It’s time for the return of Blue Lock, one of the all time greats for anime. Blue Lock is the kind of franchise that never falters and even if the animation may not have been the greatest, the story makes up for that. The style and color scheme are also extremely sharp so I have to say that I was impressed either way. Things like this come down to the direction and how the information is presented. Blue Lock continues to be nonstop hype the whole time and so I can say that season 3 is going to have to work hard to keep up.

This season is pretty much all about the Japan vs U20 match. First we do have the match to choose which Blue Lock players will make the team though. There are only so many slots after all but once that’s done then we hit the ground running. This is one of the most important matches of the franchise so it makes sense that this would be a big deal. Do the Blue Lockers have what it takes to defeat the Japanese team or are they getting ahead of themselves? One thing’s for sure, they will all have to evolve their skills if they want even a slight chance of winning this one.

So lets get onto the technicals right away. The show may not have the most movement but the strong colors from season 1 persist. You can feel the power in each of the blows throughout the season and so you’re really kept fully alert the whole time. The final episode also goes really hard with the movement as Rin battles Sae. So in the end I can’t count this as anything else other than an absolute W. The show excels when necessary with the visuals.

Then backing it up the whole time is an absolutely killer soundtrack. The great tunes continue to persist over and over again as the show goes on. You have remixes of old tunes as well as a bunch of brand new songs. Shidou’s goal theme was probably the biggest stand out theme to me but I generally liked all of them. Blue Lock is so far ahead of the average anime in terms of the music that this ends up helping the whole package continue to get better and better.

The show even lands the huge cliffhanger here. We set up one of the new characters who will be dominating for a while and then we also have one character threaten to murder someone. Clearly the soccer is only going to continue to get more and more intense from here and I am definitely eager to see how that plays out. Hopefully season 3 happens sooner than later because I definitely need that right now.

Naturally the cast is still as excellent as ever. For the main character we have Isagi and he’s really not your traditional main character. He has a real edge to him that continues to come to the forefront as he is forced to disassemble and reassemble himself over and over again. He may get targeted a lot in the battles but he ultimately makes his comeback and keeps on swinging. That’s what makes him such a dangerous figure. Additionally he’s clutch when it counts and even talks back to his coach. In another series you could expect Isagi to be the rival figure.

So naturally as the actual rival you can really expect that Rin looks absolutely crazy here. He keeps getting more unhinged as the episodes go on to the point where he is ready to fight in real life. I don’t like the way his Destroyer form looks but I can’t deny the actual ability behind it. At this point it’s fair to say that he is quite easily the best Blue Lock player on the field. None can even come close to his brilliance. I definitely look forward to seeing more of him. I don’t see anyone surpassing this guy.

Bachira is one of my favorite characters as well but sadly he doesn’t get a ton to do here. It’s still clear that he is one of the most skilled players on the team so that’s a good thing but he doesn’t get a chance to really go on a tear the way that he used to. I don’t think it’s that the power creep has caught up to him but just that you can’t really balance every player when they’re all on screen. He does well enough and typically beats his man which is good but you won’t see him taking down a whole team or anything like that.

Chigiri continues to impress with his pure speed. He might be the most understated player on the team because his speed is consistently able to work on everybody. Nobody seems to be able to counter it the first time and his only real weakness is a lack of stamina. Once he gets that under control then he will be even better. Chigiri should certainly be regarded as one of the team’s best strikers.

Reo is still finding his place in the universe as I don’t think the copycat thing is his final form. Still, it is impressive how he is able to copy any technique after only seeing it once. He’s definitely a dangerous player and gets quite a few really good moments. If he can find a way to add his own spin to the copy then he really could end up being one of the strongest.

Nagi looks really good here and the guy is still a prodigy. He makes a statement in the big game really early and while he was quiet after that, you know that you can count on him for a big play. He can really shoot the ball from any angle and is only getting better and better. He’s a lot of fun to root for.

After that we have Barou and I would argue that from the top characters he is the one with the most holes in his game. He loves to do whatever he wants and has a perfectly selfish mindset as an egoist but I don’t see how you can keep on causing chaos and hope to win. After a point the novelty wears off and you’re just holding everyone back. I guess you could say I just have a problem with his whole ideology but he does get his pivotal moment to help out.

