The following contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Blue Lock, “Awakening,” now streaming onCrunchyrollandNetflix.
This week’s episode of the soccer animeBlue Lockheld nothing back when it comes to on-screen action. There was no time for flashbacks, monologues, or intimate conversations as Team Z continued to push through their final match against their building leaders Team V. And while Team V are continuing to prove to be formidable opponents, Team Z has really pulled it together this week as a unit - even with only 10 active players.
Blue Lockhas held its position in theFall Anime Rankingson MyAnimeList, staying in the tenth spot with a solid score of 8.24. It is becoming more and more popular in Japan though as the real Japanese National Team continues to excel in theWorld Cup, moving through the round of 16 just this past week and onto the next stages. Many people are comparing the real game toBlue Lock, giving the anime a definite push in its popularity.
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Speedy Specs
Last week inEpisode 8,Blue Lockfocused on Team V’s Nagi and Reo and their strange symbiotic friendship, and their incredible skills on the pitch. Together, they scored two amazing goals against Team Z. This week, the third member of their powerful trio got more screen time. Tsurugi Zantetsu revealed his secret weapon of incredible acceleration, and his speed seemed to match even Chigiri’s.
We just learned that Chigiri is incredibly fast inEpisode 7, where he overcame his fear of injury and was able to tap into his extreme sprinting speed. For the first half of this week’s episode, it looked like Zantetsu was even faster though! Every secret weapon that the members of Team Z were unleashing was being met with someone even more skilled on Team V.
However, that was not the case by the end. Even though Zantetsu used his acceleration to score the third goal against Team Z, seemingly pushing them out of the Blue Lock program, Chigiri figured out something about hisspectacled rival. While Zantestu did have incredible acceleration that was faster than Chigiri, it only lasted a short distance - and with that, Chigiri was able to score another goal!
Bachira’s Idea
Team Z was able to come back from a seemingly impossible situation and bring the game to a tie at the end of Episode 9 thanks to an idea from Bachira. We had not seen much of Bachira since hisfeatured episodenear the start of the season. We had also not seen any more of his “monster” that helped make him an amazing player. It was excellent to see him back in the spotlight!
After all, Bachira is the reason that Team Z turned everything around. While they had all been trying to look for the formula to score a goal using their secret weapons, Bachira figured out the real trick. Facing impossible odds and the chance of this being his last soccer game ever, Bachira chose to push himself beyond his current limits. By doing that, he was able to discover an enhanced version of hissecret weapon, unleashing seemingly a superpower!
The other members of Team Z followed his lead, and goals were also scored by Chigiri and Kunigami that brought the match currently to a draw. While we have not had a chance to see the main character Isagi push his own limits, it was definitely foreshadowed that that will be a major part of next week’s episode - maybe to score a game-winning goal. That would be some seriousmain character energy.
An Awakening
Episode 9 ofBlue Lockis called “Awakening” for a very good reason. Motivated by Bachira’s discovery and idea, Team Z began to awaken to their full potential. All season they have been barely holding it together against other teams, and have not been playing as much of a strong unit. However, now that they have figured out their strongest positions and are unleashing their secret weapons turned intosuperpowers, we are seeing a more interesting and powerful team.
Ego and Anri, the people behind the Blue Lock program, also came back in this episode to discuss this idea. It seems that this was all part of Ego’s plan, putting players in impossible circumstances in order to help them find their awakening. According to him, this is the only way to help make the best striker in Japan. In his words, the best striker in the world will be the one who dominates the game.
Episode 9 ended on a cliffhanger, with a score of 3-3 and thirty minutes left on the clock. Episode 10 will likely be the end of the match, and hopefully we will get to see Isagi’s awakening as well. In the meantime, we will see how the real Japanese National Team continues to do at the World Cup, and see ifBlue Lockcan continue to become a reality!
