MIAMI.- Contrary to what people might think, sports and Japanese animation have always had a fabulous relationship. In fact, many of the most successful manga and anime in history – many of which are considered cult classics – have had the most varied sports disciplines (football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, etc.) as their central theme. The reason is obvious: a playing field is a perfect excuse to address issues such as personal improvement, the complexities of teamwork, generating tension with a team, and so on. ticking clock, build rivalries between characters and generate a setting where sometimes you win by losing or vice versa (emphasizing life’s dilemmas where the facts are not just black and white). What happens when a story takes all these elements that have become almost conventions and inverts them? This is the case of Blue Lockone of the best-selling mangas today where the football field becomes a kind of battle royale where only the best and most selfish triumph.
Thanks to your success, Blue Lock It was adapted to anime in 2022 and with just one season it already has a huge fan base. The story tells us about an ambitious project led by Ego Jinpachi to build the next dream team to represent Japan in the World Cup. As if it were a kind of reality showEgo recruits the best forwards in the country and puts them to live together in a complex with cutting-edge technology called Blue Lock. There, they will have to compete in a free-for-all creating an environment where alliances must be generated to survive, but it is almost impossible to maintain a genuine friendship. Starting from the premise that every forward within a football team must be autonomous and think of himself as the star who scores goals, Ego encourages dynamics so that the characters have to be narcissistic and thus demonstrate who is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. dreamsThrough a points system, football matches and other dynamics, hundreds of forwards will have to make their way through qualifying rounds where the winner will become part of the Japanese football team and the losers will be banned from the field forever. A life or death situation that makes our emotional ties with each character hang in the balance in each episode.
Although the serie focuses on the arc of Yoichi Isagi, a striker who despite not being the best and having many doubts about himself, works hard to constantly improve himself, Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- focuses on changing the perspective by telling us how Nagi Seishiro and Reo Mikage come to the mysterious Ego’s project. Unlike the vast majority of anime series OVAs that are stories that are not part of the canon of the main plot and could easily be omitted, this film puts the focus on the arc of characters that we considered antagonistic to redefine the decisions they make and that we get to know through the eyes of the protagonist of the series. This not only makes Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- Not only is it a great starting point for those who don’t know the story to approach the anime, but it also allows those who are up to date to ask new questions about Nagi and Reo (how did they get there?, how did they become friends?, what would happen if they were the protagonists?), providing depth to their respective dramatic arcs.
Which makes that Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- is so funny is that it establishes a parallel with Yoichi’s plot through the contrast he has with Nagi. While the former is extremely excited and convinced of what he wants, the latter is apathetic and seems to care little or nothing about being on the playing field; both have friendships that are key in the development of their dramatic arc and with whom they will have a complex relationship between loyalty and rivalry; both end up working together without suspecting that their stories of background They have more in common than they think. The interesting thing about this change of perspective is that, far from seeing Nagi as the ruthless genius that we are shown in the series, we now know him as a talented but unmotivated young man (finally finding the meaning of his life on the playing field, giving capital importance to his permanence in the project). Blue Lock). In fact, it is thanks to his friendship with Reo that his character evolves and that makes the decisions he makes later in the story have even greater weight.
Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- gives us all the excitement, eccentricity and adrenaline of the series in an hour and a half. In fact, we are left wanting to see this same origin story exercise applied to other characters a little in the same vein. what if. At the same time, it invites us to ask ourselves questions in extremely complex contexts about how far we are willing to go to fulfill our dreams, confronting ourselves and our friends, taking into account the impact our decisions have on the lives of others. Far from functioning as a critique of modernity where competitiveness is the order of the day, Blue Lock The Movie Episode Nagi It serves as a mirror where we can recognize ourselves for better or worse in achieving our goals. Something that is always appreciated in a good anime and that helps us reflect beyond the fun of the playing field.
The best: the animation and the dynamic rhythm of the story. Despite presenting you once again the universe of Blue Lockthe change of perspective enriches the series and deepens the relationship between Nagi Seishiro and Reo Mikage, redefining events in the series.
The bad: Although the story stands on its own and serves as an entry point for those who have not seen the anime, the third act gives a rush of information that, only if you are up to date with the series, you can assimilate including the post-credits scene.
About the Author
Luis Bond is a director, screenwriter, editor and teacher. Since 2010 he has been a film critic on the web, radio and in print publications. He is a Tomatometer-approved critic at Rotten Tomatoes.
His training in film has been complemented with studies in deep analytical psychology and symbology. She is co-host of podcast Axis Mundi where he delves into film analysis, literature, psychology and symbolic language.
Twitter (X), Instagram, Threads y TikTok: @luisbond009.
Web: www.luisbond.com.
