#Bllk meta

[boinin]

Blue Lock volume cover analysis

An examination of unusual features and chains among the 28 volumes released to date. Subject to revision.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. Straight up plagiarism isn’t.

Volume 8: Mikage Reo

Reo's chains are noticeably shaded green. Guess whose eyes glow green when they're fired up...

In addition, @thyandrawrites has a theory that Reo ties/reties his hair up as a way to maintain emotional composure. The volume covers tend to represent the character's personality or struggles in some sense. If so, this is an early nod to the emotional trials Reo endures during the series.

Volume 10: Tokmitsu Aoshi

No chain weirdness here, but Tokimitsu is surrounded by black gunk in his cover. This may be a visualisation of his anxiety and the way he copes with it: running at speed and bulldozing through his opponents.

Volume 11: Ego Jinpachi

Ego's cover depicts him totally immobilised by the four chains bound to his neck. To date, no other character has been more restrained by the chains. This likely represents that Ego's fate is utterly dependent on the outcome of Blue Lock. His cover also suggests that Blue Lock (and football) consume Ego's life.

Volume 12: Shidou Ryuusei

Shidou's chains have a blue glow, much like Sendou's in volume 27. This glow is far closer to Shidou's collar however. It could imply that Blue Lock is the beginning of Shidou's pursuit of football.

He's also depicted with demon wings. The collar or chains don't impede his movement significantly, unlike other characters. In addition to portraying his incredible physicality, this could also visually represent how Blue Lock has failed to subdue Shidou.

Volume 16: Oliver Aiku

Aiku's chains are wrapped tightly around his arm and he's pulling them taut. The chains themselves appear rusted and cracked, most notably on his collar. This could represent Aiku's relationship with football. He grew jaded with being a striker in high school. Becoming a defender, then the match against Blue Lock, revitalised his enthusiasm. Hence, the chain is holding fast: he's just as ensnared by football (and Blue Lock) as the others.

Volume 17: Itoshi Sae

Sae and his chains are bathed in radiant gold light, which is associated with both divinity and wealth. His chains crumble in one place, and remain barely intact. I offer two interpretations for this. Firstly: unlike the others, Blue Lock does not have a strong impact on Sae—his success as a footballer is completely independent of it.

Secondly: if we take the chain to represent Sae's footballing career, the crumbling chain could allude to a time when football negatively impacted him. Perhaps whatever happened in Madrid? But he came back stronger, as the rest of his chains appear even more golden.

Volume 18: Teieri Anri

Anri is the only character depicted without chains or a collar. While working with Ego is a prison sentence in its own right, the artwork suggests that her ambition and future isn't connected to the outcome of Blue Lock. It can also be interpreted as a nod to the hierarchy within Blue Lock. Anri is Ego's boss and thus, she is free while he is constrained. However...

Zoom in on the reflection on her phone screen. It appears to reflect a wide grin—which can only be one person's. Taking into account her passivity in chapter 247, this detail positions Anri as Ego's accomplice: willing to do his bidding, no matter how amoral.

Volume 19: Michael Kaiser

Kaiser's collar and chains are made of glass, through which his blue rose tattoo is visible. As chapter 243 told us, a blue rose represents the impossible to Kaiser. Glass chains suggests that his ego or ties to football are fragile, and could be broken easily. Symbolically, glass can also represent transparency. As a character, Kaiser is upfront about his talent and desires. Nobody is in doubt about his footballing mantra or his intent to undermine Isagi.

Volume 20: Alexis Ness

Ness's chains are entwined with blue rose brambles, all but for a short length to the top right of the image. While Ness came to love football independently, seeing it as magical, the rose brambles show that his connection to football is now inseparable from his devotion to Kaiser. It also reflects that Ness would not be a professional footballer without Kaiser, as per chapter 242/243.

Volume 24: Hiori Yo

Hiori is the only character shown holding the end of his chain, which is secured by a football-shaped weight. This suggests that Hiori himself is the one in control of his career, rather than external forces. Football is a burden to him, albeit something he can carry. Therefore, Hiori is not ensnared by the chains (or Blue Lock) to the same extent as other characters. Appropriate for a character guaranteed to succeed as a footballer, but who ultimately may not choose to pursue it.

Volume 25: Niko Ikki

Niko's volume cover is hilarious. I'll leave the explaining to Tomo-tan, who lays out the humour and genius of Niko's cover in this great Reddit post.

Volume 26: Don Lorenzo

Members of the New Generation World XI have no chill when it comes to their covers, and Don Lorenzo is no exception. His collar shows bite marks, as though chewed through. Gold teeth are good for more than caramel popcorn, apparently.

Lorenzo's chains are accompanied by what looks like electricity. This suggests that football reanimated Lorenzo from near death, as per chapter 216. It's a visual nod to his playstyle, which resembles the incessant pursuit of a zombie. Guess we can call him Snuffy's Monster.

Volume 27: Sendou Shuuto

A blue glow appears on Sendou’s chains, halted from travelling further by his fist. This may represent the threat Blue Lock poses to Sendou's footballing career. He's already been kicked as the striker of the national team; now in the Neo Egoist League, he must battle for a place on the new U20 line-up. No easy feat, as his sweaty face implies.

Another detail worth mentioning is that the trajectory of one of Sendou's chains appear to align with the chain Aiku's pulling in his cover. This similarity, and the fact that they're both holding their chains, may be interpreted as a nod to their status as former U20 teammates—likely the only ones that will make the new team, going off the latest NEL auction table.

[go6jo]

wait a minute because im reading the itoshi brothers backstory chapters and sae… i soooo get you. they could never make me hate you twin. growing up being told you’re a prodigy only to be let down once you’re thrown in the real world and have to face the harsh reality that you’re mediocre at best… and the resentment that comes with it… the self loathing that one inevitably must begin to harbour because its our fault we couldnt keep up or maybe, just maybe its other peoples fault for planting that seed of delusion inside of us that we’re meant for greatness and then the bar is set too high and its not our fault we couldn’t rise up to the challenge or that that weight was put on our shoulders… and somehow giving up on that greatness feels liberating, like rebellion. i’ll become the best midfielder in the world. everyone expected him to become the best striker in the world yet he realised he didn’t have what it takes to be it, he wasn’t good enough. so he rebels so he can feel in control again. he’s shutting down other people’s (rin’s) expectations for him. he’s letting go of that weight. he wants to become the best midfielder because that is something thats within reach, that is something he can control. and i can imagine just how freeing that might’ve been for sae hence why he didn’t want rins dream to rely on him.

[just-some-sorta-person]

Nagi's "Hidden Path"/ Loophole

*featuring Isagi, Bachira, and Rin analysis*

I've been thinking a lot about how Nagi represents a "hidden path" in Bluelock, and the ways in which it seems the main manga and episode Nagi disagree on whether he should succeed- the key issue being his relationship with Reo. He plays soccer for their collective dream in a manga where depending on another character for your motivation is treated as soccer suicide, which should doom him, but his own manga starts with the statement that his genius is shaped by Reo - framed as a good thing.

I've said in the past that maybe Nagi will succeed by Episode Nagi's standards, but fail by Blue Lock standards, and I still think that would be an interesting path to take, but rn I wanna discuss the alternative that Nagi succeeds by both standards, even if to a lesser extent in the main manga since Isagi is the MC. And we're assuming here that his relationship with Reo isn't permanently severed in a way that makes him more similar to every other Bllk character bc that would make him much less interesting and also remove the "hidden path" aspect that we're expecting here.

So for him to succeed by both standards, I think what essentially needs to happen is that Nagi represents a loophole or caveat in Blue Lock's philosophy. And to understand why that would be the case, we'd have to understand WHY playing for anyone but yourself is a bad thing in Blue Lock. And there are plenty of examples to draw from.

Isagi and "All for One"

We can start with the "One for all, all for one" team Isagi was in- the most extremely dependent soccer we see. I'll be drawing from Isagi's Light Novel for this, because it really just spells it out. First, let's look at the reasoning for that "all for one" given in response to Isagi's request to shoot more:

“Up until now, You could have won matches with your individual skills, but high school isn’t a piece of cake... We win together, and become stronger together! If you do that, then you'll have double the joy! And half the sorrow!”

The reasoning given here isn't that the resulting soccer is better at winning games - rather there is an emphasis on safety. "the world is tough", "If we stick together, there's half the sorrow". And within that emphasis, is the implication that the individual isn't enough.

We can also see complacency in this ideaology. When Ichinan loses, the coach says

“You fought well. It’s frustrating, but this is what Ichinan is capable of now. The third years are leaving after this… and some of you might quit soccer after today but you can be proud of the days you fought together as a team." "To me, Ichinan’s soccer team…is the best team in Japan!!!”

Within this dream doping that Ego rants about later on, we can again see the acceptance on the individual not being enough - "You fought well... but this is what Ichinan is capable of now." We also see within the dream doping the injection of safety and lack of perceived agency. Because we are one unit, there is no blame, no frustration, no need for improvement. The point is the team, not to win, so be proud.

Most damning is the way we see this reflected in Isagi

There’s no need to take a risky battle. If they lose, it will be his fault and he will feel bad for the team. He makes an exquisite pass to Tada's feet. A perfect last pass.

What's emphasized here is the risk in making an egotistical decision for the whole team in believing himself good enough to make that shot himself. What essentially happens here is a devaluing of the self - " I'm not good enough on my own, its safer to trust others, trust the system, not your instincts" And that forces Isagi to not live up to his fullest potential, to chase what he wants. Until Blue Lock that is.

Bachira and the Monster

Bachira is probably the character most directly "punished" in the narrative for playing for someone else. Though I feel like punish is the wrong word because this problem with his ego reared its head and was resolved in the same game - once he realized the problem, Bachira resolved to solve it

According to Bachira's explanation

"...Until now, I was afraid of playing soccer by myself. I guess I wanted you to come save me. But, once I tried fighting on my own, like I'd done as a kid, I realized...

And so the problem with his habit of looking for another player when playing instead of focusing on himself was again the perceived lack of agency, and devaluing of the self. Longing for someone to play soccer with led to a dependency that negatively impacted his decisions on the field

So that's why his moment of growth was breaking through all on his own to steak back Isagi and win - ignoring the idea that he should wait for someone else to help him. He needed to believe in his own agency/value to prove himself on the field and achieve his goals.

Rin and Sae

I recently took a look at Rin's Light Novel and there was a line that stood out as kinda similar to Bachira's old habit of passing to an imaginary monster before coming to Blue Lock

he understood why things were not going well. Neither their coach nor his other teammates have the slightest idea of Rin’s image of play in his head. (If it was Nii-chan, he would have made a pass here……) he thought so many times during today's practice. He jumped out in front of the goal to a position where I said, “Here!” but his teammates were like, “Huh?” “There?”

So whether you're passing or shooting, a reliance can develop, huh...

(How do Bachirin shippers feel about this parallel? haha. And what does this say about what Rin says to Bachira "But afraid of fighting alone. It is a soccer looking for someone. That luke-warm ego won't make my heart dance". Cus it seems Rin is criticizing Bachira for doing the same thing he did. What does this mean about how Rin feels about himself? (I mean.. he did already call himself lukewarm later but was he thinking about himself in that moment?))

