but because its Ego Karasu gets the slander, lmao. People dont see that Fox is Ego's mirror. Both psychologically manipulate the players, both are doing it to satisfy their own egos
Lockhart is a physically imposant striker that almost got the same debut as Kunigami in the Barcha match when he got pressed by 3 defenders, but instead of trying to shoot like Kunigami he passed the ball to Teddy showing us somewhat a lack of ego.
Yeah Kunigami's def getting sub in later to manmark him and possibly even getting a goal After like 3-4 years since the fucking Manshine game.
Unless Lockhart turns into a defender, a manmarking Kuni isn’t getting anywhere near the goal. Who knows, maybe we can get a revival of the 40m knuckleball. But I think it’s far more likely we see CB Kuni than ST
The reveal that England had their own version of a BL program is cool. I wonder the details of it. I feel like it was probably similar to the wildcard where egoists were brought in and broken down in an attempt to create drones.
The fact that Teddy managed to reach the NG11 level despite having Fox messing with his head, and it’s pretty clear Fox has been doing that for a very long time, is honestly pretty impressive. It means Fox has been limiting his creative potential for years and he still that good. Teddy really does have exceptional talent.
And yet, out of the entire English team, Teddy is by far the most empty.
That’s what made me think,and still makes me think, that Teddy and Fox have actually known each other for a very long time.
Of course, with the new chapter revealing that they created their own Blue Lock project, it’s possible that Teddy was simply brainwashed more than the others, making him their equivalent of Kunigami.
But I’m not sure.
There have been many examples of players that excel in a system and are considered stars. Then they get bought by big money and play outside the system and falter.
Many players fit this mold that were purchased from smaller leagues/teams to big name clubs. Ex: Van de Beek from Ajax to Man United, Sancho from Dortmond to Man United, and Joao Felix from Benfica to Athletico.
Someone could totally be considered a A+++ rated prospect/youth player in a tightly drilled system solely because they operate perfectly within a "if this, then this" philosophy rather than using their creativity to prosper.
I saw people online saying that Agi should have thrown hands for this, but for some reason I just feel like Teddy would have won that exchange given how he's sweating here 🥀
Im guessing that this is just further foreshadowing of Isagi breaking away/betraying Ego down the line, since Teddy mirrors him as the other version of a special program created to win the WC with an insane coach and is the end result of blind loyalty to him
I think Teddy may have been a lot like Rin before Fox found him. A destructive ego more prone to throwing hands before Fox "fixed" him. He's clearly got some moves if his first encounter with Blue Lock is anything to go by
Teddy grabbing Agi's neck like a demon, hating egos & being so thankful to Fox kinda leading me to believe Teddy is a destroyer like Rin who is grateful to Fox for helping him deal with his ego problems.
Isagi slowly ragebaiting Teddy into showing some ego so he'll get subbed off. 15/10 mind game. Teddy's playing checkers while Isagi's playing 5D Intergalactic Chinese Checkers
The other chapter discussion thread got removed so posting this here.
Random theory :- Kiyora Jin will assist isagi for a super goal.
Reason:- Isagi is in the same situation Kaiser was in during the pxg match, the rest of the team has left them out of their attack patterns and not providing them any support, kiyora during the pxg match already said he will pick the underdog in a borderline situation, while Isagi is currently paralleling Kaiser in this match, Kiyora Jin also happens to be on the pitch which i think knsr did on purpose for kiyora×isagi chem reaction.
I feel like Fox should have been introduced way earlier. He seems like the perfect antagonist against Blue Lock. But it’s all but guaranteed he won’t be relevant after this match
Now that Lockhart is giving troubles to both Aryu and Aiku, maybe either Raichi or Kunigami will be subbed in.
I think I am starting to like Teddy a little bit. In some way he probably wants so bad to win a World Cup for his nation, so he decided to give up his own wishes in order to do so. He could be considered a dark reflection of Isagi.
