Blue Lock – 14

「天才と凡才」 (Tensai to Bonsai)
“The Geniuses and the Average Joes”

With Bachira bearing his all for Rin’s team in Blue Lock, Isagi is left to lick his wounds as Nagi grows impatient of his partner’s angst. But the time to angst is of the essence as they are pitted against two people on the same level of skill; Barou and Naruhaya.

ISAGI’S SADNESS ARC

If there’s one thing that’s kinda obnoxious about the characters of Blue Lock, it’s that they’re indignant about being called out for losing focus. In this episode, it’s Isagi that wants to go on tangents about how he lacks any physical perks only to get pissed once Nagi tells him to snap out of it and get with the program.

Isagi is this close to realizing he might be a better soccer coach than a soccer player because his personal skill is strategy, a skill that is meant to be adaptable with other players. But Isagi’s busy licking his wounds to see it just yet, so now he internalizes not having some kind of overpowered Mario Strikers nonsense abilities.

The real tragedy wound up being that, for as mopey as Isagi is about not being turbo-powered, he doesn’t factor in how he coasts along with the help of his peers. Nagi might have lost a passing companion in Reo, but Bachira’s abilities were the main reason why any of Isagi’s plans bore any fruit, to begin with. Isagi spent so much time leaning on Bachira’s capabilities to comprehend the strategies that he has to use this current Selection to reconfigure how exactly he can apply his strategic prowess.

THE JOE SCHMO SHOW

One saving grace for Isagi is that Nagi seems to understand the concept of the Selection. Because it relies on the player’s intuition to work with just about anyone, a player’s individual skills are put to the test with how well they can mesh with other teammates.

Naturally, Isagi should be at an advantage because his skill is figuring out how to tap into each of his teammates’ strengths. The next episode should have to have Isagi figure this much out considering how Barou and Naruhaya’s selfish ambitions come at odds with each other. Barou had previously screwed over his teammates by acting as the sole striker on the team, leaving Naruhaya high and dry.

However, the biggest liability is Naruhaya, the wildcat player who is all too eager to realize he’s being coasted along by stronger players. While this works to his advantage by feeding into Isagi’s negativity spiral, it also makes him draw too much attention to himself. He’s proud to be Barou’s lackey, but he also wants to flex that he has hidden abilities that Isagi couldn’t possibly comprehend.

With Blue Lock, it helps to explain everyone’s skills in such an obvious way that it’s easy to see where Naruhaya would screw up. As someone who can only excel when he’s behind others, Isagi could easily make a strategic plan to counteract his skill and avoid Barou if he removes the mental block he has from other players’ mind games.

Then again, Isagi is very prone to get tripped up by people’s words and smack-talk. As someone who internalizes what his place in the world is if he succeeds or fails the Blue Lock program, he would be the very first person to get tripped up by Naruhaya’s smack-talk.

Naruhaya going on a full rant about Isagi being as terrible as he is at soccer would be enough to get in his mind. I doubt they’d end it with Isagi losing this round, but the big cliffhanger is fueled by how much Naruhaya is getting to him by bringing him down to his level. Isagi will have to refocus on his strengths as a strategist if he wants to show his worth in a way that transcends just having a cool skill.

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