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fucking calm down reet, it's soccer
So….. this dreamwidth post was intended to be a book report on blue lock ships for grading by my friends. I also did start this show with prior warning that the plot would be a mess but the yaoi would hit. However, I have since discovered things about myself, such that it is actually possible for a manga to be so bad that it makes me do an entire 180 and “”care”” about the plot.
Separating an art from the artist in order to fujoshi out is not possible here……. I cannot get on a boat when from the corner of my eye I can see a vortex ready to drag me into the depths of hypertension. You know what MY yaoi is? Kaneshiro/Writing Workshops. Get this man off the sea and into an MFA. Anyway, half my notes on the ships were turning into rants so I thought might as well embrace it.
1. THE SOCCER
2. CHARACTER ""DEVELOPMENT""""
3. I swear I'm not just a miserable bitch reading things I hate
4. SHIPS
SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UP TO CHAPTER 300!!
Rei sold me this as “soccer if it was an individual sport and a death game” which is… accurate. The problem though is that description sounds hilarious and awesome but in actuality Kaneshiro did not find a way to meld this contradiction with the spirit of the actual sport!
Initially, like during the first selection, the matches being played were only being won through teamwork, but the messaging ignored this. This was bewildering but I could roll with it. From the second arc onward though, Kaneshiro actually tried to express his psychopathic ethos of individualism through the plot and not simply have it be lip service. Suddenly, the rules of the world were thrown in disarray and the results ranged from mildly annoying to spiking my blood pressure. Half of these players have strengths better suited for other roles – WHICH ARE CLEARLY NECESSARY because passing, goalkeeping, defending, are HELPING THEM WIN GAMES because THAT IS HOW SOCCER AS A SPORT IS DESIGNED – and sometimes no one acknowledges this or it’s fine (Gagamaru, Isagi’s minions), and sometimes it’s demonstration of unfulfilled talent and worthless ego (Oliver’s defending being the only reason U20 was leading at first, however he only Awakened when he went for a goal???). Don’t get me started on midfielders who exist to be the underappreciated wives of Strikers with no ambition of their own, unless you’re a french twink in which case Kaneshiro will randomly decide that you’re crazy and sexy and you have three strikers panting over you. We’re literally getting Madonna-whore complexes with soccer positions guys.
There's an exception to the rules of the world being in disarray, because there is one rule that Kaneshiro holds sacred. That rule is: “the rules only apply to Isagi.” Isagi demonstrates teamwork? Well firstly, it’s not actually “teamwork”, you failure of an egotist, it’s that his ego is the nucleus of the team they all revolve around. The other team demonstrated teamwork? Doomed by the narrative. Ego too small.
The first transgression (Ony Isagi Teamwork Good) used to be more tolerable, because the alternative was watching more interesting teams lose matches because of Isagi’s third eye’s fourth eye opening or simply because this manga loves to reward villainy. However, the 150 chapter long NEL arc (this is as long as the other 3 arcs put together by the way) really had me eating my words. By chapter 297 I was at the end of my rope. This author really made me read pages of Isagi performing Jungian analysis just so he could arrive at the concept of “teamwork” with a more annoying name. But he’s not Carl Jung. He’s not even Katharine Briggs who at least wrote horny fanfic about Carl Jung. He’s a 15 year old on twitter making a Uquiz where the questions are “which of the five excerpts of my poetry is the colour of your ego” so you can find out what Project Sekai character you are.
Like, here is Hiori and Isagi reciting the concept of “SMART Goals” and Kaneshiro presenting it like they’re Soccer Platos and Socrates.
Bachira’s Awakening Arc involved a very confused monster metaphor and also retroactively turned Bachira into someone who was dependent on Isagi, despite none of the previous games Bachira played being indicative of this. This was a sign of things to come. I was naive though, because even though I did not AGREE with Kaneshiro’s BachiSagi headcanon, Bachira is still cute and their relationship was established and meaningful. So, unfortunately, I was already too far in the story by the time I realised I was conned into reading a harem manga.
You ever wanna throw up in your mouth?? (This panel is followed by a page where they literally about Isagi like he's Jesus by the way..... "And yet, Isagi doesn't want us to pay him back." Hiori, just become a Catholic.)
