Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 6 Review

Key insights

• The long-awaited Blue Lock vs Japan U-20 match begins, showcasing the team's journey and its intense gameplay.
• Key players like the Itoshi brothers get the spotlight but have no backstory, disappointing fans.
• There are still concerns about the animation, but the gameplay and character development have room for improvement.

Blue castle Season 2, Episode 6, “The big stage“is the start of the long-awaited and intense, career-defining game between the Blue Lock XI and the Japanese U-20 team. Whether it's a faithful adaptation of one of the best storylines in manga history or if all the hype will die down, it remains to be seen how the previous episodes will be handled.

Blue castle Season 2 continues to fail to live up to fans' high expectations for various reasons why the studio couldn't give this insanely popular storyline the love it deserves. While fans continue to hold out hope, things aren't looking great, but there are a few saving graces here and there.

The expected game begins

Blue Lock XI vs U-20 Japan

Until now, Blue castle did a good job at best of building hype or showing action, but there were some decent scenes in each episode. Fans had pinned all their hopes on this game, and at the beginning of the episode, Sae and Aiku discuss how Shidou is not at all compatible with their team and that if he is allowed to play, the others won't be allowed to play.

This negates everything that has been shown so far about Sae only playing on the team if Shidou was allowed to play. Also later in the episode, the Blue Lock XI team is surprised not to see Shidou on the team. However, this has no bearing on the episode itself, but it kind of denies what Sae was up to all along. Still, it's not a bad thing that we can see him as the only star striker in the team.

Key player of the game

The Itoshi brothers unite

Although Isagi is the protagonist of the series, the focus is also on players such as the Itoshi brothers and other members of Blue Lock XI and U-20 Japan, which is one of the series' strengths as it does not rely solely on the MC trope and puts each member of the team in the spotlight.

However, what is disappointing about the show and the main problem is its current pacing. Even though there was hardly any action in Season 2, they failed to give proper backstories to the characters that star here in Season 2. Instead of jumping straight into the game, it would have been nice to see some real motivation behind some of the key players, as shown in Aiku's backstory, even if it was extremely brief.

Insane match setup

Witness something glorious, albeit flawed

Blue Lock XI prepares to battle the Japan U-20 team as they head towards the stadium. Although fans have complained about the animation and CGI since the start of season two, the hype built around the game was commendable. Seeing the players looking out at the crowd and singing the crowd's chants really puts you in the mood, as if you were witnessing a real live World Cup match.

Although the animation hasn't really improved, the use of CGI in this episode can be controversial as it looks slightly better than previous episodes, and this is also better seen in Bachira's dribbling sequence and Aiku's defense sequence. That's nothing to get excited about, but it at least makes it seem like there's still hope that the rest of the game will have better animation, like the “Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan” story arc in the manga best bows of all time.

Game of the generation

What could have been

However, the game itself started a little early, but seeing how far the Blue Lock team and their journey have come – if we put the animation and other bad things aside – still feels pretty good. It was heartwarming to see the family members of our beloved players like Isagi and Bachira come to watch their game. The game begins with Blue Lock players trying to prove themselves in the most perfect scenario ever. One of the strengths of the episode is how the players managed to actually believe in each other.

The most entertaining part of the episode was the compatibility between Isagi and Bachira. Bachira's love of playing with Isagi is really the highlight of the episode, although it is cut short when Aiku decides to put them in their place and tells them that their team's defense is impenetrable. Aside from the game, one of the most entertaining parts of the episode, as always, is the additional time period where Nagi and Kenyu continue their game and compare the U-20 players to animals. However, things take a funny yet dark turn when Rin is asked who Sae compares herself to, which brings their intense sibling rivalry back into focus. We can only hope that the studio has put all of its production efforts into the game's sequel to see how it turns out.