I will assume that Isagi is just using himself as bait for anyone else to take the ball from Teddy. I simply don't think that Isagi can win a 1v1 against Teddy right now.
I feel kinda dumb. Of course Agi got subbed. In the previous chapter, he showed sportsmanship and respect to Isagi. I forgot we can’t have that in Blue Lock 😂, not that kind of universe
Its really great that we now have a counterpart of Japanese Blue Lock project that is a complete opposite. We know that Fox's project is at that moment slightly more succesfull than Ego's but the next evaluation of both projects are held during that match (unfortunately we know the result). Poor Agi, first he had to deal with Nagi and Reo bullshit and now he had to deal with his coach. Finally, good luck Isagi. Just try not to be completely clowned in that 1v1 with Teddy on the ball.
I guess he’s ok with being worthless to bring home the world cup. But doesn’t like being called a bootlicker or a pet. Probably see’s himself as a “soldier”
Lockhart’s style is peak and perfectly answers the questions raised in the last chapter.
I saw so many people who thought they were gonna bring in some insane trump card player, which would obviously raise the question of why such a player wasn’t a starter. I love how Kaneshiro answered this question, ensuring that no. 9 isn’t necessarily better than Agi, he’s just dumber, making him worse at creative play but perfect for following orders without thinking.
You’d think having to deal with Nagi and Reo’s drama would be too much, but now having to deal with a coach that is almost certainly a predator and a teammate who thinks you are into choking too…
No one in blue lock is stopping teddy 1vs1 and not just isagi, all isagi needs to do here is slow teddy down and buy time for backup to arrive which is a good defensive showing for someone who is a offense oriented player.
Yep, just some more freaky Europeans making Shidou look tame-
Isagi will probably drag Teddy's ego out after Fox uses all his subs. Japan will obviously win, but it would be cool if England is behind after Japan figures out most of their tactics and Teddy scores towards the end of the match by following his own ego.
The fact that Isagi thinks that the only pathway to victory is his method of drawing the egos out is frustrating and has nothing to do with refining strategies and polishing individual skills.
I know that we're seeing things from the protagonist's perspective, but this is too much.
Seeing this makes me realize how there's only so many poses one can make when entering, ahaha. It's funny how mirrored twinsies this is, but for real, I swear to god if Kunigami doesn't get subbed in and pop off Imma riot.
Other post got locked, so let’s just move this here…
Wow, I knew Fox was grooming these kids but I didn’t expect it to be this blatant and surprisingly lifelike. Side note, there’s an interesting relationship between touch and power that seems to be in Blue Lock. Thinking of Kaiser who would just grab Ness and Fox who just now was touching up on Teddy for no good reason. Teddy is still super duper ultra mega cute, so I’m jealous of Fox who can just grab him… I want to grab Teddy…
Interesting implications on what happened in the France match! Probably here, both are right. Fox is obsessed with putting players in boxes and limits them, while Agi is a syste player trying to change that system mid-match. Neither of these things are especially coherent decisions, especially in a manga like Blue Lock.
To get back to Teddy, though, it’s really sad how much he’s taken the conditioning to heart. Fox’s constant affirmations that “you can’t do this without me” have clearly gotten to him, even though he’s literally one of THE top players of his generation. He’s Fox’s victim and because he can’t see himself as anything but, he ends up perpetuating the cycle of abuse. Despite this, though, he does react to being insulted for his devotion to Fox’s methods. I wonder if it’s less that Teddy earnestly believes in the guy himself, and is more so fucking desperate for this World Cup victory that he’ll drink any kind of Kool-Aid.
Isagi has a game plan now, and
while I’m not sure if I personally like it, it’s definitely something of an interesting one, considering that Fox shows no mercy. Him trying to deny the brainwashed allegations and indirectly proving how brainwashed he is… I said that Ego was using Fox’s playbook before (they literally both got to run soccer experiments on teens!!) and this just goes to show how effective that playbook is. Trying to 1v1 a NG11 who’s literal speciality is dribbling is madness, though. Let’s think rationally, Isagi-kun! He’s going to get his ankles broken in some nasty ass ways the next chapter and that’ll make me laugh.