In the light novel, I think it becomes clear one reason why Sae is so against Rin using him as his reason for soccer - it definitely affects how Rin plays when Sae is away. And since Sae becomes aware of the competition outside Japan during his time abroad, he knows that Rin's mentality as it was wouldn't be enough and thus wanted to spare him the suffering and have him give up. And this is in combination with the idea of "I've found out, that I'm not strong enough to hold you up. If you rely on me you'll fail" At least, this is my interpretation of it - but moving on-

With Rin’s last pass, they score a shot. If his Nii-chan had been there, he would have passed the ball to him in front of the goal and he would have scored it directly….. He stopped thinking. No pass is coming. That is now the reality. Anyway, the team won for the first time in a long time.

We see a lack of agency and a reliance on others once again - "If only Nii-chan was here". Like with Bachira, Rin is waiting for someone to "save" him, which limits what he chooses to attempt and stifles his potential because of how it limits his perceived agency.

We can also see this limitation in how he wants to be 2nd best after Sae - not best (de-valuing). It causes Rin to seal off his ego in order to catch up to Sae, by being more similar to Sae instead of developing according to his own unique talents/ego.

In order to catch up with his Nii-chan he saw off at the airport, he has to make the team’s victory his top priority. To do so, he must hold himself back. Hold back the you who was trying to steal the goal with everything you have using that sense of smell for the goal and assemble an attack as a team play.

Even after Sae's return he's always on Rin's mind, and this still limits his soccer. It's only after Rin declares himself lukewarm and rejects the stories others create through their relationship with him that he is able to go all out by embracing his own personal style, rather than focusing on others.

Back on Topic!

So in summary, what is wrong with depending on others? What causes Blue Lock to default to individualism? Ultimately it seems like its the resulting lack of perceived agency - the idea that you can't do things without other people present. By constraining yourself into a narrative with other people, you limit what you can do, and you limit what you think you can do by molding yourself to their vision. Thus, your potential is stifled.

How can Nagi and Reo become an exception to this reasoning? Well, maybe Nagi's decision to leave Reo during 2nd selection is part of the key.

We know from Episode Nagi and Manshine that Nagi wants to improve for the sake of his and Reo's collective dream. And he (correctly) identifies following soccer that challenges/excites him as the proper way to improve.

Here, Reo identifies them playing together as a must, but Nagi corrects him and saying that them being the best in the world together is a must, saying (in his head T-T) that he likes being with him, but that in order to protect their dream, Nagi needs to change.

It's actually pretty much spelled out here. Nagi says he's fine with Reo playing with other people, but insists that Reo stay with him till the end. Its ok to play soccer with others, but keep me in your heart always. In other words, I don't mind not playing together, but you and our end goal is always in my heart.

This is different from Isagi, Bachira, or Rin's situation because in those cases, the team/monster/Sae were considered as key to success. However, in Nagi's case, success is key to Reo. It's completely reversed. It's that nuance of "I play soccer to play soccer with you, to win with you" vs. "I play soccer for you, I win for you". Because "playing together" is not a requirement for winning, it no longer acts as a constraint that restricts agency. Nagi's concept of being together separate from playing soccer together saves their partnership from being the same as the others and frees him to (for example) join Isagi to improve.

You can see more of this in epinagi

The Tag Game

You might say this is a bad example because Nagi relies on Reo to get him un-eliminated, but by Nagi's "I figured you'd do that, Reo..." we can guess that this was more from laziness than a belief that he needed Reo's help. Indeed, when Reo's in danger of being eliminated himself, when their dream is in any real danger, Nagi takes it upon himself to solve the issue

They didn't solve the problem relying on teamwork/partnership or anything. Nagi solved the problem because they're partners.

Playing Against Barou

The next time their dream is "Challenged" is when Barou says "Becoming the world's best striker means you'll be alone until you die", essentially a challenge to the viability of Nagi and Reo's dream. Nagi's response to that is to run off and instigate a 1v1 with Barou

So again, rather than deny Nagi options, his partnership with Reo provided the motivation to act out on his own.

Playing against Team Z

Even when they play against team Z, we see this in action. Nagi plays a more reliant soccer, his dream/Reo is challenged when he sees Reo's face, and Nagi decides to act out on his own.

Nagi will rely on Reo for the sake of laziness, but when it comes to their dream, there's this pattern of deciding to rely less on Reo, take destiny into his own hands, and make an effort. It's really that nuance of doing something to be with someone vs. doing something for someone.

Beyond 1st/2nd Selection

Brief mention here of Nagi's eyes shining when Reo says "But it's not enough" when Nagi praises him. I think this might be Nagi thinking its a sign that Reo in fact has not forgotten their promise and is also working to achieve it - consistent with the idea of being together without necessarily playing together (Whereas Reo is thinking the other way round - improving for the sake of playing together because that's the only way to be together)

So, where this theory hits its roadblock is the Manshine City Arc, where Nagi asks for Reo's help. But because of all the ominous foreshadowing afterwards, in addition to Ego's words that Nagi's deep ego (implied by timing of skull imagery +all the scenes I just listed to be Reo/dream-centric) is about to be tested, I think their dynamic is bound to change in some direction within the next game. So, their relationship is still in development and the theory isn't necessarily debunked.

**edited in addition** I think the key is that regardless of their behavior, the core of their partnership (ie their internal feelings) isn't dependency, but rather reciprocated faith and commitment, though especially with Nagi's communication and introspection issues, it may take some time for them to figure that out because Reo has no idea the faith that Nagi has in him. Reo actually assumes that their partnership can't exist without dependence - assumes its over when that dependence fades because Nagi will have no reason to stay with him, but this is him insecurely misinterpreting Nagi's intentions. They also can't really flourish until Nagi figures out his ego/motivation, though that's luckily foreshadowed to be addressed. I think with how Reo misinterprets Nagi's motivations on a shallow level in 207, and how Nagi's motivation is foreshadowed to be addressed soon, we will get nagireo communication soon timeline wise (not real life lol). And hopefully with that communication, Reo's insecurity + Nagi's motivation can be addressed and they can begin to figure out a functional partnership within Blue Lock. But really the key here is that faith and devotion don't necessitate playing with only each other in mind, while dependence/reliance does.

In terms of what will happen, I think we might finally get a confirmation of what Nagi's ego is - it certainly fits with their conversation in 207, where Reo tries to give a substitute that doesn't really fit. I'm not sure what would happen once Nagi and Reo have the clarity of understanding what Nagi's ego is though...

In Any Case!

I'm running out of fuel but just to let ya'll know I was thinking really hard about what the difference was between Nagi and Reo's dynamic in comparison to partnerships or teamwork criticized by the main manga and I did not expect the difference I came up with to be the difference between reliance and devotion. "I am not enough by myself" vs. "I will make myself enough for you". I still wonder if I'm just biased?

Plz lmk ur thoughts

link to a continuation of these thoughts - Hiori's Words, Reo's Insecurity, Nagi's Enforced Indifference

[prettyboykatsuki]

the itoshi brothers (and how bluelock handles betrayal as character motivation)

✦ or why i don't think sae hates rin afterall.

✦ a / n ; this absurdly long and absurdly extensive. my bad. also sorry if this is obvious to some people, sometimes it takes me a few reads fdfksj

i want to preface this by saying - i'm not really very invested in the itoshi brothers. or at least i wasn't originally. the character im usually most taken with is isagi, but i've sort of been wanting to dissect sae because i can't fully wrap my head around his character. and when i want to understand a character, i usually end up going through a re-read of their chapters and arcs - to get a feel for them and all.

sorry for the thick paragraph, but tl;dr this is the first time im really analyzing these two so if this is obvious to everyone else please ignore me asjdskjds

anyway. the analysis.

there's two things that need to be examined when taking a look at the itoshi brothers. the first being their relationship before sae took off to spain, the second being how bluelock sets up concepts like betrayal for the sake of improvement.

firstly - i think we need to address saes character on a base level. sae is shown to be relatively detached in general. whereas rin has forever been more of sensitive character - sae is critical and level-headed. i suspect this is partially accredited to his role as older brother.

but you'll notice that sae is significantly more gentle to rin. he's a good older brother, both encouraing rin to do well and play soccer with him. even if he lacks that sort of finesse with teammates.

from the beginning, rin idolizes his older brothers character. every goal he has is in some way relating to pleasing or impressing sae. it's not unusual for him to do as a younger brother, especially one who was obviously doted on by rin. it's very clear that rin loves his brother deeply and feels a need to earn his favor nearly always.

there's this conversation they have in ch.124 that really drew me to this conclusion and sort of shifted my perspective on this relationship. i had always figure that sae had experienced something in spain that we, the audience don't know. it's very bluelock for characters to change drastically due to some crushing defeat (case and point kunigami)

but i hadn't take into consideration what that event would've changed in these twos relationship where maybe i should've. the thing is that sae is always concerned about how rin will fare without him.

in this chapter, sae asks rin what he thinks about or considers with playing soccer and rin responds with something along the lines of - he's not really thinking. he uses instinct and has confidence his brothers passes to him. sae is of course critical of this.

aside from the very obvious affection that this two share - sae goes onto tell rin that he's going off to spain soon. he once again, encourages rin to do his best and not fall behind while he's gone. rin responds with of course, and promises to become best in japan while sae goes onto become best in the world.

from there, we see rins life as he continues to grow up while his brother is in spain for several years. rin is shown to feel a little bit lonely, but keeps his promise of dedicating his entire life to football. not only is he a good team-player, he spends his free time practicing alone because he has full faith in the promise that he made with sae when they were young.

whats noticeable to me is the way rin describes playing without sae as constricting or inconvenient. the sport doesn't quite feel the same without sae around, but rin continues to practice because he values his relationship to his brother.

it's coming directly off of a win that sae returns home and sees rin practicing, and it's here i had a realization about the nature of their relationship and their driving force.

and it's here where i really put together what the actual consequence of saes spain trip was.

but before i get to that, i want to touch on the way bluelock as a series handles the concept of failure and motivation. because there are two seperate instances where a character has some sort of major event happen to them - whether that be a kind of betrayal or a massive failure and that drives their character to improve farther.

the first one being kunigami and his transformation as the hyena. the second and imo - the more important one, the relationship between reo and nagi.

to keep it brief - nagi essentially 'betrays' reo by choosing to go with isagi and separate himself from reo in order to improve. while nagi doesn't entirely understand it as a betrayal (because he still considers reo a close friend) it is indeed a crushing moment for reo - who makes it his goal and his ego to be a player that nagi can play with.

in laymans terms - it's betrayal of a pairing that provides character development and is often used to highlight the intense bonds between two people. to be motivated by someone instead of something can only speak to how much you value that person, and want to play with them, right?

and that's where i want to pick up with rin and sae.

there are so many details about this scene to nitpick. so many things i want to shed light on because i just find it so interesting when i look carefully. sae returns home while rin is practicing on the field, and rin is incredibly excited to see his brother.

but it's obvious both to us as the audience and to rin that sae has changed somehow.

you can just tell that sae looks exhausted, where as rin has the same same expression as he did four years ago.

there are so many things in this panel that i think are worth analyzing. the fact that rin notices that sae has lost weight as a marker of just how much sae has changed. what he's been through.

and more specifically what sae says in order to summarize his experiences in spain.