Something I've noticed is that Kaneshiro has an easier time writing characters that are bluntly insane. Characters that were the most grating initially like Baro and Shidou ended up being the most consistent and likeable. Part of this is because they had nowhere to go but up, but I also think it’s because they were both already so annoyingly antagonistic that Kaneshiro didn’t have to ignore his own previously established characterisation to have them reinforce his equally annoyingly antagonistic message. They don't act as a foil to Isagi either, but rather a mirror -- an infinity stone he wants to capture.
However, for the less unhinged ensemble, Kaneshiro only knows how to do character development in three ways:
To be good at soccer you have to be batshit crazy. This has been the only consistent thread in the story. Zero wiggle room. But, if all the characters are batshit then nobody is – and yet, Kaneshiro still insists that, no, they ARE crazy! Hiori is SUCH a sadist!! Nevermind that he never actually does anything particularly crazy or sadistic…… except follow Isagi around, I guess. They can also only be crazy in a way that's in service to Isagi's own development -- or else they'll be humbled. It doesn't matter what we previously knew about the character. Once Isagi awakens them, they've been reborn! Hiori is a brand new person! He also goes through 10 different personality shifts in the span of 2 chapters for whatever reason!
This man really just does whatever the fuck he wants. He’s writing fanfiction of his own manga. Nagi’s recent chapter is a really poignant one-shot – and it’s surprisingly brave of Kaneshiro to stick to his Blue Lock ethos so strongly that he’d [redacted] his sleepy meow meow. But also….. It makes no sense!! The entire first half of the manga it is DEMONSTRATED that Nagi can play, succeed, thrive without Reo. I thought it was super-slay unhealthy yaoilicious that Reo forewent all his character development as soon as Nagi said he needed him – but that worked because Reo always did feel a bit half-hearted in his attempts to grow alone, and at the same time it didn’t disrespect the improvements he did go through. In Nagi’s case though, suddenly he can’t do anything without Reo passing to him?? His “ego” died after he beat Isagi…. In a game that his team ultimately lost?? where Isagi literally “beat” him again right after? Not to mention countless other players beating him?? Somehow, only Isagi beating him drew frustration/fire in Nagi??? Nobody else??? Why is Isagi special??
Obviously, I read all of it, so you know... There's that... The characters are shallow but have those shonen-esque quirks to make you endeared and want to know more about them. The premise is crazy enough that you keep going but also I really think this is my own personal illness because I'm incapable of DNF-ing things... Also the concept of being a death game means I'm looking forward to who dies next. That said!! There are some things I genuinely enjoyed!
Firstly, I really think someone needs to take Kaneshiro's yaoi cocaine away because it’s left him incapable of writing anything else…. But anyway, in no order.
nagi/reo
isagi/chigiri
rin/isagi
kaiser/isagi
rin/sae
KUNIGAMI/CHIGIRI
KAISER/NESS
chigiri/reo
bachira/kunigami
bachira/isagi
baro/isagi
anyway, DON'T READ BLUE LOCK.
Separating an art from the artist in order to fujoshi out is not possible here……. I cannot get on a boat when from the corner of my eye I can see a vortex ready to drag me into the depths of hypertension. You know what MY yaoi is? Kaneshiro/Writing Workshops. Get this man off the sea and into an MFA. Anyway, half my notes on the ships were turning into rants so I thought might as well embrace it.
1. THE SOCCER
2. CHARACTER ""DEVELOPMENT""""
3. I swear I'm not just a miserable bitch reading things I hate
4. SHIPS
SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UP TO CHAPTER 300!!
The Soccer
Rei sold me this as “soccer if it was an individual sport and a death game” which is… accurate. The problem though is that description sounds hilarious and awesome but in actuality Kaneshiro did not find a way to meld this contradiction with the spirit of the actual sport!
Initially, like during the first selection, the matches being played were only being won through teamwork, but the messaging ignored this. This was bewildering but I could roll with it. From the second arc onward though, Kaneshiro actually tried to express his psychopathic ethos of individualism through the plot and not simply have it be lip service. Suddenly, the rules of the world were thrown in disarray and the results ranged from mildly annoying to spiking my blood pressure. Half of these players have strengths better suited for other roles – WHICH ARE CLEARLY NECESSARY because passing, goalkeeping, defending, are HELPING THEM WIN GAMES because THAT IS HOW SOCCER AS A SPORT IS DESIGNED – and sometimes no one acknowledges this or it’s fine (Gagamaru, Isagi’s minions), and sometimes it’s demonstration of unfulfilled talent and worthless ego (Oliver’s defending being the only reason U20 was leading at first, however he only Awakened when he went for a goal???). Don’t get me started on midfielders who exist to be the underappreciated wives of Strikers with no ambition of their own, unless you’re a french twink in which case Kaneshiro will randomly decide that you’re crazy and sexy and you have three strikers panting over you. We’re literally getting Madonna-whore complexes with soccer positions guys.
