#bachisagi meta

[fyeahbachisagi]

Blue Lock anime on BachiSagi + How the anime ended up redefining Bachira’s ego in Episode 22

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the anime removed Bachira’s iconic gay line in Episode 22. After the initial anger, I’ve calmed down and thought about how it couldn’t be as simple as removing the gay. After all, Studio 8Bit has been adding extra gay in the First Selection arc. The Come Steal Me scene was also gayer than in the manga. And although Isagi’s feelings for Bachira were toned down in the first cour, they’ve also been emphasizing it in the second cour (example).

I then noticed a pattern. The Blue Lock anime is playing with contrast in portraying Bachira and Isagi’s relationship.

Prior to Bachira’s awakening, we see his feelings for Isagi emphasized a lot. The anime would even add scenes that weren’t there in the manga. It could be a very minor thing like 2 seconds of Bachira staring at Isagi, or a big thing like replacing Igaguri in his interactions with Isagi (example 1, example 2).

The same is true for Isagi’s feelings for Bachira, but in reverse. Prior to the Come Steal Me scene, the anime removed some of Isagi’s minor interactions with Bachira.

I’m no animator, so I don’t really understand the purpose of this approach. Perhaps 8Bit thought that by increasing the contrast of their feelings before and after emotional turning points would make it more obvious to the viewer?

The Come Steal Me scene is a clear emotional turning point for Isagi. It’s basically Isagi thinking, “Shit, I love him.”

I remember how caught off guard I was when I reading that part in the manga when Isagi said “I felt like I just lost something important…” I had to go back some chapters to find “proof” of Isagi’s feelings. [I don’t know how it is for people who first experienced that scene through the anime, though. Please tell me your thoughts in this poll. Not putting the poll in this post coz then I won’t be able to edit this later…]

Isagi’s feelings are very subtle, so the anime removing what was already barely there just felt like a disservice. And although they’ve been kinda making up for it by executing all the Isagi-to-Bachira moments after this very well, it doesn’t feel enough.

Now, for Bachira… This is difficult because his emotional turning point isn’t as clear-cut as Isagi’s. The anime, however, decided on this scene:

And I absolutely hate this decision.

Because in the manga, the lines were actually a declaration of what exactly Bachira’s voice/ego is. And that ego is: “I’ll win if it kills me and take back Isagi!”

They even cropped out Isagi’s face in the anime to make it solely about Bachira...

This was such a big BachiSagi moment. Bachira is explicitly telling us here that he will win so he can stay by Isagi’s side. And it’s not exactly him striving just for Isagi, either. It’s more like a reference to Isagi’s words to Reo before: “Don’t be the one who gets chosen. Be the one who gets to choose.”

And before this scene in the anime, they even added this part:

Bachira reaching out for Isagi, but only to draw it back...

Such a big disservice there… Bachira’s awakening was complex. He’s saying goodbye to Isagi not only because he wants to be strong enough to stay in Blue Lock, but also because he wants to keep him, even if they can no longer be friends. In a way, it’s a self-sacrificial act. Literally, “I don’t care if I’ll be sad as long as I can stay by his side!”

Adding that underwater hand thing on top of the changed lines turned Bachira’s awakening arc from being deeply rooted in love to one of mere individuality. The anime has completely missed the point...

There are 2 more episodes left, and the next one has another crucial BachiSagi moment. Let’s see how 8Bit wraps up their relationship before I give my final verdict.

[rirururu]

They're partners uwu

Source

[thyandrawrites]

Reaching the end of the U20 match again and I'm having Thoughts about Rin and Sae. I could probably write a wall of text of commentaries on this match alone, but another part of me wants to hold back until I reach the England match and refresh my memory so I can draw parallels between rinsae and nagireo

[boinin]

Blue Lock: AO3 statistics and fanfiction meta

Blue Lock (Manga) has more than 13,000 works on AO3! 🎉 The corresponding figure for Blue Lock (Anime) is about 7,900 or so.

Just under 230 works are tagged exclusively as Blue Lock (Anime), while there are just under 5,500 works tagged exclusively as Blue Lock (Manga). As expected, around 7,700 works are tagged under both fandoms.

I'm procrastinating today, so here's a high level analysis of the Blue Lock works on the platform. Given the low number of Blue Lock (Anime) exclusive works, I excluded these and reviewed only works that included the Blue Lock (Manga) tag. I didn't exclude crossovers, due to the aforementioned dual-tagging.

Firstly, here's the lowdown on pairings:

On the left: Works tagged under Blue Lock (Manga), without any additional filtering. NagiReo, KaiSagi and RinSagi nab the top three pairing placements, with NagiReo comfortably leading.

