Peter Looles's Reviews > Blue Lock, Vol. 1
Blue Lock, Vol. 1
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Blue Lock vol. 1
After a big loss in the 2018 world cup, the Japanese football association starts a new huge project called Blue Lock. They put the 300 best Japanese strickers, under the age of 18, in one huge building, in order to create the best stricker in the world. The whole project is overseen by the new coach of the national team, who believes that a good stricker has to be a huge egoist. The story follows Yoichi Isagi, a high-schooler, who gets selected for the Blue Lock project. When the kids get in the building, they get divided into groups and they are all ranked, from best to worst. Isagi's placement is 299/300, which means that he has to train even more than the others, in order to climb up the ranking. In their first day there, the kids are given a ball and they have to play a game of tag, the loser of which gets eliminated from the project. Through this game the kids realise how hard this is gonna be and how selfish they have to become.
This was surprisingly good. I had very high expectations from this manga, but it still somehow exceeded them. The story is very interesting and absolutely captivating. The idea that strickers have to be egoists is intriguing and it's food for thought. As someone who's watched and played a lot of football, from my own experience I'd say that it's not true. Strickers have to act as a part of the team and not as seperate entities. That being said, legendary strickers like Maradona and Pele prove the exact opposite, so the whole thing is up for debate. I'm very interested in seeing how this specific idea is going to evolve throughout the manga. Furthermore, something else I really liked in this manga is how well written all the characters are. Everyone is very unique and interesting. Even though all the kids have the same goal, they are very different from one another, which makes for very interesting interactions. Inside the blue lock, many rivalries are created, but at the same time there's a sense of comradeship. This weird tension between the characters is very entertaining and captivating. The relationships of the characters inside blue lock remind me of the relationships of the players in a really show, but in a more positive and interesting way. A character that I really loved is the protagonist, Yoichi Isagi. He's a good person and he doesn't really want to destroy the other kids in the project, but he quickly realises than he has to do so, in order to fulfill his dream. Something else I like about him is the fact that even though he's good enough to be in the project, he's not as good or powerful as most of the other kids in there, so he has to try even more to succeed. Another interesting character is the coach. I don't really agree with most of his opinions on football, but I want to see how he's going to evolve in later volumes. Other than that, this manga includes many great football scenes, that are really beautiful. This manga is a true pleasure for everyone who likes football.
Unlike most manga, the artwork in this one is done by a different person than the writing. The writer is Muneyuki Kaneshiro, while the artist is Yusuke Nomura. Nomura's work is gorgeous. I really love the artwork in this manga. All the characters look great and they are easy to tell apart, while he environments look beautiful as well. The highlight of the artwork though are the football scenes. Every football scene is drawn in such a way that it looks like a fight scene. It's truly gorgeous.
Overall, this was an incredible first volume, that raises a lot of questions about football. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
10/10
After a big loss in the 2018 world cup, the Japanese football association starts a new huge project called Blue Lock. They put the 300 best Japanese strickers, under the age of 18, in one huge building, in order to create the best stricker in the world. The whole project is overseen by the new coach of the national team, who believes that a good stricker has to be a huge egoist. The story follows Yoichi Isagi, a high-schooler, who gets selected for the Blue Lock project. When the kids get in the building, they get divided into groups and they are all ranked, from best to worst. Isagi's placement is 299/300, which means that he has to train even more than the others, in order to climb up the ranking. In their first day there, the kids are given a ball and they have to play a game of tag, the loser of which gets eliminated from the project. Through this game the kids realise how hard this is gonna be and how selfish they have to become.
This was surprisingly good. I had very high expectations from this manga, but it still somehow exceeded them. The story is very interesting and absolutely captivating. The idea that strickers have to be egoists is intriguing and it's food for thought. As someone who's watched and played a lot of football, from my own experience I'd say that it's not true. Strickers have to act as a part of the team and not as seperate entities. That being said, legendary strickers like Maradona and Pele prove the exact opposite, so the whole thing is up for debate. I'm very interested in seeing how this specific idea is going to evolve throughout the manga. Furthermore, something else I really liked in this manga is how well written all the characters are. Everyone is very unique and interesting. Even though all the kids have the same goal, they are very different from one another, which makes for very interesting interactions. Inside the blue lock, many rivalries are created, but at the same time there's a sense of comradeship. This weird tension between the characters is very entertaining and captivating. The relationships of the characters inside blue lock remind me of the relationships of the players in a really show, but in a more positive and interesting way. A character that I really loved is the protagonist, Yoichi Isagi. He's a good person and he doesn't really want to destroy the other kids in the project, but he quickly realises than he has to do so, in order to fulfill his dream. Something else I like about him is the fact that even though he's good enough to be in the project, he's not as good or powerful as most of the other kids in there, so he has to try even more to succeed. Another interesting character is the coach. I don't really agree with most of his opinions on football, but I want to see how he's going to evolve in later volumes. Other than that, this manga includes many great football scenes, that are really beautiful. This manga is a true pleasure for everyone who likes football.
Unlike most manga, the artwork in this one is done by a different person than the writing. The writer is Muneyuki Kaneshiro, while the artist is Yusuke Nomura. Nomura's work is gorgeous. I really love the artwork in this manga. All the characters look great and they are easy to tell apart, while he environments look beautiful as well. The highlight of the artwork though are the football scenes. Every football scene is drawn in such a way that it looks like a fight scene. It's truly gorgeous.
Overall, this was an incredible first volume, that raises a lot of questions about football. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
10/10
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