There's an exception to the rules of the world being in disarray, because there is one rule that Kaneshiro holds sacred. That rule is: “the rules only apply to Isagi.” Isagi demonstrates teamwork? Well firstly, it’s not actually “teamwork”, you failure of an egotist, it’s that his ego is the nucleus of the team they all revolve around. The other team demonstrated teamwork? Doomed by the narrative. Ego too small.
The first transgression (Ony Isagi Teamwork Good) used to be more tolerable, because the alternative was watching more interesting teams lose matches because of Isagi’s third eye’s fourth eye opening or simply because this manga loves to reward villainy. However, the 150 chapter long NEL arc (this is as long as the other 3 arcs put together by the way) really had me eating my words. By chapter 297 I was at the end of my rope. This author really made me read pages of Isagi performing Jungian analysis just so he could arrive at the concept of “teamwork” with a more annoying name. But he’s not Carl Jung. He’s not even Katharine Briggs who at least wrote horny fanfic about Carl Jung. He’s a 15 year old on twitter making a Uquiz where the questions are “which of the five excerpts of my poetry is the colour of your ego” so you can find out what Project Sekai character you are.
Like, here is Hiori and Isagi reciting the concept of “SMART Goals” and Kaneshiro presenting it like they’re Soccer Platos and Socrates.
CHARACTER """DEVELOPMENT"""
Bachira’s Awakening Arc involved a very confused monster metaphor and also retroactively turned Bachira into someone who was dependent on Isagi, despite none of the previous games Bachira played being indicative of this. This was a sign of things to come. I was naive though, because even though I did not AGREE with Kaneshiro’s BachiSagi headcanon, Bachira is still cute and their relationship was established and meaningful. So, unfortunately, I was already too far in the story by the time I realised I was conned into reading a harem manga.
You ever wanna throw up in your mouth?? (This panel is followed by a page where they literally about Isagi like he's Jesus by the way..... "And yet, Isagi doesn't want us to pay him back." Hiori, just become a Catholic.)
Something I've noticed is that Kaneshiro has an easier time writing characters that are bluntly insane. Characters that were the most grating initially like Baro and Shidou ended up being the most consistent and likeable. Part of this is because they had nowhere to go but up, but I also think it’s because they were both already so annoyingly antagonistic that Kaneshiro didn’t have to ignore his own previously established characterisation to have them reinforce his equally annoyingly antagonistic message. They don't act as a foil to Isagi either, but rather a mirror -- an infinity stone he wants to capture.
However, for the less unhinged ensemble, Kaneshiro only knows how to do character development in three ways:
- Isagi “awakens” them and their new goal is related to making him the best striker in the world – except in an egotistical way?
- Isagi “awakens” them and now their new goal is defeating/devouring/killing Isagi in soccer...
- Literally subject them to human experimentation that he never elaborates on but it leaves them a hollow shell of who they used to be?? (We’ll get back to this…)
To be good at soccer you have to be batshit crazy. This has been the only consistent thread in the story. Zero wiggle room. But, if all the characters are batshit then nobody is – and yet, Kaneshiro still insists that, no, they ARE crazy! Hiori is SUCH a sadist!! Nevermind that he never actually does anything particularly crazy or sadistic…… except follow Isagi around, I guess. They can also only be crazy in a way that's in service to Isagi's own development -- or else they'll be humbled. It doesn't matter what we previously knew about the character. Once Isagi awakens them, they've been reborn! Hiori is a brand new person! He also goes through 10 different personality shifts in the span of 2 chapters for whatever reason!
