A big thank you goes to NetGalley and Kodansha for the opportunity to review this title.
I have seen clips of its anime adaptation, but I haven’t had an opportunity to read the manga series it was based on until recently. Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomira’s Blue Lock was a title that flew under my radar but after giving it a read thanks to both companies (and catching up on Kodansha’s KManga app), I can see why Blue Lock is getting so much praise in both in sports and in the nerd community.
The story begins with Japan’s National Team finishing in 16th place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Japan Football League hires the football enigma, Ego Jinpachi, who has a master plan to lead Japan to stardom with a new program called Blue Lock. Blue Lock consists of a strict training regimen to create the world’s greatest egoist striker, those who fail in the program will never represent Japan. A high school student named Yoichi Isagi is conflicted about the way he plays the sport, Isagi decides to take part in Blue Lock to become the best striker in the world.
It’s an interesting premise, a football program consisting of 300 players in one of the most grueling sports programs to create an egoist striker sounds so Dystopian, I could say it is similar to the Hunger Games, but there have been many that have said the same thing, so I’ll pass on that description. While most manga titles focus on the three pillars of Shonen: Friendship, Trying your best, and Being Selfless, Blue Lock throws that out the window and gives us a different approach to what others have seen when training in other countries, sacrificing friendships and personal lives for the sake of the game. Not really the best thing to teach the younger generation, but that’s why it is fiction. Aside from all of that, the story pulls you in for an all-out brawl (on the field) packed with thrills and suspense, proving to be one of Kodansha’s strongest sports titles of the modern era.
Let’s discuss the artwork that was featured, Yusuke Nomura is one of the best artists in the Manga Industry, you may call me crazy on it, but hear me out. When you’re drawing either a sports, shonen or a certain genre of manga that requires action or drama, then you need to get the tone of the moment and the dynamic movement involved for it. Nomura clinched this notion with ease. Either with exaggerated facial expressions whenever it is from Ego Jinpachi, Yoichi, or the other Blue Lock players when they reach their highest point of Egotism, or perhaps how it looks more like a battle manga than a Soccer-themed title. Hell, even when Team Z was in the most intense game of Tag in the beginning, it was drawn out to be a battle royale, and that emotional aura it gave in each panel was something that worked well for this first volume.
It’ll take me a while to catch up on Blue Lock, but rest assured that it will get done, and I hope you’ll read the next Blue Lock Volume Review. Blue Lock Vol. One is available now at your local bookstore or e-retailer. Until then, be sure to read my other reviews.
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Final Grade:
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