Warning! Contains spoilers for Blue Lock episodes 1 and 2!Fans of the Death Game genre may be missing one of its best new entries, Blue Lock, because it is technically characterized as a Sports Anime. But, by applying the classic elements of a death game to soccer, the show is providing a delightfully refreshing twist on both sports anime and death game anime. And it is able to combine those two disparate genres into a glorious whole more than the sum of its parts.
Blue Lock is an anime created by the studio Eight Bit based on the manga of the same name by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura. It follows a high schooler named Yoichi whose dream is to become a professional soccer player like his idol, a familiar goal for anyone who has seen a lot of Sports Anime. To do so, he joins a mysterious training program called Blue Lock which promises to mold the perfect striker out of a field of three hundred candidates through some out-of-the-box methods. While this may sound like pretty typical sports anime fare, the way in which Blue Lock trains its participants is much more akin to a death game.
Instead of just focusing on typical soccer games, Blue Lock instead features more unique challenges. For instance in the first episode players must participate in a game of tag played with a soccer ball, with whoever is It at the end of a minute being eliminated from the program. This all culminates in a brutal blow to the face that eliminates Ryosuke, a character who seemed to be set up to be one of the main characters. While unlike in a Death Game participants in Blue Lock aren't killed if they fail to advance in the program, they are barred from joining Japan's world cup team, which to the players is just as bad. The despair that Ryosuke faces when he realizes that his dreams have been destroyed by a seemingly stupid game of tag is even more devastating to behold than his death would have been.
Blue Lock Is a Refreshingly Unique Take On the Death Game Genre
It is in moments like these that Blue Lock shines. The bitter weight of crushed dreams after a defeat is nothing special in most sports anime, but being combined with the arbitrary and brutal nature of a death game makes this moment much more impactful. Combined with the implication that no character is truly safe from elimination this moment ramps up the tension, as any of the players that fans get attached to could be eliminated at any time, just like in the best death games.
Death game fans looking for the gory thrills that the genre can provide may be disappointed with Blue Lock's seemingly tame stakes. Meanwhile, fans of sports anime may be turned off by the way the show completely deconstructs the genre's typical formula. But for fans who want to see the tension and drama that death games create in a refreshingly new context, Blue Lock is the perfect show to watch.
Blue Lock is available to stream from Crunchyroll.