King Barou absolutely dominated the field in this episode using a strategy Team Z has yet to realize: fear.
Read Last Week’s Episode Review.
Zero to One Soccer
At first, I was reluctant to call Barou Shouei King. But after he completely dominated the competition, the young man deserves his crown.
Although I truly thought Team Z would pull it together, I guess Ego placed these soccer players dead last in the Blue Lock Project rankings for a reason. Because wow, is there a lot of EGO on that team. Critical thinking has clearly gone out the window in many players’ pursuit of vain glory and simply advancing to the next round.
I don’t know why the monk boy Igarashi had so much to say about Isagi being Team Z’s forward when Igarashi injures himself in nearly every game! Even in the after-credits segment, he fakes an injury to get out of practice! Between his weak ankles and poor work ethic, I foresee Igarashi returning back to his temple to live a quiet life away from the high intensity of sports very soon.
Raichi Jingo is another player I can totally see leaving unless he cleans up his attitude. I completely understand Blue Lock is all about rethinking soccer from zero in order to create the ultimate Striker for Japan, but I don’t think Raichi realizes you need teamwork to make the dream work.
Am I contradicting myself in this review based on my last review? Absolutely! ☺
The Japanese Mindset Revisited
In my first episode review I mentioned that Ego (and Anri) most likely wanted young forwards across Japan because they are not yet completely set in their ways.
Japan is a very rigid society where “the nail that sticks out gets hammered” and social conformity is a must lest you wish to be ostracized as an outcast.
The current National Team in this anime will never win the World Cup because they are too focused on appearing cohesive and kind to one another instead of using the ‘inner monster’ of ego, greed, and jealousy they once had as young players but suppressed long ago.
As Ego mentioned, Japan excels at baseball because each player has a specific role they are good at, and that is already assigned to them. Therefore, there are no problems and no members of the team “feel uncomfortable” when one happens to outshine the other because it is the nature of the game.
In order for the young strikers to excel in football, they need to “overwrite their consciousness” and shake the foundations of the gameplay they were previously taught.
The Role of a Striker
King Barou has talent, but I believe he was wrong to say that Isagi has none because he passed the ball to Kunigami.
At that moment, Isagi took in the layout of the entire field and where his teammates were. The monster inside of Isagi deemed it better to pass and believe in Kunigami’s skills, rather than the open but overly eager Raichi.
Isagi was thinking about how to get his team from zero to one – and that is exactly what a striker should do!
Now as to how a team can get from zero to ten to one hundred…Ego had some wise words for the players: utilizing dribble, header, freekick, speed, and technique can lead a team to victory.
Team V beat Team Y 8 – 0 most likely using the same technique Team X beat Team Z with: psychological warfare.
King Barou is an imposing dude, and much bigger in stature and (perceived) strength than Isagi.
Remember: Team Z was in utter chaos due to their egos clashing unchecked, and it only got worse once Team X rallied around their number one – Barou.
Isagi was too intimidated to act and simply watched as almost a bystander for five successive goals before Bachira snapped him out of it and the two devised a plan.
Because Isagi already had a defeated mindset and was hesitant to step out of his assigned role (as Ego pointed out earlier) Isagi did nothing until somebody else first stepped forward.
Isagi felt it easier to conform to the goal of scoring and helping his team – supported by midfielders (and fullbacks) like Kuon who never left their posts. Together with teamwork, Isagi was able to slightly overcome being intimidated by his biased (and paranoid) interpretation of King Barou being a bigger threat than he really was to a unified team.
Lots of great mental and physical tactics were employed in this episode, and I’m very excited to see what the next one holds!
But, tell me your thoughts.
Will Team Z figure out a tactic to win their next match?
Is King Barou really that great of a soccer player?
And…seriously, who else thinks the monk needs to go?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to follow us for more Blue Lock Episode Reviews and Discussions!
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