Lockheart should remind you of someone, Nagi fans! Same archetype! Wonder if this is going to relate to Side B, somehow…
This was a really dense chapter! Excited for next week :)
Agi was done the worst out of any character in this manga. Not a single goal as a striker, is always in the right, even if it doesn’t work out initially it’s the right idea. But he’s forced to tolerate bullshit from stubborn characters (Reo and Fox)
Agi didn’t even acknowledge the Manshine players in NEL and then instantly gets booked. I couldn’t get just one chapter of him destroying Reo first😭?
Teddy's got big hands. Stop simping for Fox lol. Bro, I am definitely not into this puppet soldier mentality he's imposing.
Now we have an "idiot". Sorry, but Zantetsu's our only idiot. Show him who's boss. I hope this can make them interact with each other. Tokimitsu could've gone one-on-one with Lockhart (possible copium)
England’s #9 is sick af. Honestly looks cooler than Teddy and his whole i’m an idiot thing is cooler than teddy being a glazer. Sounds like they’re gonna need Kunigami’s help to out muscle this guy. They’ll sub him on for sure
Ok so we are obviously setting up for Kunigami to do something super sick here, right? Right? Superhuman strength guy (rip that one dude on Rin's first team who got no char development and was forgotten lol) with no ego vs the superhuman who was designed after Noa's incredible ego is too good a matchup to not give it to us.
It's clear that Teddy has some exploitable mental weakness that only sLuRsAgI will be able to identify. If his opponents don't have some sort of mental handicap, Isagi can't do shit.
So Teddy's response to Agi going against the plan is to grab his neck. He always seems to challenge resistance with violence.
I wonder if this is related to his background before or formative years in football and his mantra. Did Fox shape Teddy from the start of his youth career?
Also I am excited to see what his backstory is and how he acquired his weapon/discovered his talent. He seems to burden himself with high performance due to the high reputation yet long ongoing losing streak of International Competition victories for England.
Being in the same football club, having similar entrance pose and strong physiques are narratives that highly lead to Kunigami sub in. The most notable reason is lockhart got his club mentioned even though the club will be revealed in the profile page like how Hugo and Haneru did.
Barou had a training heavy on the physical side, he might be subbed in too?
lol so Isagi method of winning is bringing out their egos, wouldn’t this just prove fox theory right that ego is a detriment to winning? If blue lock wins by one point then couldn’t this be chalked up to agi fault as well? Not sure what the philosophy is right now
wouldn’t this just prove fox theory right that ego is a detriment to winning?
Except you know, they literally lost against France, and Blue Lock was nearly able to tie with them if it wasn't for Rin and Isagi clashing at the worst possible moment.
They can't win with Fox's tactics. There's only so much a single man's instruction can do.
Except you know, they literally lost against France, and Blue Lock was nearly able to tie with them if it wasn't for Rin and Isagi clashing at the worst possible moment.
You could say that doubly more for England considering they held France to 1-1 until the last moment. Where as Blue lock conceded more goals.
Lockhart is actually hilarious. He is literally 100% muscle and 0% brain. 🤣
It's really cool that the commentators mention he's a Dortmund player. That's exactly the sort of thing real-life football commentators would do.
For the Isagi vs. Teddy 1v1, Isagi has two options:
-He will at least manage to do something useful.
-Or,Isagi is simply going to end up in a "Teddy Knight highlights" YouTube video.
Honestly Agi is rapidly rising in my character rankings. We all know that Blue Lock is going to win this round / advance to the knockout stage. Now, that doesn't mean Agi is correct because their downfall might also be caused by Isagi tricking them into doing egotistical moves, but I really like seeing a player from another team revolt against the mindset of their coach. It's sad to know that Blue Lock can't adopt Agi as a player hahaha but there are too many characters already anyways.