On the right: Same fandom tag, but inputting the search term "otp: true" into the "Search within results" field. This returns works with no more than one pairings tagged (i.e. excluding any works that have two or more pairings tagged). This includes any fics with no pairings tagged, platonic (&) or romantic/sexual (/). This filter yields approx. 8,600 works.

This doesn't affect the top three most-tagged pairings, but it reshuffles the other parings more significantly. For example: we can see that 55% of BachIsagi-tagged works feature other pairings, and it drops a ranking. KuniGiri-tagged works fare similarly, and the split is even more pronounced for RyuSae and NagiSagi.

KaiNess jump from 9th most tagged pairing overall to 5th most tagged amongst fics that only tag one pairing—lapping Kunigiri, and potentially an indicator of a recent boom in works for this pairing. The controversial RinSae goes up one place in the rankings under this filter.

The two searches show that nine pairings remain on top, regardless of whether works tag them in tandem with other pairings or tag them as solo. However, Isagi Yoichi/Everyone falls out of the rankings when the otp: true is applied. This is logical, given this pairing is frequently tagged alongside other Isagi slash tags. Filtering this way reveals that RyuRin is the tenth most tagged pairing in single-pairing works.

More discussion on pairings, ratings and tags, plus a comparison to others sports animanga under the cut!

It's also possible to use "otp: false" to show only fics with multiple (2+) relationship tags, which yields about 4,500 works. The results of this search are below:

Here, BachiSagi just about pips KaiSagi to round out the top three—but if trends persist, the number of KaiSagi works will soon grow at a higher rate, leaving the top three ships in the manga fandom undisputed.

Meanwhile, KaiNess and RinSae drop from the top ten, displaced by Nagi&Reo and Rin&Sae (platonic pairing tags). Not too surprising for the latter—due to taboo, works featuring RinSae tend to be standalone.

With KaiNess, it's simply that the two platonic tags are used more often in multi-pairing works, which makes sense given the relative recency of Kaiser and Ness's introduction, and the fact that they're still manga-only characters. A related search revealed KaiNess would most likely be the eleventh most-tagged pairing in multi-pairing works (296), followed by Bachira&Isagi (platonic pairing).

What about ratings, and the most popular non-pairing tags?

On the left: results for all Blue Lock (Manga) fandom works.

In the middle: results for Blue Lock (Manga) fandom works filtered by "otp: true".

On the right: results for Blue Lock (Manga) fandom works filtered by"otp: false".

To reiterate, the search feature just reports the most frequently occurring tags. Even the most common tag, Fluff, features on only around 15% of works.

There's not too much divergence caused by filtering. One observation is that filtering by "otp: true" returns a higher ratio of explicit works—this is supported by the tags that appear in that respective top ten.

Overall, the most popular tags in Blue Lock works are Fluff, Angst, "No Blue Lock" and "Canon Divergent" AUs, and Established Relationship... not to mention, good ol' reliable buttsecs.

Although not a rigorous (read: percentage tested) exercise, I compared these results to the most frequently occurring tags in other sports animanga fandoms in AO3 with the following observations:

Free! works have higher incidences of Romance, Smut, PWP and Friendship tags than Blue Lock does 🏊‍♂️

Haikyuu!! didn't have any sex-adjacent tags in its top 10, but otherwise reported similar trends to Blue Lock. One exception is a notably high incidence of the "Friends to Lovers" tag 🏐

Yuri!!! on Ice has a frequently occurring fandom specific tag ("Character's Name Spelled as Viktor"), and in additions featured "A/B/O dynamics" among its top 10 most common tags. Otherwise, it most resembles Free! in tagging trends ⛸️

SK8 the Infinity meanwhile mirrors Haikyuu!! in terms of frequently occurring tags, although with more common incidences of "Anal Sex" and "Post Canon" 🛹

In short, nearly all sports animanga including Blue Lock report high incidences of the following tags:

Fluff (and/or) Angst

Established Relationship

Alternative Universe (various)

Hurt/Comfort.

This doesn't tell us a whole lot, given these are popular tags for nearly every fandom. However, they are trailed in popularity by the tags Getting Together, Romance, Smut, PWP, and Friends to Lovers. These are more indicative of the shipping culture in sports animanga, including the fact that character relationships in these fandoms are generally pre-established.

As for ratings, It's hard to make a judgement on whether Blue Lock (Manga) works lean more towards a universal or teen readership, or towards being more mature/explicit in nature. This is due to a high incidence of "Not rated" works. Works may be categorised as "Not rated" for any number of reasons: authors avoiding spoilers, authors relying on tags for identification, or authors not knowing how to categorise their own work, or even opting not to categorise an ongoing fic because they are yet to decide the direction of the work.

