Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 review: 8bit sets up the anime's finale with Barou's sliding shot goal

Modified Dec 23, 2024 19:00 GMT

Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 review: 8bit sets up the anime — Shoei Barou as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 (Image via 8bit)

Blue Lock season 2 episode 12, titled Flower, premiered on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 11:30 PM JST. While fans were largely disappointed by 8bit's production quality for the anime, the most recent episodes have left them with something to praise.

While the animation quality is still janky with several scenes showing characters panning across the screen, the most important moments have been animated really well. The same was the case for the latest episode that saw Oliver Aiku, Reo Mikage, and Shoei Barou's respective moments get animated well.

Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 review: 8bit delivers decent production quality before the big finale

Oliver Aiku as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 (Image via 8bit)

As seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 12, while the anime episode was nowhere near as well produced as the previous episode, it was decent compared to the ones that were released during the Third Selection Arc. The animation was reminiscent of that seen during the U-20 Arc. However, the big moments were tailored in a much better fashion.

For starters, Oliver Aiku's backstory was depicted beautifully as the voice acting complimented the animation to depict how heavy-heartedly the forward stopped dreaming of becoming the best striker in the world. Additionally, his Flow moment was depicted well by showing how the field looked from the player's perspective. The entire field was filled with graphics depicting the probability of each move.

Reo Mikage as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 (Image via 8bit)

Moments later, 8bit switched its focus to Reo Mikage's another showing of the Chameleon defense. Right after Gagamaru Gin stopped the goal with his Shachihoko pose save, the goalkeeper asked the center-back to clear the ball away for a corner. Instead, Reo kept the ball in play by copying Nagi's tap-lift and turn move. This scene was animated well by 8bit and truly looked as good as 99% of what Nagi's goal looked like.

Lastly, the anime focused on Yoichi Isagi's perfect play and Shoei Barou's goal. The build-up was animated really well as this was the first time Isagi and Sae truly matched up against each other. Hence, 8bit went all in to depict the difference in skills between the two players. This scene was concluded with a crazy sliding shot goal by Barou. While the goal itself didn't look as good as the previous goals in the anime, it was depicted just as raw as Barou's playstyle.

Final thoughts on Blue Lock season 2 episode 12

Shoei Barou as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 12 (Image via 8bit)

With the anime's previous episodes being animated reasonably well, it seems like fans' suspicions were actually accurate. The animation studio had resourced its funds to produce the anime's conclusion in the best way possible. While the latest episode wasn't the best, fans can expect the final two episodes to be produced really well.

Hopefully, with that, the anime could leave fans satisfied and work on improving the production quality for the possible third season.