BLUE LOCK (ブルーロック)

If we win this, we go to nationals!

ICHINAN HIGH SCHOOL 2ND YEAR

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP SAITAMA PREFECTURE FINALS

ICHINAN VS MATSUKAZE KOKUOU

ICHINAN, MATSUKAZE KOKUOU

Go, Isagi!

This is our last chance! We're counting on you!

Nationals!

I'm over here, loser!

I'm gonna score.

Nationals!

Isagi!

Over here! I'm free!

Tada?

If I pass, we'll score.

Isagi!

Remember, it's one for all and all for one!

That's right. Soccer's played with 11 guys on a team.

All right! Now we're tied...

No way!

Counter!

Push up!

MATSUKAZE KOKUOU HIGH SCHOOL 2ND YEAR

Crap!

-Stop them! -Get through!

ICHINAN, MATSUKAZE KOKUOU

Sorry, guys!

If only...

If only I'd scored...

It's not your fault, Tada.

I'm sorry!

Kira!

You're so awesome!

Kira, people call you the jewel of Japanese soccer.

You were even called up to play for Japan's U-18 team.

-Can you tell us about that? -Well, right now,

I'm focusing on winning at nationals with this team.

The one thing I can really say is...

The only reason I'm here is because of my teammates.

Kira, you're amazing!

You guys fought well.

The third-years are retiring.

You should be proud of the days you spent fighting together as a team.

Someday, you'll look back on this loss...

and feel like it wasn't a waste!

As far as I'm concerned, this Ichinan team is the best damn soccer team in Japan!

No.

We're a team that didn't make it to nationals

'cause we lost in the prefectural qualifier.

And I'm an unknown second-year forward on that team.

That's the reality.

I'm sorry, Mr. Noa.

I doubt I'll be able to become...

EUROPE'S BEST PLAYER FRANCE TEAM

A direct volley!

What a wonder goal!

...a superstar like you.

Wow, Yo!

You're unstoppable!

I admired you so much.

Nice shot!

You're way too good to be a middle schooler!

And continued to play soccer, but...

Remember, it's one for all and all for one!

Let's go to nationals together!

-Yeah! -Yeah!

It looks like my dream will never be more than a dream.

My idiotic dream of becoming a star striker for the national team

and winning the World Cup.

If, in that moment, I hadn't passed,

but taken the shot instead,

would my fate have been any different?

One for all. All for one.

Soccer is played with 11 guys on a team.

You can't do it alone.

Damn it.

I really wanted to win.

I'm home.

Welcome back. How did the game go?

We lost. I'm hungry.

Too bad. I even made pork cutlet for good luck.

You're supposed to eat that the day before the game.

Oh, is that right?

Well, it's good. Eat up.

By the way, a letter arrived for you from the Japan Football Union.

What?

A "certified athlete"?

That's a good thing, right?

No idea!

Why me?

Is this the right place?

Oh, hey, you're from Ichinan.

Isagi, right?

You were invited, too? Figures. Good game the other day.

Do you know who I am?

Uh, Kira...

Yes, of course. We only just lost to you the other day.

I totally remember you.

You've got, like, a broad perspective on the game.

A high soccer IQ.

If we were on the same team, I'd bet you'd hit some amazing passes to me.

Uh, thank you.

No way. For real? Kira Ryosuke is complimenting me?

Then, shall we?

You know, I have no idea what we're gonna do here.

Neither do I.

No need to be so polite. We're the same age.

Nice to meet you, Isagi.

Thanks!

He's so nice.

This seems like the place.

There's a ton of guys here.

I see some guys I recognize.

Sennou's star player, Okawa.

The tallest high school athlete, Ishikari.

Even Nishioka, the Messi of Aomori, is here.

Huh? Is everyone here a forward?

Congratulations, diamonds in the rough.

You are the 300 18-and-under strikers who have been chosen

according to my arbitrary and biased decision-making.

And I am Ego Jinpachi,

the man hired to make sure Japan wins the World Cup.

Huh? What did he just say?

"Wins the World Cup"?

Who is he?

Do you know him?

No, no clue.

Simply put,

there's one thing Japanese soccer needs to become the best in the world.

It's the birth of a revolutionary striker.

I'll be performing an experiment here

to turn one of you, 300, into the world's best striker.

And that's what this facility is for.

Blue Lock.

Starting today, you will live here together

and undergo the special top training I've devised.

You won't be allowed to go home,

and you'll say goodbye to whatever soccer life you've been living up to now.

But I promise you this:

If you manage to survive and beat out the 299 other guys here

to become the last man standing, you will be the world's greatest striker.

That is all. Nice to meet you.

What is he talking about?

Um, excuse me.

I can't agree to the conditions you just laid out.

Each of us has a team that's important to us.

Some of us have nationals coming up.

I can't abandon my team to participate in some nonsensical program.

Yeah. I've got nationals too.

Why would we suddenly start living together?

Who even are you?

We demand to speak to someone who isn't crazy.

I see. You're all seriously ill then.

Lock off.

Anyone who wants to leave can go.

Is becoming the number one high school team in this backwards country

more important to you than becoming the world's best striker?

Just thinking that the future of Japan is in your hands makes me lose hope.

Huh? What?

Listen up.

The power of Japanese soccer organizations is first-rate.

You could call it the result of Japanese thoughtfulness.

But in all other respects, it is undeniably second-rate.

Let me ask you this: What is soccer?

Is it about 11 guys working together?

Valuing your ties to others?

Self-sacrifice?

Playing for your teammates?

This is why this country's soccer has remained weak.

I'll tell you the answer.

Soccer is about scoring more goals than your opponent.

Whoever scores the most goals is the greatest.

If you just want to play friendly games with your buddies, then lock off.

What's with this guy? He's crazy.

That's a terrible thing to say. Take it back.

There are many athletes on the Japanese team who I respect.

We grew up watching them fight together as an 11-member team.

They are my superstars.

You're wrong.

What? The Japanese team?

But they've never won the World Cup, have they?

I'm talking about becoming the best in the world.

"Instead of assisting my teammates to win 1-0,

it feels better to pull off a hat trick and lose 3-4."

These are the words of the world's greatest striker, Noel Noa,

who beat Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Ballon d'Or.

Eric Cantona said, "I don't care about my team."

"I just want to stand out."

Pelé said, "The world's best forward, midfielder, defender, and goalkeeper."

"Whichever you ask about, the answer is still me."

Well? Awful, right?

But they're all top, top players!