That said, filtering by "Not rated" alone didn't yield a higher incidence of explicit tags, like filtering by "otp: true" did. So there's limited evidence that "Not rated" fics trend towards mature or explicit content in excess of general trends. All the same, where in doubt, it's best to refer to a work's additional tags to assess its content, as the rating may not always make this clear.

A long read, catering to a niche audience (read: my nerdy ass) but if you've made it this far, I hope you found it of interest!

[miyamiwu]

Compilation of all my long fandom analyses/theories/opinions/reviews/etc, plus some select short speculative posts.

Last updated: Jul. 3, 2024

Labels

DISCUSSION: Reblog chains involving multiple people discussing/analyzing a certain topic

META: Analyses, reviews, and theories

MINI: Mini thoughts

PROPAGANDA: Posts/reblogs written to encourage people to vote for a certain media in a poll

mention: The media in question is only mentioned in the post and is not the main topic

response: Response to another person’s post in a reblog

General

[DISCUSSION] On anime/donghua adaptations reordering entire scenes and chapters from the source

[DISCUSSION] [Bllk FlowerVase HxH] Friends to Lovers vs Enemies to Lovers

AniManga

Blue Lock

[MINI] Reo as Isagi’s Next Big Rival

[META] Anime vs Manga: Reo wasn’t talking shit about Kunigami

[DISCUSSION] What if Nagi gets kicked out of Blue Lock? 1

[DISCUSSION] What if Nagi gets kicked out of Blue Lock? 2

[DISCUSSION] What if Nagi gets kicked out of Blue Lock? 3

[DISCUSSION] What if Nagi gets kicked out of Blue Lock? 4

[MINI] I don’t want Isagi to goal

[MINI] What if Bachira beat Rin?

[MINI] What if we get a Ness goal?

[META] What names mean to Kaiser + How roses are curses

[ASK] On the Japanese name culture being applied to the Germans

[ASK] How Kaiser couldn’t have changed his surname

[MINI] Kaiser would never reveal his weakness to Isagi

[META response] If Ness betrayed Kaiser

[META] On Kaiser’s Trauma

[META] Kaiser will goal, but not on his own

[META] Ness will not leave Kaiser

[META] Ness is actually a very rational player, despite his obsession with magic (and Kaiser)

[META response] BachiSagi vs KaiNess “break-up”

[META response] Symbolism in Blue Lock manga covers

[META] Possibility of a KiyoNess goal

[META] 4S Blue Lock Ego Classification v1

[META update] 4S Blue Lock Ego Classification v2

[META] Ness as a character made for Kaiser

[MINI] Kaiser paralleling his parents

[MINI] Kaiser thanking Ness is the bare minimum thing he ought to do

[META] Ness’s reaction to breakup

More Blue Lock meta at my fyeahbachisagi side blog

Vanitas no Carte

[MINI] Vanitas no Carte is not just another vampire story

[MINI] The VnC anime pacing is too fast

Danmei Novels & Adaptations

Fourth Perspective

[MINI] “Keep Thinking” is such a good repeated phrase

[MINI] Better than TEIO but uhhh…

Go, Taizi Dianxia!

[MINI] Go, Taizi Dianxia: A good, light political danmei

Laws of the Other World

[MINI] On the prose

Mermaid Effect

[PROPAGANDA] Mermaid Effect vs Little Mushroom Poll Test

MXTX Novels

[PROPAGANDA] The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: MoShang

The Earth is Online

[MINI] The ending implying that eugenics is the answer

You Yao

[META] Novel vs donghua

[PROPAGANDA] It’s also very angsty

[PROPAGANDA] Lazy Boss x Loyal Employee

[PROPAGANDA] Two gays stuck in one body

[PROPAGANDA] Li Ke and Zhou Rongqi

[PROPAGANDA] Bubbly x Cold

[PROPAGANDA] Lin Kai’s love song

Donghua Originals

Link Click

[MINI] S1: CXS didn’t mean to pass in the end at that basketball match

[META] S1: Lu Guang Ep11 flashback explanation

[META] S1: The Red-Eyed Murderer being from an Alternate Timeline + His Perverted “Crush” on Cheng Xiaoshi + Other Ramblings

[MINI] S1: On Cheng Xiaoshi’s and Lu Guang’s ability to see/enter the past through a photo

[MINI] S1: What if CXS doesn’t possess the client but actually becomes them?

[INFO] S1: Everything we know about their powers

[MINI] S1&2: Did the Twins possess QL and LM at the same time at the end of S1?

[META] S2: What the hell is going on this season???

