Spoilers for Chapters 1, 2, 117, 147, 254, 280, 281, 295, 298, 299 & 300 of Blue Lock and Chapters 2, 3 & 4 of Blue Lock: Episode Nagi.
Similar to my last post on Nagi & Reo, this post is also not necessarily a shipping post, but because I do ship nagireo, it might colour my analysis on them, so fair warning.
»»————- ⳮⷤ ── ⲇ ── ⳮⷤ ————-««
With the release of the new chapters, I wanted to bring up an interesting parallel I noticed that helps strengthen the theory that Nagi and Reo's journey together will not end here. In fact, I think this parallel just helps to cement that they will continue to diverge from the rest, even with this recent failure.
To start, I think it is beneficial to establish that Nagi and Isagi are meant to be foils in the story and they often have scenes that parallel each other in key ways.
Many others have already pointed these parallels out before, but for argument's sake, I will list some of them down regardless.
Isagi's ego flaring after he shoots on his own vs Nagi's ego flaring after he sees Reo
2. Isagi being the first to enter Blue Lock vs Nagi (& Reo) being the last
3. isagi scoring the final goal of the U-20 match vs Nagi scoring the first goal
4. Isagi being classified as a "world-style" talented learner vs Nagi who is classified as a "self-style" genius
5. And most recently, Isagi who was at the top of the winners' bracket vs Nagi who was at the top of the losers' bracket
Even their designs are meant to be foils of each other wherein Isagi is short (relatively), has a weaker physical build and a darker colour palette vs Nagi's who's tall, has a stronger physical build and a lighter colour palette.
There are surely plenty more parallels you can find throughout the series, but with this, I hope that I manage to successfully establish that there is a pattern going on and this makes the next parallel I'm going to draw up quite interesting.
So!
Going back to the Blue Lock Entrance Test, I want to zoom in on what Ego considers to be "the egotism of a striker".
The idea that in this instance, a striker is someone who "tries to defeat someone stronger than themselves", "goes after the strongest one" and has an "obsession with their own victory which can't be swayed by others' common sense" is fascinating because it describes both Bachira and Isagi, yes, but it also describes someone who ended up losing despite following that doctrine: Nameoka Ryo.
In these few pages alone, we can see that Nameoka fulfills all the criteria of the "striker" that Ego is looking for. Not only is he purposefully going after the people who he perceives as the strongest, he is doing so despite it being seen as rather illogical because of the risk that he is willingly undertaking by focusing on no one else but Nagi and Reo.
Now you can argue that this definition of a striker's "egoism" is rather shallow because the idea has evolved and expanded over the course of the story, and yes I agree. But in the context of these specific scenes, we are being told that this way of playing is the "correct" way because of how it aligns with Ego's words (whose words are often law). Therefore, Nameoka, in these scenes, is considered the "ideal striker".
So what does it mean when the "ideal striker" loses?
In my opinion, having Nameoka lose, and making it so that Nagi is the one that causes him to lose is a purposeful narrative decision to help support the idea that ultimately, despite being in opposition to Isagi's route and therefore against Ego's ideals, Nagi's (and Reo's) path is valid.
Even the fact that Reo was saved by Nagi here is relevant because of how it supports the validity of their divergent path.
Circling back to Kira's elimination for a second, we see that Ego condemns Kira because when the ball hit him, he "gave up and accepted his defeat" and in his eyes, this is what it means to "run away" from the egotism of a striker and that is why he lost.
And what is interesting here is Kira's acceptance of defeat parallels Reo's acceptance of defeat. Notice that just like Kira, Reo was prematurely thinking about his defeat under the hands of another player (Zantetsu) and was blind to the options that he had after being hit.
This is why the "5 seconds" timer was placed behind Reo as it illustrates how he had turned his back on other options except defeat even though there was plenty of time for him to think of a back-up plan, especially considering how Reo had significantly more time than Kira did (1 second vs 5 seconds).
If we were to follow the original scenario, this would have been the end of Reo and consequently, the end of Nagi and Reo's joint path, but Nagi literally interrupts this narrative and denies its unfolding.
And not only does he deny it, he also manuevers The Egoist's plot device (the ball) to eliminate Ego's "ideal striker", cementing the fact that their path, while divergent from Ego's, is a valid path to take because it succeeds.
I think we have to question why Kaneshiro-sensei and Nomura-sensei felt that it was important for Nameoka (again, the "ideal striker) to be eliminated after Nagi reaffirms his determination to stay with Reo (and therefore reaffirming their partnership) and after Reo is shown to have run away from a striker's egoism.
I truly believe it is to showcase that Nagi and Reo's partnership and joint path, despite all the ups and downs, will prevail and even succeed in usurping the "ideal" egoists in the end.
It's just a matter of looking at all the options and not admitting defeat.
> so i did some research and jessie was on the list of girlies !! so ofc i had to draw her, the icon the legend forever and ever. this was quite fun BUT OH MY GOSH HER HAIR. KILLED ME. anywayz i hope u like it !! rlly simple but tbh i was very lacking ideaz (/_\;)
Wake up. Think of grimmjow. Go back to bed.... I think my friends are tired of it but that blue cat has infected my brain so bad. It makes me want to make poor financial decisions..... it's so hard to get merch of him and most merch is in Japan only so maybe that's a good thing for my bank account..... regardless I will be drawing this blue cat very soon....take this not serious offering....
I think communication can solve a LOT of problems. But I also think that everyone involved should be willing to ACTUALLY talk because otherwise, it’s useless
You wouldn’t talk to a wall, the wall just keeps being a piece of shit and does nothing to solve the problem and talking to it won’t do anything
What you need to need to do in that case is destroy the wall with a sledgehammer
Kill the person who’s the source of the problem. Remove them from your life and the surface of the world. Do everyone a favor.
