Blue LockSeason 2 just finished the third selection and stepped right into the U-20 Arc with the revelation of Blue Lock’s best players after the tryouts and the introductions of some of the JFU National Team members. To commemorate the start of the main arc, two new kickoff PVs were released on YouTube on the Emotion Label Channel, featuring the starting lineup of both teams and a sneak peek into the U-20 match’s animation. Butwhat was meant to build anticipation has instead received backlash from the viewers, who are now more worried than ever about the quality of the long-awaited game.
While the anime only showed a glimpse of the new characters, the PV introduced to the audience the names, positions, and voice actors of the U-20 Japan National Team.An international trailer was also unveiled, showcasing the highlights of season 2 so far along with a scene of the episode airing on November 9th, but instead of teasing the exciting moments of the game,due to some scenes highlighted in the new PV, the quality of the match’s animation has been questioned by the viewers.
Fans Were Expecting an Improvement in Quality in the U-20 Arc
The new trailers show better animation compared to thefirst episodes of season 2with more frames and even adding more movement to the players, which has been a major complaint, but were still heavily criticized, especially the U-20 Edition. Many fans shared their frustration through social media about how the lack of fluid dribbles and plays is noticeable in the trailer, even with the close-ups of the players. In a post byX user @lvrsagi, which got almost 420 thousand impressions and over 5K likes, they expressed the trailer would disappoint fans who were expecting an upgrade in the arc.
Fans of the series have been quoting a statement from Isagi’s voice actor, Kazuki Ura,in an interview with Anime Cornerduring the Anime Expo 2024 when he shared that theU-20 match was what fans should look forward to the most this season.
When we first started the voice recordings for the second season, we were told by the original creators that they had put everything into drawing the Under-20 match. – Kazuki Ura, Anime Corner.
This contributed to fans' expectations for an improvement in this arc, in addition to the first episode of season 2 teasing a scene that takes place during the half-time of the game, the flashback of a 1v1 between Rin and his brother Sae, which was surprisingly well animated. Also, as the match against Japan U-20 is one of the most exciting in the series,some fans were expecting that Studio 8-Bit would focus its effort and personnel specifically on animating these key moments,but this has been put in doubt due to the quality of the trailers.
Blue Lock’s Fans Concern About the Quality of the Upcoming Episodes Is Stronger Than Ever
Blue LockSeason 2’s Animation Continues to Be Divisive in One of the Best Arcs in the Story
Although many of the scenes featured in the trailer aren’t important plays but rather short introductions of the abilities of the JFU national team members, and the art continues to be striking, many fans complain thatthis match will fail to reach its potential of being one of the most visually stunning moments inBlue Lock,claiming the animation had the same problems as the first episodes of the season, where only the ball moves and feels like a 1:1 recreation of the original panels without doing justice to the visual rhythm and intensity conveyed in the manga.
“We Did The Best We Could” Blue Lock Season 2 Animator Reveals The Truth Behind The Series Controversial Animation
BL Season’s 2 controversy emerged over its low quality, and one of the animators finally broke the silence about what went wrong with the adaptation.
While the franchise is still considered one of the most popular at the moment, these issues have caused the series to be referred to as ‘PNG lock’, which could affect the future of the anime, as happened to other adaptations like Seven Deadly Sins, whose popularity plummeted after their animation problems. However, despite the criticism, many fans defend the visual effects and composition in the anime, acknowledging the efforts of direction to enhance the episodes and stillfinding things to enjoy inBlue LockSeason 2.
The best part of Blue Lock wasn’t its animationbut its original concept, which creates more thrilling games where the players risk their careers with every play. Also, even thoughwhether the U-20 match can compare to the highlight moments of season 1 remains to be seen, in this season, with the future of the project at stake,Blue Lockhas intensified the games and showcased the growth of the characters and their rivalry, which is still worth watching.
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.