[META response] S2: On the abuse of cliffhangers

[META] S2: Qiao Ling trust scene

[MINI] S2: Twins’ powers are activated by touch

[META response] S2: It was Lu Guang All Along

[META] S2: Unpopular Opinion: There is no Link Click “trio.” It’s just the ShiGuang Duo + Qiao Ling

[META] How Liu Jing treats Liu Min in S1 vs S2

Other Media

[MINI] Trese: On the voice acting

Relevant tags: #miyamiwu.meta, #miyamiwu.tol

[hiorintruther]

I’ve come to the realisation I struggle to write about my ultimate faves in any capacity.

Like, Bachira is by far my favourite bllk character. My skrunkly boi has my whole heart in a choke hold. But I… just… can’t write about him. I can’t write analytical posts, funny posts, meta posts, even shippy bachisagi posts… AND BACHISAGI IS MY BLLK OTP!!!

But I have no problem writing about Hiori, Reo or RyuSae. Or any of my other faves for that matter.

It’s starting to bleed into my fanfic as well. I’ve currently written a Ryusae oneshot and now I’m mulling over a Kunigiri university AU. For a while I was coming up with ideas for a very detailed Reonagi fantasy AU. Hell, I have a whole Hiorin v-tuber AU plotted out in my notes app! Absolutely no Bachisagi in sight (well, they’d be a background pair in the Kunigiri uni AU but not a main ship).

My only guess as to why I’m like this is because I already see Bachira and bachisagi as ‘sufficient’. That is to say, I already find the way canon treats them good enough. Sure, I read fics and enjoy them immensely, but I always end up nitpicking the characterisation in my head (especially of Bachira). With my other faves that just doesn’t happen. There are things about other characters I want to flesh out more with headcanons and I’m willing to accept most hcs even if they take liberties with canon. There are aspects of ship dynamics I want to see explored in more depth. I can write about those things for ages. Bachira and bachisagi tho — already enough and anything fanon adds on is a cherry on top.

Gaaaaa rambley rants aren’t gonna be a normal thing here I just had some thoughts idk

[rose-tinted-vision]

Meta Masterlist

Blue Lock

NagiReo's Lack of Communication

ReoNagi vs BachIsagi

The ReoNagi dynamic

Bachira's potential

Favourite Bachira panels

Nagi's Intellect

Favourite Reo panels

Ego Jinpachi: who is he?

What happened to Kunigami?

Bungou Stray Dogs

Ranpo & Fukuzawa

Link Click

Season 1 and Season 2

Link Click artbook

Character flowers

[aiulbones]

Bachisagi Week Masterlist

Thank you to @bachisagizine for putting this week together I am so excited to read all the fic!

Some self imposed rules: No AUs, quote prompts only, quotes must show up word for word as a line of dialogue

Day One: “It’s always been you.” - Colder Weather - T - Isagi proposes. It does not go well.

Day Two: “Because I believe in you.” - Final Selection - E - Intentional: Write a fic about a Final Selection for Blue Lock. Unintentional: make it FWB

Day Three: “I would be happy playing soccer with you forever.”  - somewhat more than not enough - M - Bachira proving once again that he is 10x easier to write than Isagi (aka the one where Bachira retires before Isagi) HONESTLY IF ANYONE IS ACTUALLY SEEING THIS POST GO READ THIS ONE IT’S MY FAVORITE

Day Four: “Do you think we’d still be friends if we met each other sooner?” - the living is easy - G - moving in together fluff

Day Five: “Don’t leave me behind.” - looking for a two--ply hefty bag to hold my love - T - meta bullshittery

Day Six: “We have to stop meeting like this.”  - Stumble and Fall - G - Day 6 and I ran out of steam/ideas forgive me

[fyeahbachisagi]

Bachira and Isagi both take the lead in their plays

Picking up from a discussion about how nagireo is similar to kainess, where I commented about who leads the plays and in what role (as striker or as midfielder), it occurred to me that with BachiSagi, both Bachira and Isagi take the lead regardless of their roles. This is even more so after the Second Selection.

Here's a copy of the comment I added from the original post (I commented using my main @lizzieonka):

NagiReo - Reo, playing as midfielder, is the one that creates plays, and Nagi just shoots whatever ball Reo gives him KaiNess - Kaiser, as striker, is the one creating the plays, and Ness is just there to support him. KuroSagi is similar to Kainess. Striker Isagi in the lead, and Kurona supporting him as midfielder

But with BachiSagi, the power is equal.

Against Team X

Bachira, as midfielder, is the one giving commands:

Isagi may seem passive here, but remember, his weapon is spatial awareness. He leads by positioning himself where he is able to receive Bachira's pass. He even calls it "my plan." Where he positions is entirely his idea. Bachira just syncs with him.