"turns out the world is huge. there're players way better than me out there. i..i've changed my dream."

now, my understanding of japanese is none so i can't compare this to the raws. but i want to discuss the phrasing here with a little more nuance - specifically, i want to talk about the way sae has phrased the sentence.

you'll notice that sae does not say "my dream has changed". he instead says "i've changed my dream." and i think this is a testament to what happened to him in the fours years he was abroad. sae wants it to seem like its a choice he's made, if only to convince rin that he's fine with it. it's obvious that sae likely experienced whats very common for characters in bluelock - which is the mortifying realization that he was practically nothing in comparison to his peers.

we know what the means for sae as individual, in that he was deeply discouraged by what he understood as reality. but what does that mean for sae as an older brother? particularly an older brother who dotes on his younger brother.

rin is very against the idea of sae playing as a midfielder, and tells sae to his face that he doesn't want to see sae like this. he recognizes that saes change is actually stemming from a sense of defeat, and is against the idea of sae giving up his dream. and you can see in saes expression that he's saddened at rins reaction - thought he might've predicted it to some extent.

he's insistent on the fact rin doesn't understand, but hearing rin say "you're not the same brother i shared a dream with...!" causes the façade to crack momentarily. in the minute that sae is covered in shadow, we see his approach to rin changing.

and i think it's here i realized what the sudden attitude change was about.

sae goes onto to challenge rin to a one on one duel. he tells rin, that if you're able to win against me here then ill continue to believe in that dream. he absolutely crushes rin in the match, and when that match is over - rin finally confesses it outright.

its this moment where it all finally clicked for me that saes response here was entirely intentional. and the reason i know that to be true, and that the way he talks to rin here is insincere is because of the way he hesitates.

we get an entire panel where sae simply stares at rin and is silent. this isn't a gut reaction. we intentionally get to see the briefest moment where sae is hesitating to say all of this cruel shit to rin. because he knows rin will never stop idolizing sae or hoping for that dream.

and you'll notice the way he's using this moment to drill something in rins head for later on. he says something explicitly i want to talk to about

"don't use me as your reason to play football ever again."

its this moment that confirms it for me. this, on top of the fact we don't get to see saes expression when he says the last part. he's turned away from rin entirely - when he had been facing rin for most of this conversation.

that's the thing, though. sae to some extent, is familiar with the cruelty that soccer on the international level has to offer. in the early part of the manga, you see him have a similar reaction to bluelock and egoism as a concept. sae is intrigued by it and supports its core tenets to some extent, because he's seen professional soccer at its most brutal.

when you think about it, what reason does sae have to be so intentionally cruel to rin about not wanting to play football? if he was really so indifferent to rin, what reason would there be to crush him to that extent? wouldn't the appropriate response be just that, indifference?

sae's disposition is never naturally cruel. but his whims and feelings adjust based on input. he plays soccer and thinks very heavily about his moves. so if his experiences is telling him that he is no longer fit to be a striker, then what does that make of the promise he made to the younger brother he adored.

all of that to say, i think sae wants rin to become a striker and wants to continue playing soccer with rin. but he believes that if rin remains attached to him the way he is - he will never reach his full potentional. and in order to bring that full potential out - he's willing to be the catalyst and subsequently the villain rins story.

i think all of it, and the intentional salt in the wound is a mechanism for rins development which sae achieves by the end of u20 almost.

[gachagon]

Anyways I think I've always wanted to write about why I like Kunigiri so much but tbh it's simply because they're partners who understand one another. And I am a sucker for the "Character A is acting all edgy and like a loner, but Character B knows they're full of shit" trope.

I eat it up every time idk something about it is kind of funny to me. And yeah I did write a oneshot where Chigiri pretty much tells Kunigami off for being all distant, but I also like that canonically when they have their little reunion Chigiri just continues to treat him like he's always treated him (because he knows Kunigami's full of shit lol)

Chigiri even looks a little annoyed that he really has to "play along" with Kunigami's new edgy persona. "Really? You're really about to try this with me now, too? You're not fooling me, dude." Everyone is treating Kunigami like he's a war veteran except for Chigiri and I find that to be so funny. Especially since Chigiri was the "mysterious loner with a dark past" in the first volume, and Kunigami was the one who was full of hope and happy ideals. Now their roles have completely reversed. I like to think Chigiri knows Kunigami is just acting this way out of a false sense of security because he used to act this way when he first got to Blue Lock.

[oliveraiku]

I think that despite and past the initial childish disappointment that Isagi wasn’t the one to score the victory goal, it does make sense that Yukimiya was the one to seal the deal.

Why? Three factors.

1. We saw it already with Barou AND Rin in the second selection and the U-20 match respectively, how good Isagi is at exploiting someone else’s strength (and luck) and turn it into an advantage for himself. Which in turn means that when Yukki refused to collaborate with Isagi, for a rational plan in order to score, it was a foreshadowing for the fact that despite his protagonism, Isagi would be using Yukimiya, exploiting his inferiority complex, his will to beat Isagi and prove him wrong, and his fear of being forgotten.

Even Ego, here in chapter 196, actually explains why it makes sense for Yukimiya to score the goal in those circumstances, but not in the others - because once again, this match isn’t about Yukki’s goal, but Isagi’s realisation of protagonism and how to use that of other’s.

2. Yukimiya has simply a better physical spectrum than Isagi. Isagi says it himself, that what he misses is not the insight - but the physical prowess to actually make justice to it (which is what I believe next chapters will be about, especially if the next match is against Barou’s team - which makes sense, so that Isagi and Kaiser can have the last match showdown with Shidou and Rin).

3. The fulcrum of his whole match was not the goals, but rather Isagi realising how Protagonism works and if Yukimiya, Reo, Nagi, Kunigami and Kaiser were not present in the same limited space it would have not been possible. Currently, these are the people that besides Rin and Barou, have a ‘personal’ hang-up on Isagi, and his prowess, and therefore challenge him as a player the most. The Bastard Munchen VS Manchester is not about winning, but showing how Isagi, once again, acknowledges that despite having an edge on others he cannot push it, because he’s still lacking something, he is still evolving. In a twisted sense, this was about Isagi showing that even if Yukimiya is the one to score, he is still on Isagi’s palm, and that his protagonism does not stop at scoring (making himself memorable, which is the core of Yukki’s), but instead it goes over the single action performance. The whole match is Isagi’s playground.

And he’ll make sure to devour everyone on it.

[thyandrawrites]

Rereading bllk made me realize Reo and Nagi's dynamic encapsulates a lot of the themes of the story, and their conflict perfectly shows the clash between wanting to be good at soccer cause it's fun, and nurturing one's ego to become the best striker in the world.

Interestingly, Reo starts off as the one chasing the latter and Nagi the former, but their first loss in blue lock flips their positions around. Reo can't progress to a point where he devours his opponents in the 3v3 match because he's stuck playing a soccer that is meant to be fun, that plays by established rules. His role in the field is to balance out Chigiri and Kunigami's egos instead of chasing his own goals, just like how he relied on passing to Nagi to score in a pinch.

Reo is a team player, mostly setting up goals with his passes. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, per se. Controlling the field in such a way is a skill that he shares with Niko, but as Niko's loss also shows, limiting yourself to assisting someone else's goals is a losing strategy in blue lock, where one awakening can turn the scores upside down in a matter of minutes. Yet, Reo plays it safe because up till then his ideal of soccer is driven by the promise he made to Nagi. Winning together. Becoming the best together. His one objective throughout the match isn't being the best in the field, or even winning the match, but simply winning Nagi back. His ego cannot grow because he becomes complacent in what used to work for them.

As Ego puts it, Reo refuses to face reality and chases his dream for the sake of chasing it, refusing to admit to his shortcomings and thus entering a mindset where he can grow from his loss.

And Nagi calls this out.

Nagi, who used to think he'd quit playing if he wasn't good enough to win, instead ends up growing through a loss. The only soccer he knew until then was the one he played with Reo, but he's able to face that it wasn't enough to win. Thus, he chooses to advance alone, recognizing that what he lacks to become best in the world and crown their promise is not a lack of teamwork, but a lack of ego. Nagi lost to Isagi on a 1v1 before than the match as a whole. So he chooses him because Isagi demonstrated his willingness to chase after monsters to devour and better his plays, aka the drive Nagi lacked, but also the drive that is at the heart of true egoism. While Isagi would not give up in the face of likely loss and instead made an awakening happen, Reo, despite being equally driven, ends up falling behind. And that's, I think, because Reo gets so stubborn about not letting go of the idea of soccer he had before joining blue lock. The soccer that had himself and Nagi as its core, the soccer that didn't need anything else to be effective (not Kuon's subterfuge, not Isagi's direct shot, just the two of them as they are):

But, and here's where it gets interesting, Nagi, the unmotivated slacker, evolves, and Reo, the driven one, does not. Why's that?

One could say it's because Reo's a sheltered rich boy who never encountered a challenge in his life, and is not equipped for it. That could be true, I suppose. It definitely plays a role, just like how new soccer is to him in general. But it's also a matter of themes!

What Reo doesn't account for is that what worked against weaker teams won't work against team Z, who is the bottom of the barrel, and basically starving. They're willing to take themselves apart and rebuild anew just to remain in the running, and that makes them better candidates for Ego's goals. Nagi is able to recognize this, at least to an extent. He instinctively gravitated towards Isagi, the player whose hunger is arguably the strongest, and who thus is the most driven to break and rebuild himself anew in every match.

Reo, on the other hand, is more businessman-like. He asses individual strengths and drives them out with his passes and his machinations. That's how he can capitalize on less strategic players like Nagi and Zantetsu, while simultaneously being the driving force of team V. At the same time, that's also why he doesn't see Isagi's weapons for what they are, at first, while Nagi does. Since Isagi is still failing to be consistent, Reo sees a mediocre player who can only shoot, but is lacking in every other department. Nagi, who is much more reliant on trusting his guts, sees the guy who predicted where the ball would go and preceded him there, and realizes Isagi's true assets. That is, the ability to create your own scoring possibility, even though at that point it was still in its larval state.

To Nagi, who until then only played by receiving passes and following his inspiration, Isagi is the puzzle piece he's lacking. Reo's playstyle is different because they've never faced an opponent they couldn't beat together. In that sense, Reo can't teach Nagi that hunger that drives his plays, only Isagi can. To Reo, Nagi is already a treasure as he is. But Nagi's ego sparked to life, and he has questions that Reo can't answer. So he follows Isagi instead, in an effort to answer them.

Misunderstandings enter the chat. Chaos ensues.

Keeping all that in mind, when Reo then accuses Nagi of having changed, it opens the floodgates. Of course, it's true that Nagi did. He evolved, and that's plain for everyone to see. But, and this is equally important, Reo did not. Reo remained the same, to a fault. In fact, he's preaching remaining the same as a virtue that Nagi's pissing on.

