Summary
Blue Lockis being heralded as one of the best sports anime of all time, and part of that is Ura Kazuki’s portrayal of the main hero, Yoichi Isagi. The revolutionary soccer anime and manga series completely flips traditional sports shonen tropes on their head by emphasizing the need for players to be selfish in order to give them the drive to win games.
Starting as a manga by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura,Blue Lockfocuses on a young man named Isagi who joins the enigmatic Blue Lock program designed to help Japan’s soccer team win big. Though the series' soccergames are decidedly non-lethal, the high stakes make each ofBlue Lock’smatches feel like they belong in a death game anime. The manga and anime series have received wide acclaim, with the series having recently released a movie,Episode Nagi, in April.
Now, with the series bigger than ever, Screen Rant sat down Isagi’s Japanese voice actor, Ura Kazuki to talk about what makes the series so special and why it’s so relevant to modern audiences.
Blue Lock Is the Opposite Of All Other Sports Anime, and That’s Why It Made Me a Fan of the Genre
Blue Lock hooks people who are not fans of sports from the first episode with its unique focus on the individual, rather than the team.
Screen Rant: WithBlue Lock’sfocus on developing egotists, Do you think the series is anti-teamwork or is it just doing something different with teamwork than, uh, most would come to expect?
Ura Kazuki: The individual plays a very big role in the development of the characters inBlue Lock. However, it’s not necessarily downplaying teamwork. It’s kind of bringing the focus and saying that it’s crucial to polish yourself and the individual for the team. So breaking through to traditional theories of soccer on the road, especially in Japan, that you always have to think as a team. With the role of the striker, it’s your job to actually make the goal.
So to rethink what it takes and what it means for an individual to make a goal for themselves and for the team. And it actually incorporates both individual and teamwork. It’s the same loop inside and out. So it’s kind of coexisting, but it can start with the individual.
Why do you think that the series is making such an impact right now? Do you think the series is very of the moment?
Ura Kazuki: So, to put it simply, I think the production team, the original manga creators, and everybody else that has worked on theBlue Lockproject loves the series so passionately. Usually, when you’re working on projects like this, it depends on the individual and how much the individual is invested in the end result of the franchise itself. But in the case ofBlue Lock, I really feel that every single person on the team absolutely puts everything into their work. And the passion just seeps through to the eyes of the audience and they can feel that. So the passion to keep on creating and improving from the creators themselves conveys something to audiences.
What’s one way that you relate to Isagi? Is there anything about his character that really speaks to you on a personal level?
Ura Kazuki: So Isagi himself is very selfless and kind at his core. In the beginning, that was portrayed heavily in the animation. Then, throughBlue Lockhe unlocked many versions of himself. I really related to that when I first got the role of Isagi, like acting that scene out where he was crying and he was selfless and weak. But throughout the season and throughout the character development, I could really relate to Isagi as it unveiled more of who he is and what he wanted to become. All of that was possible through Isagi and his hardships throughout the series.
Blue Lockis making a huge impact in the real world with Japan’s soccer team even wearing jerseys inspired by the series. How has seeing things like that, as well as just the huge fan response, impacted you?
Ura Kazuki: So at first, I was very surprised to collaborate because, as you probably know, at the beginning of the seriesBlue Lockwas saying how Japan’s team wasn’t enough, right?Blue Lockwas kind of calling them out a little bit in the beginning. So the fact that they were actually open to having that collaboration was very surprising.
But also, it was a very pivotal moment for not only me but the people makingBlue Lockto meet the actual people that were shooting for number one in soccer. So, I think a lot of those players can relate to the story because they are the actual people who were shooting for the stars and who actually have the perseverance to make it into the world as a professional player. So, being able to relate toBlue Lock’sstory inspired the team and allowed them to feed off of each other’s energy, which heavily influenced the series moving forward as well.
Thank you to both Ura Kazuki and Crunchyroll for the interview.Blue Lock’s anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll!
Blue Lock
Cast
Blue Lock is a sports-centric animated series based on the manga series of the same name. The show follows the Japan Football Association trying to recover from their poor showing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup by hiring a football genius, Ego Jinpachi. With his new intense training regimen, Jinpachi invites the best football players in Japan to compete to become the team’s new star player - and high school student Yoichi Isagi may be exactly who he’s looking for.
