Blue Lock Season 2 Episode #6 Review: The Series' Most Important Match Looms Large Over an Exciting New Entry

Blue Lock season two has been one of the most controversial anime releases in recent history. Since it adapts the highly anticipated U-20 Arc of the manga, the second season had big shoes to fill. Season one was widely adored for its fast-moving animation, manga accuracy, and storyline. Unfortunately, in some ways, season two does not quite live up to season one's appeal. While the story is thrilling, the animation in season two is noticeably less cohesive and visually pleasing, with some ineffective and clunky uses of CGI and transitions.

Eight Bit, the animation studio responsible for Blue Lock, has been busy with many projects lately, including That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 and The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3. Too many series' deadlines in a short span of time could explain the drop in animation quality. Although the visuals are not on the same level as season one, where Blue Lock season two really excels is its story. Season two has the exciting job of portraying one of the manga's most pivotal and action-packed arcs, and it has done a phenomenal job with that task.

Blue Lock Episode #6 Formally Kicks off the U-20 Match

The Episode Perfectly Heightened Suspense and Anticipation for the Series’ Greatest Match

After much anticipation, Blue Lock's U-20 match is finally here. The episode featured both teams preparing for the tough match to come and storming onto the field for the first time, as an eager crowd cheered from the stands. This arc is one of the series' most crucial and, so far, the season has stayed pretty accurate to the manga. Episode seven in particular excelled at building emotional tension and excitement for the game by showing off the packed stadium, highlighting the crowd's cheers, and weaving in dramatic music and interactions between both teams that show off their rivalry.

From Rin's incensed glare at his older brother, Sae, to Isagi's surprising first conversation with Oliver Aiku, the episode was filled with scenes of Blue Lock and Japan's teams interacting finally. These conversations revealed the players on the Japan team's personalities, while still leaving a lot to be revealed in the next eight episodes of season two. Old relationships, like Sae and Rin's feud and Nagi and Reo's broken friendship, were briefly showcased, as well as new rivals like Isagi and Oliver. One of Blue Lock's best strengths has always been its character arcs, and episode #6 showed that this will continue to be true.

A Plot Twist Booted Shidou Ryusei From the Game, Making the Episode Surprising

A Surprising Moment of Character Development for Sae Itoshi Kept This Episode Shocking

Another highlight of episode #6 that made it one of the best in season two so far, was its shocking reveal involving Blue Lock's second best player, Shidou Ryusei. Because of Shidou's vicious attack on fellow player, Rin, he was not allowed to play on Blue Lock's team, but was set to compete on Japan's team, by Sae Itoshi's request. However, moments before the match, Oliver Aiku cornered Sae and urged him to rethink his decision, stating that Sendou, the Japan team's star player did not get along with Shidou either. Amazingly, Sae gave in to Oliver's request, cutting Shidou from either team.

This unexpected twist was one of the episode's best scenes because it not only captured viewers' attention, it revealed that Sae is willing to make sacrifices to ensure the match can still occur. He could have told Oliver no, or dropped out of the game himself, but this scene proved that this U-20 match is important to Sae in some way too. Although Sae has not undergone significant character development yet and still seems purely focused on his own success and fame on the field, this moment at least showcased his investment in the game and commitment to play regardless.

Although There Are Lackluster CGI Moments, the Overall Animation Seems to be Improving

Compared To Previous Episode, Episode #6 Boasts Some of the Best Animation in Season Two So Far

Sadly, the animation in episode #6 is still not as incredible as season one, sparking worries about the future episodes that will include the most energetic, climactic scenes of the entire U-20 Arc. However, while there were some undeniably lower quality shots in the episode, like the characters walking using CGI or workers unloading boxes at the Blue Lock arena, the overall animation was an improvement over previous episodes. The movement of the characters and shots of the fans in the bleachers were designed well, offering hope that future episodes will continue to impress with well-done animation.

Related

“We Did The Best We Could” Blue Lock Season 2 Animator Reveals The Truth Behind The Series Controversial Animation

BL Season's 2 controversy emerged over its low quality, and one of the animators finally broke the silence about what went wrong with the adaptation.

Some scenes in episode #6 stood out as excellently animated, such as Bachira's genius dribbling move and the teams entering the field to begin the game. The background soundtrack was also near perfect, complementing the intensity of the game and building tension and suspense. Overall, compared to slow transitions and questionable CGI in previous episodes, the animation in Blue Lock seems to finally be improving now that the season's most significant events and episodes are here, which will require the most meticulous animation yet. Episode #7 will focus entirely on the U-20 match, and hopefully continue the trend of better visuals.

The Episode Gives Isagi a New Rival in a Genius Way

Oliver Aiku Was Introduced as Isagi’s New Enemy, Giving Him a Powerful, Exciting Obstacle To Overcome

Overlooking its animation and focusing on the story, dialogue, voice acting, and music, Blue Lock season two is one of the best animes of 2024. Episode #6 was perhaps the most thrilling installment yet, and the final scene confirmed its status as the best season two episode so far. Right as Isagi Yoichi nearly scored the first goal of the game for the Blue Lock team, Oliver Aiku swept in unexpectedly and stole the ball. His quick-thinking prevented Blue Lock from scoring and also cemented his new status as Isagi Yoichi's rival and enemy for the rest of the match.

Related

Blue Lock Season 2's Anime Changes Builds Up One Of The Series' Most Anticipated Matches

Blue Lock Season 2 anime just premiered and introduced some changes from the manga that build up the characters before one of the biggest matches.

In each arc, Isagi has a rival to push him towards greatness, and episode #6 finally unveiled who Isagi is up against during the U-20 Match. The fact that Isagi viewed Oliver's steal as a catalyst to help him improve rather than purely a loss is a testament to how much he has grown over the first five episodes of season two alone. Blue Lock season two, episode #6 is one of the greatest of the six episodes released thus far, because of Isagi's character development, the suspense and tension it builds for the U-20 Match, and the gradually improving animation quality.

Blue Lock is a sports-centric animated series based on the manga series of the same name. The show follows the Japan Football Association trying to recover from their poor showing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup by hiring a football genius, Ego Jinpachi. With his new intense training regimen, Jinpachi invites the best football players in Japan to compete to become the team's new star player - and high school student Yoichi Isagi may be exactly who he's looking for.

Cast Ricco Fajardo , Drew Breedlove , Alex Horn , Mark Allen Jr.

Release Date October 8, 2022

Seasons 2

Writers Taku Kishimoto

Directors Tetsuaki Watanabe , Shunsuke Ishikawa