So then when Nagi retorts that "the one who's forgetting our promise is you", I think he's saying that Reo is not actively trying to become the best anymore, but only seeking a soccer that is "fun". A soccer like the stuff that worked for them pre-blue lock, pre this mass of starved egoists. But they already played that way, and lost to team Z, to Isagi. They stopped being the best in their stratum.

During the 3v3, Reo begins to understand the reason why Isagi is a good player, and his frustration grows the more the march goes on. But he's powerless to stop them from winning, and then he refuses to accept the loss, griping at Nagi for discarding him again. In other words, instead of using that frustration as fuel to spark an awakening, Reo let himself crash into that wall, and then still asked to advance not because of his skills on the field, but simply on accounts of what he'd contribute to the team. He doesn't believe in his own ego, but relies on being chosen. Unlike Chigiri, who evolved to face the challenge, Reo and Kunigami were regular players, and that's why they get left behind. For the same reason, they both grow as characters when they start incorporating egoism into their playstyles. Reo becomes a chameleon, Kunigami a cannon.

But in this moment? All Nagi sees is a Reo who is fine being average. Comparing that to their dream, he blows up at him for letting that be the end of his line, for implicitly going back on the promise to show Nagi a 'life more enthralling than any nap or game'. They didn't even beat the best players in blue lock, so how can Reo speak of being the best in the world?

Of course, to Reo, it's Nagi who betrayed it first by advancing without him. He always assumed they would cross that finish line together. But the story tells us, this is the mark between a "lump of talent" and someone who can aim at being the best striker. The latter makes his own plays, and doesn't rely on others to create his opening; but an average player is someone who hangs on to dreams without putting in the effort to challenge oneself, even after a defeat.

Reo "lost" to Isagi not because he's unskilled, as he surmised, but simply because he didn't cultivate that hunger. Until now. But this moment, this loss, is what sparks his ego in turn.

And thus, the series tells us, do you have what it takes to keep evolving, devouring other people's play styles and incorporating them in your own, or will you cower, collecting only broken dreams?

[cactusjuiceisquenchy]

This guy said kageyama has no ego unlike the blue lock boys and that is a fundamental misrepresentation of his character. It’s actually really interesting to look at how both series tackle the idea of ego.

[selenestarmoon]

Ruby Rose and Michael Kaiser: Two Growing Roses

I don't know about you but Kaiser shares things in common with Ruby and in a way Kaiser is what Ruby would have been if she hadn't received love from her family and friends in her life.

I'm quite aware that many think that Ruby is more like Kunigami and Kaiser is more like Mercury and Cinder but as I watched their arcs I couldn't help but notice how they are more similar than it seems and that's because Ruby and Kaiser are the same person under different circumstances.

To begin with, Ruby and Kaiser's struggle is rooted in their respective relationships with their families. To begin with, they had to deal with enormous pain at a very young age caused by the disappearance of their mothers:

On the one hand Ruby was raised in an unstable family environment where her mother went on a mission and never returned which caused her family to break down: her father Tai was consumed by depression, Yang had to be a surrogate mother for Ruby although she was also a girl who suffers from the abandonment of Raven, and Qrow, despite being the most stable figure for Ruby, he already had a history of having a semblance of bad luck that he cannot control and that he comes from a family of bandits but Summer's disappearance was the straw that broke the camel's back and he ended up sinking into alcoholism but despite everything all of them continued to love Ruby and tried to do everything possible to stay together as a family.

On the other hand, Kaiser grew up in a completely broken family: his father was a film director and his mother was a famous actress, they both fell in love and Kaiser was born as a result of that relationship, but his mother abandons them to continue with her acting career and his father is so submerged by pain to the point that he becomes an alcoholic, loses his prestige as a director and vents all his anger and pain on his son to the point of telling him that himself (Kaiser's father) and Kaiser's mother are worth less but that Kaiser doesn't even have value.

Both situations are quite different but the effect it caused on both is practically the same: Ruby and Kaiser see themselves as a burden and want to compensate their existence by being special.

Ruby witnesses her suffering from the loss of her mother, which is why she ends up seeing herself as a burden and wanting to be a copy of her mother, not only because she admires her and wants to emulate her to feel that somehow Summer still alive, but she also empathizes with her family and wants to ease the pain they have from losing Summer.

Kaiser sees himself as less than human and witnessing violence and insults throughout his childhood which makes him unable Kaiser is unable to empathize with others, interacts with people through violenceand ends up believing that in order to feel that he is valuable and not a burden he has to take away the value of others.

Even the mere fact that they both look like their mothers only makes them both view their own existence as less: Ruby feels like she has to be Summer's copy to make up for her lack but knows she can never replace her. Because of the way Kaiser's father treated him, Kaiser subconsciously internalizes that he can never be a human (in other words he can never make up for his mother's absence or be loved by his father) because to his own father Kaiser is worth less than himself (Kaiser's father) and his mother (and there are even indications that Kaiser's father probably hated him because of the resemblance Kaiser has to his mother and that made him remember her and increased his pain for abandoning him after having Kaiser).

They have rose motifs and the reason is because of their mothers: Summer left her rose emblem as a symbol of love for her daughters, Kaiser's mother abandoned him and his father and the only thing she left behind was a blue rose that Kaiser's father keeps it as a souvenir of her, becoming a reminder of lack of love.

As I said before, Ruby and Kaiser have rose motifs only that Ruby's motifs focus on the petals and Kaiser's motifs focus on the thorns, this shows that despite being opposites they still have similarities between them just like the petals and thorns are different parts of the rose but they are still parts of the same flower.

Also the fact that their rose motifs are different is because Ruby received love which makes her develop kindness while Kaiser only received hate which makes him develop his malice. This shaped the way they both seek to compensate for their existence:

Ruby compensate her existence by being the huntress who helps and protects everyone with her kindness.

Kaiser compensate his existence by being a striker who crushes his enemies on the field with his malice.

The way in which they both want to compensate or give meaning to their existence is through something that they were passionate about since their childhood: Ruby always listened to fairy tales, stories of Summer and the stories of other hunters in general and the only good thing that Kaiser had in his childhood was his soccer ball that bought himself.

Ruby and Kaiser get their chance to continue their quest to compensate for their existence after they got into trouble and they are detained for that: Ruby stopping Roman from robbing a dust store and Glynda helps her but immediately afterwards takes her to an interrogation room for acting without being a licensed hunter and Kaiser being framed for a crime he didn't commit, beating his father for trying to protect his precious soccer ball and the police and being arrested for it.

After Ruby and Kaiser are detained, an adult (Ozpin/Ray Dark) comes to recruit them when they realizes that they have talent for their respective areas (huntress and silver eyed warrior/footballer and striker). Ruby and Kaiser take the opportunity and join them and although at first they have trouble adapting to their teammates, they eventually manage to become outstanding huntress/footballer who manage to inspire them. Only while Ruby inspires them with her skill as a leader and her optimism, Kaiser does so through his skill as a striker and manipulation.

Part of the reason they have managed to be so prominent in their respective fields is because they have proven capable of being resourceful and cunning, even more than people give them credit for: Ruby is always seen as a naive and enthusiastic girl, but she has managed to make her enemies lower their guard and attack them when they least expect it and Kaiser not only manipulates people off the field, but is able to think and create solid plays when playing his matches.

However, Ruby and Kaiser share their obsession with being the best in their respective areas to the point of becoming symbols because that way they don't have to deal with their trauma and even refuse to talk about it with those closest to them. Ruby is so busy saving others that she doesn't have time to think about her own trauma, Kaiser takes too much delight in being the best striker on his team that he pushes aside any thoughts about his own trauma. Neither of them thinks about it because both Ruby and Kaiser see themselves as worthless to the point that not only do they feel they have to prove that they are not a burden, but they both believe that their own traumas are not important because Ruby and Kaiser deep down doesn't believe that themselves are important.

Ruby and Kaiser have a belief in “making the impossible happen”, Ruby really believes that she should keep fighting even if winning is impossible, she believes that she and her friends can stop Salem and change Remnant for the better, Kaiser really believes that if he was able to escape from his abusive home that seemed impossible, he can achieve anything he sets his mind to. However, Ruby and Kaiser take this belief to extremes due to their respective traumas, which prevents them from having true growth: Ruby truly believes that she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and that she has to solve everyone's problems, Kaiser never believed in himself to the point that he needs to feel that others are inferior to him in order to feel special.

All of the above makes both characters want to become symbols (after all there is nothing better to represent the impossible than a symbol), only they don't understand that being symbols isn't about Ruby redeeming the world with her hope or Kaiser destroying the hope of others; it's about Ruby and Kaiser learning to live in a world that wants to crush hope with their hope still intact.

Ruby and Kaiser believe that symbols are loved by everyone and that symbols don't feel pain but always move forward but Ruby and Kaiser forget that they are still human so seeing themselves as symbols that don't feel pain is not a healthy coping mechanism and as their respective stories progress these coping mechanisms stop being viable and they are forced to take the first step to grow which is to accept their humanity (accept their trauma to be able to face it, accept that they are humans who suffer and they fail like anyone else but don't let themselves be defined by said suffering or failures, be more independent, trust others more and ask for their help, etc.) because if they don't do so they will not advance.

Even in their closest relationships there are subtle evidences and consequences of that stagnation, Ruby feels that she owes it to Yang to be the perfect little sister and leader, Kaiser always receives assistance from Ness and depends on his passes to score goals (Ness and Yang are also dependent on Kaiser and Ruby: Yang sees Ruby as the younger sister who needs protection, Ness sees Kaiser as a symbol of the magic he wants to see but doesn't know him for who he really is, Ruby and Kaiser on the other hand don't understand that they are already enough for Yang and Ness, so I I think that both Kaiser and Ness and Ruby and Yang have to be more independent from each other so that their bond is healthier and stronger).

Their abilities as well as their roses motif show evidence of this stagnation too. Ruby rushes to be the perfect hunter by using her semblance to help others quickly, but she can scatter and lose herself. On the other hand, Kaiser is so focused on crushing his opponents with his thorned goals that he doesn't realize that he could become crushed by his own thorns.

But part of those first steps that they need to take to begin to evolve begin with a process of destruction

and rebirth.

Part of that rebirth is that both have to redefine the meaning of their rose motifs: Ruby and Kaiser must convert the meaning of the rose (a mother's promise/a mother's abandonment, being in the end a reminder of the pain left by the departures of both women in the lives of Ruby and Kaiser) and give them a new meaning, converting them from the symbol of their mothers to their own symbols, the roses go from being a symbol of loss to a symbol of hope. Ruby transforms her mother's rose symbol into a symbol of “achieving the impossible” not only for her family, friends and the people of Remnant but also for herself by inspiring everyone to have hope, Kaiser is finally able to stand up, regain his hope and turn the game in his favor with his “Impact Kaiser Magnum” move, a move that was considered impossible in the circumstances in which he found himself.

