It’s one he views as monstrous, and that forces him to confront his own sense of morality even as his actions defy it. Which is more important, preserving supportive team dynamics or powering through for one’s own sake regardless of collateral damage?Įvery aspect of life in Blue Lock forces Yoichi to grapple with this question and to unleash a side of himself he didn’t even know he had.

The question arises in Yoichi’s mind: what if he had gone for it himself instead of passing? While he initially comforts himself with rhetoric about group effort, Blue Lock forces him to grapple with his commitment to that philosophy. Just before entering Blus Lock his high school team fails to make it to nationals, specifically because of his teammate’s failure to score a pivotal goal. Despite soccer’s status as a team sport, anyone hoping to succeed in Blue Lock must embrace their ego and look out only for themselves.Įnter protagonist Yoichi Isagi. All of this would already be enough to generate intense pressure for the characters to have to contend with, but it’s the program’s ethos that really drives the conflict. The threat of expulsion is ever high, and the promise that it will end the athletes’ soccer careers only further compounds that stress. It’s not just a select camp for talented athletes, but a live-in compound that they’re not allowed to leave for as long as they’re enrolled.

The titular Blue Lock program is the source of most of the manga’s tension. Who will emerge to lead the team…and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way? The Football Association is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match…and to do so, they’ve gathered 300 of Japan’s best and brightest youth players. But what’s missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win.

After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan’s team struggles to regroup.

Blue lock manga