The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Blue Lock, "Soccer's 'Zero'," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Blue Lock, this anime season's sports anime about soccer, had an actual soccer match this week! Or well, it had something that resembled a match, but in reality was more of a mess. But that is all part of the story, setting up some major character development that seems to be on its way soon.
Blue Lock has continued to hold the Number 6 spot on the Fall Anime Rankings for MyAnimeList, and still holds a high over score of 8.36. Likely, that is because not only are typical sports anime fans watching it, but other otaku are giving it a try as well because it is blending genres together. It is not just about realistic sports and showcasing teamwork; it has a lot of action, is psychological, and has a borderline sci-fi setting.
Enter, Drama
We thought that Episode 2 had a lot of drama in it last week, but it was nothing compared to what we got with Episode 3. "Soccer's 'Zero'" was about the next challenge in the Blue Lock program, where all the players on each team had to assign themselves roles in a full soccer team (despite all being strikers, remember) and play against other teams in their building. The top two teams will move on, and the others will be eliminated.
What really threw a wrench into the plan was Ego's final rule - even on the eliminated teams, the individual player with the most points would still move on. So no matter what kind of plan Team Z, our protagonist Isagi's team, made in the locker room, on the pitch it all fell apart. It became every man for himself, especially regarding the attitude of Jingo Raichi who really went off the deep end this episode with his selfishness.
By the end of Episode 3, Team Z still has not worked out their differences after losing this episode's match.
Enter, a New Foe
The other big thing Episode 3 introduced to us is a new antagonist, Shouei Barou. Barou is from Team X, Team's Z's opponent in the episode. He is big, strong, talented, and his eyes are red whenever he is playing. Barou unites his team in the face of adversity, and manages to score 5 times in the match.
On top of being a star player, Barou also has nothing nice to say to Isagi and his team. In fact, he tells Isagi to his face that he is not cut out to be a striker. Even if Team X is eliminated in the upcoming episodes, we are sure to see Barou move on as the top scorer on his team. That means we haven't seen the last of him, and he may be one of Isagi's major rivals in the future.
Enter, Friendship?
In "Monster," we got to see more of Bachira's unique character, and learn about the monster he claims lives inside himself and Isagi when they are playing soccer. This time, we got to see more of how a friendship is growing between Isagi and Bachira. While the rest of the team argued and fought, only Bachira and Isagi were able to push towards scoring a goal and trying to work as a team.
Bachira remains a bit of an enigma all the same, though, including spending the last five minutes or so of the episode totally naked while everyone devises their plan for the next match and receives another "pep talk" of sorts from Ego. He is becoming one of the comic relief characters for sure, but the monster inside of him shouldn't be forgotten either as rivalries mount...
Overall, Episode 3 of Blue Lock was fast-paced, and had some good soccer action as well. It developed some friendships and even more rivalries, and put Team Z in a tough spot that they will have to climb out of. Next week we will see if they can finally figure out how to turn their zero into a one. Likely they will, as we can't see Team Z being eliminated entirely this early on in the series unless Blue Lock continues to completely break free of any sports anime tropes where teamwork always wins and the main character is always the hero at the end...