Warning: contains spoilers for Blue Lock Season 2 episode #7
Blue Lock’s season 2 covers the game against the U-20 Japan national team, which is a decisive moment for the future of Ego’s project. Because of this, since season 2 presented many flaws in its animation despite its great visuals, like excess of visual effects and lackluster character movement, it’s only natural that fans worry about the adaptation doing justice to the most hyped plays of the game. However, despite its controversy,episode 7 excited fans by satisfyingly adapting one of the best goals of the anime so far.
The U-20 game, starting fully in episode 7, is a big stage for the beloved egoistical players to show their talents to the world. Which has proven to be a difficult task with all the attention on Sae Itoshi. But even thoughBlue Lockseason 2 hasn’t been meeting fans' expectations, the adaptation just proved that it can deliver in the important moments by building up the turning point of the game whereSeishiro Nagi steals the eyes of the nation and shows whatBlue Lockis all about.
Nagi’s Goal in the U-20 Match Is One of the Best Moments inBlue LockSeason 2
The Anime Perfectly Builds Up Nagi’s Biggest Play
AlthoughBlue Lock’s animation is far from the quality displayed in season 1, inBlue Lock’s season 2, episode 7, the high-paced plays of theBlue Lock team pressuring the other defense leading up to Nagi’s goal were extremely well executed. Especially the tense, silent moments after the goal and the overwhelming response of the public; featuring added scenes of the surprised audience watching Nagi’s ability outside the stadium.
Nagi’s debut was elevated in the anime adaptation by emphasizing the marked difference in public opinion between the Japan National Team and Blue Lock. In several original anime scenes in episode 6, the people attending the game are only interested in watching Sae and the U-20 team, completely ignoring Blue Lock and even Ego’s explanation of the project. This is reinforced after Sae’s goal, where the crowd keeps chanting his name. However, it served to make Nagi’s goal more meaningful, since it showed clearly howthe viewers’ support started to lean towards Blue Lock after witnessing his incredible talent.
Nagi’s Goal Changed Public Opinion About the Blue Lock Project
Nagi’s Ability and Influence Prove Why He Deserves the Title of Protagonist Like Isagi
Even though Nagi’s goal only even the score of the game, it improved the perception that the public has of the Blue Lock players. The Blue Lock team was clearly the underdog, being treated as visitors in their own stadium. ButNagi just demonstrated the results of the project, showing a glimpse of the potential of these players and what they can offer for the future of Japanese soccer.
Blue Lock Season 2 Has Another Big Problem, and It Has Nothing to do With the Animation
Blue Lock season 2 has caught a lot of criticism, but the element that’s most missing from season 1 is not actually the quality of animation.
The fact that the role of the first goal at a critical moment was given to Nagi instead of Isagi or Rin, who is the ace of the team, proves why he deserves to be a lead character and why he was given his ownspin-off movieBlue Lock: Episode Nagi. Whilethe improvement in animation in episode 7 for Nagi’s goal can’t redeem the problems of season 2 as a whole, it creates anticipation in the viewers to see if the rest ofthe U-20 arcwill be equally carefully adapted.
Blue Lock
Cast
Blue Lock is a sports-centric animated series based on the manga series of the same name. The show follows the Japan Football Association trying to recover from their poor showing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup by hiring a football genius, Ego Jinpachi. With his new intense training regimen, Jinpachi invites the best football players in Japan to compete to become the team’s new star player - and high school student Yoichi Isagi may be exactly who he’s looking for.
