In a series where footballis played more like an action-shounen series,Blue Lockdoes more than a good job of depicting the sport as it should be, going even better on the intangibles present in football. The series follows the life of the protagonist, Isagi Yoichi, through the project Blue Lock where he conceives the dream of becoming the world’s best striker and winning Japan the World Cup.
With a cast of over three hundred teenage strikers, there will inevitably be positional compromise on the part of the players toachieve team compositions. However, even so, some characters have experienced changing positions and become better than they could have played as the striker. For this piece, the specific area of focus is the midfield. Therefore, below is more or less a list of the story’s best midfielders or strikers turned midfielders.
7Alexis Ness
Position: Central Midfielder
Bastard Munchen’s central operator and a loyalist of Micheal Kaiser, Alexis Ness is an U-20 midfielder from Germany who plays inBlue Lock’sNeo Egoist League. As a starter in a team that has Noel Noa, the world’s best striker and player alongside Kaiser, Ness’s skills and abilities are not to be scoffed.
However, his brilliance really comes to light in situations that involve Kaiser due to his loyalty to his teambordering on obsession. Ness possesses the archetype of a dribbler, which makes him extremely dangerous due to his close control and dribbling techniques. As the heartbeat of his team, the team revolves around his brain and passes, specifically for Kaiser who most of his goals begin with a play from Ness, a testament to his abilities.
6Tabito Karasu
Position: Forward, Defensive Midfielder
Tabito Karasu is first introduced asBlue Lock’sthird-ranked player. He currently plays for Paris X Gen in the Neo Eogist League as a central midfielder.Arrogant and somewhat condescending, Karasu has quite the tongue and never misses his chance for an insult. However, his abilities on the pitch justify a little part of his arrogance.
As one of the few who endured a significant change in position, Karasu is arguably the series’ most ideal midfielder. His range of physical and technical skills gives him total control in the middle of the park. In conjunction with his tactical intellect, which allows him instantly to find his opponents' weaknesses and then simply squeeze till they burst, Tabito certainly deserves his archetype as a midfield general.
5Hiori Yo
Position: Forward, Offensive Midfielder
Hiori Yo is one of the more coolheaded figures in the series. Born and raised for the sole purpose of footballdue to his parents’overbearing expectations, Hiori, unlike most of the otherBlue Lockplayers, does not see his purpose in football or anything else. However, his footballing talent belies him, given that his archetype is that of a deep-lying playmaker.
With an ability to envision the best pass in any given scenario, Hiori is one ofBlue Lock’smost dangerous players. However, due to not having much of an on-field presence, his abilities work much more effectively in a partnership, as seen in his relationship with Isagi in Bastard Munchen.
4Mikage Reo
Position: Forward, Attacking Midfielder, Center-Back, Defensive Midfielder, Central Midfielder
A chameleon of a player, Mikage Reo is one ofBlue Lock’splayers who currently plays as a central midfielder for England’s Manshine City in the Neo Egoist League. Aside from a somewhat obsessive relationship with Nagi, Reo’s only desire is to win the World Cup.
While his abilities are not yet at the point of being able to win the World Cup, Reo makes himself an indispensable asset for his team due to his ability to play any position. Like a chameleon, Reo can fit any role required of him, which is no wonder why his archetype is that of a utility player.
3Charles Chevalier
Paris X Gen’s young prodigy, Charles Chevalier, is described when first introduced as ‘PXG’s heart,’ a nickname given to him due to his high-level passing ability and the fact that he’s been trained solely to become Julian Loki’s passer, and by so doing, both players become the best players in the world.
In terms of pure talent, Charles makes a good case for being the most rawly talented player in the Neo Egoist League, and this is not said so lightly, given the amount of talent within the cast of the series. While Charles is seemingly disrespectful and childish, given his age, he possesses the archetype of a playmaker, making him naturally capable of generating goal situations by his mere presence. He has the vision, technicality, and physical reflexes to pinpoint and exploit his opponent’s weak link.
2Seishiro Nagi
The more deserving to be labeled an unparalleled prodigy, Nagi Seishiro, is another player of theBlue Lockproject who currently plays for Manshine City in the Neo Egoist League and is Reo’s best friend. Lazy and generally unmotivated, given an uncanny ability to impressively at anything he does, Nagi shows very early on to have a higher-than-expected aptitude for football, given he only started playing football a few months before being selected for the project. Nagi’s talent becomes quickly apparent during the Third Selection.
Possessing the archetype of a creative midfielder, Nagi can create goal-scoring opportunities for his team out of almost nothing due to his combination of perfect vision, physical reflexes, and immense technicality. By perfectly controlling any type of pass at once, Nagi almost seems tostop time in frontof the goal with his control, turning him into one of the series’ most deadly finishers.
1Itoshi Sae
The series’ best midfielder by a rather considerable margin, Itoshi Sae isRin Itoshi’s older brotherand Japan’s best player. Initially aiming to become the world’s best player, Sae’s dream is quickly evened out by reality after he experiences football outside of Japan, ultimately deciding to become the world’s best playmaker.
Being the only character in the cast, bar the foreign teams and players that come with the Neo Egoist League to experience football outside of Japan, Sae’s experience and latent ability put him in a class above most of his peers, as seen in the Japan U-20 match. However, what truly distinguishes him from others, is his ability and maturity to temper himself to the level of whichever team he is on, being able to do exactly what is required of his role and nothing more, as shown distinctively during the U-20 match.
