Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 2 Review

Blue Lock Season 2 episode 2 aired on Saturday proving my nervousness from last week was warranted. Yet, among every storm, a flower or two remains upright. We all know what the main issue was for this episode and that’ll be covered in this review too. But for starters, let’s look at some of the positives.

Characters and Story

During the first season, I thought that the amount of skills the players had would grow more and more difficult to conjure up as the series went along. It felt like there would be a limit to what certain plays could be the best at. To no one’s surprise but my own, I was dead wrong.

I’m only guessing the series is still above water with this iceberg of skills given the fact the U-20 match isn’t even close to starting. Plus, there are still a handful of new characters at Blue Lock themselves that we’re just now being introduced to. The series definitely keeps my interest from week to week knowing there’s going to be more to see and even better players.

Isagi’s reaction to having players around him who have a positive attitude was a nice change for once. It was completely unexpected, even to the point the series itself made fun of it, but it was still nice. In my episode 1 review, I talked about how Blue Lock can get a little stale for me when everyone in this entire series is an egoist except Kunigami.

If that’s how the series shows someone can’t be Mr. Nice Guy in this competition, so be it. But at least it adds some depth to the character base. To quote Syndrome from The Incredibles, “When everyone is super, nobody is.” Same feeling with Blue Lock. When everyone thinks they’re special that just makes me think that nobody in this series is no matter how much it wants you to think they are.

The story of Blue Lock is still interesting and that’s coming from someone who, surprisingly, isn’t the biggest fan of sports anime. I heavily criticized the series premiere. Since then, I’ve come around to the series episode by episode and it looks like that’ll continue to be the way with the current developments.

Ego’s “entire plan” to completely destroy Japan’s soccer structure and philosophy to usher in a new era is a plot that I’d love to see with other sports anime. Maybe not in the same way as the Blue Lock program, but a similar premise would be great. I think that’s something Blue Lock has going for it and always will. Its characters and stories will keep me locked in every week and that’s fine for me.

“Then just read the manga!” Or, I’ll enjoy the voice acting and music along with whatever creativity the animation staff can mustard up in their god-awful schedules they were given. Recent anime such as The Fable and the currently airing Trillion Game are both series with less than favorable animation production, but the story carries both. The Fable even garnered higher fan ratings at the end of its season because it was entertaining. But that doesn’t mean I can’t ignore the obvious flaw in this episode…

Production Woes

I’m shocked. Shocked! Well, maybe not that shocked. It’s already well known that the staff for Blue Lock Season 1 faced tight deadlines so I cannot imagine how much worse it is for them this time around. It might even be unfair to blame one person or another in the animation staff. This was a project that shouldn’t have been pushed at as early as it was in the first place and that’s what it boils down to.

I’ve seen people say the episode is just 23 minutes of animated manga panels, and others saying the staff just colored in manga panels and moved characters around like a bunch of PNG files. The list goes on and on saying much worse.

In a way, it’s a little harsh to call out certain people for a team that gives the impression during interviews that they really love the series. On the other hand, production companies need to know fans don’t want a product rushed, especially if this is the result. Criticism is needed in this case. And I have to wonder if it’s why Tetsuaki Watanabe (Season 1 director) and Shintaro Inokawa (originally listed as Season 2 director) are no longer part of the project.

I wish production companies understood their fanbases better. Watching a series we love get a proper adaptation that uplifts the original source material, like 86 Eighty-Six or Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, for example, means a lot to us as fans. We’ll go out and buy the Blu-rays and merchandise if that happens. But when we get a shell of a production that completely floors already low expectations, it’s disappointing.

I feel like that’s the best way to describe some of our feelings towards Blue Lock‘s production with episode 2—like an upset parent. Not mad, just disappointed. I still did what I could to enjoy the episode but when the anime production decided to implement cheap scene transitions, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

The production for Blue Lock Season 2 episode 2 was atrocious in almost every possible way. The only saving grace is that the colors and composition looked somewhat decent at times and the CG used in Chigiri’s big moment was surprisingly a bright spot. So shoutout to Mio Sakuma and Tomoki Yamashita (3DCGI directors) and Chief Director Yuuji Haibara for a risky choice that paid off.

When animation is in 3D, it can give a lot more options in terms of camera angles that can flow better within its own realm of animation in comparison to 2D. Don’t believe me, then go watch Trigun Stampede to get an idea of how incredible 3D can be when used in animation. I want to believe the Blue Lock Season 2 staff is attempting to show they’re trying to make this the best adaptation as possible, it just isn’t producing the result that we, and also they, want. If only the staff was given more time.

Blue Lock Season 2 Episode 2 Wrap-Up

Does the episode deserve criticism? Absolutely. It was heavily flawed and that’s just the way it is. However, production teams should realize that while fans want new seasons as quickly as possible, we don’t want them at the sacrifice of animation teams’ health and well-being. Art takes time to create. We would’ve rather seen Blue Lock Season 2 in Fall 2025 if it meant giving the animation team a better schedule to really perfect the adaptation. Unfortunately, we might be in for a long season. Time to ride this season on its characters and story development to keep us entertained.

Episode 2 rating: 4/10

If you enjoyed Blue Lock Season 2 episode 2 then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! Episode 3 will air on October 19, 2024.

Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura, Kodansha/”Blue Lock” Production Committee