Against Team Y

Bachira, playing as support again, is still pretty much in the lead in that final goal. He had the option to pass between Gagamaru and Isagi. Both probably had equal chances of scoring, but Gagamaru was nearer. Isagi was literally at the mercy of Bachira here. He could only shoot if Bachira chose him.

But of course, the credit is not entirely Bachira's. If Isagi didn't run all the way to the goal on his own initiative from across the field, then there wouldn't even be a play between them in the first place. Bachira was able to pass to him because he was there.

Against Team V

We've seen Bachira being able to cut through the entire Team V on his own without even needing Isagi as support, suffice to say that he can also take the lead when playing as forward.

And in that last play, Bachira was once again in control, with three forwards competing for his pass.

Isagi leads by getting into position, but his play also hinged on Bachira choosing him.

Now, the examples from the matches against Teams Y and Team V showing Bachira in the lead may not be so obvious since he's not explicitly giving commands like in the Team X match. So to prove my point, let me compare the Bachira-Isagi duo with the Nanase-Isagi and Kurona-Isagi duos.

In the latter two, the cooperation was discussed beforehand.

Nanase couldn't keep up with Rin's and Shidou's plays, so he told Isagi about it. At the beginning of the Germany vs England match (or maybe right before it, I can't remember), Kurona tells Isagi that he'll be siding with him and not Kaiser.

But for the BachiSagi goals in the Teams Y and V matches, there was no agreement beforehand that Bachira would assist Isagi. Both times, Isagi had to compete for a pass from Bachira (against Gagamaru in the Team Y match, and against Kunigami and Chigiri in the Team V match). Bachira choosing Isagi out of all the options he had was him taking the lead. Isagi just happened to be the player who can also play his ideal in football, and that is why he chose him.

Against the Top 3

Episode 13 just aired, and this ep makes it even more obvious how Bachira could stay in control as both midfielder and forward.

Bachira dictating Nagi what to do with his pass

Bachira being the anchor of their triangle formation

We even have Isagi asking Bachira how they should attack:

And when passing to others didn't work, Bachira decided to take matters into his own hands

U-20 Match

Isagi's role was to support Rin, but at some point, the match started revolving around him.

Spain vs Germany

Isagi passing to Kunigami as a way to assert his presence on the field.

Takeaway

Bachira and Isagi both play their best when they're in the lead. One leads by intuition, while the other by logic. Submitting to the other would be stifling their strengths. We've seen this proven in the Second Selection arc and further emphasized in later arcs.

A lot of people think that Bachira would eventually settle as Isagi's midfielder, but I don't think that would happen. Their life pre-Blue Lock was about them having to conform to the play style of their high school teams. Isagi was forced to become a team player, while Bachira was often reprimanded for making crazy passes. If their character just ends up having to conform to others again, I would not like that.

Whether they're playing as midfielder or forward, the two of them are egoists. I'd rather they end up on different teams and face each other as opponents than to force them in one team just for my ship to sail. Or, if they do end up in the same team, then both of them have to be leaders in their plays. Neither one should be delegated to a supporting role.

[fyeahbachisagi]

Bachira is always looking at Isagi

This scene seems like a random Bachira insert by the anime team, which we know they love to do so much. But it's actually not just for the fans. Although it's not as pronounced in the manga, Bachira really does look at Isagi a lot.

I've briefly mentioned in this post how the anime is putting emphasis on the characters' relationships and their interactions with each other, and this is most obvious when it comes to Bachira and his relationship with Isagi. I'll make a different post about this that go into more detail, but for now let's talk about Bachira always looking at Isagi and how that scene above adds value to the anime.

Warning: This post will contain some manga spoilers about Bachira's past and other scenes not yet animated

From chapter 7, in their match against Team X:

After Isagi passes the ball, Bachira is visibly surprised here and even a little sad (disappointed?). It's easy to miss it though since we're drawn to what this random opponent is saying.

Here's the anime version from episode 2:

Bachira's face is in focus, while that extra is pushed almost out of the screen. Plus points for that, but minus points for Bachira not looking as distressed as in the manga version. In the anime version, it just looks like ordinary surprise.

Also from the same chapter, but this time it's after the match:

Bachira is once again looking at Isagi. However, he's sharing the moment with Kunigami, so it doesn't seem anything special.

The anime version wins this round, as they were able to deliver it more emotionally:

We don't even see Bachira's face here, but they were able to make it more impactful by the use of lighting and the slow music playing in the background of this scene.

From chapter 11, in the match against Team Y:

Bachira's face is in focus for once. And here's the anime version:

Pretty much the same, but I especially love how Bachira says Isagi's name here.