This man really just does whatever the fuck he wants. He’s writing fanfiction of his own manga. Nagi’s recent chapter is a really poignant one-shot – and it’s surprisingly brave of Kaneshiro to stick to his Blue Lock ethos so strongly that he’d [redacted] his sleepy meow meow. But also….. It makes no sense!! The entire first half of the manga it is DEMONSTRATED that Nagi can play, succeed, thrive without Reo. I thought it was super-slay unhealthy yaoilicious that Reo forewent all his character development as soon as Nagi said he needed him – but that worked because Reo always did feel a bit half-hearted in his attempts to grow alone, and at the same time it didn’t disrespect the improvements he did go through. In Nagi’s case though, suddenly he can’t do anything without Reo passing to him?? His “ego” died after he beat Isagi…. In a game that his team ultimately lost?? where Isagi literally “beat” him again right after? Not to mention countless other players beating him?? Somehow, only Isagi beating him drew frustration/fire in Nagi??? Nobody else??? Why is Isagi special??
Isagi
I actually don’t even wanna get into this because it’ll be too long. Moving on.EVEN A BROKEN CLOCK
Obviously, I read all of it, so you know... There's that... The characters are shallow but have those shonen-esque quirks to make you endeared and want to know more about them. The premise is crazy enough that you keep going but also I really think this is my own personal illness because I'm incapable of DNF-ing things... Also the concept of being a death game means I'm looking forward to who dies next. That said!! There are some things I genuinely enjoyed!
- Initial Team Z/First Selection arc - I'm definitely appreciating this more in retrospect. The bar is low but I really do think the Team Z/First Selection matches felt the most high stakes even if certain ones also pissed me off. I think U20's plot wasn't bad but I only watched the anime and girl...... I'd pour one out for overworked animators but these animators were not working at all.
- SNUFFY!!! To be fair, even for a character/story that’s 5 chapters long Kaneshiro was struggling to get his characterisation/metaphors straight, but overall Snuffy’s backstory was so unexpectedly topical to both the real sport and the death-game-Blue-Lock version of it. This storyline was so good that it made everything else feel bad. The second they had Snuffy say something as audacious as “if you place too much value on being a prodigy, you lose sight of your value of being a human” I knew they would try to deconstruct this. And they did. BUT IT WASN’T EVEN DONE BADLY? It was one of the few times this manga’s themes resonated with me. Yes, these kids need therapy. YES, Baro is a narcissist, he’s a psychopath, he’s delusional. But it’s not possible to extend these kids' half-lives without forcing them to only live with half their hearts. You can't stop life from happening to them -- maybe they'll burn out and become washed up husks. In the end, all you can do is simply be there for people. And as long as you have your ego, your fire, you can pick yourself and each other back up.
I literally cried which was deeply embarrassing…… And I honestly, I do not think Kaneshiro did any of this intentionally. All of the pieces just sort of fell into place so that filling in the gaps didn't require much reaching. I know it sounds like I’m not giving him enough credit but he has not achieved anything close to this level of storytelling, and even the second half of the Ubers match was excruciating. - Kaiser and Ness. Will elaborate more on this later but the first time I suspected Kaneshiro was about to deliver a meal was when Kaiser threw a glass of water in Ness’s face. It's pretty much impossible for him to fuck this up - like he could reveal anything about these two and their relationship and it will never feel out of character because they're both so deranged. Ness still believes in Santa? Cool! Kaiser was recruited to join Bastard Munchen because he beat up six cops with a soccer ball? Why not? Kaiser self-asphyxiates when he wants to brainstorm new soccer strategies to beat Isagi? Can't think of why he wouldn't.
- If anyone's interested my favourite character is Chigiri. He definitely benefits from having his character arc occur back when the story/Isagi was tolerable -- but even so his story line was moving in a classic shonen way. A nihilist who breaks his chains because the MC's earnestness inspires him isn't reinventing the wheel, but it is a classic and considering what happens when Kaneshiro goes off on his own... I'm fine with this formula. I loved seeing Chigiri open up to everyone! From U20 onwards Kaneshiro forgot Chigiri existed, and now he only appears to score goals, talk shit, and try to reconnect with his situationship that Came Back Wrong (WE’LL GET BACK TO THIS). Frankly, THIS IS GOOD!! THIS IS MERCY!!! I trust this mangaka so little!! This is also why Bachira is my second favourite character, Kaneshiro forgot about him so now he is just killing his friends with his dancing soccer after narrowly escaping character assassination once.
SHIPS
Firstly, I really think someone needs to take Kaneshiro's yaoi cocaine away because it’s left him incapable of writing anything else…. But anyway, in no order.
nagi/reo
- Their first scene in the anime gave me literal hives because this ritsumao dynamic is literally so boring to me (i am sorry to oomfs)... however, nagi dumping reo’s ass during second selection immediately made me like it more
- going out of season 1 it was the only ship that felt compelling - mostly cos it's the only relationship outside of isagi’s that was super developed but literally all of isagi's ships are the same dynamic and- anyway.
