BLUE LOCK (ブルーロック)

What is this place?

Huh? What the heck?

What's about to happen?

Episode 12

The Second Selection

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2nd Selection

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1st Stage

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"Blue Lock Man"?

A hologram?

They want me to score a goal?

It's getting smaller...

I see.

This is penalty area situational training.

You must assess the situation fast,

run into the space that's getting smaller by the second,

outwit the goalkeeper,

and grab a goal!

Sweet. Right on the money.

It's on the perfect line.

Seriously? He stopped that?!

That wasn't a high school-level save.

Wait, did a hologram just touch the ball?!

To clear the stage: 100 goals

To clear the stage: 100 goals

To clear the stage: 100 goals

Oh, I get it.

To clear the stage: 100 goals

I have to score 100 goals past this Blue Lock Man in 90 minutes to clear the stage.

To clear the stage: 100 goals

A lone battle that tests my ego in the penalty area.

I can't score a goal by just taking potshots.

You can't clear this room unless you have an exceptional weapon.

Interesting.

Bring it on.

There! From the left.

The goal's on the right this time.

I have to assess the space in a flash!

The ball's trajectory...

Feel the speed of it...

Efficiently glide toward where it'll fall...

Then gauge the distance to the goalie,

and hit it first-time!

All right, that works.

But this training is seriously amazing!

It recreates the final moments in front of goal,

which means I won't clear the stage if I don't hone my weapon and improve my shots.

This is good. I can do this.

My weapon works!

There are more holograms now?

Makes sense. It's a penalty area simulation, so there'd obviously be defenders.

There!

Ack! This is hard!

The difficulty level just shot up.

That won't work. I need to be more accurate.

I need to evolve or I won't clear this stage!

This training room lined with high-res panels that can fire balls from its walls at random

improves upon similar facilities used by Germany's top clubs to hone explosive power.

It can create situations based on each player's individual qualities.

Crucially, it has the Blue Lock Man system,

an AI hologram goalie programmed using data from world-class goalies.

A microchip sensor in the ball makes physical interactions with a hologram possible.

This is holographic sports technology.

I'll cut to the chase, Ego-san.

We're out of funds.

Shut up, Anri-chan.

This is exactly what I envisioned.

The way to clear this stage will change depending on how a player uses their skills.

For those who survived because others did the scoring for them,

this 90-minute stage will be a challenge.

But for a striker who can turn zero into one with their own weapon,

this is a place to hone and polish their skills so they evolve.

Test out how you use your weapon and feel your progress.

When you leave this room, you will all be on a whole new level as strikers.

Yeah!

To clear the stage: 100 goals

The three dummies appear at random.

Where the ball comes from, its trajectory, plus where the goalie is...

If I can get all that down...

I can grab a goal!

To clear the stage: 100 goals

It looks like those who are improving are making visible strides forward.

This training is incredible.

You haven't seen anything yet, Anri-chan.

This is just the beginning.

"Level: max"?!

L-Let's take a breath.

I just need to do the same as before.

That's crazy fast! And it's got spin, too!

It's tough to get good contact on it!

So this is what "Level: max" means?

Just like in a real game, high-level balls come at you, and the dummies move randomly.

This is an artificial recreation of what happens in the box in top-level matches.

Assessing the situation and responding. Quality shooting with accuracy.

And the stamina to sustain all that for 90 minutes.

Mind, technique, physical strength. You need all of them to pass this stage.

A pretender will find out just how powerless he is.

Damn it. I can't score at all.

But I can still keep running around, thanks to the physical conditioning we did.

Now that I'm here, I think I finally understand.

My goals were made possible because of Bachira's passes.

Unlike these erratic balls, he fed me with passes where and how I wanted them.

Kunigami drew the defenders toward him to become a wall for me.

Chigiri was always waiting for a pass from me in my field of vision.

Because of those guys, I was able to score goals.

I wasn't fighting alone.

But that's not good enough.

I want the kind of strength that allows me to fight alone!

I need to pull together all my skills. Prioritize what must be done.

Hone everything and focus. Let's do this!

Assess the situation in a flash!

Note where the defenders and goalie are,

then run directly to where I'll shoot from.

Gauge the trajectory and spin of the ball, then blast it into the top left corner!

No good.

Where it actually went

Where it actually went

My spatial awareness and positioning are perfect,

Where Isagi was aiming

Where Isagi was aiming

but my direct shot isn't going where I envision.

Damn it.

Trying again with the same mindset is pointless.

What I'm lacking right now is the technique to make good contact.

Bachira's passes were very easy to take first-time.

But the balls in this room are erratic and tough to connect with.

I see. Just blindly blasting it won't help.

I only need to use 80%... No, 70% of the power I've been using to shoot up to now.

In that final moment, I need to direct all of my attention to the point of impact!

This is it. This is the essence of my goal.

Tricks and formulas exist to score a simple direct shot!

Spatial awareness

Spatial awareness

Direct shot

Positioning Skill to make contact

Oh man. This is so much fun!

I keep discovering sides of me I didn't know about before!

That boy's improving rapidly.

We humans are creatures that only see what we want to see.

Becoming aware of your limitations changes how you see and think about everything.

Right now, he must be...

Yeah!

trembling at his own evolution.

2nd Selection 1st Stage

I've never thought so deeply about the shots I take before.

I know I can get even stronger!

Form a team of 3 and proceed

Is this the second stage?

Form a team of 3 and proceed

A team of three?

Form a team of 3 and proceed

Nagi and Reo are here, too.

Oh, right. A team of three means they must be waiting for Zantetsu.

Oh, hey, Isagi's here.

Bachira!

Yay!

Reunited again!

Good job. Congrats on clearing the stage.

Oh, I see.

So all we have to do for the second stage is form a team?

Who do you want to fill the last spot?

Huh?

Me plus you leaves one spot free.

So he just went ahead and decided we were on the same team, huh?

Not that I mind.

Who should we pick?

Let's see...

The players that come to mind who I'd want are...

Kunigami or Chigiri, I guess.

Nice.

But since it's a team of three, we can only pick one. So which would you prefer?

How about teaming up with the one who gets here first?

Sounds good.

And that will be our new team.

Great.

Hey, Isagi Yoichi.

Want to join our team?

Huh?

Come join our team.

Hey now, Nagi. This is the guy you wanted to team up with?

Yeah.

In the game against his team, he was the most impressive.

I want to play soccer with him.

Well, you heard him.

Now what? You accepting the offer?

Of course not.

I'm teaming up with you, Bachira.

I'm sorry, Nagi.

But I can't join you alone.

There you go.

I see. Then...

I'll join Isagi's team.

What?

Huh?

That solves the problem, right?