I did not have time to read this sport manga but I feel like if you enjoy soccer you might like this one.

Disappointed with the state of Japanese football, coach Jinpachi Ego decides to set up the Blue Lock programme. A prestigious programme, Blue Lock puts the top 300 youth strikers through their paces in an intense and hardcore training programme, aiming to separate the wheat from the chaff and ultimately end up crowning one player as the top striker in Japan.

Our protagonist is Yoichi Isagi, who is a well meaning striker on his high school football team. Yoichi costs his school a place in the national tournament due to his hesitation to take a shot at goal and his choice to pass to a teammate who then missed. Yoichi struggles to come to terms with the choice he made, and his whole mindset changes with regards to his feelings towards football. He’s always been very much a team player, but he starts to wonder if he should be more selfish when he’s playing and take the chances for himself.

Yoichi eventually gets recruited into Blue Lock, where playing alongside the best strikers in the world reinvigorates his love for football and makes him want to try as hard as he can to improve. Unfortunately, in comparison to his peers, Yoichi is really not all that. Ego’s vision for Blue Lock is very much to push the players as hard as he can, to breaking point. Everything in Blue Lock is based on rankings – what you eat, where you live, and how long you last in the programme. Yoichi finds himself in the bottom 11 ranked players fighting for his chance to be the best striker in Japan.

As a lifelong football fan, Blue Lock is really fun to read. There’s a lot of mentions to real life strikers which makes it really entertaining to compare the tactics and plot to real life occurrences. It’s also really interesting to see how the whole plot of the manga is to train the strikers in Blue Lock to only look out for themselves, and it’s basically the antithesis of any team game where the philosophy is very much based on playing as a team. The Blue Lock programme promotes the idea of ego and, what we’d call in the UK, glory hunting.

Blue Lock is a really interesting premise, and has a lot of potential. There are obviously a lot of potential rival characters for Yoichi to bounce off of, as well as a lot of self discovery ahead of him. Already in the few chapters of volume 1, Yoichi has come to realise that he’s perhaps not as weak as he believes himself to be.

It does feel like not a lot happens in this first volume of Blue Lock, but there’s a lot of set-up for onward plot and action. More and more characters are being introduced outside of the Blue Lock programme, and it’s interesting to see the perspective of outsiders on this very unyielding and unprecedented training programme as well as meeting the players who will undoubtedly make up the rest of the Japanese team with the Blue Lock graduates.

Whilst the first volume feels a little slow, Blue Lock shows a lot of promise, and one not to miss for fans of football.

This is really interesting. It has the vibe of a dystopian horror manga but it's a sports story! The main thesis is that to produce a world class soccer striker, the Japanese have to train teenagers with soccer talent to be cutthroat, egotistical, and far less cooperative. And the volume and extremity that they go about the training is pretty shocking, perhaps by my perspective now as a parent. I also am not sure about the somewhat mystical, egotistical perspective they have about strikers, especially in the age where top teams are playing with false nines and no traditional strikers. Even though it's not really foregrounded there's some interesting places to think about what you give up (time, life, humanity) to become truly great. And the art is great - the Svengali coach is so cartoonish horrific (his body stretches as he rants) and the soccer action is actually drawn quite well. Fun start to this series.

3.5 stars, this was a bit slowed paced as it was explaining all the details that needed to be known. But I enjoyed the story overall, there was many points that had me intrigued to know what was going to happen next. The art style was really interesting and not something I’ve really seen before it, I really liked how different it was. I can’t wait to find out what happens next in this series as I enjoyed this first volume.

This was a really cool concept and really great set up for a first volume. I'm not a huge soccer fan but I still found myself curious about how it would work out.

A fun sports manga where the driving force is a company and country willing to do anything to bring in a championship.

I started this without knowing anything about it (and about soccer in general), mostly because I love Kuroko no basket, and in the first chapter I thought I knew how the whole manga would go. OH BOY, WAS I WRONG. The twist about training players to be selfish instead of teaching them teamwork like most sport mangas do is such a refreshing take on the genre. I loved the characters and enjoyed how some of them are straight up unlikable, it kept things interesting. A fun, addictive read. Will be following the next comunes, for sure.

I love sports manga, no doubt about that and Blue Lock does it differently. Our main character is Isagi Youichi, who wants to be the best (go figure). The Japan Football Union is in a crisis and decides to hire Ego Jinpachi in order to get Japan to the World Cup and the weirdo creates a system called Blue Lock. 300 potential youth strikers are asked to come and they have to compete in everything to be the best, survival of the fittest or so to speak. I do like the setting and how these guys need to compete and how the system is basically sick. So different. The characters look cool and different too, but it's just that I keep thinking about football and how silly the whole thing is in a sense. I think you need to be over 18 to play in Europe, so the dream feels off, since the guys are teenagers. I'm not really into football actually, but at least I know something about the teams and such, so dreaming of Europe feels odd.

The art looks good and the movements even better. I love the facial expressions and all in all the art is top-notch. The rhythm is smooth and the playing looks so awesome. I think I'll keep reading this, since even though I'm not into the sport per se, I do enjoy the setting more than I should. This is not a friendship series or at least it doesn't feel like one and that's refreshing. The tears of losing are the same and still feel stupid, but who cares?

I waver between a 2 and a 3 for this title. On the one hand, it absolutely embraces its insane concept, that soccer is not, in fact, a team sport and instead turns on the ego of its teams' strikers. On the other hand, that's a really messed up way to look at soccer. (Or any other team sport, for that matter.) It's as if Muneyuki Kaneshiro pitched a dystopian story and his editors said they wanted a sports manga instead, so he just twisted the plot he had to fit the requirements.

