Blue Lock is one of the best anime I watched last year. Like other anime, it is loaded with lessons and that is why I laugh when people say anime is a cartoon and that it is meant for kids. I recently came across a tweet on X where someone openly stated that they'd never be in a relationship with someone who watches “Japanese cartoons.” “Japanese cartoon” was the exact words they used, but I knew they meant anime. Anime is, in so many ways, different from cartoons. I definitely would write a post about the differences one of these days. So, back to Blue Lock, I don’t exactly remember who recommended this anime. I probably came across it on Instagram and then proceeded to download it. In this post, I'll do a review of the anime, focusing on the lessons I learnt from it.
The anime focuses on Japan’s football. Ever since the start of the World Cup, Japan has never won it. This made the Japanese Football Union build players who will participate in the 2022 World Cup and win it for Japan. For Japan, winning the World Cup is a far-fetched dream, but they believe that with the right approaches, it will be a dream come through. To achieve this goal, Ego, a coach, introduces an initiative: 300 high school forwards will be locked up in a big building and go through training. Of course, they were given enough food, water, a place to sleep, and good equipment for training. The goal of this initiative is to build a team strong enough to win the World Cup.
The anime introduces Isagi Yoichi. Isagi is of the school of thought that football is all about cooperation. Meaning, if you want to win a football game, you have to cooperate with your team and make sacrifices for them. During a final football match that would take his team to the nationals, Isagi (on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper) passes the ball to his teammate instead of scoring. Unfortunately, his teammate missed the play, which cost them the chance to go to the finals. In Blue Lock, Isagi Yoichi learns a totally different thing about football. More importantly, he learns to believe in himself.
One of the lessons to learn from Blue Lock is to be selfish when the need arises. I know this doesn't sound right, but bear with me. Sometimes, life presents opportunities to us, but because we don’t believe in our skills, we let others do it. Sometimes, we need to grab opportunities with our full hands. In the anime, Isagi loses the opportunity to go to the nationals because he wasn't selfish. He also did not believe in his skills. Isagi was directly in front of the goalkeeper. All he had to do was shoot! But because he didn't want to be selfish, he passed the ball to his teammate who missed the shot.
Blue Lock also teaches to believe in your skills and keep growing. The best footballers we have today did not just wake up one day and see trophies beside them. They did not magically develop skills, they had to work for it. The anime teaches that, as humans, we have what it takes to keep growing. This also applies to other areas, whether you are a writer or a musician. Keep working on yourself. Keep honing your skills. More importantly, another lesson to learn from Bluelock is to embrace competition. Healthy competition is evident in Bluelock. When you see people who are better than you, don’t hate them. Instead, watch them closely and imitate them. On the other hand, unhealthy competition will only drag you down.
On a scale of 1-10, I give Blue Lock an eight. I totally enjoyed watching it and I recommend it to all anime lovers. Have you seen Bluelock? What is your take on it?