BLUE LOCK Season 2: Episode 9 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2024-12-01 20:14:22 +0000 UTC*SIBLING BURNING HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
I was NOT prepared for Rin and Sae backstory THIS early on in the season, but WHAT a welcomed surprise it was and BLUE LOCK - this show's ability to craft Sae into the antagonistic force that he is and tease us with a vulnerable, sweet Rin?!
I have a LOT to break down about the brothers this episode, so I hope you all enjoy my rambles this week! LET'S GO SECOND HALF!
LINK TO PIP REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/WgfXrzMJLAiUq5FBXiBGJa?
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Thank you so much! Baby Rin is so insanely adorable and the backstory and sibling dynamic got such a layer of pain this week! Sae is just DRAMA and a DIVA. I do appreciate all the self-care routines shown as well - in a world where US Masculine standards are just a 31-in-1 shampoo bottle, I like seeing how everyone’s selfcare is emphasized and varied. Aiku is just a saint. I appreciate him admitting that as well and ooohh, I didn’t notice the aura change; that’s a great point about the “default” colors as well! Ooohhh! Ah, and WONDERFUL connection to Free! With Sae, too! I can see that! And I love the tie to the feminine names with them as well. Good note with the specific word choice as well! And about connecting to Ego’s speech as well - I’m basically going to have to quote your comment verbatim for episode 11, haha! But of course, Diva Sae is Diva. I think Sae telling Rin he was worthless hits harder because of their history as siblings, and with how close they have been growing up. Definitely some fun Haikyuu comparisons, though! But yeah, Rin definitely draws a lot of inspiration from his brother and clearly looked up to him, so it’s easy to understand how he feels betrayed by his cold words. Thank you for the voice actor information, too! But yes, Rin and Isagi being instinctual? We love to see it! And a temperature motif…whereas Isagi has…a sensory motif? 😛 Love the jersey motifs as well and information about that! Hmmm…good to know! That is really cool, too! And oooohhhhhh the KNB connection! AHHHH!! And the Shadow! AH – well, Omg! LOVE IT! The spiritual successor strikes again! Thank you so much for pointing that out and the comment!
Romaniablack
2024-12-12 21:44:37 +0000 UTCReally loved the discussion! Baby Rin is just the cutest. The backstory was so precious yet so heartbreaking. It’s funny how Sae was so casually half-naked, putting moisturizer on his face, ready to dip. The Itoshi brothers do not like to waste time. Also, I want to say I appreciate how Blue Lock shows a glimpse of the characters’ hygiene / self-care routines, like Chigiri’s hair care, Rin’s yoga, Niko washing his forehead, and Sae and his moisturizer. It makes them feel a little more human. I have a lot of respect for Aiku for making that bet and for admitting weakness. I think this is the first time we see Aiku with his green aura instead of the red! Similar to how the Blue Lockers originally had blue aura and then awakened to their own special aura, it seems that the U20 team players' default aura is red. My first impression of Sae returning from Spain was that it reminded me of Rin Matsuoka from Free! coming back from Australia. A random fun fact: similar to how the Free! main characters have feminine first names, in Blue Lock, Sae and Rin are typically feminine names. Sae’s wording “I’ve updated my dream” stood out to me. The word “update” sounds quite clinical to me, like updating a software or policy. It’s not negative like “give up” or positive like “upgrade” (like how Hiori talked about Isagi’s improved reflexive thinking was like upgrading from 4G to 5G), and it’s not even neutral like “change.” It seems like Sae’s saying this is his dream version 2.0. It’s very stoic despite how bleak Sae looked. Sae switching paths makes me think of s1 Ego’s despair and crossroads speech about Barou’s awakening, and also s2 ep1 when Isagi was choosing between Rin and Nagi and reasoned, “I bet it’s not actually about what the right answer is. What matters is your resolve to turn your decision into the right answer.” When Rin said Sae wasn’t the brother he shared his dream with, I love how they animated Sae’s expression changing. It instantly made me think of “You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. Now