Back to angecritter's Profile angecritter's Profile

An intense, stylish, but often times overambitious sports anime with a hefty dose of shounen absurdity.

Intro

Blue Lock portrays soccer as an ego-driven death game wrapped in capitalism and shounen melodrama. It's intense, absurd, and a little bit horny. And honestly, that's what makes it so damn entertaining - but it's not without its issues.

Storytelling/Pacing

The series spans a standard 24 episodes, which should be enough to tell a tightly paced story. However, the show gets heavily bogged down by its own shounen tropes and poor pacing. The series builds tension well, but too often these moments are buried under bloated internal monologues - especially from Isagi. ... While the psychological aspect is cool at first, the constant ego rants lose impact fast. Isagi's internal monologues are far too often less character exploration and more faux intellectual drivel, and it kills the pacing. Hard. He doesn't develop so much as absorb philosophies like he's a twinky sponge. The matches, as interesting as they are visually, often fall into the realm of Filler Lane, where the characters have to go through an uphill battle in their own minds each time. This is redundant. Either make it more sparse or have different things happen.

There's an undeniable sense that the show is getting high on its own excess. But when everything is life-or-death... nothing is. It numbs you. High drama becomes background noise. After a while, watching Blue Lock is like listening to Merzbow on top of Kendrick Lamar. It's brilliance beneath a layer of pure exhaustion.

Visuals

That said, when Blue Lock does fire on all cylinders, it's absolutely brilliant. The animation is top fucking tier in both technical and artistic quality - brimming with passion in every frame, every major character design full of thematic cohesion. The character designs are always so damn sharp, exaggerated, and full of personality. I'll concede that for some of the supporting cast, they fall into the realm of generic anime high schoolers, but it's not a dealbreaker. I would've preferred it to be more of a spectacle, even with less focus on side characters, but for the main cast? Oh yeah, they nailed it. Bachira has that childlike wonder in his eyes and even his hair, Isagi is determined yet youthful, Rin is...okay, Rin is basically just a taller version of Isagi, just with 20% more cynicism. The way the supernatural/psychedelic elements are shown is really great, too - it really utilizes the medium to its advantage by showing a metaphor for how locked in these guys are on the field, even if the ego monsters are a bit jarring. Despite the sensory overload this show is so fond of, the direction knows how to land emotional beats when it matters most. They take this shit so seriously that it can feel like people are dying out here, even when it's "just" a soccer game. But since we're talking about animation: why use 3D models for distant characters? It just pulls me out of the scene when there's a clear difference in art styles, even if it's just for select scenes. They look like scrapped PS2 models - cheap and stiff, kinda like the music.

Soundtrack

Music in Blue Lock is a mixed bag for me. I love the first OP, like the rest of the OPs and EDs, and don't care much for the background music. The OPs really sell that aggressive, youthful conquest for victory - I can feel Bachira's indulgent yet disciplined passion in every note, and the EDs are cute and sentimental. BGM in this series feels like generic electronic-style sports music, it doesn't do anything particularly interesting to hype scenes up and its composition is...fine. I would've been okay with generic music if it fit the tone (sports can be kind of stale) but Blue Lock is anything BUT generic. Why not go all-out with tunes that catch you off guard? The BGM tries to be energetic but lands somewhere between Skrillex impersonator and the soundtrack to a Fortnite crypto scam. I would've loved to see some Masafumi Takada-esque EDM bangers a la Danganronpa V3 to soundtrack the wild action that occurs, or hell, even some banging cyber metal. There was a lot of room to experiment here, but the chance was simply not taken.

