After trying to win on their own, Blue Lock Episode 18 sees Nagi and Yoichi use a different method to try and get something out of smooth brain Barou. Let’s see how that went down in this review!
Blue Lock Episode 18 Overview
Blue Lock is the latest sports anime by the Anime Studio 8bit, previously known for producing critically and commercially acclaimed anime like That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and Rewrite. The series is directed by Tetsuaki Watanabe, who has been a part of the productions of various anime in the past, such as Haikyuu and Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress.
Hisashi Toujima serves as the action director for the series, and the anime is based on a manga written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yuusuke Nomura. Click here to read the review of the previous episode in the series.
– Blue Lock Episode 18 Review does not contain spoilers –
Blue Lock Episode 18 Review- Protagonist’s Stage
Barou’s character does not make a lick of sense once you think about it for more than a minute. We already talked about how dumb he is to choose football as his sport of choice when he doesn’t appear to be a fan of being a part of a team. He wants all the glory for himself and everyone else to bow down to him while he sinks every ship he’s in. In Blue Lock Episode 18, the show tried giving us a flimsy explanation as to why he was the way he was, and it didn’t make sense because the way Barou acts is still counterproductive to what he wants to achieve.
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Not going to spoil any of that here, of course, but this game could have been handled a lot better than it was. Kunigami, Reo, and Chigiri were given their time to shine in the previous episode, but the way they were treated here walked a lot of it back. If the three of them were getting played by just Yoichi and Nagi, then the chemistry that they were so proud of didn’t mean much after all. In fact, walking back was the biggest theme of the entire episode.
If you thought that this experience of getting rebuked and outplayed by Nagi and Yoichi was going to improve Barou in any way, or at least teach him the error of his ways, you were also tricked by the show into believing this storyline would end up making some sense by the end. It very much did not, as we are pretty much back where we started with Barou. I know, I expected it to be better as well. Not only that, but it almost appears as if he got rewarded for acting the way he does, and he doesn’t appear to have learned anything from being humbled.
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Yoichi and Nagi were both great in Blue Lock Episode 18; if nothing else, this selection process has been great for the development of the pair. We’ve seen Nagi be an absolute monster in all episodes that he has played in, and Yoichi’s evolving confidence has also been a pleasure to witness. It will be interesting to see how this matches up in the future with all that Barou has got going on and if they can work together without hurting any of their egos. However, Yoichi in-game and outside the game are two separate beings, so that shouldn’t be much of an issue.
The production quality of Blue Lock Episode 18 was absolutely gorgeous. Emotions were a big part of this episode, and they came across very well with the intricately drawn facial expressions as well as the vivid use of colour in this episode. The soundtrack wasn’t all that special and pretty forgettable, but that has always been the case, save for a few tracks. Overall, this was a standard episode for the show. Decent quality but underwhelming ideas that could have been executed much better.
Verdict
Blue Lock Episode 18 was a decent execution of a not-very-good idea and moved the story forward in an acceptable manner. There was some wasted potential here, but not much.
Click here to read the review of the next episode!
You’re missing the point. If you wanted Barou to just submit and be a team-player, then that would be him denying his ego. You’re better off just watching Haikyuu or some other sports anime that’s all about teamwork. And although teamplay is important and not entirely denied in Blue Lock, team play is not the end goal. The end goal is to hone the players’ egos. As for being “humbled,” he has been in this episode. He completely admitted that he lost to Isagi. But just because he admits his loss, doesn’t mean he has to be content with it and play in the way that Isagi and Nagi wants him to. Barou’s character development is about him no longer viewing himself as the sole protagonist on the field. He acknowledges Isagi as also a star. This will be expounded more in the manga.
While I agree with some of your points, Barou is playing football. Football is a game about teamwork, no matter how much the show tries to deny it. This has been evident in all of its selections, as most of them have been team-based. A player like Barou in a team scenario can only be a liability. Almost every team has more than one striker, and the role is not even as important as the show deems it to be. While you can be a star by scoring the most goals, there is a reason why Ronaldo has never won a world cup, and Messi only just did. A good team is more important than the best striker in the world, and at the end of the episode, Barou still scored the goal by himself without passing the ball. He hasn’t learned anything about teamwork, and he will be a horrible striker because of this.