Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 6 Review

Important takeaways

• The highly anticipated Blue Lock vs. Japan U-20 match begins, showcasing the team's journey and intense play.
• Key players like the Itoshi brothers get the spotlight, but lack backstories and disappoint fans.
• Animation issues remain, but matchmaking and character development show potential for improvement.

Blue lock Season 2, Episode 6, “The Big Stage,” kicks off the highly anticipated and intense, career-defining match between the Blue Lock XI and Japan's 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 down as the previous episodes have treated remains to be seen.

Blue lock Season 2 continues to fail to meet fans' high expectations due to various reasons why the studio couldn't give this insanely popular arc the love it deserves. As much as fans continue to hold out hope, it's not looking too good, but there are some saving graces here and there.

The long-awaited match begins

Blue Lock XI vs U-20 Japan

So far, Blue lock has at best done an okay job of building up hype or showing some action, but there were some decent scenes in each episode. The fans had all their hopes pinned on this match, and as we go into the episode, it starts with Sae and Aiku discussing how Shidou isn't compatible with their team at all and that if he gets to play, the others won't.

This kind of eliminates everything shown so far about how Sae would only play on the team if Shidou was allowed to play. Also later in the episode, the Blue Lock XI team is also surprised to not see Shidou on the team. However, this has no consequences for the episode itself, but kind of negates what Sae had going on all along. The fact that we get to see him as the only star striker in the team is still not bad either.

Key player of the match

The Itoshi brothers unite

Although the show's main character is Isagi, the main focus is also shown on players such as the Itoshi brothers and other members of the Blue Lock XI and U-20 Japan, which is one of the show's strengths, as it doesn't solely rely on the MC trope and shines the spotlight on every member of the team.

But what's disappointing about the show, and the big problem, lies in its recent pacing. Although 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 right away, it would have been nice to see some real motivation behind some of the the key players, which was shown during Aiku's backstory, although it was extremely brief.

Crazy match build

To witness something glorious albeit flawed

The Blue Lock XI prepare to face the U-20 Japan team as they head out to the stadium. Although fans have complained about the animation and CGI since the start of Season 2, the hype built up for the match was commendable. Seeing the players looking at the crowd and the chants of the crowd really stirs you up, like you're watching a real World Cup match live.

Although the animation has not really improved, the use of CGI can 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 Aiku's defense sequence as well. It's nothing to get excited about, but it at least gives a hint that there's 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 bows ever.

The match of the generation

What could have been

The match itself started a bit 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 – feels pretty nice though. Seeing the family members of our beloved players, like Isagi and Bachira, come to watch their match was heartwarming. The match starts with Blue Lock players trying to prove themselves in the most perfect scenario ever. Some of the episode's strong points can be said about how the players have gotten to the point where they actually believe in each other.

The most entertaining part of the episode was the compatibility between Isagi and Bachira. Bachira's love of playing with Isagi is really the highlight of the episode, though it's interrupted when Aiku decides to put them on the spot, telling them that their team's defenses are impenetrable. Aside from the match, one of the most entertaining parts of the episode, as always, is in the extra time segment where Nagi and Kenyu continue to play their game, comparing the U-20 players to animals. But it takes a funny yet dark turn when Rin is asked who Sae compares herself to, bringing their intense sibling rivalry back into focus. We can only hope that the studio has put all its production efforts into continuing the match to see how it develops.