FIF#229-Blue Lock

Yoichi Isagi has been chosen for an experiment unlike any before.  He and 300 other prospective Soccer Players, all Striker positions on their on teams, will participate in Blue Lock: a new training regiment designed for one purpose: to create the Ultimate Striker, capable of taking Japan’s hand picked soccer team to the world stage.  But this is a goal that only one of these 300 players can achieve.  It’s a game that only the most savage and single minded individuals have a chance of winning.  For glory, for redemption and for a place in Japanese Soccer History, how far is Isagi willing to go to win it all?

 
We all know most Sports Anime as feel good and inspiring comfort Anime, the kind that really make you go “HELL YEAH” when something goes right.  It’s what makes Free and Haikyuu some of the best in that genre. Well Blue Lock is neither of those.  In fact it’s an entire beast all of its own.  Forget that feel good vibe of bringing a team together to win the big match.  This is a much more cruel and demented game that I’m kind of shocked any sane person would even accept an invite to try.  This is the Battle Royale of Soccer and man I can see why this is a new hit in the community…but it just doesn’t feel right to me.
 
The big pitch of Blue Lock is what really makes me go, “HUH?”  Most of this is due to the mastermind behind this experiment, Jinpachi Ego, has got to be the zaniest and totally out of his mind salesman.  Every word out of his mouth spews pure vile, pushing his 300 candidates to all collectively enter his little mind warping experiment to create the ultimate striker.  There’s a very twisted psychological element to Jinpachi’s little game that’s very unsettling and the guy himself, totally drunk on his own intellectual insanity, is the craziest of them all.  In short, the fact that someone OK’d Blue Lock at all is a very scary prospect.
 
As for the poor suckers lured into this farce, well the characters facial designs all remind me of Attack on Titan, in that they look like they’ve had little to no sleep in years and the effects show more mentally than physically.  I guess if anyone was going to go for Jinpachi’s pitch, it’d have to be characters with equally crazy looks in their eyes and the raw power to match. Clearly Isagi is the perfect guy to take the bait as he lets his inner solo player out to…well play.  Then there’s Kira, who seems to be the Suzaku to Isagi’s Lelouch (bit of a stretch but hear me out).  Kira is the only one who enters Blue Lock to prove Jinpachi’s BS all wrong…not that it goes well for him.  Still, the dynamic between the two with these clashing ideals could make a strong backbone for the series.
 
Blue Lock certainly changes things up big time for the Sports Anime Genre.  And while the animation gives plenty of power and kick to the game of Soccer, I’m not sure this is one I’ll be sticking with for the long haul.  Maybe it’s me being more of a traditionalist, but I’ve got Haikyuu and Free to make me feel joy watching a sport.  Blue Lock could end up being a so twisted you cant look away title like Death Note.  For me though, I’m gonna pass on this one for now.