Ruby Rose stops being Summer Rose 2.0, remembers who she is and takes the first steps to recognize herself as her own person, Kaiser goes from being the prodigy of Bastard Munchen, remembers who he was and that drives him to take the first steps to define himself not because of his status but as his own person.

Curiously, both had to reconnect with their inner child in order to move forward and take these first steps towards their evolution: Ruby connects with Little (who represents her inner child) who is vital for her development in volume 9, Kaiser remembers his self as a child and this becomes key to his growth in the match against PXG.

And even both of them have a rivalry with someone who are considered high-level strategists who have enormous resentment towards our roses for different reasons:

Although Isagi has more valid reasons for being upset with Kaiser than Cinder being upset with Ruby but that still doesn't take away from the fact that part of the reason Ruby and Kaiser go through their breakdowns and development arcs is because of the actions of Cinder and Isagi.

Cinder hates Ruby for hurting her with her silver eyes (optimism), but I'm sure that later Ruby along with other characters will save and inspire Cinder to change.

Isagi on the other hand clearly hates Kaiser for the way he treats him (malice) but also sees Kaiser as the type of soccer player he aspires to be and is inspired by his plays to improve his own.

Our roses' journey is not over yet, but considering how their arcs are similar despite their differences, I am excited to see how they will end and I am very sure that there will be more similarities and contrast between the two.

[ddelline]

read one too many lazy reddit takes on bllk characters' irl counterparts and now I'm writing multipage meta

how I get anything done in real life when I'm so chronically online and so actually autistic I don't know

anyway. some of that meta:

→ nagi and reo 🔁 raúl and guti highlights raúl | guti look. I respect and see the nagi/bergkamp vision, it's accurate in several aspects. but nagireo are a package deal. and an all time GOAT who came part and parcel with another player is los blancos legacy player and la liga legend raúl, whose goal stats rank 3rd highest in real history, 6th highest in la liga history, and whose football iq, vision & creativity and near-divinely blessed first touch made him one of the best to ever play the game (this is a good writeup) his ride-or-die, guti, may have been spotty at best (downright messy at worst) but tbf that's also why he works so well as inspiration for reo. when he was good, he was incredible; the vision and creativity he could produce was unrivalled when he was on it. and that was ninety nine percent in tandem with raúl (who made everyone better just by proxy) note that this does not take into account nagi's lazy genius-characterization; raúl wore the armband for RM for 11 years for a reason. eh. we're early in canon, or something

gonna slink back to whence I came now before I manage to dump a PhD thesis on main (well, I kinda will at some point, but u know) anyway I'm mostly excited that I get to look up highlight reels and analyze players I haven't watched in so long 🥲 all for the sake of a recent onset of bllk & kunigiri brain rot

[chilled-ice-cubes]

blue lock has its flaws but i respect kaneshiro for the critique of collectivism he’s putting out through his edgy gay football manga. i think there’s something personal behind all the moments where the characters think about how they’ve had to sacrifice their dreams for the benefit of the majority....like, not saying it’s perfect and he could’ve chosen something more appropriate than a group sports setting as his backdrop, but it clearly has a lot of heart behind it.

this is one of the reasons i eyeroll a bit at people saying blue lock shits on the sports manga genre or something—i wouldn’t call it a deconstruction, per se, but it has a completely different goal than something like haikyuu does and that’s okay! it’s fun to have stories that have utterly opposite approaches to a genre. blue lock can be antagonistic about established tropes sometimes but it’s still taking inspiration from older sports manga and is not really the bogeyman some people make it out to be.

[boinin]

Broken Hero: Kunigami's journey in the Neo Egoist League

Overanalysing one edgy orange

0. Background and references

This weekend, I read an excellent analysis on Kunigami on Reddit (it spawns things other than fraud allegations and thirst posts sometimes)... and I was not OK as a result.

I'd been building up to writing an analysis of Kunigami's character for some time, and when the hyperfocus kicked in, it kicked in hard.

Come with me to explore how Kunigami's character arc and journey may pan out within the Neo Egoist League. Manga spoilers throughout, including up to the latest chapters (226 at time of writing).

I'd highly recommend reading StarBurstero's analysis (and their other work!) as this piece heavily draws on the points they raise.

All manga panels are sourced from the official translations, due to the possibility of nuance and foreshadowing that may not arise in scanlations.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis, on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. (Straight up plagiarism isn't.)

Pre-Wildcard Kunigami: a wannabe hero

Kunigami has his grumpier moments in the first selection (see: him yeeting Bachira, or breaking up fights), but all in all he's a stand up guy. That's clear from his interaction with Isagi in the cafeteria, where they both share his goal-point steak.

Another character defining moment for him takes place after Team Z's victory against Team V. Kunigami doesn't support Kuon's actions, but he is willing to forgive him now that all has been settled. Raichi is decidedly less forgiving. But Kunigami lingers, and helps a bloodied Kuon to his feet. The choice of dialogue is interesting.

We'll advance together. We know this won't be the case. Both Kuon and Kunigami fail in the second selection, and Kunigami is the sole participant that leaves Wild Card.

But nevertheless, this exchange showcases Kunigami's core attitude. He sees the best in people. He values teamwork and unity, even if he shows egotism in relation to his own goals. He's someone that helps others.

2. What canon information do we have on Wild Card?

...just crumbs. Information on Wild Card has been intentionally vague, with only Ego, Kunigami, and possibly Noa knowing what happened.

Ego simply calls it a secondary route for the losers, and doesn't specify whether there were any entry requirements. The pile of bodies and the attention given to hands suggests two things.

Firstly, contrary to my own assumptions, Wild Card was likely open to all participants eliminated during the second selection. Ego threw the losers a bone, despite having a very specific outcome in mind. The vast majority wouldn't have had a hope of meeting the criteria.

Is that cruel? Maybe. But it's consistent with Ego's attitude towards "lumps of talent". He admitted both Chigiri and Isagi into Blue Lock despite their lacklustre performances in high school, on the basis that the programme might bring forth their sealed egos. He was proven correct.

The focus on hands, other than being creepy, hints at ambidexterity being a key deciding factor in the Wild Card programme. Kunigami confirms this above, in a panel from chapter 213.

Kunigami himself refers to Wild Card as a survival battle, where participants had to match Noa's physical specs number for number. He implicitly confirms that he himself got the closest to Noel Noa's physical abilities, thus winning Wild Card.

3. Kunigami's mindset

We're all Isagi in the bottom corner of that last panel, wanting to know more. But Kunigami has yet to elaborate.

In the Reddit post I linked, StarBurstero theorises what's going through Kunigami's angsty little head: becoming the best striker. Not a midfielder, not a false nine - a striker, and only that. The author proposes that, having had to crush and eliminate everyone in Wild Card, Kunigami has limited empathy for those such as Isagi and Kurona, who are remoulding themselves into other roles to fit into Bastard Munchen.

This tallies with how Noa sees himself, in explaining the distinction between him (the world's best striker), and Snuffy (the world's best player) in chapter 223.

As a player Isagi is closer to Snuffy, in terms of his ability and willingness to adapt, than he is to Noa. Isagi is willing to do whatever it takes to participate in the Neo Egoist League, even if this means providing assists or playing in midfield. But he still maintains his dream of playing as a striker.

As different as Kunigami and Isagi are on the surface, they share a dream. Both want to be the best strikers in the world. In that, they're a lot more similar than the fandom give them credit for.

But the conditions of the Neo-Egoist League pose a stumbling block.

There are limited forward positions, not only in Bastard Munchen, but on the national team itself. To nab a starting position for the U20 World Cup, the characters have only two choices: outshine everyone else playing as a forward, or forsake their dream by assuming a different position. They must choose wisely.

4. Resolve versus adaptability: the Bastard Munchen test

Thematically, Isagi and Kunigami are reflections of one another. They are each others "what ifs?" in a sense.

Heroes in the first selection, both Isagi and Kunigami faced elimination in the 2v2 stage of the second selection; Isagi survived, while Kunigami lost. Isagi emerged as the hero of Blue Lock, following the U20 Japan match. At the same time, Kunigami battled to become the "hero" of Wild Card.

Eventually Kunigami joined Bastard Munchen, alongside Isagi. But they're not co-operative teammates as they were before. They're rivals, battling against one another for the role of striker on this team.

Theirs is a quiet competition, secondary to Isagi and Kaiser's more hostile conflict. But I believe there's thematic significance to their rivalry. For this reason, it's interesting to trace their dynamic over time.

Isagi considered himself outclassed by Kunigami in the first selection. Back then, Kunigami didn't the same "goal sense" that Isagi had. He wasn't particularly technical as a player. He relied on passes and his physicality to get the ball and score goals, using his strength to reliably score from a distance. He's still extremely impressive, in Isagi's eyes.

As Isagi sees it, Kunigami's key attribute is his resolve. He trains hard to maintain his physique. He has a clear vision of who he is, and what kind of footballer he wants to be. At the same point in the story, Isagi lacks this. Even at the start of the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi struggles to articulate what his ideal form is as a player, which Noa calls him out on.

It's understandable that Isagi struggles to formulate what his ideal is, because Isagi's genius lies in his adaptability. Throughout the manga, Isagi has been placed into situations that are chaotic, novel and difficult. His approach to football and his abilities have been challenged in every match, and he's been forced to rebuild himself over and over again.

This is what makes Isagi exceptional, in addition to his incredible eyesight and football sense. He's constantly evolving, constantly coming up with ways to beat his competition. No wonder he can't settle on an ideal, when he's been forced to change constantly. All he's certain of is his desire to play as a striker.

5. Chasing strikers: Isagi's journey

Isagi's problem is that he's never been the best striker in Blue Lock. It's his dream to play as one, but purely in terms of his ability to convert opportunities into goals, Isagi is outclassed by a number of players. Rin. Nagi. Shidou. Arguably Barou.

When these players receive the ball near the goal, their ability to put it through the goalposts is simply better than Isagi's. They have the physique, the strength, or the technical skill to outmanoeuvre whatever obstacles are in the way. This is also true of Kaiser: both have metavision, but Kaiser is far better at scoring, as Isagi himself admits. Kaiser is another prodigy, like Nagi or Sae.

Kunigami is also better at securing goals than Isagi is. However, he's not a prodigy, and he lacks Isagi's insane playmaking ability. Nor does he have Ness, Kurona or Yukimiya on his side. Nobody on the team has a reason to support Kunigami or his goal-scoring competence. Least of all, Isagi: his rival for the position of striker in Bastard Munchen, and his antithesis in a sense.

While Isagi assisted Kunigami in the Barcha match, he does so to stay relevant, after Noa threatens to bench them both.

In the Manshine match, Kunigami poaches Isagi's goal attempt. As furious as Isagi is in this moment, it's not obvious that Isagi's shot would have gone in by itself. He targeted the corner of the goal, but the trajectory appears to veer up and left, beyond the goal.

Kaiser alludes to the shot's inaccuracy, and Isagi acknowledges his shortcomings after the match ends. While his eyesight is his "god given gift", he realises that he lacks the physical ability to make his foresight a reality, per this conversation with Hiori.

Who else does he approach?

