FIFA World Cup and Blue Lock

The FIFA world cup is over. With an exciting final. I'm not much of a football fan. But that final though!!The emotions that I went through.

It was like watching an action thriller movie. Truly a nail-biter to the very end. For me, two men stole the whole show. Messi and Mbappé.

Messi finally comes out on top. He brings back the cup to Argentina after 36 long years. And gets his name written among the legends of football.

Mbappé, on the other hand, left everything on the field. He did more than his very best. He is the person who made the match so legendary. And this man has my heart.

But wait. I brought you here to talk about Blue Lock, right? Let me get on with that.

Blue Lock is a Japanese manga series written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura. It is the story of Yoichi Isagi, a high school footballer, being admitted to project blue lock. (more on project blue lock later)

Blue Lock manga has released 200 chapters so far. It was adapted into an anime, and 11 episodes have been released. It is set to release 24 episodes in this first season.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Manga? What is that?

Simply put, manga is Japanese comics. Most of the anime out there are adapted from various manga. If you want the long version of what a manga is, here you go...

Manga (漫画) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. (Wikipedia)

So why did a manga turned anime become famous during the world cup? Two reasons...

1. Japanese football team - known as the Samurai Blue

2. Anime community

Japan's national football team made waves at this world cup. They defeated powerhouse teams like Germany and Spain. Everybody loves an underdog story. Don't they? The little guy beating the giants.

Moreover, the jersey of the Japanese team was designed in collaboration with the illustrators of Blue Lock and Giant Killing (Giant Killing is another football manga). This sparked a conversation online. And enter the anime community proclaiming - Blue Lock is real...!! 

The story of Blue Lock is as follows. Japan is defeated in the 2018 FIFA world knockout matches. So what does the Japanese Football Union do? They hire an enigmatic coach Ego Jinpachi.

What does this man plan to do? Project Blue Lock! A training regimen designed to create the world's greatest egotist striker. Those who fail Blue Lock will never be permitted to represent any Japanese team again. Blue Lock is the story of Yoichi Isagi, a high school footballer, being admitted to project blue lock.

A bit over the top. Don't you think? But now take a look at what happens in the 2022 FIFA world cup. The real-life Japan team surprised the whole world with their performance!!

It all went down in classic anime style. First, they took down Germany, a powerhouse team. . After being down by one goal in the first half, they scored back twice. An amazing comeback. It gave the impression that maybe this would be Japan's year. The birth of a legend.

Then they lost to Costa Rica, a reasonably minor team. Fans were astonished. Was the first win pure luck? Is that all they were going to have this year? Was the simply getting their hopes up?

And then came the match with Spain. With all its tiki-taka gameplay, Spain seemed to crush the samurai blue in the first half. Then, suddenly Japan scored two goals to victory! One of the goals was a bit controversial, which added more spice to the drama. The goals they scored resembled the ones scored in Blue Lock. It was as if an anime was unfolding in a real-life scenario.

Although this isn't the first time that Japan has made it this far in the World Cup (knockout stages in 2002, 2010 & 2018), it was a particularly dramatic run given how closely and deliberately the team seemed to take inspiration from Blue Lock.

And hence the slogan "Blue Lock is real" became trending. Other memes were making round on the internet as well, like the ones below.

And so on! It was not just the Japanese football team that stole the show. Japanese football fans who came for the match earned the praise of the whole world when they stayed back to clean the stadium after each match! Yes. Win or loss, it did not matter. They did it even after the heartbreaking loss to Croatia.

The FIFA Twitter handle even shared a photo of the Japan team’s locker room, spotlessly clean, with towels, bottles, and hangers neatly in place after the win over Germany. ‘Domo Arigato,’ FIFA posted, which means thank you. The Japan team even left 11 origami paper cranes, one for each player, and a gratitude message inside the locker room.

Something to learn from and implement as well.

But wait. We were talking about Blue Lock, right? So it is just another sports anime about football? Yes. But no. Then what makes it different??

Well, for starters, almost all sports anime advocate one thing - teamwork. Duh! In most shonen anime, the 'power of friendship' is the one running gag. (Typically overused in the anime Fairy Tale).

This is how Blue Lock starts. “Football is a sport played with 11 people. So, one person can’t win on their own. Football isn’t just for one… One for all… I wanted to win!” says Yoichi Isagi, the story's hero.

But then, Blue Lock throws teamwork out of the window.

Yeah, that's right. No power of friendship here to save the day. It's not about teamwork at all. According to the coach Ego Jinpachi - "You will not become the greatest strikers in the world, unless you have the ego to match. My purpose here, is to create such a player in Japan."

He is shown to be extremely egotistical, cruel, and self-serving. He sees teamwork and putting your teammates before yourself as the equivalent of being "second-rate." Jinpachi never wastes an opportunity to tell his players the cold truth about themselves and their reality. This seeps them into further despair or inspires them. A truly evil genius coach.

So this is not the story of a striker who plays as one with his teammates. But about becoming a striker who singlehandedly wins the match. A striker with the biggest ego. One without whom the team can't win. So Blue Lock is a different take on the sports genre anime.

It will make you feel like you are watching an all-out war instead of football. This is not fun and games anymore. It's the survival of the fittest in project Blue Lock. And to become strong, one has to be willing to risk it all. Go beyond being a team player. One has to develop his own 'ego'. The 'ego' that will make him the greatest striker in the world!

So do check out the trailer of blue lock.Watching Blue Lock on youtube requires a premium account, though. Check it out here.Blue Lock is available on Netflix as well. (And remember to watch in Japanese)

I hope you had a good time reading this. Can you think of any other moments like this when people linked together fiction and real-world moments? Like a movie moment inspiring a real-world action or vice-versaHave a good week ahead! And Happy Christmas!

Captain KitaWeekly RamenItadakimasu!