Ego At Its Finest
Blue Lock is a Sports Shonen anime developed by studio 8bit in October 2022 up to March 2023, it was developed from the manga of the same name created by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura. Blue Lock tells the story of Yoichi Isagi and his intense battle through the Blue Lock Project. This project serves to take 300 young athletes and put them through grueling challenges to birth forth the ultimate striker with an Ego unlike any that have come before.
Blue Lock is an anime I didn’t expect to like very much. I enjoy a good sports anime here and there, but they are never really my favorites to watch, and I can’t seem to ever finish them. Then lo and behold Blue Lock came along and I actually paid attention to the sports in the sport anime. Shocking I know.
Keep in mind I like action, and I like internal conflict, it’s why my two favorite genres in anime are Slice of Life and Shonen. And yet Blue Lock completely surprised me with the internal conflict the characters seem to go through. It’s strange to think that the preached ideologies can be interpreted the way they do. And it all boils down to one hard fact. Ego can be a good thing.
When we think of Ego we think of two things. That tall, skinny food critic from Ratatouille, and the insufferable self-image that certain people seem to have. We often talk about people with ego being more self-centered and narcissistic. And believe me, anime has its fair share of egotistical characters. But Blue Lock does something different. It gives the word Ego a positive connotation/perspective.
Jinpachi Ego, the creator of the Blue Lock Project has this entire speech in episode one where he explains that Japan doesn’t need a full team to win the World Cup. He explains his entire project is designed to create one promising young man to have the drive and extreme desire to be the best and to outperform everyone in his team to become the best striker possible simply.
In the easiest way to understand it he explains how Ego can be more of a driving force than a hindrance if trained properly. It’s not selfishness, it’s self-confidence. In the first episode, I witnessed Isagi pass a ball to his teammate who missed the shot. And I felt something tug at my heart.
It reminded me of when I played soccer as a young boy. That feeling of being so close to the goal but choosing to let someone else take it. All because I was afraid people would look at me if I messed up. But seeing Isagi relive that moment and show that with ego it doesn’t matter who is watching when it is only him and the goal to worry about, it made me realize Ego is a driving force. And sometimes it’s ok to do something yourself. Because that is what it means to be a striker. To take the shot even if it costs you everything.
To let your Ego take control and break through to heights unknown. I highly recommend this anime if you want to fully understand Ego and its role within soccer and the world we live in. They go over some amazing points with some fantastic examples that honestly are so well done it’s insane. A must-watch especially for all you sports fans out there.
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