I'm the bad guy.” The part of the episode that hurt me the most was Sae telling Rin “You have no value” and then Rin sitting on his bed reflecting on that. In Haikyuu, I thought it was harsh when Washijo told Hinata that he doesn’t see any value in him without Kageyama, but what Sae said to Rin was cold and plain cruel. Rin and Sae have the same VAs as Tsukki and Akiteru, and this flashback reminds me of how Tsukki felt betrayed and his image of his brother shattered. It diminished Tsukkis’ motivation, but for Rin, it did the opposite, he channeled that pain and anger into motivation. I agree that Sae and Ego share some similarities. When Sae met Shidou and said “This cage must be too small for you” and in this ep’s flashback Sae told Rin he knows nothing of the outside world, that totally reminded me of in s1 Ego introducing the Blue Lockers to the World 5 and saying he’s letting the frogs out of the cage and into the real world. It was interesting to see how Sae has influenced Rin when they were growing up. For example in the Additional Time, Sae called the intersection of the curry and rice the Battle of Sekigahara. It was the largest, most important battle in Japanese feudal history. This shows where Rin’s war and battlefield metaphors from season 1 came from! Also, during night snow, Sae called Rin “lukewarm” and in a prior Additional Time, mosquito Sae called Rin’s blood lukewarm—the foreshadowing! So yeah.. Rin got a lot of his catchphrases from Sae. Young Sae is voiced by Yuko Sanpei - Boruto Uzumaki (Boruto), and Ui Ui (JJK), and Selim Bradley / Pride (FMAB). Young Rin is voiced by Yuka Terasaki - Mika Egashira (Skip & Loafer), young Tsukasa Shishio (Dr. Stone), Akari Hyuga (Bloom Into You), Misaki Kuramoto (Free!), Zushi (HxH), and young Itachi Uchiha (Naruto Shippuden). Baby Rin’s “hot spot” reminds me of Isagi’s “goal smell.” These both were instinctual, and since then they’ve both really developed their spatial awareness. Also, Rin’s always having that temperature motif! I personally think of the #11 jersey in Blue Lock as representing “protagonist energy.” For example, Isagi (HS, 1st selection, U20), Nagi (1st selection), Naruhaya (HS), Sendou (U20), and in this ep we learn Rin wore #11 in middle school! In soccer, the #10 jersey is traditionally given to an offensive midfielder, which is Sae’s position. Also, sometimes #10 is given to the ace or star player of the team. Here’s the list of characters that wore #10: Raichi (1st selection), Barou (1st selection), Zantetsu (1st selection), Reo (HS, 2nd & 3rd selections), Sae (middle school, U20), and Rin (HS, U20). I adore the set up of Sae and Rin wearing the same number in the U20 match and the meaning behind it. Despite Rin wearing #1 like the whole time in Blue Lock because of his BL rank, for the U20 match, Rin went back to his roots of his number in high school where he was captain of the team, like how Rin is the captain of the Blue Lock team in this match. Love the continuity and I’m proud of him for continually proving himself. (And btw in soccer #1 is almost always reserved for the goalkeeper, which is what Gagamaru is wearing.) Last thing, I’m obsessed with the fact that Rin and Isagi are wearing the same numbers as Kagami #10 and Kuroko #11. And Ego called Isagi “Rin’s shadow.” Of course, Isagi doesn’t want to be Rin’s “sacrifice” and wants to score for himself, but I still cherish that KNB connection.
Whim
2024-12-12 02:48:02 +0000 UTCThis episode was SO GOOD and I loved seeing all of this through Rin’s eyes, especially his brother’s dynamic with him! And yeah, Sae is…”different!” You can tell he cares about Rin and wants the best for him, but also beats himself up a lot and lashes out when it’s his own insecurities. But YES! A very dysfunctional sibling relationship in this series…and we live for it! These two boys, YES, where are their parents?! Honestly, though, I want baby Rin in all anime, at all times. I cannot stand how adorable he is! And Ryusei…it’s going to be a wild ride from here on, isn’t it?! Ryusei is a wild maniac and Sae being like, “Finally, someone to match my freak.” The fudge you say?! I do LOVE Aiku as well; he’s so sweet and I would love for him to get into Blue Lock! I just love that he’s trying to regain his love of the game and I want that for him! But like you said, SO READY, YET NOT READY for this second half! Thank you so much for the comment and kind words!
