Blue Lock Episode 22 Review

The epic four verse four battle is still ongoing on ‘Blue Lock’, which is essentially turning out to be an all out soccer war of wits between Isagi Yoichi and numero uno Rin Itoshi. Those who read my review of episode 21 may recall my complaint about Bachira having an existential crisis in the middle of the most exciting match of his life. However, in episode 22, Bachira’s thoughts made more sense due to his follow-up actions.

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

Titled ‘Voice’, episode 22 start off with a focus on Isagi’s mental strategy to defeat Rin, meanwhile, Bachira feels like an outsider despite being on-field and begins to seriously palpitate over how to dominate the game. Viewers get to see some demonic dribbling from the fiery-eyed player. Amid all the serious possessed thoughts, there are some hilarious moments during the tense face-off, mostly due to Barou and the bulky-jittery number 3 Aoshi Tokimitsu. I would’ve liked to see a little more of Aaryu, the guy who obsesses over ‘glam’ factor, because he is ranked at number 2 after all.

It feels like the animators are starting to slack off a little with the effects, because the animation was very choppy during close-up shots of the players running through the field. Even their body proportion felt a little off. Usually, the animators tend to show the faces, so viewers aren’t likely to notice the problems with the CGI, but it was quite apparent in this edition. I hope they buck up with the effect, otherwise the show continues to be an exaggerated but fun watch.

Those who expected the match to end with this episode are going to be disappointed, because it ends at a crucial maneuver and we still don’t know who is going to emerge victorious.

Stream the series on Netflix.