That's both a good and a bad thing. Certainly it makes <i>Blue Lock</i> stand out among other sports series, and it may give it appeal for those who wouldn't normally touch a soccer manga. But it's also so blatantly absurd that it doesn't entirely work, and it comes off as kids with dreams of sports stardom being taken horrible advantage of by unscrupulous adults. It's insane, and not necessarily in a good way.

Still, it's probably the closest we'll get to a version of <i>The Hunger Games</i> with a recognizable game in the starring role. If that's what you've been dreaming of, now's your chance to read it.

There is a full length review forthcoming on my site, MangaLibrarian.com and on my YouTube Channel! I go in depth on my analysis there.

Blue Lock was a fresh take on the shonen sports genre, adding a darker psychological spin on a genre that typically focuses on teamwork and friendship.

It would have been nice to see more of a reversal, especially from Yoichi Isagi, since he is our main point of view character. I liked that his hesitation in the first chapter, and I would like to see that further developed in subsequent volumes.

This first volume may have benefited from more focus on the individual characters' personaities. I worry that subsequent volumes may lose focus if too many characters are added into the ensemble cast, especially if their introductions are given similar treatments to those in this first volume.

Overall, I'm looking forward to the rest of this series, and it continues to push the envelope.

This book was so much fun! It was a great mix of sports manga and a little bit of Hunger Game vibes and I Loved it. Very much looking forward to continuing on with the next volume.

How do I describe Blue Lock? Imagine Prince of Tennis except replace tennis with soccer and give everyone serial killer eyes.

This isn't bad for a sports manga with a sh0unen flair but I think it'd be easy to forget. The first volume didn't endear any character to me and I already can't remember anyone's names, which isn't a good sign. This first volume didn't have enough soccer in it.

Not bad but not great.

Blue Lock is about Japanese Men's football (soccer) making changes in how it thinks about football in order to come out on top in time for the world cup in 2022. This means doing away with Japan's traditional thinking about teamwork, which they have always done and instilling ego into their players so they will be aggressive like the other countries that play football.. Blue Lock is a training facility developed to make this happen by taking the top 300 talented strikers from high school so they can be ready for the world cup.

This book is interesting because it goes against teamwork while at the same time make the players develop their game sense so they can make teamwork happen between everyone.

Blue Lock is a manga I had heard a lot about and so when I got the change to read it, I completely devoured it. It's darker than any sports manga I've read and it is very intense. From the first page itself, you are completely drawn in by both the art and the dialogue. Blue Lock also expertly subverts the team-is-a-family trope, giving it a rather twisted spin and that is what made me enjoy it more.
I'm looking forward to reading more of this wonderful manga!

I initially thought this was an adult book but was pretty surprised to see it focused on high school students. This book is a bit on the bizarre side. It’s supposed to be realistic fiction, but the challenges the teens are supposed to participate in feel more like the Hunger Games than a challenge kids would normally participate in. It felt really strange that the parents would allow their kids to participate in the Blue Lock program. I was also confused with the book’s constant need to point out that one person was the only thing that would help Japan win the championships. This isn’t tennis or golf. Soccer is a team sport so that sort of thinking makes no sense.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for providing me an E-ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I've never read a sports manga as intense and gripping as Blue Lock. Having it set outside of high school allowed for a more intriguing premise for readers, even if it was a bit terrifying. If there's one thing I am looking forward to in future volumes, it's character growth. Our main character, Isagi struggles to develop his stance on Blue Lock and seeing him adjust alongside 200+ players will definitely be a challenge. Overall, I would highly recommend Blue Lock to fans of sports animanga who are looking for something a little different.

Blue lock is one of the promising sports manga people should look out for. I know the sports genre is saturated these days but this one is a hidden gem that people should get into. It deserves more hype, and I know that this manga would get more fans when an anime adaptation is announced. Aside from the main character, there are also other characters to root for that makes the manga more fun. I love the other characters and there is definitely never a dull moment here. The first volume makes you interested in the story and be on the look out on what's to happen in the future. It is safe to say, that I'm heavily interested in the plot. It is a very engrossing read and I would surely continue reading this. It is one the mangas that I have read that I can't seem to put down and makes me want to finish it all in one sitting.

Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for providing me access of this comics in exchange of an honest review.

Well, I enjoyed this one a lot more than I anticipated! I like sports stories but usually these types of sports stories where it is entirely the main focus but the competition aspect was genius. It was so fun to watch, especially because the competition is to figure out the best striker so that Japan can finally get a winning team.

It was interesting to see our main character struggle with doing the right thing and being selfish— selfishness being what they’re looking for to win. Usually, I wouldn’t like that in a story but this worked!

My biggest issue with this volume was the sexualization of the only female character. The way the men reacted to her and the scenes that were zoomed in on her chest, were super uncomfortable and unnecessary.

Other than that though, I enjoyed this volume and would for sure consider reading the sequel!

3.5/5⭐️

Wow. What a story. Blue Lock is so incredibly intense, I've never read a sports manga quite like it. Although I don't love the Blue Lock program, I must say, it was very well thought out. I was interested in the rankings, and would love to see more of the top ten players at Blue Lock. The characters were also pretty interesting, I can't wait to see more of them. The art is also extremely impactful and does a great job at depicting the fear the young students have. The way the illustrator portrays Jinpachi Ego was done phenomenally. He's absolutely terrifying, even I was afraid! The authors did a spectacular job at pulling the readers into the story too. The only complaint I have is that I'm sad to see Ryosuke Kira go. He was such a kind and compassionate character that I wanted to see more of. Overall, I adore this novel and couldn't stop reading. Blue Lock would be great for soccer fans, or anyone looking for a story revolving around determination. I look upcoming to the next volumes!