#stopmischaracterizing

[rissa-rue]

Sae Itoshi

character analysis/rant! (all imo but he’s my favorite character!)

I’m tired of people MISCHARACTERIZING

Sae Itoshi- just a prodigy right?

From a young age, we see Sae being treated as a prodigy. Adults, interviewers, and coaches constantly singled him out. He was clearly levels above his teammates. Think about it, he was invited to play with Re AI team when he was only about 13 years old. Thirteen. He left Japan and moved to a completely new country just to pursue soccer because everyone believed he was that good. He was a child boarding a plane with nothing but a dream stitched into his heart.

Considering how Japan is often portrayed in Blue Lock as being weak in the world of soccer not producing top players ; Sae being selected like that is a big deal. So, of course, he grew up believing he needed to be the best. And honestly? He didn’t just believe in his dream he breathed it.

There's a panel at the airport when he leaves for Spain: his eyes are bright and full of hope. He’s smiling, excited, and determined. Now compare that to when he comes back his eyes are dull, his presence heavier. Something clearly changed.

There’s a quote where people argue is proof that he’s cocky. “I want to be the best in the world. The depth of your desires is nowhere near mine.”
People hear arrogance. I hear hunger. But that doesn’t make him cocky. It shows his ambition. He doesn't just want to be good he wants to be the best. He had a passion turned into a wildfire that he was willing to let consume him.

People love to paint Sae as the cold, cruel older brother. A lot of people say Sae is mean because of how he acts towards Rin. But that’s not really fair. He doesn't hate his younger brother. In fact I’d argue he cares about Rin in his own way. He didn’t want Rin to live in his shadow or play just to catch up to him. He wanted Rin to find his own reason to play soccer.

That’s not cruelty that's respect.

And ironically, Sae pushing Rin away probably helped Rin build his own ego something essential in bluelock. That pain drove him forward.

What’s also interesting is how opposite the Itoshi brothers are. Sae's playstyle is described as “beautiful,” while Rin's is described as “destructive.” They reflect two sides of genius creation and destruction.

Despite everything we know about Sae as a player and as Rin’s brother, we still know very little about Sae Itoshi as a person. We know what he’s become, but not what broke him. What really happened in Spain? Why did he give up on being a striker? What changed him?

Honestly, I’d love to know more about him not as Japan’s prodigy, not as Rin’s older brother, but just as Sae Itoshi.

[rissa-rue]

Sae Itoshi rant

(Again because I have favorites)

Sae Itoshi is, to me, one of Blue Lock's most complex and compelling forces of nature. At just 13, life didn’t hand him a dream it packed it into a suitcase, put him on a plane, and left him to weather a foreign storm alone. No safety net, no familiar voices just cold pitches and colder shoulders. In those four years, he didn’t just grow up; he cracked, reformed, and quietly buried the wide-eyed boy who once believed in dreams.

He lost it all. His purpose, his passion, that naive spark he once called ambition. And when he finally returned, it wasn’t to cheers or reunion hugs, but to Rin’s disappointment: like handing someone a star and watching them ask why it’s not the moon.

Despite being perpetually alone emotionally, if not physically he never crumbled. If anything, he became sharper, more composed. The kind of person who walks through a storm and doesn’t bother mentioning the rain.

And even after everything after the shared dream with Rin was reduced to ashes Sae didn’t toss the idea of dreaming entirely. He just lit a new match. This isn’t the end of his story. It’s the first real page. I do want his story of what happened in Spain like RIGHT NOW tho.