The choice of who to pick isn’t going to be an easy one, but Blue Lock Episode 19 shows us that there is a right answer to that question. Let’s see what it was in this review!
Blue Lock Episode 19 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 19 Review does not contain spoilers –
Blue Lock Episode 19 Review- Dancing Boy
Addressing the Yoichi-Barou dynamic first, I am a fan of it. I liked that the normally meek Yoichi became such a monster in the field that he was able to “devour” Barou and that Barou ended up respecting Yoichi because of it. His reasoning is still stupid, and no sane person would want someone like him playing for the country, but with this, there is hope that he might improve even further in the future. There was a great scene about the same in this episode as well, which cemented the relationship between the two as “rivals”.
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Since that was the centre part of this episode that happened even before the opening plays, allow me the courtesy to spoil who Yoichi’s team picked for the next round. If the featured image didn’t give it away, or if it wasn’t extremely obvious and predictable, it was Chigiri. Of course, it was him, for he was Yoichi’s pick, and he is the story’s protagonist. However, the show managed to make sense of this pick, and it came across as the sensible choice to make. This also gave us a fantastic scene between Nagi and Reo, so props for that as well.
More than any of these four, however, Blue Lock Episode 19 was about Bachira and what makes him the anomaly that he is. He has been the same way since he was a kid, and his motivation being “fun” was a great touch that enhanced how we look at him, as well as how he looks at his style of football. His connection to Yoichi and how the duo got this close this quickly was also given a very good explanation and made sense with the direction Yoichi is moving. This is a great narrative to finish the rest of the season on.
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Yoichi and the gang are headed exactly where you would expect them to face the team with the #1, #2, and #3 ranked players. Bachira also being there is also a plus because Yoichi desperately wants him back after promising him that the first time they lost to the top team. It would make more sense for Yoichi to pick Itoshi Rin even if he wins because he is just that good of a player, but the heart wants what it wants. The match between these two teams will probably be great, so look out for it in the next episodes.
Finally, let’s talk about CGI. I am not going to dig up that age-old debate here because that has been discussed to death in other shows with bigger problems than this one. Blue Lock uses its CGI very well, usually. The various cuts, close-ups, and transitions that are only possible through CGI are always great. However, this episode had another creature that did not look very good and could be called “goofy” in its visage. It would have looked better if it was hand-animated, but that might be a bit too hard for the artists after all the effort that they had already put in. It’s a delicate balance.
Verdict
Unlike the previous episode, Blue Lock Episode 19 was very logical and made perfect sense. The story of Bachira was told well, and the set for a future confrontation has been set perfectly.
Click here to read the review of the next episode!