REVIEW: ‘Blue Lock,’ Episode 2 — “Monster”

Blue Lock Episode 2 continues the tale of Isagi Yoichi and the Blue Lock program as Japan looks to create the world’s greatest forward in order to win the World Cup. Produced by Eight Bit, Blue Lock is a popular new sports anime airing on Crunchyroll.

Blue Lock Episode 2 picks up with Kira Ryosuke being confirmed as the first elimination in Ego’s cutthroat Blue Lock program. After Isagi kicks the ball to Kira at the last second, he is eliminated since he is the last player to possess the ball. Unsurprisingly, Kira is furious at the drill in general, and he claims the elimination is unfair. That argument, that the eliminations are unfair, seems like it’s going to be a key point throughout the entirety of Blue Lock. Ego doesn’t give any explanation to the players before sending them out to battle each other, but his explanation after the fact makes complete sense. I love that he leaves the players and viewers scratching their heads wondering what the goal is while always having an explanation ready in the end.

One of the main highlights of Blue Lock Episode 2 is the focus on Bachira Meguru, a seemingly eccentric member of the Blue Lock program who is also on Team Z with Isagi. Isagi asks Bachira how he knew Isagi would pass to Kira and eliminate him, and Bachira simply answers that it is because he has a monster inside him. It’s not so much the line that really struck me, although it is a good one, but the animation that followed it. Eight Bit did an incredible job bringing the theoretical monster inside Bachira to life, with beautiful animation showing a ruthless monster that drives the choices Bachira makes on the field.

Blue Lock Episode 2 also introduces viewers to Itoshi Sae, a top-rated Japanese soccer prospect who has no desire to represent Japan due to their lack of talented players. He says that there isn’t a forward in Japan worthy of his passes as a midfielder, and then immediately walks into a room where a press conference announcing the Blue Lock project to the public is going on. It’s a bit of a lightbulb moment for Itoshi, setting the trajectory for Itoshi and, likely, Isagi, to meet later down the road. I love the idea of the Blue Lock program having an outsider that will be affected by what goes on within their walls, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how Itoshi is integrated into the project which has clearly piqued his interest.

The show states that “it’s time for current Japanese soccer to die”, and it’s clear that Ego and the Japanese national team plan on doing just that. Blue Lock Episode 2 continues to develop the main protagonist Isagi while also introducing and building up new characters that are going serve as obstacles on his potential path to the top as well as possibly help him grow along the way. I can’t wait to see how the journey continues.

Blue Lock Episode 2 is available now on Crunchyroll.