Then you have Karasu who is a bit of a quiet player but he really does well in the match. You can always see him on the field either directing the defense or even making a play himself. It feels like he is a step behind the other big shots in the series but he’s a great guy to have on your side because he has a good understanding of the strategy aspect of the game. He’s not just a player first and foremost.

Yukimiya is more of an aggressive player. Forget the strategy, he’s just here to score goals. I like his confidence and he’s generally good but I almost expect him to look a little better considering that his specialty is one on one duels. There are always a lot of those in this series so he should quickly settle himself as one of the best players. For some reason he never quite takes off like that which is a shame.

Otoya is the same way but his role is considerably smaller. He may be a top 6 player with great stats but in a lot of ways he feels the most generic. He gets his chance to shine and all but you can definitely picture him getting less and less screentime. Just look at Aryu and Niko after all. They’re in the roster and are great players but don’t get to do a whole lot. At least Niko has similar surveying skills to Isagi so he can do well in predicting what will be happening next. Aryu at this point is just tall and that’s about it.

Gagamaru doesn’t do a ton but he doesn’t need to since he’s the goalie. His job is if anything not to appear too much because that means he isn’t letting any goals go through or they aren’t even reaching him. He always does a good job so you really can’t fault him at all. Someone like Raichi who is mostly a nonfactor is more of a free target. The poor guy just feels doomed to be a supporting character at this rate even though he always had a lot of gusto. Sometimes enthusiasm just isn’t enough.

Then we have some of the new recruits like Nanase. He’s a nice guy who means well but everything about his game is fairly ordinary. He seems good enough to support others but too weak to stand on his own and for that reason I don’t see him rising up the charts all that much. In comparison Hiori has more of a fire to him. He continues to improve his passing game and is really quite lethal when it counts. The show also gave him a really cool ice effect for one of his shots which really stood out and made him even more memorable. It’s the little things like that which you just don’t forget. I look forward to seeing more of him.

Meanwhile the coach Ego only looks okay here. He does mess with the heroes a bit but I still would have liked some better coaching. Yes, I get why you leave it up to the players for a while so they can have their own development but the whole point of a coach is to teach the players. He could have done something beyond sitting around until the team forced his hand. A coach should be coaching and I just don’t buy the excuses to the contrary.

Now lets talk about the other team. In general there are 4 players to look at. First up is Sendo who was the striker on the team before Sae joined up. He has a lot of resentment towards that guy and Sae definitely fuels it as he constantly insults Sendo. Sendo may not be the strongest but he is still a great player. I was rooting for the guy because for the most part he just seemed to not be ready when his opportunity was there. He wasn’t quite ready to be the all time best.

Aiku is one of the most interesting characters because he’s actually a defender first and foremost. That’s extremely rare in this series and they did a great job of really showing off all of his moves. He continues to get better and better as the match went on and I definitely await his return. It’s important to set up a good defender to really bring out the attackers. He’s also just got a very unique personality and was really well developed considering that he just shows up. You really can’t ask for much more than that.

Then we have Shido who actually ends up working for the villains on this one after he was benched from Blue Lock. It’s pretty fun seeing him on the opposing side and the guy is absolutely insane. A true wild card, even more than the actual wild card character. He can be a bit much with how over the top he is but he works real well as the antagonist. The fact that he’s nearly as good as Rin definitely shows why almost nobody can really handle the guy. He’s just in a different tier.

Finally we have Sae. After all these years Rin gets to settle the score with him. I will say that once we see the backstory it’s hard not to be on Sae’s side. Rin comes across as super unreasonable the whole time as Sae isn’t even being aggressive. It’s only once Rin turns up the attitude that Sae ends up getting really serious. So I don’t really blame Sae for what happened there. Additionally in the present we see just how much Sae has been improving because he’s able to easily handle everyone on the team except for Rin. It’s no wonder that he mocks the Japanese team for being weak. It is always hard to have to carry a whole team.

Overall, Blue Lock continues to show why it is such an elite series. I could watch episodes of this series over and over again. It has incredible replay value throughout the season. The big match has so much development and hype moments as well that it feels like a true epic. If you want to search for all of the pivotal moments you may as well watch the season again because things are happening every minute. Whether you like sports or not you need to watch this one. Blue Lock is the perfect example of a show that keeps its hype no matter what. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Soccer was the greatest sport in the world after this.

Overall 9/10