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REVIEW: Blue Lock GN 1 & 2




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FiendHunter



Joined: 02 Dec 2019
Posts: 151
PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Honestly yeah, this manga is insane, and Ego is such an uncomfortable character, I almost dropped it. But there's something about it being so different from any other sport manga that makes me keep reading (aside from the great art) and having a lot of mixed emotions about the characters. There are tons of HORRIBLE characters (horrible in personality) that makes me go "woah too edgy", but I end up liking them anyway.
I don't know if this'll be the same experience for everyone reading this manga, but I would definitely recommend this Smile

With the latest chapters, I wonder where this is going though. But the ride is still something.
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PotatoGirl



Joined: 16 Dec 2016
Posts: 78
PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 7:22 pm Reply with quote
Blue Lock becomes hilarious when you remember that the Japanese women's team has won the World Cup several times already, making all of this madness be for nothing.
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micah007



Joined: 25 Jan 2017
Posts: 205
PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:30 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, the premise seems interesting enough for me to check out. I'm a fan of these types of stories, elimination/only the strongest will survive/competition, as long as the characters are enjoyable, and the inevitable brutal interpersonal competition is exhilarating.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 10:53 pm Reply with quote
I'll be honest. I don't get this. Why would this woman get angry and scream like some lunatic because her nation doesn't win the World Cup? I'm American and my country's never won the World Cup. We don't really have a problem with this because soccer's never been that big here. For us,we don't really care about it. Now,there are those who do,mostly immigrants and native-born soccer fans. I'm highly doubtful you'll ever see someone like this woman in the US doing something like this. We may have our faults but we'd look at this person like she should be in a insane asylum.
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 19 Jan 2012
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 3:44 am Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
I'll be honest. I don't get this. Why would this woman get angry and scream like some lunatic because her nation doesn't win the World Cup? I'm American and my country's never won the World Cup. We don't really have a problem with this because soccer's never been that big here. For us,we don't really care about it. Now,there are those who do,mostly immigrants and native-born soccer fans. I'm highly doubtful you'll ever see someone like this woman in the US doing something like this. We may have our faults but we'd look at this person like she should be in a insane asylum.


The US Women's Soccer team literally holds the record for world cup wins. People have different interests, and while yours is apparently to talk down to the interests of the rest of the world as if you speak for a majority, it turns out that soccer is immensely popular across the globe and is as political as it is sporting. Conveniently the US prefers to keep its fandom riots over football because it's easier to consider yourself the best at a sport no one else plays (this is said as a football fan). It simply plays into American Exceptionalism to pretend to be above a game that everyone else cares about when you're actually playing other countries and don't want to admit you're capable of losing. That the Women's team has succeeded despite this stupid mindset is incredible, but turns out we as a country still have a lot of people like you who think belittling them and the rest of the world makes you superior. That you're spouting this kind of BS here, a place that only exists because of people's passion for something they care about transcending borders, is especially narrow sighted.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 5:30 am Reply with quote
I'm sorry,ATastySub. I didn't mean to belittle those who like soccer. It's just that for me and those like me,soccer isn't that big a deal. Believe it or not,I tried watching it in 1992,when the World Cup first came to America. Like a lot of people here,I found it exceedingly tedious to watch. Most Americans don't really find it appealing,including me. We have our own sports we like to watch. I'm not a big sports fan across the board.
I also didn't mean to belittle the US Women's soccer team. They're probably pretty good. I wouldn't really know. Like a lot of people here,I'm not that into soccer. But,I never meant to insult those who do. That's how it may have come across,but really,I never meant to do that. I hope you forgive me and we may put this behind us,OK?
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 7:10 am Reply with quote
Hey, people, don't get personal.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 11:19 am Reply with quote
I can see the idea of almost treating the soccer training as a sort of shonen battle tournament. I agree the premise itself is rather stupid, with football being seen as all about 1 or 2 people the reason a team wins or not, and just bad fanfiction in a way. It's like the people behind ESPN sports center wanted to make a football manga and they're all about highlight clips. Fine though, I get it. Young kids would read it and imagine being the next Messi. Treating that absurd training as a sort of shonen style tournament fits with that idea and demographic they're probably aiming for.

The part I don't like is how all of the other 299 kids can never play professional football again if they're not the ultimate winner. So these kids get round up, shipped off to this place (no word if they have any say in this), and then get told if you screw up at all you can never play again. Yea I know it's fiction, but that is still a really shitty message to send. Especially since we don't even know if these kids are given a choice, or even told of this fact BEFORE going to Blue Lock.

I could deal with the absurd training idea and absurd ideology of what makes up a winning team. I'd argue if you're gonna focus on 1 position focus on the goalie first. The training though sounds like it will be unnecessarily mean spirited, as is the outcome if you aren't the highlander. It's sad enough that there are countries who treat their athletes like this as is, I don't need to see the same sort of treatment in my fiction that's there for enjoyment.
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ZetMoon80



Joined: 29 Nov 2018
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 3:11 pm Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
I'm sorry,ATastySub. I didn't mean to belittle those who like soccer. It's just that for me and those like me,soccer isn't that big a deal. Believe it or not,I tried watching it in 1992,when the World Cup first came to America. Like a lot of people here,I found it exceedingly tedious to watch. Most Americans don't really find it appealing,including me. We have our own sports we like to watch. I'm not a big sports fan across the board.
I also didn't mean to belittle the US Women's soccer team. They're probably pretty good. I wouldn't really know. Like a lot of people here,I'm not that into soccer. But,I never meant to insult those who do. That's how it may have come across,but really,I never meant to do that. I hope you forgive me and we may put this behind us,OK?


Well, maybe it's just a cultural think I guess, like most people outside North America don't care about or don't see the appeal of American football. But it's ok, there are plenty of sports to each one's taste.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 7:08 pm Reply with quote
PotatoGirl wrote:
Blue Lock becomes hilarious when you remember that the Japanese women's team has won the World Cup several times already, making all of this madness be for nothing.


This honestly does kind of make it hilarious. That said, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Blue Lock goes the way of Talentless Nana, where it only seemingly starts with a "subversive" premise only to go the way of most of its genre. I don't think it's a bad thing, especially for as whackadoodle a premise as this is, so I'm willing to give Blue Lock the benefit of the doubt that this is just a crazy hook meant to draw people in rather than an actual throughline for the series. That said, it's just the right side of crazy to make me want to check it out, so mission accomplished? Laughing

EDIT: Also, as someone who was a tourist in Spain the night they won the Semifinals against Germany, I can absolutely attest to how hardcore people can get about the World Cup. A "happy riot" are two words I never thought I'd string together in a sentence, but that's basically what I experienced that night.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2532
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2021 5:31 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It's as if Muneyuki Kaneshiro pitched a dystopian story and his editors said they wanted a sports manga instead, so he just twisted the plot he had to fit the requirements.


Well, this is by the author of As the Gods Will, a manga all about simple kid games (Red Light Green Light, Tag, etc.) being turned into deadly elimination games that often end with bloody & violent results. Interesting to see that concept twisted into a sports series, to be honest.

I might actually want to give this a go.
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