While he has the wrong idea (seeking Kunigami's advice on becoming ambidextrous), Isagi's dialogue is on the nose.

Kunigami has what Isagi lacks: the physique and ability needed to consistently score goals. Halfway through the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi realises that to secure a position as a forward, he needs to emulate Kunigami in some way. His hard training pays off: his ranking jumps six points between the Manshine and Ubers matches.

Kunigami is a mirror that Isagi looks into and learns from. And like a morphing reflection, their positions are starting to reverse. While Kunigami performed better initially in the Neo-Egoist League, both in training and in the Barcha match, now Isagi is coming to the fore as the strongest Blue Lock player in Bastard Munchen. His performance in Manshine was incredible. His playmaking in the Ubers match so far surpasses it.

If they are intended to be mirrors, then what can Kunigami learn from his reflection: Isagi?

6. Inert hero: Kunigami's arc

Analysing Isagi is straightforward. We have access to his thoughts and development, all the way through Blue Lock. The same can't be said for Kunigami, whose POV was shown rarely during the first and second selection, but not once since his return in Chapter 155.

There's still conclusions we can draw, despite leaning into extrapolation territory.

Kunigami has always trained hard. The Volume 3 omake (Team Z's schedule) alludes to the guy spending every hour he can in the gym.

While Kunigami entered Blue Lock at a higher level than arguably anyone in Team Z, he stagnated as his teammates rapidly developed. He doesn't have a documented awakening, unlike the other Egoist Four characters. The single moment of progression shown was his first goal against Team V, but this was more Kunigami challenging his limits than truly evolving.

My theory is that this goes back to his key attribute: resolve. His formula of working hard and playing consistently has worked so far. Why change?

Other characters like Isagi experienced failures and setbacks prior to and during Blue Lock, but we don't see Kunigami experience anything similar until the second selection.

It's unfortunate that he only experiences a first setback in losing to Team White. Had a moment of failure taken place earlier, the second selection may have played out differently for Kunigami. As it was, this segment of Blue Lock was not forgiving of mistakes. Only players who could adapt and evolve, devour and be devoured, made it to the third selection.

Kunigami just didn't have that adaptability. It's contrary to his nature of working hard, consistently and fairly.

Shidou remarks on Kunigami's resolute nature explicitly after their 2v2 match. It's why he chooses Reo over Kunigami.

Analysis often focuses on Shidou's criticism of Kunigami's heroic idealism, given that Kunigami goes on to reject this himself. But the second point Shidou makes is more important. He's really critiquing Kunigami's inability to adapt and react, not his strength or his motivation. But Kunigami seemingly only internalises the first part.

Failure in the second selection made Kunigami discard heroism as his motivation, in addition to the conditioning forced on him in Wild Card. But Kunigami continues to struggle, even after leaving his so-called naivety in hell.

He came out of Wild Card stronger, faster, and more competent at scoring. It's still not enough to out-do Kaiser and impress Noa in the Barcha match.

If Kunigami took Shidou's words to heart, he might consider his success in Wild Card proof that he can break himself down and be rebuilt. At a minimum, we can speculate that Wild Card consisted of the participants being deconstructed piece by piece, egos eroded and replaced with a drive to become Noel Noa's "vessel".

But in truth, Kunigami already had a lot of the traits needed to become Noa's copycat. Other than developing ambidexterity and packing on even more muscle, the "breaking down" that took place was really the overwriting of his idealism with that of Noa's.

When Ego considers the ways participants may succeed in the Neo-Egoist League, both Isagi and Kunigami are pictured. At the present stage in the manga, Isagi seems to be the fish adapting to his environment and thriving - slowly dyeing the fabric of Bastard Munchen to suit his playstyle.

Kunigami is the one suffocating, unable to breath in this claustrophobic environment.

His core issue - his lack of adaptability - persists. He is unwilling to consider being anything else than a pure striker. In the Neo-Egoist League to date, he has failed to make chemical reactions with anyone.

If Isagi is a universal catalyst, Kunigami is inert. For now.

7. Hero rebuilt: Kunigami, secondary protagonist

Kunigami is an important part of the Neo-Egoist League arc. Not only is he a returning character, but a significant parallel to Isagi. It's no coincidence that they are presented together in many of the panels relating to the arc as a whole.

There's a lot of symbolism in Blue Lock. The panel announcing the Neo-Egoist League establishes Isagi and Kunigami as dual protagonists, with Kaiser as the primary antagonist. The end of the Barcha match really reinforces the idea that these characters are the main heroes within Bastard Munchen.

Isagi has been on a learning journey from the beginning of this arc, starting with his underdog struggle against Kaiser. If Kunigami's journey is a mirror of Isagi's, then we can expect him to encounter his most difficult hurdle later in the arc, leading to an epiphany about his playstyle. At this point, it's fair to conclude this will happen in Bastard Munchen's match against Paris X Gen.

These are my outstanding questions about Kunigami's journey, which I believe the manga must eventually address:

What will be Kunigami's darkest hour: the low point where he realises he must change or die (metaphorically)?

When he overcomes this moment and emerges stronger, like a phoenix - what will Kunigami's true ego be? Will he return to his original heroism, or strike a balance between his past and present selves? Hero and Wild Card, accepting both?

I'm not going to delve much into Question 2. Hero, Wild Card, Dark Horse, Phoenix - all of these could work as a manifestation of Kunigami's ego. The only thing I can say with confidence is that his ego will manifest. This has been the case for each of the other Egoist Four characters (although Isagi's true ego remains in flux). Personally, I'd like to see an ego manifestation that reconciles the personas of pre- and post-Wild Card Kunigami. I trust the writer and mangaka will serve on that front when the time comes.

On question 1, the fandom (and myself) are hyped for a particular reunion. It's hard to imagine a better catalyst for Kunigami's change than the person that sent him to Wild Card in the first place: a literal demon, the manifestation of Kunigami's internal woes.

Shidou is the opposite of Kunigami in many ways, when they encounter each other in the second selection. Although both are strong with imposing physical abilities, Shidou is chaotic while Kunigami is lawful; Shidou abhors dull players, the ones that cannot spark "explosions", while Kunigami sees Shidou as a violent psychopath. Shidou has no qualms in crushing weaker players. Kunigami defends them, regardless of their nature.

But Kunigami has changed greatly since their last encounter. He and Shidou have more in common than before. In Wild Card, Kunigami had to learn how to crush the weak, despite his inclination to advance together. He's had to become more aloof, more violent even, to survive in Wild Card and in the Neo Egoist League. He's more resolute in becoming the world's best striker than ever.

But Kunigami still doesn't know how to explode. He doesn't have chemical reactions with other players. The part of him that valued teamwork died in Wild Card. Compare this to Shidou, who thrives off what he calls explosions. He adores Sae, because their chemistry on the field made Shidou soar. Sae unleashes Shidou's inner dragon.

I believe in facing Shidou, who will form reactions with his supportive teammates, Kunigami will come to realise that he cannot overcome his demons without assistance from outside. He'll realise his heroism was never the issue: it was his lack of adaptability. To overcome Shidou, Kunigami will need a catalyst to create a chemical reaction.

Luckily, Bastard Munchen has the one person capable of reacting with anyone: the embodiment of adaptability. Who better to set the true Kunigami free than his idealogical mirror? The one person who, thematically, has been by his side since the start?

A link-up between Isagi and Kunigami - dual protagonists, reflections of one another - would be an amazing way to round off both Isagi and Kunigami's journeys in the Neo Egoist League. Even better if the final goal against Paris X Gen is the result of their genuine teamwork - mirroring their resentful co-operation during the Barcha match.

I'm manifesting this and I hope you might too. If for no other reason because... can you imagine the look on Kaiser's face if this happens?

Absolute gold.

---

If you read to the end, thank you! I'd love to hear my fellow nerds thoughts on this and Kunigami generally.

Further reading: short analysis of Kunigami's effectiveness on the pitch up to chapter 232.

[just-some-sorta-person]

Reo's Impact on Nagi

Episode Nagi opens with the statement that a prodigy like Nagi "can never come into being on its own. the one who discovers them first traces their outline". So, how does Reo trace Nagi's outline as a soccer prodigy? I'll focus on the Light Novel first, because it gives us an idea of what Nagi was like before he met Reo.

Until We Met

In the Light novel, there are 2 aspects of sports addressed in terms of why Nagi is currently unable to realize his potential. There's the internal drive to win, and then there's the emotions that spur on that internal drive

It’s happy to win, but it's frustrating to lose. Nagi's overwhelming potential kept him away from these feelings, which is natural for people who play sports.

Nagi's talent prevents him from experiencing the frustration necessary to enjoy accomplishment, because everything is too easy. This is addressed once he plays team Z in Blue Lock, where he first loses after giving his all. It's clear then, why he currently lacks this aspect. What about the internal drive that gets you to give your all in the first place then?

(What are they trying so hard for?)...What’s the point of competing with someone else? Trying to fight, looking up to others, wanting your own value. Human beings are strange. Just being alive is fine. They want to compete with each other, one-up each other, and think that “I'm a special chosen one.”…… But he thinks that wanting to be "special" and working hard proves that you are not "special" at all. That's because you have no talent from the beginning...…… “Fuwah……” (*yawn*) He’s not interested in competition. Because no one would be interested in him like that…… Why is he even thinking about this? Well, He’s fine as long as he can live comfortably. What a pain.

Nagi connects effort and competition with "wanting your own value", and thinks that wanting to be valuable/"special" is evidence that you aren't - ie, that value is inherent and instantly recognizable.

Here we can remember that Nagi doesn't recognize his own potential. He doesn't value himself much either, or life in general, calling it a pain, not eating properly and wanting to do as little as possible. He seems to have given up, claiming to be fine when he's tired of living, and buying a cactus under the pretense of maintaining communication skills when he's really just lonely.

And since Nagi doesn't recognize his value, he must think that he can't possibly have it.

Nagi then expresses a lack of interest in competition, ie, wanting to be valuable, because "no one would be interested in him like that". That last sentence is interesting because there's a line or two of logic missing. What does other people's interest have to do with wanting to be valuable? Does it stem from a secret hope that if he did make an effort to prove his value, he could no longer be so lonely? That maybe one person could like him?

After the volleyball game where Nagi helped his team win, we can see Nagi express his loneliness before resolving to try even less than before

"Ah…… I'm tired…… Somebody give me a piggyback ride……" The tiny monologue fades away without being heard by anyone. (It took longer to win than expected…… Next year, I'll just stand still for real……)

You can probably tell where I'm going with this, because someone comes into Nagi's life that doesn't just think he's valuable, but calls him his "treasure"

Meeting Reo

Even if people don't interest him, if they've gone this far, even someone like Nagi will look at Reo. Something's making him so happy that his eyes are sparkling. Something's making him fired up... is it me?

When Reo looks to Nagi with "sparkling" eyes, the first thing Nagi does is wonder, "Is it me?". In other words, "Am I valuable to this person?" . He's in disbelief (think: his surprise when Reo says he likes hanging out with him) because this completely contradicts how he'd been thinking and living his life up till now. If this person sees value in Nagi, then value isn't instantly recognizable. Even if Nagi himself doesn't see it, there might be value in him to uncover.

