Blue Lock anime series has officially started airing, and it is just the perfect anime if you like shows like Squid Game and are a fan of Soccer. Blue Lock is not a sports anime, so if you are looking for something similar to Haikyuu, or Ao Ashi, this series is probably not what you are looking for.
The anime series is set in modern-day Japan, where the national team performs poorly in the World Cup and exits the tournament in the early stages. Seeing the team’s current state, Japan’s Football association hires eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego to help them win the World Cup.
Jinpachi believes that the national team lakes an egoistic striker who plays for himself and is always hungry for goals. To find the new striker for Japan, Jinpachi starts a prison-like facility called Blue Lock.
The first episode opens up with the protagonist, Isagi, competing in a school-level Football match to qualify for the national tournament. Isagi being a striker, is close to scoring a crucial goal when he is offered two choices: strike for the goal himself or pass the ball to a fellow striker.
Isagi chooses the former option, but the other striker fails to score a goal. The team loses the match, and Isagi, while coming back from school, thinks that if he had chosen to strike himself, they would have won the game.
Our protagonist gets a letter from the Football Association for the training camp; when Isagi reaches the destination, he finds out that all 300 participants are strikers, just like himself. Jinpachi Ego appears on the stage and explains the Blue Lock program.
All participants are initially against the Blue Lock, but hearing that the top 5 ranked players in the Blue Lock program will be selected for Under 20 Japan’s soccer team, they rush towards the entrance gate of the Blue Lock.
Isagi is grouped with 8 other players who will compete with each other. The first game of Blue Lock begins right away, and it is a tag game.
The coach, Jinpachi Ego, explains that the rules of the tag game are simple, whoever is tagged last by the Football by the time the 2-minute timer runs out, will be out of the Blue Lock program.
But the stakes are high; like in Squid Game, you can kick or hurt people or form a team with another player. And Similar to Squid Game, the losing player will pay a high penalty (not with their life, thankfully). Whoever gets kicked out of Blue Lock will never be able to play for Japan.
Out of the Top 10 anime released in October 2022, Blue Lock is one of the highest-rated anime series, with a rating of 8.45/10 on MyAnimeList. Studio 8bit is animating the series, which is known for animating the “That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime” anime series. From the looks of the first episode, the animation looks promising.
If you are a fan of Attack on Titan’s crisp animation (seasons 1-3, Wit Studio), you will enjoy watching Blue Lock. The anime series is listed with 24 episodes, meaning 6 months of Blue Lock. You can officially watch the Blue Lock anime on Crunchyroll and Netflix (in a few regions).
Will you be watching the Blue Lock anime series? Let us know your opinion in the comment section down below. We here at Anime Senpai would love to hear from you.
After watching blue lock it got me so hyped that I rewatched it 3 times. So please, keep doing what you do and keep us updated thank you.😎😎😎
Is it as violent as squid game though?