It’s aim? “Destroy Japanese loser football” by having them participate in a brutal battle royale to create “the world’s greatest egotist striker.” Citing a lack of good strikers, the Japanese Football Union (JFA) recruits the talents of Ego Jinpachi to lead a radical new project: ‘Blue Lock,’ which will bring together all of the most talented 300 young forwards in the country. Yet, what is important about Blue Lock’s setting is the lesson that it provides for the rest of the sports genre, showing what it is truly capable of.īlue Lock takes place in the modern day, just after Japan’s elimination from the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 35 and Fall Guys, you may be sick to death of the subgenre. Now, you may be rolling your eyes at the prospect of yet another battle royale. But even that explanation is far too simple: if anything, Blue Lock is as much a survival manga as it is a sports manga – this is because Blue Lock is, in fact, a battle royale. It is certainly about two teams of eleven players kicking a ball about, occasionally scoring goals and celebrating accordingly. Soccer, but Not as You Know Itīlue Lock is a soccer manga, but not as you know it. Penned by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yuusuke Nomura, Blue Lock is exactly the kind of sports manga that the genre needs right now – one that breathes new life into the concept, disregarding norms, and hopefully transforming it for the better. Nevertheless, an up-and-comer in Jump’s eternal rival, Weekly Shonen Magazine, might just show Shueisha how it is done.
#BLUE LOCK MANGA SERIES#
This was mainly because of the failure of their previous attempts to get a sports series off the ground, with such series as Beast Children and Double Taisei releasing to mixed reception.
Despite years of vibrant history in the genre, the departure of Haikyu!! left Shueisha’s legendary magazine without a sports series for the very first time in its 50-year history. It is no secret that Weekly Shonen Jump is suffering from a bit of a sports-shaped hole right now.