All his life, others have never been interested in him, but he's also never been interested in others. Even his cactus, Choki, doesn't talk to him either. "Let's play soccer!" Nope, don't wanna. It's a pain. Nagi Seishiro, his dream for the future is to live a lazy life. That day that he would be fired up will never come. Not until he met Mikage Reo.

Even so, a glimpse of sparkling eyes isn't enough to fix years of solitude and hopelessness. Nagi reminds himself that no one has ever been interested in him. He doesn't want to make an effort, its a pain. But as we know, he ends up agreeing because it was the first time someone had ever..

And so, the possibility that "maybe I do have value..." is planted, as well as the possibility of someone being interested in him- the two things he mentioned when he said he had no interest in competition.

We see Nagi similarly being inspired at other times when Reo believes in him - his eyes sparkle when Reo asks Nagi to grant Reo his talent, and when Reo claims that Nagi is the best there is. And we know ultimately that this culminates in making an effort once their dream is threatened.

There's also this interaction from the voice guide

Baya's Words

This makes Baya's words seem less ominous. A lot of people interpret them as foreshadowing Reo stifling Nagi, but I'm not so sure. After all, it's only because Reo treasured Nagi -gave him so much love, if you follow Baya's words in the official translation - that Nagi encountered the possibility that he had potential and gathered the motivation to make an effort in the first place. That effort being met with resistance led to experiencing frustration for the first time, which started the path toward uncovering that potential.

At least that's how Nagi seems to think about it...

Nagi in the voice guide... no shame. truly...

Some stifling will probably happen after Manshine though, but I don't feel that it would be permanent or inherent to their partnership.

I did a post on this recently, but Reo is more of a motivating factor for Nagi than a person he depends on to play together with (Nagi did have to learn to play without a passer like Isagi, but he didnt have the psychological burden of a habit of looking for/expecting someone like Bachira up until the 4v4 or Rin in his light novel). ie, being together isn't about playing together

Nagi is also supposed to exist as a hidden route, and there are hints that the difference between him and Isagi is his partnership with Reo. him being paired with players in volume covers contrasted with the single player covers of the main manga, the focus Episode Nagi puts on Nagi's relationship with Reo, and the difference between Nagi and Isagi in these 2 spreads:

At Ego's speech, in the visualization, Isagi's eyes burn at the goal, but Nagi's eyes burn at Reo

In both Episode Nagi and Blue Lock, Isagi's run toward the entrance looks the same as Nagi's run when he saw Reo's face.

There's also the reddit skull theory

Taking these things into account, I think their partnership is meant to succeed in some way, and the reason why its unique is because it exists independently of playing soccer together.

A counterpoint to this is the large emphasis Reo puts on playing together, and Nagi needing him, but this emphasis seems mostly to be out of insecurity in his importance to Nagi than an aspect of their partnership or the affection Baya alludes to.

When he talks about being upset about Nagi leaving, he starts out with how he wanted Nagi to be "his" treasure. Reo worries that if he isn't the one that Nagi needs, that he can no longer stand by his side.

Reo worries about Nagi never coming back to him, forgetting about their dream, and leaving Reo lonely. He's scared that Nagi changing means Nagi leaving him. The reason why Reo is upset has nothing to do with soccer and everything to do with Nagi. Reo seems to want the dependent soccer that Blue Lock warns against, but only because that's the only way he can imagine justifying remaining by Nagi's side.

The thing is, being together is not necessarily about playing together for Reo either, but Reo assumes it's one-sided...

So, maybe if Nagi and Reo were to communicate, and Nagi got Reo to understand how much he means to Nagi, Reo would be able to abandon the concept of Nagi needing him in soccer, allowing them to chase their dream as partners and grow without depending on playing together. That's why I don't think dependent soccer, even if we see it after Manshine, would be permanent or inherent to their partnership

[gildeddlily]

absolutely losing my mind because of these two!!!

so.

are these two actually toxic, or are they just kids who don't know how to communicate? easy, they're just kids! (this was fast)

reading the manga will not make you understand that (or im just stupid), and this is why I'm thanking the author on.my.knees for the spin-off!

so.

after watching the anime I fled to ao3, of course. read some works about Rin and Isagi, managed to not spoil myself anything.

then i read the U20 arc. after reading every ryusae I could find (writing one myself rn, doing god's work) I finished to read the manga cause, yk, I wanted to know what would happen with my babies and then boom! Reo and Nagi!!!

I didn't particularly care about them at first: Nagi was strong ofc, but kind of boring? he's not my favourite archetype, and while I loved Reo I hated their fight and wanted nothing to do with them. key word(s), at first.

then, then! I randomly read some fics about them cause they'd started to grow on me, and boom, tons of fics about their breakup/makeup. stunning works, ofc, but I started to see so many "Reo's fault" "Nagi's fault" "toxic relationship" that I kind of started to get uncomfortable (sometimes people throw around the word toxic when it's nothing like that), so what's to do? read the spin off ofc.

that I did, and now not only I love them both with all of my heart, but I'm Reo's number one fan (and kinnie)!

and I developed a deep hatred for those "toxic x" theories and takes. SO. let me blabber and rant.

they love each other so much!!

this is Nagi.

he thinks "damn, soccer/football is a pain, I hate sweating and running, but I don't hate Reo" even though most of the time he spends with Reo is spent playing soccer/football (I won't choose one english is so confusing- in italian it's literally called kick).

he doesn't feel forced to be Reo's friend, he likes it.

because Reo loves him, it's as simple as that.

he wants to be Nagi's friend "despite" Nagi's personality: this is something he currently says through the spin-off, which made me cry- Reo truly is the first person who ever accepted Nagi as someone who is lazy and unmotivated, who complains a lot, who doesn't put any effort in what he does, who doesn't offer much.

Or at least he thinks that he doesn't have anything special to offer, until Reo arrives.

he still has those terribly self-deprecating thoughts, but now he has something to offer, his talent.

(and after a period of happiness, their honeymoon phase one could call it, he starts to doubt the sincerity of Reo's care. from thinking "i'm not his slave, i'm his partner" he starts to doubt Reo's honesty: "maybe he only wanted to be my friend because of my talent, a talent he knows how to use"- since he still thinks that he's got nothing to offer! but we will talk about this later.)

this is Reo!

he thinks "I wanted to be the one who could make you love soccer/football, the one able to light up something in you" but he also thinks "seeing you like that, even if it wasn't me who'd done that, made me happy".

he's so jealous he's almost funny, and isn't that the most teenager thing ever?

who wouldn't be jealous after working so hard to be special to someone, just for someone else to take the place you're working so hard for?

it's terrible, but still, it doesn't stop Reo from being happy that Nagi found something exciting.

something that made Nagi as happy as the combo Nagi-soccer/football made Reo happy.

the thing is, Nagi thinks he's Reo's friend because of his talent, which maybe it's true. maybe, hadn't Nagi been a genius, they wouldn't have become friends, but his talent was the sparkle that made him become Reo's treasure.

Reo is someone who has everything, who gets everything he wants, or as he says everything except what he really wants.

for that, he has to work.

so, what he wants is to play soccer/football, and to play it with Nagi.

(in order to be Nagi's friend, he needs to work hard, because he needs to be honest and gain Nagi's trust- this is how friendship works: even when it seems flawless and easy, there's so much work behind it, and knowing it is important. most of the times we only realise it once we lost that bond- for example, Nagi. Reo already knew it, and this is why he tried so hard to not leave Nagi's side)

at one point, the two things became linked to one another, and his dream turns into "winning with Nagi, my partner". Because Nagi is talented, is special, and Reo saw his talent, and how Nagi was unable to do the same. He wants to show Nagi that soccer/football is fun, that his talent isn't a pain, that he is special, because Nagi doesn't know it, and for Reo a star that doesn't see his its own light? is just preposterous.

He cares for Nagi and loves everything about him, even all the "bad" things, and he doesn't think that Nagi has to change, and this is what, for me, makes their break-up way more serious and relatable for a lot of people.

it triggers a "I'll change to be better" "for me you never had to change" "I need to change for myself" dynamic.

2. changing and longing is way more fun when you're doing it together!!!

so they split up.

Nagi doesn't do it because he likes Isagi more, or because his style of play is more interesting, he does it because Isagi was stronger than Nagi and Reo: entering Blue Lock, Nagi had trust in Reo's ability to use his talent to win, he didn't even think about failing, and while Barou came close to making him feel like he could loose, Nagi overpowered him at the end- but then Isagi beats Nagi, and Reo with him.

Nagi understands that Reo's dream can't become reality if they aren't the strongest, and if being together doesn't work, maybe they should split up, part ways, become stronger and then join forces again, and win everything. win the world cup.

while his friendship with Isagi is sweet and I love them, for Nagi Isagi is like a cyclette.

he'll use the cyclette to get get fit and make his bf swoon over his legs, he won't stay with the cyclette once he doesn't need the training anymore. and even if he will, it will always be just the cyclette he uses to get fit "for" his bf.

(metaphor isn't metaphoring)

Reo doesn't know that.

he knows he's strong, but he knows that Isagi and Nagi are on a whole other level and he feels threatened. he fears that Nagi will choose Isagi instead of him, and he tries desperately to not loose Nagi.

Nagi is his dream. Slowly, day after day, Nagi became part of his dream, and now he's losing not only his best friend but the dream that made him free.

Reo says it himself- he knows that Nagi did the smartest thing by leaving, but he's young and scared and sees it as Nagi leaving him.

He feels abandoned, and he thinks that Nagi is abandoning his dream to go with the bigger fish, the apex predator, in order to become the best striker, by forgetting the promises they made at the start of Blue Lock, to stay together til the end.

Neither of them forgets the other.

Nagi leaves, and all he thinks about it "I need Reo to see this" "I can't wait to let him see how much I've improved", and he misses Reo, just as much as Reo misses him.

the only difference?

Reo is oblivious about Nagi's real feelings and thought process, and his thinking of Nagi turns into spiraling into depression and self-hatred.

so Nagi changes.

he starts to see the beauty in soccer/football, he finally sees what Reo had tried to make him see for months, and he's thrilled. he's having fun. he's grateful that Reo convinced him to not discard Blue Lock immediately. he's different.

different why? because Isagi beat him? because Blue Lock happened?

he changed not when Isagi beat them, but the moment he became Reo's friend, and found a reason to do something.

because Reo was the first person to ever tell him that his laziness, boredom, his oh so troublesome antics were alright, that he was what he was, and he was enough not only for Reo, but for the whole world.

Reo accepted him even when he was set on being static, made him want to change, and now that he's changing he feels worthy of being loved so much.

"you saw something in me back then, you forced to me work hard, and now thanks to you I ('m on my way to) realised my own worth, now I found something exciting"

he changes.

Reo sees him after what, a few days, and he's already improved so much.

and he thinks that he was Nagi's cage, his personal dead weight, that Nagi may have been his treasure but he wasn't Nagi's. that Nagi doesn't need him anymore. if Nagi doesn't need him, what will be of his dream?

