4 ways Blue Lock's Isagi is similar to Haikyuu!!'s Kageyama (and 4 ways they are different)

Blue Lock is currently the most popular sports animanga in the industry, so fans cannot avoid comparing it to other sports series. Another similar popular sports anime is Haikyuu!!, which already aired its fourth season a couple of years ago.

With the level of exposure Blue Lock anime has been getting due to the FIFA World Cup, it was not long before Haikyuu!! fans started comparing the two series. However, upon doing so, there's something that every fan will instantly notice, i.e., how similar yet different Blue Lock's protagonist Yoichi Isagi is to Haikyuu!!'s deuteragonist Kageyama Tobio.

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Besides having identical hairstyles, Blue Lock's Yoichi Isagi and Haikyuu!!'s Kageyama Tobio wish to surpass a specific star player

1) Appearance

Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio have similar character designs (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

Undoubtedly, Blue Lock's Yoichi Isagi and Haikyuu!!'s Kageyama Tobio have similar appearances. Both characters follow a common shounen trope of having black hair and blue eyes. The surprising thing is that even their hairstyles are identical to each other. Besides that, both characters have a good physique. While Isagi was recorded to be 175 cm tall at the beginning of the series, Kageyama is currently 180.6 cm tall.

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2) Rivalry

Itoshi Rin and Tooru Oikawa (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

While it is well known that Kageyama is a rival and a teammate to Haikyuu!!'s protagonist, Hinata Shoyo, he also sees Tooru Oikawa as his foe. Oikawa was previously a senior to Kageyama at Kitagawa Daichi, and since then, the latter has looked up to him as a setter. However, he also considers Oikawa to be his rival. Similarly, Blue Lock also has a similar rivalry, where Isagi looks up to Itoshi Rin as a striker, as he hopes to surpass him one day.

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3) Control over the playing field

Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

Isagi and Kageyama are both players with the skill to take control of their playing field. While the former plays as a setter, launching all attacks using his game IQ, Isagi has spatial awareness and goal scent, using which he can detect the best possible route for scoring a goal. Moreover, he uses this to create attacks and score goals with his team.

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4) Lost Nationals Qualifier Final in the second year of high school

Both Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio lost prefectural finals (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

While this may be a weird one, both Isagi and Kageyama lost the finals for the Nationals Qualifier during their second year of high school. Isagi's Ichinan High School team lost the Saitama Prefecture finals against Kira's Matsukaze Kokuo High. Meanwhile, it was revealed in the manga that Kageyama's Karasuno team lost the Miyagi Prefecture finals against Date Tech during their high school's second year.

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The difference in personalities and 3 other dissimilarities between Blue Lock's Yoichi Isagi and Haikyuu!!'s Kageyama Tobio

1) Personality

Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio have very different personalities (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

Blue Lock's Isagi and Haikyuu!!'s Kageyama have opposite personalities. The former is generally the easy-going and cheery person in the room, who often chooses to be the peacemaker. Initially, he was shown to be doubtful of himself but later became much more confident about his skills.

Meanwhile, Kageyama Tobio has always been unsure of how to express his emotions and would often appear arrogant toward others. However, with time, he learns to act respectfully towards his peers.

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2) Both of them are rated very differently

Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

Before entering the Blue Lock program, Yoichi wasn't a well-known player, meaning he wasn't a good player at the beginning. This is also evident from his initial ranking of 299 upon entering the project. In the meantime, Kageyama has been a generational player from the onset, as he was even termed the "King of the Court," albeit in a negative light.

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3) Contribution to the team

Yoichi Isagi and Kageyama Tobio's roles determines their contribution to their teams (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

While both Isagi and Kageyama contribute to the team by scoring and assisting, the Blue Lock protagonist is much more focused on scoring due to his dream of becoming the ace striker of Japan. It is required of his position to be the one scoring the goals rather than assisting them.

On the other hand, Kageyama, as a setter, contributes to his team majorly through his assists. His position requires it, as he must set the ball for other players to score points.

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4) Partners

Meguru Bachira and Hinata Shoyo (Image via 8bit, Production I.G)

While both Isagi and Kageyama have partners in their respective anime, their roles with them are completely opposite to each other. When Isagi partners up with Bachira, the latter usually assists Isagi in scoring the goal. In Haikyuu!!, Kageyama, as a setter, is the one who assists Hinata in scoring the points.