Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 6 Review

Blue Lock Season 2, Episode 6, “The Big Stage,” kicks off the long-awaited and intense, career-defining match between the Blue Lock XI and the Japan U-20 Team. Whether this is a faithful adaptation of one of the best arcs in manga history or if all the hype will die out as the previous episodes have been treated remains to be seen.

Blue Lock Season 2 continues to fail to meet fans’ high expectations due to various reasons why the studio wasn’t able to give this insanely popular arc its deserved love. As much as fans continue to hold hope, it is not looking too good, but there are some saving graces here and there.

The Awaited Match Kicks Off

Blue Lock XI Vs U-20 Japan

So far, Blue Lock has done an okay job at best at building hype or showing any action, but there were some decent scenes in every episode. Fans had all their hopes set for this match, and going into the episode, it starts off with Sae and Aiku discussing how Shidou is not compatible at all with their team and that if he is allowed to play, the others won’t.

This sort of eliminates all that was shown so far about how Sae was only going to play in the team if Shidou was allowed to play. Even later in the episode, the Blue Lock XI team is also surprised not to see Shidou on the team. This has no implications for the episode itself, however, but sort of denies what Sae had going on this whole time. Still, the fact that we get to see him as the only star striker in the team is not bad either.

Key Players Of The Match

The Itoshi Brothers Unite

Although the show’s protagonist is Isagi, the key focus is also shown on players such as the Itoshi brothers and other members of Blue Lock XI and U-20 Japan, which is one of the show’s strengths, as it does not solely rely on the MC trope and gives the spotlight to every member of the team.

However, what’s disappointing about the show, and the major issue, lies in its recent pacing. Even though Season 2 has barely had any action, they failed to give proper backstories to any of the characters who are the key players here in Season 2. Instead of rushing into the match immediately, it would’ve been nice to see some actual motivation behind some of the key players, as was shown during Aiku’s backstory, even if it was extremely brief.

Insane Match Buildup

Witnessing Something Glorious Albeit Flawed

Blue Lock XI prepares to face off against the U-20 Japan team as they walk out toward the stadium. Although fans have been complaining about the animation and CGI since the start of Season 2, the hype that was built up for the match was commendable. Seeing the players looking at the crowd and the crowd’s chanting really does hype you up, as if you’re witnessing an actual live World Cup match.

Although the animation hasn’t really improved, the use of CGI can be controversial in this episode as it does look slightly better than in previous episodes, and this can be better seen during Bachira’s dribbling sequence and Aiku’s defense sequence as well. It is nothing to get excited over, but at least it does give the slight semblance that there is still hope that the rest of the match will have better animation, as the Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan Arc in the manga is considered one of the best arcs ever.

Match of the Generation

What Could Have Been

The match itself, however, started off a little too soon, but seeing how far the Blue Lock team has come and their journey—if we put aside the animation and other bad things—does, however, feel pretty nice. Seeing the family members of our beloved players, such as Isagi and Bachira, come to watch their game was heartwarming. The match kicks off with Blue Lock players trying to prove themselves in the most perfect scenario ever. A few of the strong points of the episode could be said about how the players have come so far as to actually believe in each other.

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

Release Date

October 9, 2022

Studio

8bit

Creator

Muneyuki Kaneshiro

MyAnimeList Score

8.30