- I’m convinced that nagi/reo started as Kaneshiro wanting to try his hand at some good ol’ shonen queerbait, knowing a sports manga was the perfect petri dish. Then, after he started he was like “wait a minute……. 👀👀…. This yaoi stuff kinda hits…..” and now that’s all he wants to write. And now every nagireo scene is just straight out a BL. And that STILL wasn’t enough for him and he had to go start a dedicated side manga too…. I know Kaneshiro hates having to go back and write actual soccer and it’s why he just gets ChatGPT to write the chapters in the main manga now
- I have a deep appreciation for them because during the NEL arc after forcing us to endure 50 chapters of michin bastard winning matches through Isagi dick sucking, Kaneshiro would give us like 3 pages of nagireo as sort of a treat……. Their on/off/on was so fun tbh. I didn’t expect him to deconstruct their codependency after Reo went back to nagi BUT HE DID and it was great…. Obviously I have outlined my issues with how that ended up above but I get that he really wanted to get his angst fanfic out for the 300th chapter
isagi/chigiri
- okay i am putting it out there that this was the first ship i kinda imprinted on and i usually am a First Impressions Gal however……..
- isagi’s char went downhill from this match onwards and what i found really sweet about the ship (chigiri feeling fired up/inspired by isagi’s earnestness/passion and it breaking his chains) was repeated ad nauseum with isagi/other chars
- still, #3 least bad isagi ship
rin/isagi
- I do remember that my thoughts about this end of s2 were really positive, but since then this manga has aged me 50 years and I've forgotten what my feelings for it were. Rin's backstory during NEL was also so stupid and also Isagi has a better rivalship with Baro.
kaiser/isagi
- their relationship was immediately hostile for no real good reason (outside of Kaiser's bad personality), which wasn't particularly interesting but I decided to just roll with it. Once again, Isagi’s dynamics with everyone are either 1) him Awakening their egos as Soccer Jesus 2) him Awakening their rivalry/jealousy/hatred due to being Soccer Jesus. Like we've already been here before.
- However…… their hatred for each other is so pure and unbridled that it means Kaneshiro does NOT hold back from making them say the most insane shit to each other. These guys are having rage black outs in the middle of the game because of how much they hate each other. Imagine your rival pissing you off so badly that his mid-game shit talking makes you have PTSD flashbacks to your abusive father???
- They were fun, but alas Kaneshiro can't help himself and had Kaiser being like “omfg playing with isagi makes my traumatic past feel not that bad” which gave me the deep ick.
rin/sae
- okay so LOL
- the brocon is the best part of rin’s character and immediately made him more interesting to me, however…. although rin’s mentally ill motives due to the brocon are great, the relationship itself is super bland… firstly, the random backstory add that rin has actually been insane since he was 2 even before sae killed their entire clan was super lame. secondly, edgelord/edgelord just does not make for an interesting combination and this doesn't change just because they're related.
- kaneshiro can potentially redeem this if he goes down the route of sae keeping his distance from rin because he could see his psychopathic tendencies… or if he fleshes out sae to make him more than just Aloof Older Bro. as it is, they're really not that interesting together!
- That said the individual moments itself are really good, the quotes are unhinged, so I understand why it has the jfandom in a chokehold. only wanting to play soccer to be near his big brother → wanting to play soccer to destroy his big brother. GOOD!!! STUFF!!!!
