Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 review: Reo Mikage's goal scene salvages 8bit's poor animation run

Modified Oct 28, 2024 19:18 GMT

Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 review: Reo Mikage — Reo Mikage as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 (Image via 8bit)

Blue Lock season 2 episode 4, titled The Chameleon, premiered on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 11:30 pm JST. As fans must know by now, Blue Lock anime's sequel season has been having a poor performance due to 8bit's poor production quality.

The same instance has been repeated in the latest episode as it seems like animation studio 8bit can animate anything well as long as it does not involve a football. The good thing is that, unlike the last episode, this week, we have some good points to talk about as well.

Hence, here we shall take a deep dive into the production quality, CG animation, and other elements we could observe in Blue Lock season 2 episode 4.

Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 review: 8bit's production quality excels in non-football scenes

Nanase and Hiori as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 (Image via 8bit)

As bad as it may sound, with Blue Lock season 2 episode 4, it became clear that animation studio 8bit can produce the anime well as long as the scenes do not involve the characters playing football. While the anime's first episode was decently good, the episodes that followed were poorly animated.

As one must have noticed, the following episodes featured scenes from the Third Selection Tryouts. The scenes from those segments are the only ones that get criticized for poor animation. Meanwhile, those scenes where the characters are simply interacting with each other look decently animated.

Sae Itoshi as seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 (Image via 8bit)

This became especially evident in the latest episode as Isagi, Hiori, and Nanase's discussion scene and Itoshi Sae's meeting scene at the end of the episode looked especially good. Those scenes featured good production quality with no room for complaints by the fans.

While this may seem like good news for some fans, it is shocking for others as the majority of the current anime season is set to feature scenes from a football match, the titular Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan match. So, fans should be highly worried for what's to come in the anime's future.

Reo Mikage's goal salvages a poorly animated Team A vs Team C match

Reo Mikage as seen in Blue Lock anime (Image via 8bit)

That said, not all football scenes from Blue Lock season 2 episode 4 were as bad. This is because Reo Mikage's goal scene was quite decent compared to other match segments. As fans might have observed, players have stopped flailing their arms while running in Blue Lock season 2. This was not the case for Reo as his dribbling was animated well.

While his gyro shot scene needed some extra care, the way the ball was shown moving around in the air looked good. This could be due to a lack of CG animation usage. But unlike the other scenes, the ball spin looked good.

Final thoughts on Blue Lock season 2 episode 4

Buratsuta as seen in Blue Lock anime (Image via 8bit)

So, from what can be deduced from the latest episode, there is a small glimmer of hope that 8bit can animate the future Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan match well. However, only time will tell what 8bit has in store for fans. This will heavily depend on whether the production team was focused on it in the first place or not.