(we could start a long-ass post ab mental health and recovering but I won't for my own sanity)

what's his worth then, since he got into Blue Lock just to stay with Nagi till the end- especially when he can't even be number two, with Isagi there- and Nagi won't be with him anymore?

he needs to change too.

3. destroying yourself in order to change (no fun)

Reo says that he isn't brave enough to destroy himself like the others do.

Isagi, Barou, Nagi, Chigiri, they all destroy themselves in order to become stronger and change, evolve, but Reo can't. he's scared, he's confused, the whole arc is just him looking like that. then what does he do?

he lets Nagi destroy him. "If I can't do it, Nagi will" don't you understand you're doing exactly what you say you're unable to do? the fact that you're not the one pulling the trigger doesn't mean that you're not killing yourself

he pushes Nagi until he snaps and tells Reo to fuck off, that he's a pain, that he's weak and someone Nagi doesn't want anything to do with, because that's what Reo thinks.

He thinks Nagi doesn't want to be with him anymore, he's feeling guilty for what he thought (later later), he's insecure- and instead of being reasonable, he founds a way to confirm his "irrational" fears.

"I'm not being insecure since Nagi confirmed it"

he sabotages himself. that's the nail in the coffin.

instead of destroying himself with football/soccer, by learning from a lost match, he destroys himself with life, by putting on the line his relationship with the person he (not exaggerating) loves most in the world.

he's unable to distinguish life from soccer/football (and this will be the aspect that makes him so different from most of the other characters), because since meeting Nagi they've become one thing. soccer/football is his life, Nagi is his life, because they're his only chance at being happy.

(Nagi is able to distinguish between the court and Reo: this way, Reo is just as special as Isagi is, since Isagi may have made him see the fun in soccer/football, but Reo made him get angry. Nagi who thinks that his strong quality is the fact he never gets angry, that he's a pacifist. Isagi is his soccer/football revolution, Reo is his life revolution.

Reo can't. they all insult each other on the field, but they're all friends afterwards. not Reo. not yet)

now he's lost Nagi, and his dream, and he has to pick himself up from the ground.

this is how Reo changes.

4. miscommunication is a beast

As I said before, Nagi starts to think that Reo only cared about him because of his talent. he's angry at Reo. he doesn't understand why Reo said those things, why he was so stupid, why he didn't understand Nagi.

he says "I'm not his toy" and he isn't, but really, try to get into his shoes.

he thinks his partner, his best friend, doesn't believe in them as a duo anymore, doesn't want to believe in them like he used to now that Nagi has changed, now that he's more "independent" from Reo.

"what, now that I know how to fight alone, he doesn't want me anymore?" that would be anyone's first thought.

and he doubts Reo's trust in their dream.

when did Reo start to have so little faith in them, in Nagi? when did he give up on them? he thinks that, after spending weeks trying to improve just to make Reo's dream true.

and he's angry, but he still hopes to play with Reo again.

he still want to, because him and Reo are partners and Nagi still believes in their dream. because he remembers Reo's passion, and he believes in him.

+) 5. being relatable as fuck

(what kid with absent/abusive parents never thought back on their action and went anxiously all "Am I just like them?")

Reo begs Nagi to stop being so strong, stop improving so quickly, stop running towards a place Reo can't reach yet, and isn't this a human thing to do? He desperately wants to be with Nagi, and thinks that he'd rather stop him from improving rather than lose him. He thinks "Please, give up on your dream, your ego"- and isn't that familiar?

he just thought the same thing his father, a man he hates and despises and who doesn't believe in Reo, told him. and he said that to Nagi. Nagi who gave him a ticket to the top by being at his side, who let him see hope.

he panics. am I just like him? Am I cruel enough to wish for someone to give up on their dreams, just to get something out of their failure?

he's different from his father, because he's seventeen, he's scared to lose his best friend, and we can be irrational in situations like this one. does he know it? no, the same way he doesn't understand that Nagi didn't left because of him.

so yes, he's in the worst head-space ever.

isn't he relatable? this is what that made reo my favourite character in a second, probably. he's so human and he makes so many mistakes and he's so stupid sometimes, but I can see myself in him very clearly.

and now.

in what way is their relationship not balanced? their love and care not mutual? in what way one used or manipulated the other?

I think they're flawed, and they made mistakes, and they hurt each other, but I also think that we throw in the word "toxic" the moment a relationship isn't perfect.

they're friends and they're teens, they will make mistakes and they will hurt each other, and their friendship (and they were roommates) won't be perfect- this doesn't make it less genuine or beautiful.

don't get me started on what happens in the manga (really don't do it) (all of this was just nagi's spin off!!!)

[gachagon]

Kaiser's in his "I can't win, but you can lose" phase uh oh...!

It's also interesting to note that Kaiser sees this game as a battle between him and Isagi, and truthfully in the beginning it definitely seemed like one. But now, Isagi is so fixated on just trying to beat Barou and stay ahead of the game, that he doesn't even seem to care about Kaiser or Ness or any of the silly drama they had in the previous chapters.

I wrote earlier in my post about how "Kaiser doesn't know what Isagi's thinking" that Kaiser misunderstands every little action Isagi takes in games. He presumes that Isagi is anxious when he gets quiet, when it's the opposite. He seemingly has no idea how him and Isagi keep going for the ball at the same time. He's annoyed because they're always on the same page, and while Isagi sees that as the two of them working together, Kaiser only sees competition. He sees someone who is directly competing against him rather than someone he could potentially work together with.

And it's also cool how in the above image, Isagi was thinking this about someone else entirely, but its framed like the two of them are facing off against one another. Essentially Kaiser is losing to Isagi in this game, there's no doubt about that. And the reason for it is because Isagi is so fixated on other players, that he won't even pay Kaiser any attention during the game.

Isagi isn't using Kaiser to make plays, or stealing balls from Kaiser, and I don't think they've even spoke to one another that often during the whole match. With that in mind, it does make sense no why Kaiser looks like he's ready to murder someone in that panel because he's stuck in a one sided rivalry with someone who he believed was easy to beat.

And here kaiser is again making predictions for what he thinks Isagi will do. So far in the game he has been right about what plays Isagi will make, but that's just because the two of them are thinking the same things (so they incidentally end up playing the same way). Kaiser might only be thinking this is what Isagi's plan is because that's what he would do.

But we know already from Isagi's conversation with Hiori that our star player...really has no fucking clue what they're gonna do next lmao:

Though who knows, Kaiser and Isagi are still on the same page just unwillingly:

Maybe if they finally work together in this game they have a chance of winning it. Bastard Munchen is SO disorganized though (by design) with different players all trying to just beat one another alongside the other team. They need to be able to at least see the field in the same way or else they won't be able to keep up.

[oliveraiku]

Would you consider bllk to be an example of the obsessed artist trope?

I had to think about what the ‘obsessed artist trope’ was, for a moment. But if I did understand correctly, it comes down to two prime example from the Naruto world: Deidara and Sasori.

Obsessed with their art, while in different ways, both Deidara and Sasori are fundamentally lost to the human perception and transcend the ‘obsession’ by ultimately becoming art, and fulfilling their credo. While Blue Lock, does somehow fit in the ‘obsessive’ type of artist, I do not think that ultimately it quite follows the trope (at least not every single character).

There are different types of obsessions, explored in Blue Lock, that are however close to the artist type, but in this context I would not rather say it’s an artistic obsession trope, while on the other hand it can be defined as ‘protagonistic obsession’ which in the end is a synonym to egoism.

Which, you'd say: well, of course it is. But if we do break down the 'egoism' trope (if we talk about tropes), it does circle back to obsession, but not towards an art, but rather focus on oneself, while interacting with other people. This seems very theoretical and abstract as a statement, but consider how there are four pinnacles of obsession that are explored in Blue Lock: the most obvious one, Isagi Yoichi - and his core point as a character being the development of an egoism that goes beyond the simple play of soccer, and goes deep instead into reforming the way Isagi thinks. It’s an obsession rooted in evolution, where the character destroys and creates anew (he is one of the examples I’d say fits the artist obsession trope).

Isagi is not obsessed by wanting to become a God, but by the by-processes that ultimately allow him to become that : a masterpiece (the creation of a play, exactly as he wants it to go, as he envisioned to). The fault is that he does not strive for perfection, because he ultimately knows that even if he became n.1, there would also be the possibility of being devoured. He does not want to become Noa, he wants to beat him.

Then, on the other side of the ring, we have Barou and Rin. I lump them together because in the end, what they have in common is two fundamental things: the obsession they both sport are tailored and rooted in both themselves and another core person that becomes a challenge to overcome, and is seen as somehow the final goal (if they beat that person, it means that their ego is fulfilled). Clearly, for Rin that person is Sae (who I’d argue is probably the most refined and artistic character of Blue Lock, who is therefore plagued by perfection), and for Barou it is Isagi.

Why? Because they both do what Rin and Barou would never allow anyone else to: they push them off the pedestal they have built for themselves, and show why exactly was it possible to. It creates an obsession to win, to demonstrate one self, to prove better - but not to fulfil an obsessive artist trope, not to become perfect. Perfection takes another meaning all of a sudden, and somehow it both falls short on the two of them (Rin is defined as villanuous, and Barou is the king of villains - they are already, in a sense, fulfilled in the trope).

Look here, Rin is already convinced that there is little to improve himself on. He’s not striving for more.

While Barou has find a goal for himself in the middle of it, while he thought he already reached his peak.

And then, last but not least, we have Kaiser, who finishes the four-angles formation. Together with Sae, Kaiser is probably the one that the most might fit this trope, but at the same time, he also falls on the same obstacles that Rin and Barou do (but I do not think it will last long. Kaiser’s striving to become Noa, and then surpass him, so he is only going to grow from now on - even though Mineyuki might go through the stubborn way and let him prove to himself that he can beat Yoichi even without adapting and going even further).

However, Kaiser is ultimately both the prototype and the patient 0. Kaiser is a perfectionism, and he does not allow anything to stray away from his plan: look at the interaction he and Isagi engage when they meet. Kaiser does not dismiss him like others have done, but instead he employs Yoichi in a way that would fit him the best, because in the end Kaiser knows he's still not quite there, and that despite being good, he has still things to learn and grow into. It's the same way that Sae feels, I believe, when he sees Shidou. Shidou is a supernova, and where others find him unmanageable, Sae tries to build a play that is flawless, and not lukewarm - but he did not believe he would find a striker worthy of his own talent in Japan, before Shidou, which implies that Sae has still not arrived at his peak (which is then underlined by the fact that no matter how good their duo is, they are still fallible). Kaiser is an obsession that is rooted in a 'being better than’ or that of being better than anyone else, as that would surmise that he is not the one in the fault, or uncapable of reaching such a level of plays. He strives for perfection.

Ultimately, as you see, I would say that Blue Lock uses the artist obsession trope, and does it quite well, but it cannot be quite called an example of it. But then again, this is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, because ultimately art is up to the individual perfection, and what Blue Lock most strives for is to give space to their own protagonism, that expresses itself in many and different ways.