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A review by mushroomlove
Blue Lock, vol. 22 by Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The lowest rating I've given Blue Lock but this one thoroughly pissed me off. It managed to completely ruin any progress made for Nagi and Reo's character.
Reo had gone this entire time centering himself around Nagi. He initially worked to get a world cup through making Nagi the best player, seeing Nagi as his "treasure". When Nagi decided to work with Isagi instead, "abandoning him", Reo's emotions towards Nagi turned resentful but his motivations were still centered around him; "I'm gonna prove Nagi wrong", "I'm gonna be the best so Nagi'll regret abandoning me", etc. At around chapter 186, he finally went "fuck nagi, I'm gonna become the best for myself by myself" and that was SO COOL. But it was RUINED the moment he (spoiler) decided to work with Nagi on the field again. It went from him playing to better himself and improve, to assisting Nagi and working towards helping Nagi score goals, not himself. We finally got a taste of what Reo could be like when he plays selfishly (as encouraged in blue lock) but it was taken from us when they teamed up again and we went right back to square one with "i'm gonna work to make nagi the best in the world". In the end, Reo seems to no longer be his own character (if he ever was to begin with) and rather is just and extension of Nagi. If you remove Nagi from the equation, all you get is "gifted rich boy who wants to win the fifa world cup and can copy other player's moves". That's it. Because the rest of his character revolves around Nagi.
In terms of Nagi's character, he was doing so well up until he proposed to reo that they should play together. Nagi, this entire time, had been basing his plays off of what sort of pass was giving to him or what people expected of him, especially taking into account he's not very familiar with the sport to begin with so he just kinda bases himself off of what other people say or do. Nagi was finally getting a grasp of the game, developing his own playstyle and being creative with Agi's help. But when he started playing with Reo again, he fell right back to the "this pass indicates I should do this" and "i'm gonna do this because that's what I'm being told to do". Sure, he has his moment in the end when he does something on his own, but he only managed to get the opportunity to do so because of Reo's passes telling him what to do. We could've gotten a really op Nagi that could do plays on his own and think for himself on the field, but once again, we're back to square one with Nagi depending on other people to do the thinking for him.
Chris Prince was the only saving grace in this manga volume.
TL;DR: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Reo had gone this entire time centering himself around Nagi. He initially worked to get a world cup through making Nagi the best player, seeing Nagi as his "treasure". When Nagi decided to work with Isagi instead, "abandoning him", Reo's emotions towards Nagi turned resentful but his motivations were still centered around him; "I'm gonna prove Nagi wrong", "I'm gonna be the best so Nagi'll regret abandoning me", etc. At around chapter 186, he finally went "fuck nagi, I'm gonna become the best for myself by myself" and that was SO COOL. But it was RUINED the moment he (spoiler) decided to work with Nagi on the field again. It went from him playing to better himself and improve, to assisting Nagi and working towards helping Nagi score goals, not himself. We finally got a taste of what Reo could be like when he plays selfishly (as encouraged in blue lock) but it was taken from us when they teamed up again and we went right back to square one with "i'm gonna work to make nagi the best in the world". In the end, Reo seems to no longer be his own character (if he ever was to begin with) and rather is just and extension of Nagi. If you remove Nagi from the equation, all you get is "gifted rich boy who wants to win the fifa world cup and can copy other player's moves". That's it. Because the rest of his character revolves around Nagi.
In terms of Nagi's character, he was doing so well up until he proposed to reo that they should play together. Nagi, this entire time, had been basing his plays off of what sort of pass was giving to him or what people expected of him, especially taking into account he's not very familiar with the sport to begin with so he just kinda bases himself off of what other people say or do. Nagi was finally getting a grasp of the game, developing his own playstyle and being creative with Agi's help. But when he started playing with Reo again, he fell right back to the "this pass indicates I should do this" and "i'm gonna do this because that's what I'm being told to do". Sure, he has his moment in the end when he does something on his own, but he only managed to get the opportunity to do so because of Reo's passes telling him what to do. We could've gotten a really op Nagi that could do plays on his own and think for himself on the field, but once again, we're back to square one with Nagi depending on other people to do the thinking for him.
Chris Prince was the only saving grace in this manga volume.
TL;DR: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA