Blue Lock has made its highly anticipated return to screens with Season 2 of the anime as part of the Fall 2024 anime schedule, but the new season is making a bad first impression with fans due to its animation. The first season of the TV anime taking on Muneyuki Kanehsiro and Yusuke Nomura’s original manga series was one of the big new releases of the last few years. The anime was such a success in its first outing that when it came to an end, it was quickly announced that both a new feature film and Season 2 of the series were already in the works.
Now after plenty of waiting, fans have gotten to see the first couple of episodes for Blue Lock Season 2. Titled Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan, this new season got off to a slower start as it reintroduced the main conflict for the season as the members of Blue Lock will need to take on the members of the U-20 Japan team in order to keep the Blue Lock program from shutting down. But with the second episode kicking off the games at last, fans are already taking note of a suspected dip in quality from what was seen the first time around.
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What’s Going On With Blue Lock Season 2?
The final 35 members left in Blue Lock after all of their trials thus far are now testing against one another to make their way into the team that will eventually be taking on the U-20 Japan team. The top six players will be advancing to this final game, so Isagi Yoichi really only has one last game to somehow get the attention of Ego and advance. As someone trying to make his way into the top positions, he needs to both work with and assert himself against the current top players to make it happen.
The first of these games has kicked off with the second episode of the season, and fans aren’t happy with the way it’s being animated. Although much of the first season had a lot of the same amount of players not really moving (while focusing on how much they were thinking before actually making a move), it’s noticeably different this time around as there seems to be even less movement than before. It’s gone as far as fans saying the anime’s just straight adapting the same imagery from the manga rather than bring it to life.
What Does This Mean for Blue Lock’s Future?
It’s unclear as to whether or not the action seen in the latest episode is reflective of what will be seen in the rest of the season, but Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan has a major uphill battle from this point on. A rough first impression from fans can be hard to recover from, and that’s especially true this Fall with so many new anime vying for attention this time around. It’s also going to be even rougher considering the response to that first season.
Blue Lock’s first season was such a hit that sales of the manga pretty much exploded. Coupled with the fact that the actual Team Japan was doing well in the World Cup around the same time, and Blue Lock’s first season was able to capitalize on all of the soccer fervor. But with the second season not having the benefit of that kind of bump from the outside, it’s going to need to fight much harder to have an impact rivaling what came the first time around. It’s a sophomore slump, and one that it could recover from if this production was healthy behind the scenes.
