Blue Lock Season 2 Finale Redeems the Anime's Animation With a Long-Awaited Moment From the Manga

Despite its recent production issues, Blue Lock Season 2 delivered on its season finale with its most cinematic episode so far in the franchise. Blue Lock has been one of the most commented-on animes during 2024 due to its production issues and inconsistent animation, going from low-quality sequences to epic moments such as Nagi's goal. However,Blue Lock not only managed to redeem itself in the last episodes of the series but also left viewers speechless and showed what it is capable of with a spectacular finale.

Blue Lock Season 2, Episode 14, features a radical shift in the anime’s visual style. While these creative decisions aren’t always well-received in some series, this change made the final minutes of the match against the U-20 Japan national team not only live up to the feeling of the manga but also completely surpass fans' expectations and become one of the best animated anime sequences of the year.

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Even though episodes 13 and 14 were released together and had an improved overall quality than the rest of the season, what made them even better was the change in art direction in the season finale for the sequence of the midfield clash between Rin and Sae as well as Isagi’s goal. In this incredible sequence, the production team switched its approach from focusing on CGI for characters’ movements to using the Kagenashi animation technique. This animation style, despite being often called lazy, is a more challenging animation technique and requires a lot of frames.

The kagenashi technique is characterized by being shadowless, taking away detailed drawing, and presenting flat colors. But it offers a much more fluid motion and has previously worked with animes like Devilman Crybaby and the acclaimed episodes 13 and 16 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2. This was possible thanks to the hard work of Blue Lock's animators, with Hajime Nihira in charge of directing, storyboarding, and animating key parts of this sequence. Nihira revealed that he was in charge of 80 cuts from episode 14 alone, and he stated that reaching the season finale was only possible thanks to the help of many people.

The Rin vs. Sae’s sequence started with a change from the series’ usual aspect ratio from 16x9 to 21x9 to give a more cinematic feeling. Also, the sound direction sought to imitate the real atmosphere of a soccer game, choosing to use the cheers of the crowd in the stadium as background noise along with the ball's impact sound instead of including soundtrack music. The result was a feast for the eyes that culminated with the electrifying goal by Isagi Yoichi, one of the crucial moments in the series that fans have been anticipating the most.

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One of the many criticisms of the season was that many scenes of the match didn’t live up to the intensity of Blue Lock’s manga panels. However, the use of the kagenashi technique prioritized the fluidity of movement, which is essential for a sports anime, without losing the essence of the series. This way, the sequence did a great job demonstrating the forcefulness and raw emotions of Rin's awakening and the importance of Isagi's biggest play.

This amazing sequence in the season finale shows how the production was focused on doing justice to the final stretch of the U-20 match and how, with a bigger team and a more flexible production schedule, Blue Lock Season 2 would have been an even better animated experience. Additionally, it didn’t only end the season on a high note, including a post-credits scene teasing a Blue Lock Season 3 twist, but set up a new standard going forward for the series.

Just as Nagi and Shido’s goals were also carefully adapted, the Blue Lock season 2 finale creates anticipation in the viewers for the upcoming installment. The 8-Bit studio’s production team should focus on taking the necessary time to deliver an equally great animation for the Neo Egoist League, which will take the players to a world stage and has the potential of making Blue Lock’s anime an even bigger standout series.