Blue Lock Episode 2: First Selection & Jinpachi’s Philosophy of the Game

After episode 1 ended with the heartbreaking elimination of Kira from Blue Lock, the latest episode turned its attention towards Jinpachi’s justification of the hard-to-digest truth. While Kira argued that the tag game was an unjust way to judge his abilities, Jinpachi made a strong case against it by pointing out that the room where they were playing was comparable to the size of a penalty area. Furthermore, the game simply tested everyone’s dribbling and other abilities that are critical in that zone of the football pitch. Ultimately Kira had to give up and he left the facility furious that he won’t be achieving his lifelong dream of representing the country on the international stage.

Meanwhile, Isagi soon found out that players in the Blue Lock facility are treated differently. Not only are they given different food to eat but also different amenities. The three hundred players live in five buildings based on their rankings and it turns out that Isagi and the players in his dorm are the lowest ranked players in the entire facility. This realization coupled with the fact that everyone in his team is better than him physically, takes away Isagi’s sleep. So, he decides to go and train alone at night only to Bachira outside the dorm. The two dormmates ends up training together.

Bachira confesses that when he is playing on the field there is a monster inside his head that guides him. It was the same monster who told him to pass the ball to Isagi in the final minutes that led to Kira’s elimination, even though it could have been a disastrous move for himself. Meanwhile, the Japan Football Union holds a press conference to answer questions regarding the Blue Lock. Watching one of the officials explain the idea convinces Itoshi Sae, one of the most talented Japanese footballers to change his plans of moving to Europe.

The following day at the Blue Lock facility, Jinpachi interacts with Isagi and his dormmates again and informs them about the upcoming First Selection. It turns out that the five buildings in the Blue Lock facility each have five dorms and a total of 275 players- after eliminations in the tag game. In the First Selection, the strikers in each dorms will play as a team and compete with other four teams in the building. Ultimately the round-robin games will leave only two teams.

As Jinpachi introduces players to the format of the first selection, all of them have the same question on their minds. Since the Blue Lock facility only has strikers, how will the team be able to play properly on the football field? The problem is not only the lack of experienced defenders and midfielders, none of the players are used to the role of goalie, which only complicates the strategy.

After Jinpachi listening to the doubts that the strikers have, he offers a fresh perspective on the issue. He reminds the budding footballers that the game was played by strikers alone when it was first invented. Only in the later decades did the modern strategies evolve and change the game forever. Jinpachi asked the players to let go of their previous notions of the game and focus on finding a new way of looking at the game. He argues that the footballers who become world-class only manage to stand apart from the crowd because they develop their own philosophy of the game- something strikers at Blue Lock have to emulate if they wish to become the best in the world.