Here's a little nugget from episode 5. This is from chapter 12 of the manga, and Bachira was not in this scene. He's just a background character in this frame in the anime, but as a diehard Bachira fan, I immediately noticed him.

Igaguri has the ball here and is talking to Isagi. If you look closely, Bachira's eyes are not looking forward at Igaguri or downward at the ball, but to his right, at Isagi who's off-screen.

One can argue that Bachira is just looking at them interacting since the ball is in their area, but it won't explain why, of all characters, did the animators choose to put Bachira there. At this point, Bachira is still just a satellite character to Isagi. Of course he has to be looking at Isagi!

Also in the match against Team Y is this:

Isagi was so far away, but even then, Bachira was able to see him. Nobody expected Isagi to be there, which is why Niko and all the others were surprised when the ball came to him. However, Bachira saw him. And only Bachira saw Isagi. This is proof that Bachira really pays extra attention to Isagi.

It is not until chapter 71 that we understand why this is:

He believes in him so goddamn much, he can't take his eyes off him, waiting for him to do something exciting.

I think the most obvious example of Bachira's trust in Isagi are these pages from chapter 36:

He even says it explicitly in the second page. And this trust goes both ways too. Isagi trusted Bachira would pass to him. (I know this particular dynamic of theirs changes later on, but for now, let's revel in it.)

Now, let's go back to episode 6 and talk about this extra scene of Bachira just looking at Isagi:

Was it necessary to add Bachira just standing there and staring at Isagi? No, not at all.

Did this scene add any value to the anime? Yes, it did.

In this episode, we see, for the first time, Bachira giving attention to a player other than Isagi: Kuon.

It shouldn't be surprising for Bachira to pass to other players, but as a character who's been revolving around Isagi up this point, emphasizing this scene of him passing to Kuon actually tells us a lot about how Bachira plays: He plays with a monster, and at this part of the game, Kuon was that monster.

On the field, Isagi is actually not that special to Bachira.

Now, bear with me my fellow bachisagi shippers and let me explain—

Before Bachira's character development arc, it is a fact that Bachira plays by passing to a monster. It just so happens that Isagi is not always this monster. I'm too lazy to find the specific manga panel for this and this post is also getting longer than intended, but in the second selection arc where Isagi, Bachira, and Nagi team together, Bachira actually passes to Nagi more. Then in the final match between Rin's team and Isagi's team, Bachira is even testing Rin and Isagi. This page from chapter 71 summarizes it best:

If Bachira never changed, then it wouldn't be farfetched of him to ditch Isagi at some point and go play with some stronger monster.

And this is the beauty of Bachira's arc. Aside from seeing Bachira grow, we also get to see him realize how Isagi was important to him outside of soccer.

Isagi is not just some monster. Isagi is his friend. His first friend.

Isagi has always been special to him in more ways than one. Bachira just didn't realize it.

Now, wait, Liz, how the heck is this all related to Bachira staring???

I'm gonna get to the fucking point now.

Episode 6 shows us how Isagi is not that special to Bachira on the field. But this little frame of him staring at Isagi basically tells us "So what? Isagi is still special to Bachira, anyway." You don't see Bachira giving the other players that much attention off the field.

There, I finally said it.

So much ado for a bachisagi crumb. I could die for this ship, I tell you.

[fyeahbachisagi]

New BachiSagi side blog!

@lizzieonka here! I'm new to the Blue Lock fandom, but I've gone absolutely crazy over Bachira and the BachiSagi ship. Just caught up to the manga, and I'm now craving more content. I'm not seeing that much BachiSagi content here on Tumblr though, so I thought of just making a separate side blog for it.

My first mission is to post all BachiSagi moments from both anime and manga. I've already saved lots of images up to chapter 160 and will be adding them to the queue soon. And since the manga's involved, the blog won't be spoiler-free. Spoilers will be tagged appropriately, though.

I'll also be posting some mini metas and commentaries on the ship, so if you're interested in those, just follow me~

I'd appreciate it as well if you'd reblog this post and make the ship even more popular ♥

[image above is from this video]

[rirururu]

Their dialogue matches 🥺

More proof that Isagi being there to catch Bachira's kick at the end of second selection was meant to parallel their first meeting, except this time it's him believing in Bachira instead of the other way around.

[rirururu]

Why Bachira x Isagi (Blue Lock) is One of the Best Ships of All Time

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR UP TO CHAPTER 86 OF THE MANGA

I’ll be honest and say that while Isagi and Bachira’s dynamic in the first arc was cute, it wasn’t anything that stood out to me too much. It seemed like a very typical sports anime type relationship at first. The main character shoots. His friend is there for him and passes to him so he can shine. They have good chemistry. They achieve results together that would be un-imaginably amazing compared to when they were apart. We’ve seen it so many times before already. Kageyama and Hinata, Kuroko and Kagami, Mihashi and Abe; the list goes on.

