Blue Lock Chapter 282: Visual Storytelling
A sequel to my Chapter 262 and Chapter 266 pieces: this time with less Kaiser, and more of Isagi!
This will be fun.
So through these chapters obviously Isagi has been trying to grasp the concept of Geniuses and Talented Learners. Learning that Kaiser is not a genius, but in fact a talented learner is not a shock to the reader, but it is a shock to Isagi, who has always seen Kaiser as his own playstyle perfected. It makes sense now that Isagi knows about himself as well, and hence we get this:
Despite everything, Kaiser is still one step ahead of him. A better talented learner than Isagi is. Just a smidge. The puzzle pieces breaking off of Isagi are just the symbolism of him putting himself together again as he learns more and more.
Every single photo of Kaiser used for this is meaningful. I'm not showing all of them because the first few are just dialogues, but these in particular matter a lot because these are some of the first instances we see Kaiser Impact. I implore you to think back: Back to when Kaiser was exceptionally logical, played the game like a chess field to rival Itoshi Sae's playmaking, and reach unprecedented levels of field awareness. It's all the same as Isagi, but kicked up a notch. It is for a reason. The panels here force you to think back allll the way to the FC Barcha match and remind you of exactly what it is, that makes up Michael Kaiser's Impact.
The grey talented learner piece is to emphasis how it goes hand in hand with the genius puzzle piece. The high contrast black of the World Style is to force you to realise exactly how Out There that idea was, and how disconnected it is from the actual broad framework of playstyles. The genius/talented learner analogy works better, as Isagi realises now, and so the world-style seems less plausible. So the black creates an illusion of disconnect with the rest of the page.
Pay attention to the placement of dialogues and the characters behind them. We do not know nearly as much about Loki and Noa for me to be able to comment on them freely, but we know plenty about Isagi's primary focus: Rin. Look at the placement of that dialogue. "Pursuing value and meaning in relation to oneself" is the core of Rin's motivations. He's always defined himself in terms of other people, and struggles to put it in relation to himself. This is visible in every play he does and every goal he scores [yes, including this one.]
It's safe to say that Loki and Noa have already found their meaning in relation to themselves, I think. Or they're on the path to it already, unlike Rin. Hence this particular panel.
Barou and Nagi are the geniuses in this context. Reo and Snuffy are the talented learners who "discovered" them. It's why it works so flawlessly, in this panel. I don't need to elaborate.
"As they admire each other, and compete with each other"... This panel comprises of the remainder of the Egoist 4. Implying their close connection and forcing the reader to backtrack even FURTHER, back to when you've seen the beginning of all three of these characters. It's where it all started.
And then Nomura still doesn't stop. He pushes you even further and further into the recesses of your memory of the story: Isagi's first few goals, and the brilliance of the U20 Victory. This is not just Isagi putting the puzzle pieces together, it's him realising himself all over again.
The inclusion of a total black background for Isagi disconnects him from the field, because that's exactly what he's trying to do now. He's trying to fit himself into the picture in a way that suits him rather than play off of other people.
This is slightly tangential, but this is actually a quality Rin and Isagi share. They always fixate on other things/people and that forces their playstyle to be tailored in a way that always plays in reaction rather than creation. Hence the term "rivalry" for Rin. Kaiser's "malice" is a result of their contrasting themes. If Rin is Isagi's parallel, then Kaiser is Isagi's contrast.
Noa... wELL. We know how that went down. Not that I'm surprised.
Again, the complete black background really emphasises that Isagi is fully in his headspace right now, not thinking about the field. It's why he can put all those puzzle pieces within himself together. But not the use of light in straight lines indicating speed and movement here. It's all very closely packed, originating from the center of the page [I've cropped the panel]. It's giving the implication of a light at the end of the tunnel. An almost enlightening realisation. Hence "What's left for me" is actually extremely pivotal for Isagi.
Literally pointed this out the week before the chapter showed up. This has been building up since the previous chapter. It's always been about winning, scoring, growing, winning, victory. All this while, Nomura has been showing us a compliation of panels and scenes from previous chapters-- we started simple, at the earlier stages of the PxG match, and then we backtracked to the Barcha match, then U20 and then alllll the way to the first selection.
And now we're here. Where it all started.
It's a good way to show Isagi is retracing his roots and finding himself all over again.
God, this is gay. Why are they like this. Goddamn it. Anyway. First of all, in sharp contrast to the previous black colouring, this time Isagi is the most assimilated with the rest of the field. He's rediscovered himself, what he wants and what he needs to do. Rin on the other hand is painted in greyer tones and more of the same as ever. This might be a bit of a stretch, but I think it's really beautifully coincidental that Isagi runs towards Rin unobstructed, because he hasn't let himself be tied down by reacting rather than acting for the first time. But Rin is still a Reacting player rather than an Active player, and so he's still fighting against players for possession of the ball. Until Isagi shows up, obviously, because they are obsessed with each other more than anyone else.
This is the coalescing moment of all of their rivalry. The shine in Isagi's eyes is back, and it reflects Rin, the "Genius" he knows best, and the "Genius" he knows to thwart. He's still coated in white, almost blending in with the page and yet standing out because of the size and presence of it on the page. Rin is still filled with horror imagery-- gorey and detailed and so utterly out of place with the rest of the page. Still so tied down by internal issues more than anything else. Isagi's eyes are full of clarity but Rin's eyes are entirely blank. The overseeing esque composition of Isagi in this makes it seem like he has truly become enlightened after he chased that light.
Their rivalry is one of the best storylines in this series.
Thank you for reading! Tell me if you want one for Rin's goal? I've been debating about it, but god, I have so many drafts, HAHAHAHA!