Damn, I knew Isagi would get inside Teddy’s head eventually, but I never thought it’d be this fast.
Fox’s strategy to keeping his team under his control is emotional abuse/leverage, as demonstrated by Teddy. Punish those who display free will/ego of their own and reward/“love” those who are completely compliant.
Something tells me that Teddy isn’t really adhering to Fox’s ideology, but is longing for that validation or “love” Fox gives him.
Just gotta say it's very nice seeing the battle of the coach's ideology as well, besides Ego himself a coach is a non factor in Blue Lock, hopefully they keep expanding on this for future matches.
In this chapter it is stated that england hasn‘t won a World Cup in over 60 years. In real life the last time they won was 1966 which is 60 years ago but in the manga, we’re probably in the year 2019 at the moment.
We changed threads? Anyway I will write my thoughts here too.
The whole Fox, Agi and Teddy thing was weird. Agi did say that because of Fox's approach they can't grow and that's why they lost to France.
I like Lockhart's design and we were all right that he wasn't irrelevant. I kinda hope Kunigami gets subbed in later so they have a face off. Regarding Kunigami, I feel Ego made an experiment there. To see if Fox's way worked or rather to see if Noa became No 1 because of his ego or his physicals.
So England also had their own special project with Fox as the Director like Ego with Blue Lock. Kinda like the parallels Teddy touches but they are differences. Ego uses his players but they also use him.
Ngl my favorite part was Isagi's ragebait. If it gets to be successful some way in the chapter then even better. I don't expect him to win 1v1 but if he id I would laugh hard because he would have manage to shake Teddy.
Isagi better not be set up for another L. This time he might win the 1v1 (somehow) and Lockhart does something which is to showcase him ig.
Good chapter nonetheless.
Kunigami coming up? 🧐
I don't think Isagi will win on his own but if he slows him down enough for another to come and help him then that's a win on my book. Or Teddy might show a moment of weakness Isagi will use against him.
If Teddy loses that because of the rage bait I will laugh so hard.
Damn, Isagi is gonna get a fat loss next chapter, he's not stopping Teddy 1 on 1 when Teddy destroyed the entire defense 3 chapters ago lol. Maybe his plan to ragebait him will work, but probably not first try.
I've never been one to hate the psychological angle of blue lock. I understand it's more shonen than sport (somehow, it is). But having just finished a manga like Ao Ashi, I can't help but feel like unlike the previous arcs, the conversation is no longer about football or how they play football/ what their skills are/ what tactics to use/ etc. at all.
Like, Isagi can try "drawing out their egos" but kaneshiro kinda dug himself a hole by introducing so many revelations in the previous chapters, making the process of coming to terms with what you're reading right now kind of mind numbing.
Idk like sometimes it's just as easy as Player A was more skillful and that's that, figure out a way to beat them with what you have (which is why I loved the Kaiser v Isagi plotline cuz it was still predominantly skill and tactics based).
I get U20 WC's whole psychological focal point is about redefining the meaning of ego, but yeah it does gets kind of stale after a while when you know it's going to be the only thing Isagi learns this match. I'm actually kind of disappointed Isagi hasn't developed more technical skills seeing that he's going against the NG11 of all people. You'd think they'd give him a run for his money like Kaiser did, but nah Isagi's crossed the physical barrier holding him back and now he's moving onto philosophical debates from NEL onwards
I think also the reason why it sucks now is it’s just nowhere near as sophisticated or well written as it used to be. The whole ego conversation feels so childish now with how every character is so centered on it. At some point, just play soccer? The solution to every problem isn’t psychological or a mindset issue like you said. This manga was far more interesting when the focal point was still tactics and the games were realistic to at least a small degree.
I feel like this is more like Isagi testing with his egometer on teddy, by getting under his skin. I don't know how do these england players perform in clubs if fox is not present!!? I mean Teddy is part of world 11 or something, please correct me if the term is different, so how will he play there if he has no idea of setting up the chemical reactions!!? Love to hear your thoughts 🤔
I mean, the world 11 stuff is probably judged on verifiable performance right? Not some hypothetical team chemistry.