That all stops when the second selection starts.

Bachira was forced to leave and suddenly Isagi has to fight on his own. He recognizes that up until now, he’s only been useful because of Bachira and in order to get him back, has to learn to fight without him. And, contrary to what we’re made to believe in the first selection that Isagi is better when with Bachira, the truth is that Isagi actually thrives without Bachira. In fact, he gets so powerful that even an outsider like Nagi who initially called him worthless without Bachira genuinely believed that Isagi would decide against stealing Bachira back by the end.

As for Bachira, he’s given a hard wake-up call when he finally sees Isagi again. He recognizes how much better Isagi is without him to the point of Isagi ignoring him on the field, and that sets the part of himself that can only feel alive when he’s with Isagi off. It’s only with this wake-up call that Bachira realizes everything he’s thought up until now was wrong. That’s when we get a parallel to what Isagi did for Bachira in learning to fight without him in order to get him back. In exchange for being able to stand on the same level as and not be left behind by Isagi, Bachira threw away his purpose of playing soccer as his way to connect with Isagi. He realized he shouldn’t do things for the sake of staying by Isagi’s side. He should be doing things for his own growth. Bachira did this fully believing and grieving that he was giving up on being with Isagi. So much so that in his head, Bachira says goodbye to him. And in a similar fashion to Isagi, that’s the moment we learn that Bachira is actually stronger without him. 

They both had to get stronger out of desperation to stay together, and consequently abandoned that part of themselves that depended on each other in the first place.

I want to pause right here and just applaud the author. I know Blue Lock has been praised as being a subversion of a ton of sports manga tropes and this is probably one of the most fantastic examples. We’re so used to the protagonist-and-partner combination being put on a pedestal. But here, it’s deconstructed right in front of us to show how it actually hinders both Isagi and Bachira as strikers and as people. And honestly? It felt like that would be it. I remember my heart dropping when I reached that point in the manga. Logically they would go their separate ways in a mutual break-up.

But they don’t. In the final scene of the soccer match, we see that everyone hadn’t believed in Bachira’s ego since long ago while Isagi had never stopped believing in him. Isagi caught Bachira’s winning goal. I thought that was a perfect parallel to their first meeting when Bachira passed the ball to the monster and then Isagi became the monster. This time Bachira abandoned the monster. There was no monster anymore because Bachira left it behind but even when the monster was gone, Isagi was still there. It's symbolic of how he doesn't see Isagi as just a monster anymore. He sees Isagi as Isagi, signaling a new era in their relationship.

And that’s also when Bachira realizes that just because he’s grown away from needing Isagi, just because he doesn’t live to make Isagi stronger anymore, just because he’s embracing that part of him that plays soccer solitarily for himself, doesn’t mean Isagi won’t still be there with him and believing in him. Bachira could change as much as he wants and the other won’t leave. They don’t need each other anymore, but that’s exactly what allows them to realize that being together makes them so happy, makes soccer so much fun, that they want to stick together until the very end anyway. 

(Or the official translation / scans)

This direction for their relationship seems bittersweet but I think that’s what makes it realistic. Relationships are multi-faceted and they change over time. Isagi and Bachira had to say goodbye to one aspect of their relationship but they also gained a new one. They both used to rely on each other a lot to be their very best. That mutualistic symbiotic relationship they had in soccer, that is the crutch in so many sports anime, is gone now. Bachira and Isagi aren’t necessary to each other in soccer anymore. Personally though, I think this new dynamic actually makes them closer than they were before.

To Bachira, Isagi used to be a person he needed to pass to because he’s a monster and someone who staved off his loneliness. To Isagi, Bachira used to be someone who made good passes to help him function in soccer. I think the fact that Bachira was so easily swayed to making Rin his new “monster” made it evident. As they continue to grow as strikers, they’ll be cycling through teammates most suited to their skillset. Teammates come and go. What Isagi and Bachira are to each other evolved past that, beyond the soccer field, and became something that would stay with them their entire lives. There is no “I’m with Isagi because if I can’t play soccer with him, I would die from loneliness” or “I’m with Bachira because he lets me be invincible on the field” anymore. They’re together because they want to be and because they love each other (platonically or romantically). That’s all.

(Manga panel taken from an AMV on youtube)

And I think that’s beautiful. It’s beautiful because this is what true unconditional love looks like. I know what the manga did to them might not be the “popular” thing. Ships that are super dependent on each other and need each other to live are the ones that get views because it’s seen as romantic. But Bachisagi / Isabachi abandoned that to instead become one of the healthiest relationships you could possibly get not just in a sports anime but in general. 