Themes

Blue Lock actually has something to say. It's not just about soccer: it's about ego, ambition, and what it means to pursue greatness with complete disregard for teamwork or tradition. It's a sports anime with the plot of a shounen death game, without the death but with all the philosophical dread. I'm not sold on the philosophy it's going for, but what matters most is its believability. These are soccer players with the drive to be the best at any cost - and I can completely see how they come to their primarily self-fulfilling conclusions. It definitely doesn't shy away from showing other perspectives too. Isagi gets treated like a self-serving dick more as the series progresses, and I found it pretty funny how they call out him trying to be the main character of the story. It's no labyrinthine debate, but I'm glad the showrunners are at least a little self-aware. Blue Lock has something to say, but what adds layers is that it never really gives you a straight moral to take. Personally, I see Isagi as a well-meaning occasional bonehead whose ego may eventually eat him alive, but you might see him as a complete asshole that has no regard for his friends. These are conversations that are worth having, and as a sucker for philosophy, I definitely want to talk to some people about how they view the characterization at play here. Despite its interesting themes, however, it can be a little too unsubtle in its delivery at times. I don't need everything to be super nuanced and intricate, but I feel that a lot of the time, Blue Lock kicks back on having clear-cut motivations for everyone that leave little room for intrigue. The show would've done this better if it took more time to build specific perspectives instead of it being primarily an ensemble cast, especially when a few characters rely way too heavily on tropes. (looking at you, Tokimitsu)

Tone

Tonally, Blue Lock lives in this really odd space between hardcore serious sports shounen and off-the-wall comedy. It's not a perfect contrast by any means, but I'd say that its flaws add more merit and memorability to it, which is an absolute win in my book. Are some of the voice actors going way too hard? Absolutely. But I'd much rather have that than phoned-in performances with nothing interesting going on.

My Strange Addiction

Okay, let me just break character for a second, because I need to talk about my one true love, Meguru Bachira. This man quickly became my husbando as the series progressed. He's so cute, I love how driven he is, how much romantic tension there is between him and the rest of the cast, and just the sheer passion he has for soccer above LITERALLY anything else. He's the perfect protagonist, and I didn't even realize he was a protagonist until he'd already stolen my heart. I love how he perfectly captures the themes of ego and ambition by being the centerpiece - driven by pure love and passion for everyone on the team via the realm of soccer. Everything about the way he thinks and plays is this perfect harmony of his worldview tying into every action he takes. It's gorgeous. Beyond all the analysis though, my emotional reaction to him is so strong that I just NEED to get this out. What an amazing little creature.

Outro

Blue Lock is so far from perfection it may as well be allergic to it - but it's got style, guts, and a few standout moments that make the ride worth it. Just don't expect a masterpiece. Expect an over-the-top shounen about egos and highly queer existential crises.

Despite being a pretty big fan of anything surrealist and/or avant-garde, I have never seen anything quite like Paprika. Even Christopher Nolan's great Inception, which borrows heavily from the dream world established in this film, cannot come close to being as weird as Paprika. Satoshi Kon made something absolutely incredible here, and it's definitely one of the most mind bending films I've ever seen.

Paprika focuses heavily on the scientific, philosophical, and psychological implications of dreams. A scientist develops a device that allows dream therapy to take place while people are asleep, and all sorts of weird things happen as a result. When the device is ... stolen, dreams and reality start to merge, and this is just the beginning of the mind-melting that's about to come.

This is an incredible film, it's so utterly incomprehensible, yet it has such a consistent, stylish carefree nature that makes it an incredibly fun watch all throughout. I can confidently say it's one of the strangest pieces of media that I've ever experienced, and it still leaves so many questions unanswered. The direction of the film is utterly sublime, the characters all feel pretty well established, and the visuals are as trippy as they are unique. Paprika is undoubtedly one of the most unusual films I've ever seen, and one of the most impressive visual pieces of animation ever created. It's got an impeccable style, and it's one of the greatest representations of dreams and the psyche in the entire medium of film.

A dense, surreal exploration of the parasitic entertainment industry, Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue is a fantastic psychological thriller that blurs the line between reality and fantasy, making viewers question the true events of the film even after the credits roll. I really love how it's structured, with each scene seeming like a continuation of the last, except when the rug gets pulled out from underneath you by the plot twists. It's an engrossing, disturbing film that makes you ponder exploitation in the industry, obsessive fanboys, and even the nature of identity itself.

This film is the definition of a trip. It still has such a surreal ... feel that it reminds me of my actual dreams, which is always a plus in a psychological story like this. There are so many amazing moments in this film that made me genuinely shocked, the only part that I didn't really like was the ending as it feels a bit abrupt, and doesn't give a lot of closure to Mima's character. But aside from that, this is a great example of experimental anime and I absolutely loved it!

