English Dub Review: Bluelock “Soccer’s “Zero” “

Overview:

The first selection is the round-robin tournament of five teams of V, W, X, Y, and Z in Building Five, with only the top two teams being eligible to move forward. Isagi’s Team Z, the lowest ranking team, plays against Team X. But because of the special rule that allows the top scorer of the team to proceed to the next section, the match turns into chaotic scrambling for the ball, regardless of the teams. It was Barou Shoei, Team X’s formidable striker, who changes the flow of the game.

Our Take:

What I think I love about this anime compared to other sports anime are all the mind games. Half of Isagi’s issues are trying to figure out what Ego is trying to get across with his current “lesson”. I can’t be sure if he is right but one thing that was a tiny bit disappointing was how he still passed the ball instead of taking the shot himself. I really hoped he would even if he missed but it is only the third episode and he has to grow somehow right? I think it’s really cool how they have to play both sides of having good teamwork but also being the top scorer themselves just in case.

The animation in this is fantastic and some of the visual cues we get for when people are about to go into “lock” mode or whatever is cool. When Meguru and Isagi decide to work together and their eyes both go a little crazy was my jam. Plus, I really like learning about new sports and I will be honest my soccer knowledge isn’t exactly the greatest so this has been fun. I think this has an opportunity to be one of the top anime of the season especially if we don’t count sequels.