of Hiori forming a rivalry with Sae. Obviously Sae right now is a better Hiori (or more accurately, Hiori is a worse Sae) and they’re canonically very similar in terms of mindset and skill set. Obviously Hiori is nowhere near Sae’s level right now but I would love it if in his mission to ‘produce’ the greatest striker, he started pushing to become a threat to Sae’s position as THE midfielder of Blue Lock as a series.

And to make it about hiorin because my name dictates that I must, having Rin’s and Hiori’s goals somewhat align with them both being connected to Sae for different reasons would be a giant plus in my book any day, plus if they worked together it could be framed as a challenge to Sae’s mentality that Rin isn’t good enough. It could also open the door for Sae and Isagi to work together as a duo more instead of Isagi just sticking with Hiori, placing the Isagi x Sae duo against the Rin x Hiori duo in a ‘battle of mentalities’ so to speak, which I think would be cool.

[variabels]

I see your point but I still think Haikyuu should be in the first category and BL/KnB fit #2 more, the nationals arc isn't enough to not put it in sports-driven when it's much more sports-driven than the entirety of KnB.

You list "to technically show how to win at a sport" as being the main purpose for the first category and that fits Haikyuu much more than BL or KnB. KnB and BL actually do a pretty bad job at that, it's one of the main complaints these two shows get, KnB just goes for superpowers and BL would only loosely fit if we're talking about schoolyard/playground football (it's missing so many key components of actual professional football, there has never been a single offside despite moments like one of Reo's passes to Nagi in the MC game being such a blatant offside it's surprising it wasn't used as a way to introduce offsides to the manga). KnB and BL just show whatever will be hype without really showing how to actually win at the sport.

Meanwhile, Haikyuu does an amazing job at teaching the technical aspects of volleyball. I learned more about volleyball from Haikyuu than I did from the volleyball lessons at school. Meanwhile, all BL taught me about football were the position names, everything else it covered, I already knew from playing it on the playground as a kid and the few games I had watched as a kid. Granted in BL's case it could just be Western European bias since almost every Western European has played or watched football at one point of their lives. It would be interesting to get the perspective of someone who only started watching football after BL and had very little exposure to it prior to that. But I also did some basketball at school and both those lessons and KnB didn't really teach me much.

Also, you list #2 as "to define that sport on a personal-level", in this case BL and KnB should absolutely be in the second category. BL is all about finding your ego which boils down to defining football on a personal level, the Ubers game was awful from a football-fan perspective, but from a character-writing perspective, it was amazing. KnB has an extremely large focus on the miragen finding what basketball means to them outside of just being a game they're geniuses at.

Maybe main appeal/driving force being rivalries vs friendship fits more?

Cuz the main appeal of BL and KnB are absolutely the rivalries which make the games all the more hype, meanwhile the friendships while nice weren't that interesting in comparison.

Like I absolutely loved the dynamic between Kagami and Kuroko (best friends goals), but man, Kuroko's dynamic with the miragen and Kagami vs Aomine are just way more interesting. The games are written in a way where with the exception of the Kise vs Kuroko rematch, you're likely rooting for Kuroko's team. By the time you get to the finals, you absolutely wanna watch Kuroko's team mop the floor with Akashi's team.

Similarly, BL has some nice friendship moments, not as good as KnB, but I'd say overall the friendship writing is very weak in contrast to the rivalries. Outside of Nagi/Reo, Nagi/Isagi (they cheat cuz they're also rivals) and ig Emogami/anyone, most of the friendships just end up feeling very samey unlike the rivalries. You could lock Isagi in a room with just his rivals and it would still be more entertaining than most manga I've read. The fucking rivalries in this manga are just so entertaining, like even when I don't care about the rivalry much (Nagi/Rin vs Isagi), I still love the interactions. France has been built up from the start as the final team to beat in the proper WC and Germany is being built up as the final boss of the U20-WC with Kaiser being built as the main foreign rival.

Meanwhile, in Haikyuu, while I favored the cross-team duos over same-team duos cuz of my bias towards rivalries, I just didn't care to see anyone specifically beat anyone, I liked the duos more as friends than rivals. There was also much more of a focus on friendliness and the rivalries never really got edgy/cool the way BL or KnB rivalries have. The last Karasuno game in the nationals was against a team that got introduced pretty late in the story and didn't have the build-up that say Akashi in KnB got despite his team also being introduced late. There was never really a feeling of a final boss to beat or like one main rival the protagonist just had to beat more than the others, not helped by everyone getting a backstory so it became hard to really root against anyone after some time.

Sk8 fit in the second category in this case, cuz while I think everyone wanted to see Langa beat Adam, I also just didn't care much about the rivalry or their interactions. The renga and matchablossom duos were just more interesting and memorable.

TL;DR:

#1 I need to see these guys beat the shit out of each other

#2 I wanna see these guys be happy

As someone who’s watched a lot of sports anime, I have noticed that there are essentially two types of it:

Sports-driven – focuses on winning, competing, and the technical aspects of the game. Discusses a lot about how you can improve as a player. Character development is often related to skills development. Competitions are of utmost importance.

Examples: Blue Lock, Kuroko no Basuke

Character-driven – focuses on being able to play the game with friends, making memories, and getting over one’s personal issues. Competitions are secondary to the show’s overall theme and/or the main character’s principles.

Examples: Haikyuu, Sk8 the Infinity, Bakuten

Although I gave examples, these categories aren’t exactly clear-cut. Most shows are a mix of both, but with a preference on one over the other.