Episode 5 of Blue Lock aired on Saturday proving something to me and that’s out of all the anime airing this fall season, this series has become only one of a handful of series that have become must-watch. As someone that heavily criticized the first episode, I’ve found myself waiting to watch new episodes every week at this point and the fifth provided many reasons as to why this is.
Episode 5 of Blue Lock proved me wrong on a couple of fronts and one of them is Isagi himself. Is he a top 5 main character from this season of anime? I’d argue no at this point in time. However, he’s proving to be one that could definitely make that top 5. And what I loved most about him in Episode 5 is that he’s finally coming around to admitting what he knows and doesn’t know or how something feels and also knowing how it doesn’t. Rather than being indecisive like in the season premiere, this episode showed Isagi isn’t a blank canvas. Rather, Isagi is one that’s already painted behind a curtain that is slowly opening.
And I think that’s where Blue Lock excels, especially in this episode. Not just with Isagi, but with everyone else. It just so happened to be Chigiri in this episode as it was for Kunigami in Episode 4 and Bachira in Episode 2. I don’t think Isagi figuring out what he’s best at just five episodes in is a “rushed” aspect of the anime like some may consider it to be. In fact, it actually plays the part of what Isagi’s weapon is—situational awareness. He figured out what his weapon is because situational awareness is his weapon in the first place.
I love a good backstory, even more so when it involves an interesting character. And there might not be a more interesting side character we haven’t been properly introduced to yet than Chigiri. However, I find his possible “comeback story” moment while at Blue Lock to be a little bit predictable. He’s an athlete that tore his ACL as so many do from many sports and he’s lost confidence in his “weapon” because he doesn’t also want to stop playing soccer. It’s a very normal mentality to have and isn’t out of the ordinary. As I predicted Team Z winning this week, I think Chigiri is also going to have a moment in the coming episodes where he gets over that fear in one way or another because he, too, wants to be the most dominant striker. I just hope it’s an epic moment that we all know Blue Lock is capable of delivering.
There was nothing to necessarily dislike about Episode 5. The animation was amazing. We got to witness Bachira break ankles with his insane dribbling. And we finally received an episode where Isagi shined the most out of anyone else. I know Blue Lock has this tendency to make it seem like Isagi is the weakest link, so it was nice finally seeing the main character as the star of the episode for once. And as always, the sound design by Fumiyuki Go and Bit Grooove Promotion was impeccable as was the soundtrack thanks to Jun Murayama.
Episode 5 rating: 9/10
Blue Lock episode 6 will air on Saturday, November 12, on Crunchyroll. If you enjoyed Blue Lock Episode 5 series then make sure to vote for it in our weekly poll!
Images via Crunchyroll
©Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura, Kodansha/”Blue Lock” Production Committee