Blue Lock: Episode 19 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2024-01-25 14:00:04 +0000 UTC**DANCING HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
Look, I know the discussion is LONG for this one, but...THERE WERE THINGS TO SAY! I loved so much about this episode!
The reveals, the decisions, the backstory of our darling "dancing boy?" YES, PLEASE! I have so many theories, new shipping unlocked, and lots to talk about as we make our way into possibly the final match of the season! Huzzah!
LINK TO REACTION: https://streamable.com/4ubs1g
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Ahhh, thank you so much for the kind words and comment! I definitely have some ideas for random “summer videos” and that might have to be one of them! WHAT?! ECCHI HAREM MANGA simultaneously with Blue Lock?! Well….that puts some things into perspective. The breakup is SO frustrating! That’s a good point in the difference in their promise with one another! But yes, the miscommunication trope is my LEAST favorite in fiction! Talk it out, bros! It sucked hearing Nagi calling him a pain, but Reo had done so much stage 5 clinger behavior, at that point, I do think it was earned – as much as I love Reo, too. Reo wanting them to work together to get to the top kind of sounds like Isagi before Rin snatched up Bachira, and then NOW we’re getting the reversal where Bachira wants to work with someone to get to the top…so interesting how those concepts are getting explored in this! But yes, Gin noted too that it was Isagi who said that last line to Reo! But yeah, SALT IN THE WOUND for Isagi to say that to him! Oof. That moment with Kunigami lifting Reo, though? YES. ALSO, speaking of that scene, your comment makes me realize that Isagi taking Chigiri is literally like Rin taking Bachira…all these parallels…but yes, MY HEART, too! Barou coming around to Isagi is making that ship sail, y’all! I loved the Bachira backstory in all this! Bachira would fit in WELL in the Haikyuu universe! Hahahaha, that scene with Isagi waiting is just like the Niko one…except Bachira and Rin weren’t violently making out–I mean, talking it up in the cafeteria. Now the question is if Isagi will be all talk or be able to pull through? Thank you for the comment and kind words! I wasn’t able to get to this comment before recording Episode 21, but I have a feeling this will be a fun way to kick off Episode 22.
Romaniablack
2024-02-01 21:05:08 +0000 UTCThis was a really fun reaction and discussion! I’ve been wanting to suggest that idea of you discussing how other sports series characters would do in BLLK, so yess I would love to see that! I think it’d be fun to rank them on a tier list while discussing them as well. Speaking of harems, fun fact: The Blue Lock manga author Kaneshiro is also writing “Super Ball Girls,” an ecchi harem manga. It’s written by Kaneshiro and illustrated by Hiromoto Akira (mangaka of Prison School). It started releasing in October 2022 (the month the BLLK anime started airing lol) and is ongoing. Blue Lock is clearly still his main focus, but it’s amazing to me how he tends to work on multiple manga simultaneously. He really went from writing horror -> Blue Lock -> ecchi harem, which doesn’t feel too out of place lol. The first time I watched this ep, I was fuming at Nagi, though I forgave Nagi pretty quickly, I can never stay mad at him for long. He was at the time and is still consistently my second fav BLLK character, but yeah, that breakup was so frustrating. I feel for both of them getting accused by the other of breaking their promise. It seems that Nagi’s perception of the promise is focused on both of them getting to the top, while Reo’s is focused on both of them playing together to get to the top. The difference in priorities and the miscommunication, it’s a mess. The thing that breaks my heart the most is Nagi calling Reo a pain and Reo’s reaction. We’re so used to seeing Nagi calling everything a pain, but I never would’ve expected Nagi to call Reo a pain. To clarify, the last thing Nagi said in that scene was “You’re a hassle, Reo. I’m done with you.” Then Isagi turned around and said to Reo, “Become the one who chooses, not the one waiting to be chosen. What are you playing soccer for? Only those with the potential to be the best strikers in the world can survive in Blue Lock.” It definitely is salt in the wound for Reo to hear this especially from Isagi who he doesn’t like, but I do like how Isagi, despite calling Reo annoying, gave him advice in a way, a brutally honest way. The part where Kunigami uplifted (literally) Reo was so powerful! Also, the dynamic of the villain Isagi kidnapping Chigiri the princess, and Kunigami being the hero. It’s great how right before the match started, Chigiri was flirting and teasing Kunigami about being the hero, and then after the match, Chigiri calls him hero so sincerely when he says “I’ll be waiting for you, hero.” MY HEART. The Bachira backstory and getting his POV of ep 1 and all the bonding in this ep was amazing. The cafeteria scene and last episode made Barou, a character I was indifferent to, become one of my fav BLLK characters! I thought he was going to be just a one-dimensional antagonist, but nope he’s such a great character and has got some of the best development so far. I love the Bokuto and Tendo comparison for Bachira. I only thought of Hinata to compare to Bachira because baby Bachira encouraged others to “be one with the ball” which I’m pretty sure Hinata said to his little sister when teaching her volleyball. But yeah, another thing all these characters have in common is that they play based on instinct. I love that the anime chose to have Bachira’s mom’s VA voice the narration of this episode. It kinda feels like she’s there in spirit and being supportive of Bachira in whatever happens. I just realized something. Isagi standing there with that pose waiting for Bachira and Rin to finish their training makes me think of Niko waiting for Isagi and Bachira to finish their conversation after the 1st selection.
