Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 6 Review

Key points

• The long-awaited Blue Lock vs Japan U-20 match begins, showcasing the team's journey and intense gameplay.
• Key players like the Itoshi brothers take center stage, but they lack backstory and disappoint fans.
• Animation concerns persist, but match construction and character development show potential for improvement.

Blue block Season 2, Episode 6, “The Big Stage,” kicks off the long-awaited and intense career-defining match between the Blue Lock XI and the Japanese U-20 team. Whether it's a faithful adaptation of one of the best story arcs in manga history or hype will die It remains to be seen how the previous episodes were treated.

Blue block Season 2 continues to fall short of fans' high expectations due to various reasons why the studio was unable to give this insanely popular story arc its well-deserved love. As much as fans continue to hold out hope, it doesn't look very good, but there are some saving graces here and there.

The awaited match begins

Blue Lock XI vs U-20 Japan

Until now, Blue block did at best a good job of building hype or showing any action, but there were a few decent scenes in each episode. Fans had all their hopes for this match and going into the episode, it starts with Sae and Aiku discussing how Shidou isn't compatible with their team at all and that if he is allowed to play, the others won't.

This kind of throws away everything that has been shown so far about how Sae would only play on the team if Shidou was allowed to play. Even later in the episode, the Blue Lock XI team is also surprised to not see Shidou on the team. This however has no implications for the episode itself, but it kind of negates what Sae has been doing this whole time. However, seeing him as the team's only star striker isn't bad either.

Key players of the match

The Itoshi brothers unite

Although the protagonist of the show is Isagi, the main focus is also placed on players such as the Itoshi brothers and other members of Blue Lock 'MC. trope and gives the spotlight to every member of the team.

However, what's disappointing about the show, and the main problem, lies in its recent pacing. Even though Season 2 had almost no action, they failed to provide adequate backstories for any of the characters who are the protagonists here in Season 2. Instead of immediately rushing into the match, it would have been nice to see some real motivation. behind some of the key players, as was shown during Aiku's backstory, albeit an extremely short one.

Crazy accumulation of matches

Witness something glorious even if imperfect

Blue Lock XI prepares to face the Japanese Under-20 team as they make their way to the stadium. Although fans have been complaining about the animation and CGI since the beginning of the second season, the hype that was created for the match was commendable. Seeing the players looking at the crowd and their chants really gives you the excitement, as if you were watching a real World Cup match live.

While the animation hasn't really improved, the use of CGI may be controversial in this episode as it looks slightly better than in previous episodes, and this can be seen better during Bachira's dribbling sequence and also in Aiku's defending sequence . It's nothing to get excited about, but at least it gives the slight impression that there's still hope that the rest of the match will have better animation, as the Japan Blue Lock vs. U-20 Arc in the manga is considered one of the best bows ever.

Game of the generation

What could have happened

The match itself, however, started a little too early, but seeing how far the Blue Lock team and their journey have come, if we put aside the animation and other bad things, is still pretty neat. Seeing family members of our beloved players, like Isagi and Bachira, come to watch their match was heartwarming. The match begins with Blue Lock players trying to prove themselves in the most perfect scenario ever. Some of the highlights of the episode might be how the players got to the point of actually believing in each other.

The funniest part of the episode was the compatibility between Isagi and Bachira. Bachira's love of playing with Isagi is truly the highlight of the episode, though it's cut short when Aiku decides to put them in their place and tells them that their team's defense is impenetrable. Aside from the match, one of the funniest parts of the episode, as always, lies in the additional time segment where Nagi and Kenyau continue to play, comparing the U-20 players to animals. However, it takes a funny yet dark turn when Rin is asked who Sae compares herself to, bringing the intense sibling rivalry back into focus. We can only hope that the studio has dedicated all its production efforts to continuing the game to see how it plays out.