Soccer has never been more popular all over the world and Blue Lock is capitalizing on both the rise of soccer in new markets and the recent international success of the Japanese National Team.
The story follows Two friends, Reo and Nagi, who are brought together because of a love of soccer. After gaining a lot of attention in the media, they are invited to a secret organization called the Blue Lock to compete for a spot to join the Japanese U- 20 team. Reo and Nagi are the polar opposite, Reo is extremely passionate and Nagi is completely unmotivated. Although the dynamic of Reo and Nagi are similar to many other duos in anime (Naruto and saskuke, saitama and Genos) it is interesting to see this dynamic on the soccer field.
The biggest missed opportunity is that the film does not add much more to the secretive organization of Blue Lock. for existing fans of the anime, they will notice that the film begins exactly as the anime does but from the perspective of Nagi instead of Isagi. This creates an interesting change in perspective but offers more to newcomers and very little to existing fans. If this was in the series, fans would consider it a filler episode.
Some positives are obviously the animation and sound which are always really great reasons to check out the film version because they always add upgraded visuals due to the larger budget compared to the anime. This is most evident in the energy displays during high adrenalin moments.
If you are new to the Blue Lock series, Episode Nagi is a great starting point for you to get hooked into the world of underground soccer. If you are a returning fan, it offers you more insight into Nagis origins in the competition.
3/5
Review by: Stefano Bove