Whim
2024-02-01 00:19:36 +0000 UTCThank you for the kind words and comment - OH, episode 19 was STELLAR! One of my favorite episodes so far as well! And man, yes, proven wrong about Barou for SURE! It makes me appreciate him more as a character, though, and our precious bean Isagi – getting alllll the ships this episode sailing! I can see what you mean about the “breakup scene.” Respect! And yes, Reo totally shot himself in the foot by clouding his judgment and coming to some conclusions that he definitely shouldn’t have. I can forgive Nagi for his actions because 1. Like you said *This is Sparta voice* This is Blue Lock! But also, Nagi approached Reo at the bath trying to communicate and be cheerful and Reo instantly shot him down. Also, Nagi’s definitely doing the “tough love” moment like, “you’re putting all the pressure on ME to measure up, but you need to measure up as well.” I definitely think - to me - that Reo created this monster on his own and suffered because of his own hubris. And Nagi isn’t “done” with his friendship with Reo, I don’t think, but he definitely wants Reo to get better and quit relying on Nagi to come back to him. So I wasn’t mad at Nagi or had a diminished opinion of him at all, but I still love Reo too! OHHH – that is interesting! With Isagi – but still, I think Nagi would agree with that line, and there wasn’t any lie there for me, haha! I’ll have to talk more about it in Episode 21! 😀 That’s funny about Messi and Ronaldo’s animated forms - I feel it’s always weird animating “real” people and trying to do their actual looks justice but at the same time make them anime! The Monster is definitely in a way a form of escapism for Bachira, I agree – maybe instead of being angry like Barou that others aren’t measuring up, or cold like Rin, he does this instead and comes across more aloof. So of COURSE he latched onto Isagi who is REAL and seems the most like the monster in his heart. That’s interesting about his mom and the monster having the same VA, but that would make sense! And LEMON! He deserves all the love! I really love him as a character and am so glad he made it! Thank you for the kind words and comment! SOOOO excited for the episodes to come!
Romaniablack
2024-01-31 20:40:44 +0000 UTCGreat reaction and discussion!! And one of my favorite episodes is finally here!!! Bachira backstory and Barou/Isagi bonding!! I must admit I had a little laugh when you said in last episode discussion that Barou would never admit he was wrong and just one episode later, he did it with his whole chest XD I loved the whole scene of Barou and Isagi talking to each other sooo much!! It was a scene that single-handedly shot up Barou to one of my favorite characters. Before this episode I liked him and he was fun to watch but this episode really made me love him. I love a man that can admit he was wrong without any excuses. It was so mature of Barou and made me respect him so much. Also Isagi is such a precious bean!! I love how he is not afraid at all to admit aloud that he admires someone or finds them cool. I have such a mixed feelings over the Reo x Nagi breakup scene. Because on one hand, Reo really DID shoot himself in the foot there, with him letting his inferiority complex cloud his judgement on Nagi's character and make him see only the worst outcomes because of how little he seems to think about himself and making him think he is so easy to discard. But on the other hand, Nagi really was like "my friend is having a hard time? Welp, helping him out is just too much of a hassle. Lets just leave him behind." And I guess in Blue Lock that kind of attitude (discarding someone who's not useful for you) is fine but like. Thats one shitty friend right there, to just be done with your friendship the second something difficult comes up. This episode honestly made me like Nagi a lot less. Oh and by the way, the one who said "become the one who chooses, not who is waiting to be chosen" line was Isagi, not Nagi! I really loved the allegory of the monster being Bachira's imaginary friend!! But also, its really sad how like, at some point it seems that Bachira lived more in his own fantasy world than in reality. With him only seeing the monster when he played and not the other players. It felt a lot like escapism. Its like Bachira stopped looking for connection in real life and started escaping to fantasy of the "safe" monster, who wouldn't disappoint him and wouldn't hurt him when he opened up. I guess Bachira was both scared of being alone AND of getting hurt because of somebody not measuring up to his expectations. Also, I found it very interesting that they got the same voice actress playing Bachira's mom AND the narrator of Bachira's inner feelings and thoughts! And one thing I will never not laugh at is the anime versions of Messi and Ronaldo XDD They look so goofy when animated XDD Also I love how excited you were to see Iemon!! That boy deserves some love XD
Gin
2024-01-29 01:14:55 +0000 UTC