I'm a bit conflicted on the Umineko anime. On one hand, it's got a great atmosphere, solid usage of gore, and a story that's only getting more mysterious as it goes on, not to mention the amazing character development that goes on. But on the other hand, as an adaptation? This series has a plethora of issues, even beyond its nature as an adaptation, but what's really damning is just how good the source material is. It's a shame that anime-only watchers will probably walk away confused and disappointed, as it only adapts the first 4 arcs (of which there are 8) of the original.

Then ... again, the series is still pretty damn good, all things considered, and has some moments that rival the best of the visual novel. What's most surprising about this series is how the showrunners aren't afraid to get dark. The series has a lot of blood, gore, and generally fucked up shenanigans, even more so than the source material. Some scenes, particularly in the third arc, genuinely made me cringe and I'm glad I'm not a masochist. It's a pretty damn raw series, with a lot of raw imagery, and in that respect it does a good job of capturing the horror elements of the original.

What's also surprising is the series's usage of sound. While the OST isn't anywhere near as good as the VN's (which is god tier), I think that when they allow the soundtrack to take over, the series's atmosphere kicks up a notch.

The series also has a really good cast of characters. They're all pretty interesting and well-developed, and there are a lot of them. Sure, they don't get quite enough development as in the original, which can be detrimental to some earlier episodes as you don't really feel like you know the characters. But as the series goes on, the characters really start to get good, and I think my favourites here are Rosa and Maria. Their dynamic is depicted in such a way that you can't help but feel for them as the series goes on, and they're one of my favourite mother/daughter pairings of all time.

What's also really interesting with the series is how it handles the mystery. The series does a great job of keeping the mystery going, but the fact is that in adapting such a dense, difficult mystery novel, a few details were changed that make it far less cohesive than the original. While it's still a great mystery, it doesn't really have a resolution here, and the best thing it does is make you wonder what's really going on, without ever truly letting you figure out whodunit.

The series's biggest flaw is just how much it cuts down on the original. I spent at least 90 hours on Umineko, and that's pretty low all things considered. That doesn't even count the time I spent theory-crafting, re-reading, or generally just trying to figure out the mysteries. It's such a dense novel, and unfortunately, that means this anime falls short on being truly great.

So, is it worth watching? I'd say it is, though you should really consider reading Umineko as opposed to watching it. There aren't many stories with its sheer scope and execution. But regardless, the anime is some solid supplementary material for starved Umi-fans, like myself. Give it a watch, it's a good time. Just know that you'll have to deal with the cliffhanger ending and some pretty weird pacing issues.

Utterly incomprehensible. I mean, how could it not be? Adapting an 8 hour visual novel into a single-episode OVA isn't something that I think anyone could do without significant harm, and while I can't claim to have played the original, as it hasn't been translated yet, what I can say is that this OVA is straight up terrible. Its animation is poor, the sex scenes are just repetitive, and the story is impossible to follow. What little there is of it is told in such an empty way that it's basically pointless to try and analyze it. The tasteless shock value is akin to the ... worst ecchi out there, and the only thing that saves it from being outright offensive is that I've played SubaHibi, a VN with an incredible amount of empathy towards the atrocities it depicts. This is a weird case, because if I had played the original VN, I'm sure I would have a better understanding of the events here, but it might even be worse, because of how short and rushed it is. I have no idea why they thought it was a good idea to try and make this. To take a pillar of the denpa genre and cram it into le fetish slop that lasts about 24 minutes and has the emotional depth of a puddle. I could go on, but honestly, this is really not worth wasting your time on.

I watched the anime of this first, and while I consider it to be a masterpiece, this manga was lacking in the surreal atmosphere that made the anime so great. While I do recognize this did come first, so I will pay it the respect it deserves, this medium doesn't really suit the story. The characters are still as depraved as ever, and the story is still just as good, but the scenes don't linger like they should. Midori is already a pretty short movie, and this took me even less time to read through. The few pros the manga has over the anime is ... that its artstyle is more appealing, and some scenes, like the ending, hit a bit harder in the manga format. On its own, this is a pretty solid read, but I'd recommend anyone who wants to check this out to watch the anime first.