#bllk 298

[c7arisse]

chap 298

[proidents]

my god, my universe

timelapse will be uploaded later today (i said as it took me over a month to upload)

plot wise im aware that nagi fits better into the role of sua for this artwork but i think that the opposite fits their characters a lot better. reo is still in her hakuho uniform, symbolic of the dream that they shared together and also of the past. i'll yap more when i learn words lol but yeah. lowkey hate how this turned out but im not sure if thats the 23 hours talking or if its genuinely bad so i guess we'll just have to See

[somerandombald]

Bro got humble (i still love the dude)

[cloudysonder]

The Death of Nagi

"It doesn't matter how you live... but just don't die before me, you know?"

Parents were not meant to outlive their children. Nagi was never meant to outlive Reo -- he never wanted to in the first place. He only ever came to Blue Lock because Reo promised to "stay with him until the end," only ever played soccer because "it was the first time someone had ever showed interest in a guy like [him]."

Because of this, Nagi didn't fear [Death] the same way that Reo did.

Nagi had always lived half of a life. [Death] just meant returning to those listless days. But Reo...

Reo became hyperaware of his inadequacies from the moment Nagi left him in the second selection. He's been overwhelmed by his fear of his dream's death for hundreds of chapters. Reo thought he was the weak link, that his death would be the end of his dream with Nagi.

Meanwhile, Nagi lived with lazy confidence in both him and Reo. He didn't even comprehend the possibility of Reo's or his elimination.

Nagi had never acted on "pure survival instincts," because he'd never feared [Death]. By Ego's definition, then, everything he did in Blue Lock was out of Love.

Only when Ego had said it out loud did a small fear of [Death] sprout in Nagi for the first time. All he had known before was that he didn't want Reo to die (Nagi was driven by Love), but he hadn't considered that dying himself would also mean losing Reo.

He panics.

The tragedy is that Ego's spiel about dreams hits him just a bit too late. He's always been willing to die -- [Death] wouldn't affect his love. But now... now he's realizing he wants to live for his love. To stay by Reo's side, to support him and be supported. He doesn't want to leave. He begs, desperately, for his love to manifest as ego, so that he can stay, so that he can live.

Many have characterized Nagi as selfish. I don't think this is the case. He makes every decision based on what he thinks will benefit Reo. His survival in Blue Lock has been a consequence, not a priority. But here, we see Nagi finally turning selfish.

He's the one afraid of being without Reo.

He's the one afraid of being alone.

The same monster that enveloped Bachira envelops Nagi.

But while Bachira could separate his love for soccer from his love for Isagi...

Nagi... could not.

Nagi wants to play soccer to stay by Reo's side. He's always been satisfied, as long as he was together with Reo. He never manifested a dream beyond that. The undead don't dream.

He pursued a goal of beating Isagi, after seeing how upset Reo was from losing to him, and he won. He avenged them. All he wants now is to be by Reo for as long as he can.

But dreams like that don't survive in Blue Lock.

Nagi and Reo have always been Ego's foil -- the question of whether Love could overpower Ego.

And Love (Nagi) died.

[chodzacaparodia]

Reo and Nagi will be going through a devastating "breakup" arc once again, but the one who will suffer the most from Nagi's elimination will be Chigiri, who will witness Nagireo's separation AGAIN and will have to deal with a heartbroken Reo AGAIN

Someone save our best boy Chigiri

[takeunknownroadnow]

207 setting up the "Two Pairs" and its Reo and Ness who are holding back their true potential and Kaiser and Nagi who want to change but can't.

Both pairs having their intended passes intercepted and their chemistry devoured by an egoist (Isagi and Bachira), who claim victory for their teams.

And its important that it's Isagi and Bachira, who once upon a time had to face their own codependency.

It's important that it's Bachira, who tells Nagi "you need to do it alone here, even if it kills you" because HE had to learn to stand alone even when it felt the world was dropping out from under him.

It's important that it's Isagi asking Kaiser "is Ness special to you?" because it's only after losing Bachira that HE realized how important Bachira was to him - "it was a feeling of loss as if I was losing half of myself".

Isagi and Bachira see themselves and their own journey reflected in the two pairs and I think Kaneshiro being able to bring that full circle is so fucking genius.

[jeriafterdark]

Ch 298 (alternate?) KITH

bsky/the other one

[blueroseempress]

BLUE LOCK 298 SPOILERS

OFFICIAL RANKINGS OF THE BLUE LOCK TOP 23:

NAGI NOOOOOOO 💔💔💔💔💔

source: @shadowelkaiser on X