- sae’s relationship with shidou is a million times more interesting because i love a good beast tamer
KUNIGAMI/CHIGIRI
- Listen…. YOU are looking at Kunigami through the eyes of a reader seeing a character with no redeeming qualities because his narrative potential was squandered. Chigiri and I are looking at him through the eyes of his clinical psychologist older sister (guys his light novel is SOOOOOOOO cute TTT can you believe kunigami was BULLIED for being a siscon while rin BULLIES cos he’s a brocon……….. Misogyny makes me ill)
- Okay let’s finally talk about kunigami
- He was my favourite character until they eliminated him (which I was unhappy about) so OBVIOUSLY i was super excited when they revealed that they winter soldier’d this 16yo boy ‘cos who doesn’t love seeing their son put through Trials and Tribulations
- However… the execution of this was so bad… Look, even if I give Kaneshiro benefit of the doubt and assume he's doing a slow reveal, KUNIGAMI’S CHARACTER IS STILL SO BAD!! All he does is say edgy stuff with no depth to it. His appearances provide no deeper insight into his damaged psyche at all apart from "the old kunigami can't come to the phone right now.... why? COS HE'S DEAD". He was absent for an entire arc so that Jinpachi Ego could commit soccer war crimes and turn him into a super soldier, and yet he’s literally not doing anything Successful on the field unless Isagi feeds him the ball… But somehow he’s ranked 5th for most of NEL?? like girl why LMFAO
- I was pulling out my hair during NEL being like whyyyyyyyy did Kaneshiro do this to my son. And then Chigiri goes all the way to Germany stratum after Kunigami ghosts him and -- unperturbed by Kunigami's attitude -- stares at him directly to say “I'm looking squarely at the new you, so look squarely at the new me too” and every single previously dormant fujo neuron of mine lit up like the tokyo skyline
- Post-season 1 my thoughts about this only went as deep as “cuties T___T” largely because of my goodwill towards them both, but I didn't possess active Shippy Feelings. But the new turn this dynamic took is honestly so……. Move over kaneshiro lemme have a line of this yaoi cocaine too
- In all honesty, the kindest thing Chigiri could do here is shoot Kunigami out back because the character assassination is brutal and I don’t trust the writing to get better… But, at the same time, you're telling me Chigiri is ready to accept emo!Kunigami the way he is - but Kunigami can't bear to even make eye contact with him anymore? Girl this is so romantic
- chigiri pls fix him before isagi inevitably makes him worse
KAISER/NESS
- Oh you like toxic yaoi? Do you mean you like it when Kaiser has done nothing but treat Ness like shit for 4 years? You like it that Ness is neglected by his family for having a heart full of whimsy? You like that Kaiser reaching out to him during tryouts saying “with me all your ideas will become possible” was the first time he felt seen? You like that a neglected kid imprinted on an abused kid who has no reference for real love – only survival? You like that Kaiser grew up getting regularly beat up by his dad and his only treasure was a soccer ball that he also viewed as being a piece of shit like him – but one that never wavered? You like it that Kaiser studied psychology textbooks in order to become a Discord Mod Level Groomer and manipulate someone into becoming his dog - a receptacle for his malice - so that he can succeed at soccer? You like it when Kaiser identifies Ness as being the perfect subject for this because he's completely isolated and thus vulnerable? You like that the magical first meeting from Ness’s POV was not magical at all – but was in fact sinisterly constructed by Kaiser? You like that Kaiser fucked Ness up so bad that he views Kaiser’s cruelty as a love language, so when he showed malice towards Isagi instead of him he has a complete breakdown? You like that Kaiser calls Ness a worthless pig once he no longer needs him? You like that Ness is in fact a genius midfielder but his potential has been completely squandered due to Kaiser's abuse and he's lost all adaptability because he can't play unless it revolves around Kaiser? And that this in turn makes Kaiser respect him even less? You like that Ness believes he has no value outside of helping Kaiser's dream come true? You like that instead of getting better, Ness “evolves” to catch up with Kaiser? You like that for the sake of a goal Kaiser can shed everything about himself – all his walls and survival instincts – except for his belief that Ness is worthless? You like that Kaiser can never achieve ego death because by manipulating Ness, he ended up forming a relationship with someone that exists beyond his ravenous need to survive and feel human? You like that this ultimately became Kaiser’s undoing? You like that Ness’s first form of “rebellion” to Kaiser is refusing to leave him when Kaiser tells him to? You like that instead of reassuring Kaiser that he’s not a “piece of shit” through sentiments like he’s amazing, talented, incredible, his argument is that he’s not shit because he’s “a flesh and blood human being” like that in itself is enough reason for Kaiser to have value? You like that this is the first time Kaiser has heard this – after all, he went from being beat by his dad, and only received salvation because they thought he had potential as a soccer player? You like that Ness possesses all this love and loyalty whilst having received nothing in return outside of being in Kaiser's orbit? You like that Kaiser thought he was moulding a lapdog but what he actually created was a golden retriever with rabies?
- Or do you just like it when two guys argue sometimes idk
chigiri/reo
- Okay this is here because my sister ships it… i know it’s just to be contrary but after she said it was her otp i was like “yes queen” and now it’s on My Mind a bit… that said chigiri/nagi and kunigami/reo is better
bachira/kunigami
- Anyone else a KUNIBACHI SHIPPER?
