Dudes! Barou is such an annoying character, he totally gets on my nerves! Luckily, Episode 17 was a lot of soccer and less of Barou, so it turned out to be an unexpectedly entertaining edition.

(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)

Titled ‘Donkey’, the episode is completely focused on the ‘three versus three’ match between team Isagi, Nagi and Barou going up against the formidable trio of Reo, Chigiri and Kunigami. I miss watching Isagi and Bachira playing on the same side as friends, but Isagi and Nagi are turning into a very interesting duo, a fact that other players in ‘Blue Lock’ are beginning to pick up. But is their partnership enough to win without the third member’s co-operation?

Like most matches, this round also featured a lot of monologues by Isagi who is constantly strategizing how to beat his opponents, but the creators mix it up with some graphics in the animation to make it seem interesting. Some of the soccer phrases he comes up with are unintentionally hilarious and his character is experiencing an exaggerated growth in soccer skills, so it turned out to be a fun episode. The theme of ‘ego’ gets a front-seat and Isagi is transforming into the one of the top egoists on the show. His new-found confidence and hunger to win at all costs is exciting.   

I hoped we would get the results of the match by the end of 20 minutes, however they decided to extend the mystery over who is going to emerge victorious.

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