I mean, wow. I wish I had someone who wanted to be with me and had the emotional capacity to always believe in me no matter how much I changed, disappointed, and grew away from centering my world around them. I wish I had someone who could say that they don’t need me anymore but that’s exactly why they can say in full confidence that they still want me with all their heart. Bachisagi is seriously #relationshipgoals more than most married couples. 

In conclusion, Bachira/Isagi deserves way more recognition and I will happily scream into the void with the other 6 of you out there who ship them /j

[fyeahbachisagi]

Isagi on Being Chosen

Guuuuys, I am so emotional tonight (well, technically it’s 5am over here, but I haven’t slept yet…)

Because of this discussion I had with @takeunknownroadnow about how devastated Isagi was over losing Bachira, I suddenly realized just how much of Isagi’s self-esteem was hit.

My thoughts here would make more sense if you read the post I linked above, so please do so first ^^

Like, yeah, we saw him being whiny for a bit right after losing Bachira. But he gradually turned badass throughout the rest of the arc that it led me to think he’s over it and has gotten more confident with himself. And he did! He really did but...

When Rin chose him, he didn’t even look happy.

I mean, yeah, he just lost the game so of course he’s upset. But the thing is, he doesn’t understand why anybody would choose him. This whole time, Isagi has been fighting tooth and nail with the belief that if he lost, he won’t be chosen–not even by Bachira.

And then there’s this:

Isagi’s emotional trauma this arc had started with Bachira telling him he won’t wait for him, and now we’ve come full circle with Bachira choosing him in the end.

“I’ve learned how to fight without you, but it’s way more fun with you around.”

And this line is so beautiful and exactly what Isagi needed to hear at this moment.

Isagi has just lost to Rin twice. He is convinced that his skills are lacking. Why would anybody want him on their team? And then here comes Bachira choosing him anyway not for his skills but simply for who he is, and Isagi…

Isagi looks found, saved…

I don’t know how to describe it. But the expression he makes here moves me just as much as this one by Bachira:

It’s really interesting how Bachira’s and Isagi’s emotional arcs resolved. For Bachira, who was waiting to be chosen, it was him fighting for the strength and right to choose. And for Isagi, who’d been convinced that nobody would ever choose him, was to be chosen by the very person he’s been chasing this whole time.

I am in tears...

[fyeahbachisagi]

Thoughts on Bachira's characterization in episode 8

Episode 8 crammed in five chapters from volume 4, so everything was rushed and the quality was less than what we've been used to in previous episodes. The studio is probably doing this to save their resources for the actual fight against Team V.

And this may perhaps be just a consequence of that rushing, but I'm more inclined to believe that it was a purposeful choice this ep to tone down on Bachira's seriousness.

Specifically, I'm talking about these scenes:

[Image ID's in ALT]

Bachira has this tendency to suddenly do a 180 flip. He's mostly chill and just fooling around, but then out of nowhere he'd look at you with dead-serious eyes:

But in the anime, we got none of that.

It's a small thing, I know, but it changes a lot about Bachira and Isagi's dynamic. Because here's the thing, Bachira only does it when Isagi is involved (at least, I don't recall him doing it because of others.)

In the first one (Bachira asking about the tie for top-scorer), Isagi had been caught in an argument between Kuon and the others. In the second one ("I'm gonna go all out"), it's because he doesn't want to lose Isagi.

Manga readers would know one other example of this that's also very iconic of Bachira, but to keep this post spoiler-free, I will not mention it here.

Anyways, we got a slightly toned-down Bachira this episode. Could 8bit be saving his serious moments for the next episodes, or are they setting up Bachira down a more melancholic route?

I don't know Japanese, but in the anime subtitles, we have Bachira saying "That's way too sad, so I'll give it my all." That's definitely not as aggressive as the manga's "I'd hate that, so I'm gonna go all-out."

What do you guys think? And which version do you prefer?

[fyeahbachisagi]

I am obsessed with Isagi's smile here. He looks so happy and excited to be playing against Bachira.

Remember that in their original plan, Isagi was supposed to cover Rin, but since Nagi and Barou wanted to switch things up, he ended up marking Bachira.

And that's the thing--the most egotistical move for Isagi was for him to cover Rin, but when he got to play Bachira instead, he was so happy about it.

Just look at him:

There's a fire in his eyes and a smug smile on his face. And we know that in Blue Lock, fire eyes is an indication of the presence of their ego. Isagi is enjoying this, and for once he doesn't look like he's out to murder someone.