- The answer is either anri or ego or a blue lock staff member because kunigami can't even say hi to chigiri but he's doing all that with bachira on the field.... someone turned up his “homo” dial during wild card but for bachira exclusively
- ig technically this is the first thing i kinda was like Eye Emoji yaoi? at because of bachira jumping on kunigami’s shoulders in the first ep LMAO but i still like their interactions…
bachira/isagi
- I wish bachira had some other yaoies (bachira/rin i still think abt u) but in retrospect this friendship is actually cute and fresh…. #2 least bad isagi ship
baro/isagi
- OKAY this is actually.... really cute LMAO..... isagi throwing baro's words back at him on the field but then apologising after was a cute use of his everyman/freak duality!
- Team white shouldn't have won that second selection match and that stands as one of the worst matches in the story BUT.... Kaneshiro did gag me when during the Ubers vs Bastard match Baro tells Snuffy that he HAS been humbled by Blue Lock, constantly, but he doesn't ever want to compromise on his own ideals. His fixation on Isagi is representative of that -- if he can beat Isagi, he won't have to change his soccer. Once again, Snuffy-arc you will always be famous <3
- Baro imprints on him in a much cuter way than kaiser/rin does!! like sorry it's SO CUTE that he died his hair to verse isagi again!! how happy he is to see isagi but cannot express it in a normal way!! the ubers match made me fonder of everyone in that team but Baro really did get the biggest glow up. Kaneshiro treats you so well when you're a crazy bitch with no nuance.
- #1 least bad isagi ship
anyway, DON'T READ BLUE LOCK.
no subject
Whoever recced it as a death game and also a sport was correct, that's exactly how I describe it too, you are also correct that it is secretly a harem manga. Somehow I love it
no subject
haha, omg i should tag this with spoilers kjahda I'M SORRY TO SPEAK ILL OF SOMETHING YOU LOVE!!! tbh they do say the opposite of love is apathy and not hate so here i am also obsessed with it. who are ur favs/ships??
no subject
LOL it's okay I didn't see any spoilers haha and I can feel the love-hate, which describes the dynamic of most of my blue lock ships too hahaha. I like basically all ships... My fave is Isagi, mostly because I believe in the Isagi/anyone agenda since they will ALL be part of his harem in the end. Reonagi is also VERY good but I can see the case for basically any ship in this canon tbh lolll
no subject
omg now i feel extra bad this had to end up on ur flist 😠he is literally a harem protagonist tho so i'm glad this manga has u eating well!! what are u up to?? you've met his majesty kaiser right? reonagi honestly is just living parallel to this harem manga as its own BL... genuinely stunned at how much knsh was cooking with them it's crazy
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But it's funny, I actually got into blue lock because I read one of Kaneshiro's earlier manga - which is an ACTUAL DEATH GAME - Kamisama no Iutoori and the much longer and gayer sequel (which also has a soccer player main char). They are literally peak insane and also very gay. If you have been drawn into the Kaneshiro orbit I def recommend those!! Other than that I have finally admitted that I play genshin impact, I guess, lol. How about you??
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omg yeah when i found out he wrote As the Gods Will i was like HUH???? i've never read it but i have ofc heard about the movie!! if you recommend it i'll defs check it out maybe he cooks more when he doesn't need to pretend to care about soccer. omg u just missed me 'cos i have been consistently playing genshin since like 1.2 but i haven't played ANY of natlan. however, ik the new patch has a mondstadt archon quest and i love mondie so i'm probs gonna try and grind the story to catch up soon. otherwise, if u play hsr that was actually my main squeeze the past 2 years tho i also need to catch up to 3.1/3.2's story.
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Unfortunately (for you) Kaneshiro LOVES soccer but it's maybe like 2% of as the gods will manga (also the sequel is the real manga where it all gets going - the first manga is more like a prequel novella but it's still worth it imo). The death games are really good though, especially in Kamisama no Iutoori Ni. I also want to read his manga where one guy randomly walks up to another guy and stabs him and that starts the whole story but it's harder to find. And omg I literally JUST posted about starting hsr so I'm in like 1.x content right now because there is so much!! I love the astral express crew. And yeah Natlan... not my favorite region when it comes to the main story but like you I love mondstadt so I'm looking forward to that.