BLUELOCK

Episode 23

I love how this show can simultaneously make Isagi look like this unstoppable badass while also humbling him at every turn. If this were any other sports anime, this episode would've been the moment where Isagi overcame the main rival of the show. Normally he would lose once, learn from his mistakes and crawl his way back up to victory! But instead, Isagi lost to Rin again in a much more frustrating way.

Before, Isagi and his friends lost to the top three because they were cocky and were exposed to a severe difference in skill. Here, the skill gap was much smaller, and it really did just come down to bad luck that they ended up losing. By its very nature, it's not necessarily something that can be controlled, which can make it more frustrating. However, I like the way BLUELOCK contextualizes luck as an important piece to consider in the formula for success.

Luck might not be able to be controlled, but it can be influenced and studied. You don't always know where a stray ball is going to land, but you can position yourself in the ideal place where you want it to be, which is exactly what Rin did. Yes, it was pure luck that the ball happened to come to him, but he was only able to make that winning shot because of where he chose to stand in the first place. The game could've gone a multitude of different ways but that doesn't make the situation any less frustrating. All you can do is try to do better next time.

Despite that, you really feel the weight of defeat in this episode from Isagi and his friends. There's a frustration and anger that I don't think you see in a lot of other sports anime. Rin said Isagi was chosen to advance but that's only because Rin wants Isagi to get a front-row seat to watch him succeed even more. Rin doesn't seem to see Isagi as a rival just yet, even if he is willing to admit that he got outsmarted by him. Now that we upped the scales even more by going up against actual national players, I wonder what more puzzle pieces everyone will accumulate to go up to the next stage.

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BLUELOCK is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.