Romaniablack
2024-12-05 03:51:45 +0000 UTCWhat a WILD episode! Oh no, that’s really sad that people think that - I don’t feel Rin was overly edgy at ALL - I definitely get where Sae is coming from, but I don’t think Rin was acting out of turn, as well. That’s such a wild take to me! @.@ But yes, Sae, despite getting where he’s coming from, was SUPER cold and cruel. Yes, if you lead Rin to believe this route is the way to go, you can’t just suddenly dismiss him without explaining why - but he’s so insecure from being the one to change his goals and feeling it will come across as “settling” and being a failure, that he takes that out on Rin, and that was the wrong thing to do. I just wish these brothers would talk and communicate! And yes, despite being a prodigy, Rin still practices and works SUPER hard! Whereas, it would be interesting to see if Sae practices to that extent anymore? It almost doesn’t seem like he does, but we don’t have all of “his side,” yet. 😛 Thank you for the comment! This episode was SO GOOD!
Romaniablack
2024-12-05 03:33:43 +0000 UTCBaby Rin is sooooo cute!! I literally cannot get over how adorable he is!!
Romaniablack
2024-12-05 03:23:29 +0000 UTCWell, isn't it wonderful how a change in perspective, even if only a little bit, makes such a huge difference? Even though, yes, we get to only see Sae through Rin's eyes, getting to see that whole confrontation more fully has really changed my perspective on Sae. Because, yes, he is a little bit sociopathic *lol* but I also think he really wants Rin to reach his full potential and to play soccer with him. Sure, telling your brother he is useless is going a bit too far, Sae doing that after Rin expressed that he only played soccer for Sae's sake, which I totally agree that Sae loves soccer way too much to be happy with that answer, and I don't think that the feeling that if Rin is really only playing soccer for Sae's sake he should quit - which I also believe Sae was trying to encourage Rin wanting to quit by saying those awful things, which is a really misguided way to that - is inherently wrong because to play any sport, or do anything really for someone else's sake at that level is only setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. All in all, it's a very messed up sibling relationship. Because Sae isn't the only dramatic one, as Rin making the choice to destroy his brother's dreams as revenge isn't exactly the most reasonable reaction, whoever justified it might be. Where are their parents? Seriously, that is the question XD Baby Rin is the cutest thing in the world, though. Why couldn't he stay that cute forever? Ryusei being on the field now is not unexpected, but it will be so much fun to see. Can we just talk, for just one second, about Ryusei calling himself *"the life form known as Ryusei"*?... What the heck? Lol. Who does that? He is truly crazy and a match for Sae with those one-liners. That's the line that convinced Sae to stay and play, I'm convinced. Aiku is amazing, and I want him to somehow make it into BLLK so he can thrive. Seeing as that is impossible, I shall content myself with seeing him evolve through this match and recover that egoistic spark he had as a child and was killed by his coaches, as we saw very briefly in those flashbacks some episodes ago. I'm so ready, not, for this second half.
Alexandra Q
2024-12-03 04:07:40 +0000 UTCBaby Rin is the cutest thing on the planet 😭❤
Iggy
2024-12-02 13:08:25 +0000 UTCahh yes, THE episode is finally here, and I have so much to talk about. Many ppl reading/watching this part of Rin's back story and think "Rin overreacted, he is just edgy, he deserved to be treated like this by Sae, haha", and I always feel sad seeing a huge number of ppl feeling that way, so I'm glad that it's not the case here. Sae was an asshole through and through, "don't use me as a reason to play soccer" my ass, it was you who told Rin to join you, it was you who told Rin to become second best after you, it was you who said that everything other than striker is useless, it was you who told Rin to never give up and follow you. He did start because of you, because you told him to, and you never had a problem with it. Now Sae betrayed all that stuff while Rin hold the promise, and it's suddenly Rin's fault when he didn't give up and worked just as you said. Sae could just explain what happened out there like a normal person, but he had to be the biggest hypocrite on the planet. It's always baffling to me that people want Rin to know where Sae comes from, when Sae was letting out nothing and straight up disowned Rin. It's very sad to see the aftermath of the fight, Rin was contemplating life and felt like he has no value, his whole life and dream was deemed worthless by the person he loved the most, I can't imagine how heartbreaking that would feel. I love how Rin continue to work hard after this, even when faced with this hardship and despair, he never stops grinding. We can see in s1 yoga scene and s2 before the match scene, when everyone is resting, Rin is always still practicing. He might be a prodigy, but the hard work he put in can't be ignored. I just find his determination and hard work very inspiring.
AnNaNN
2024-12-02 02:26:39 +0000 UTC