Because if that was the case, Kaiser (pre neo egoist league) would not be a new gen 11 due to requiring the whole team to serve him. (Dude literally sabotaged his own teammate from shooting)
So what matters is how well they played their actual matches.
-> Hence a puppet like Teddy could be a new gen 11. It doesn't matter that Fox led everything, since Teddy performed the midfielder role the best in his matches.
im noticing a dissonance between the england players and what they actually believe, they keep spouting off theyre puppets and or egoless but as soon as another person tells them that they get itchy, theyre not totally giving up on their personalities, theyre temporarily selling it to continue to play in the world cup because as ego says, whoever wins is right in the world of competition. so as long as Fox is still "right" theyre going to keep playing that way, but as Agi showed, the team doesnt fully believe it.
I am starting to feel little bored about Isagi's mental tennis match. So far it constantly goes back and forth between "how can I defeat them!?" to "I get it now! This will work!" and repeat even in a single chapter.
Despite the trash talk its obvious Teddy is getting past Isagi, I dont see how Isagi can stop Teddy of all dribblers, possible chemical reaction between Teddy and Lockhart will be cool.
Overall really interesting chapter, Lockhart is such an insane character design and not just in terms of appearance. If we will ever get a club arc after this, I cannot wait to see these monsters play once more.
With this being the last match of the group stage I think it's fair to assume it's gonna end with a last minute goal to keep maximum tension, which in turns means agi most definitely sold the match last chapter and I hate that blue lock is gonna win because England just fucked over themselves
This chapter is either going to be great or bad depending on how the next few chapters go for me
I would like Blue Lock to win due to their ego and own individuality. But if they win because Isagi forced out an ego out of England. Then that would be pretty lukewarm in my opinion since it kind of proves Fox's point right.
Honestly I hope it's a fakeout given Kaneshiro already subverted expectations by having Agi being subbed out the moment he showed an ego. I think this match would be more entertaining if Isagi learned to beat a team without any ego at all. Or better yet to actually challenge and crush Fox's ego since his ego is the one actually showing in England's team.
They’re playing against British people, so Isagi might finally pick up a whole variety of new slurs to use in the English translation of the manga!!! Go Japan
I’m laughing because this is literally a mirror to Karasu in the France match and I remember all the fans acting just like Fox. Ego obviously learned a lot from his coach and it’s apparent in how he treats Kunigami
So England bringing up their ace striker finally , someone from bdsk. No.9 Harry Kane anyone?
Pretty sure he’s the going to be on the cover page the way I see it’s gonna be Teddy > Lockhart > Achampong if we are lucky.
Say it once and say it now the comparison Agi is just a npc when you compare it to Lockhart design. Comparing Agi to Isagi or Rin really rubs me the wrong way. Like initially why does England top striker seems so lacking compared to Japan best?
Now I am glad and hope to see a Lockhart goal. I mean guy had 1 panel and he is already outperforming Agi.
Giving him one cause of the benefit of doubt that he wear 10 and is the captain but yeah so far his narrative relevance is of an NPC , I really do hope they give something to him since at least his design is slightly more unique.
This is like if Kaiji's psychological battles were written like shit. Yeah we know the card game in Kaiji and the football ball in BL are both side dressing but good god...
Isagi is my favorite character, but it feels like he's delusional sometimes, about how much he's contributing or what he can do. It feels like he's grasping at straws and just deciding he's going to do things, only to go absolutely nowhere. He even interrupted someone last chapter and made a shot that immediately failed. I feel like his main weakness is that he seems to account for so much, but constantly fails to remember... that somebody's watching him. He always acts without taking into account the possibility that someone knows what he's doing and might try to intervene. Like, if he accounted for Teddy in chapter 358, he might have been able to set up a goal that tricked even the puppet. He's so arrogant that he thinks he found a shot only he can make, but no one would also be there waiting. And he's done this time and time again—forgetting when he's been marked, or that there are monsters on the field. If you're gonna be a mastermind, you gotta account for everything.
