BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-

This movie is a bit odd, and it took a while for me to click. Most anime movies connected to a larger series either opt for a completely original story (like My Hero Academia or One Piece) or choose to adapt a canon story arc of the manga that fits a movie format (like Demon Slayer). However, Blue Lock’s movie instead is more of a retelling of the story we already know, but from the perspective of Nagi Seishirou.

Now I might have seen this coming given that the premise of the movie is about Nagi before he meets Reo, but I want to stress that the bulk of this movie takes place in the timeframe where season 1 also happened. There is a bit of exploration of the events before that, though the most important stuff (like how Reo found Nagi) is already shown in the original series and the movie expands on that for less than 15 minutes. After that, we jump right into where Jinpachi introduces the concept of Blue Lock to all participants who heeded the call.

#Recreating the excitement of Blue Lock

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Surprisingly enough, the movie clicked for me once we got into the meat of revisiting season 1’s events. Not only is the pacing fast as the movie ends where season 1 left off (with a taste for season 2), but having everything framed from Nagi’s perspective is kinda fresh. We also see matchups that have been only hinted at in season 1 as we focus on the matches of Nagi, not Isagi. But it was when Nagi and Isagi finally met that I was reminded of why I liked the first season of Blue Lock to begin with. Blue Lock’s intensity is simply infectious despite the absurdity of the setting because it goes the extra length to commit to making that absurdity work. It’s unpredictable because every player in the game desires to become the main character, there are tons of ass-pulls everywhere, and it keeps remaining fresh because the characters evolve their playstyle even mid-battle.

I also like the theme of Blue Lock to find success through trial and error and forging an ego through sheer determination. It cherishes failure as a stepping stone to victory, and while Isagi already experienced failure from the very beginning, Nagi started on the opposite end of the spectrum. Nagi already was extremely talented and believed that there wasn’t anything he actually desired, only to find out he’s a small fish in a big sea when he met an actual challenge and learned more about the world of football. The idea of complacency because you haven’t met failure, feeling frustration once you actually fail, and turning frustration into success and overcoming your current self - I find that inspiring.

Now, while being able to recreate the strengths of season 1 is nice and all, I did find that the movie struggles to separate itself from the series and really become a cinematic experience. Plot-wise we know already what will happen as that is spoiled, so it feels more like revisiting season 1, even with a different perspective. I do find that the material here suits the movie format in terms of pacing and length, but watching this movie felt less like a movie and more like a TV special, an add-on to the series. I can understand how this movie can disappoint fans in that regard, especially when you consider…

#It’s not movie quality

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The production quality of this “movie” is disappointing. And with that I don’t mean it’s awful, it’s still competently put together. The drawings stay on a consistent level with only a few bad ones, and animation-wise it’s on the level of the better part of season 1. But that’s where the issue lies, it’s not movie quality. This feels like a relatively well-produced TV episode. Not only because aesthetically it looks exactly the same, but also because it shares a lot quirks with the TV anime, which means, cutting corners everywhere possible. You can tell that this movie didn’t receive a generous schedule because instead of having the time to finish the movie as intended the team opted for making small cuts in corners which don’t heavily affect the bigger picture.

Jaws don’t move when characters talk. Instead of showing the whole movement, they often opt to snap from a small motion into a still to showcase the whole motion. It’s clear which scenes are prioritized to have more movement while others do rely more on stills or rigid posing. There is a very janky usage of 3D models of the characters in some areas. But what annoys me most is that they reuse cuts from season 1. Even if they retell events from that season, for a movie I would expect that they at least reanimate these scenes and show them maybe from a different angle. I don’t want to see the same exact cuts again, that’s just a recap. It’s just generally sad to see how a lot of anime movies simply feel like maybe a bit more polished versions of their TV counterpart, and it shows even more for a production like Blue Lock which already struggled with finishing its first two cours smoothly.

It’s also clear that this is the same production team as season 1 and season 2, so season 2 will face even more struggles with the movie sandwiched in between. The trailer for sure doesn’t look promising.

#Conclusion

All in all, I still enjoyed this movie. But it’s clear that this movie is in a lot of ways just a shadow of the TV series, and while Nagi’s perspective was fresh to see, there is not that much material to here that we haven’t already gotten in the main series. It also fleshes out the relationship between Reo and Nagi out more. But I will say, while I enjoyed it, I am glad to not have bought a cinema ticket for this. I would have been disappointed honestly. Thanks if you have read thus far. If you have any feedback regarding my review, feel free to leave it here :)

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