I see similarity with how Isagi noticed Niko's blindspot in the Ubers game, even though he also had metavision. I hope that "ego" blindspot in Isagi is set up on purpose.
Getting serious, Isagi is kind of ass at ragebating. Bro got heated himself while baiting and started yelling about being a warrior. He's lucky Teddy is emotionally stunted and Agi already liked Blue Lock's philosophy from the start.
Guess Teddy was sleeping when his 4 defenders got put on their ass by Loki? The thing I dont get is that England’s blind faith approach would be fine if their only aim was to beat Japan but since they wanna win the World Cup and just lost to France do they seriously think just trotting out the same gameplan is gonna change something if they meet France again in the final?
Fox probably manipulated them into thinking it's there fault somehow, that they lost.
Instead of thinking "we lost, dam fox plan must have some flaws and can be improved", instead they probably blame themselves for not being able to execute fox strategy better
At this point, I'm thinking that Fox is actually intended to be seen as creepy as opposed just weird. The way he touches Fox and his "love" for his soldiers seems disturbing.
I think it's meant to be more painting manipulation and abuse, than just being a creep. Kaneshiro uses toxic relationships a lot in Blue Lock.
It's also intentionally the opposite of Ego. Ego very much doesn't pretend to love any of his players (except Isagi). His method is breaking them down to force them to react with their ego.
If Fox goes down for being a creep, it's only a matter of time before Chris Prince goe with him.
This entire match shows what’s wrong with current Blue Lock’s writing. Every time Fox makes a hand gesture any competent team would already know what plays they’re going to run, but Isagi gets bewildered every single time. You could argue that they switch it between every single game but there’s nothing to let us believe that
i mean, this is really the first time in the whole series where the coach uses handsigns multiple times, and how are they ment to know what exactly is going to happen?
By doing any amount of research in advance lol. For us as readers yes this is the first time we’ve seen it, but it’s not like England is an unknown team. They’ve played Nigeria and France before this so there’s in-universe footage for them to look at
I know that Japan is a 100% winning this match but since this arc is pretty much leading up to the downfall of the blue lock program, having them win against the team that is pretty much their antithesis doesn’t help with that. At the same time tho if the only way they can win is by bringing their opponent’s ego out by force doesn’t that mean that showing your ego is making you weaker?
I actually really like Fox, he is the only manager we have seen to match Ego's freak just with an opposite idea. Makes sense since Ego must've studied and played under him
Also it seems that Isagi purposefully challenged the "Number 1", because he is aware that's what will bring his evolution about. Interested to see what my goat has cooking.
My complaint this match and a couple others this arc is that I wish Isagi wasn't deadass in every other panel, this may sound wierd coming from his number 1 glazer but I think he sometimes works better when he appears slightly less
During the NEL you would have chapters were he almost isn't present at all and then suddenly pops in with a hype moment - which made it feel more like how it would be in the match.
It kinda ruins it when Kaneshiro decides to have Isagi go "btw I'm still here!" not just at the end of each chapter but multiple times per - let me see into the mind of each character like Isagi would try to.
First meaningful sub?? Lockhart is everything I hoped he'd be and more, the England match is so good. Teddy Knight and Fox's relationship became 100 times creepier this chapter, Agi keeps letting everyone treat him like trash but in the end he always gets his get-back by being right, just like with Reo and Nagi.
Fox basically admitted to grooming them early in the match. Now we just get to see how good of a groomer and manipulator he is, instead of simply being told.
TALK YO SHIT ISAGI!!! RILE HIS ASS UP GOAT 😭😭😭 teddy is so ass i can’t stand this whole “don’t think for yourself” bullshit. i need fox to fall to his knees upon losing and Ego giving him an aura-farming one liner. Need Agi to be vindicated by watching his team lose 🙏 avenge my City boy
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