Blue Lock season 2 finale review: 8bit does justice to U-20 Arc with the final match-up and Isagi's goal

Modified Dec 31, 2024 15:47 GMT

Blue Lock season 2 finale review: 8bit does justice to U-20 Arc with the final match-up and Isagi — Yoichi Isagi as seen in Blue Lock season 2 finale (Image via 8bit)

Blue Lock season 2 finale premiered on Saturday, December 28, 2024. While fans were majorly disappointed by 8bit's adaptation for the second season, the animation studio has done justice to the U-20 Arc with the high production quality in the final two episodes.

The difference in production quality is so huge that the final two episodes have ended up becoming two of the most highly rated anime episodes of the year on IMDb. So, let's take a deep look at Blue Lock season 2 episodes 13 and 14 to analyze the aspects that made the anime's finale a must-watch for all fans.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Blue Lock season 2 finale and reflects the author's opinions.

Blue Lock season 2 finale review: Rin Itoshi's Flow surpasses expectations

Rin Itoshi as seen in Blue Lock season 2 finale (Image via 8bit)

As seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 13, the anime featured good production quality, Unlike the previous episodes, it did not entirely rely on CG animations and featured decent 2D animation. Needless to say, both Itoshi siblings were animated really well in this episode. Sae Itoshi's "beautiful destruction" dribbling surpassed expectations and Rin Itoshi blocking Ryusei Shidou's shot carried the moment's impact really well.

However, the best part of the episode was certainly the ending, which saw Rin Itoshi enter the Flow state. Just as he realized that Blue Lock XI was not going to leave him alone, he felt disgusted. This emotion helped him enter the Flow state. While the manga depicted this well, any fan who watched the episode would agree that the animation studio adapted the moment much better with its animation and Kouki Uchiyama's voice acting.

8bit delivers the best animation for the match's additional time

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

As seen in Blue Lock season 2 episode 14, the episode featured the best-animated scenes from the anime. While the episode effectively began with the same production quality as the previous episode, it changed right after the fourth referee denoted that there would be only one minute of additional time for the match.

From that point on, the anime looked completely different as the sequence was shot in cinemascope. This decision was seemingly made by Hajime Nihira, who created the storyboard and animated the final climax of the Blue Lock season 2 finale. The scenes were beautifully rendered and only accompanied the crowd's roaring noise, perfectly capturing the indescribable thrill of football.

As for the animation, the line art looked great and the scenes featured some good fluidity. This was also the case for Yoichi Isagi's goal, which not only looked amazing but also featured some good storyboarding. One thing that was particularly impressive was how the camera was shown to drop down the moment the ball hit the net as if a GoPro had been attached to the goal's frame.

The only disappointing part about this scene was that the entire anime could have looked this way had the animators been given ample time to finish the product.

Even after the climax ended and the anime returned to its normal aspect ratio, the animation did not drop down a lot as the characters' expressions were captured well by 8bit. Lastly, the anime also gave fans a look at post-Wild Card Kunigami Rensuke and a preview of Mamoru Miyano's voice as Michael Kaiser. With that, 8bit left fans wanting to see more of Blue Lock in the future.

Final thoughts on Blue Lock season 2 finale

Kunigami Rensuke as seen in Blue Lock season 2 finale (Image via 8bit)

With the release of the Blue Lock season 2 finale, 8bit has effectively left the anime's fans in an odd spot. While they loved the final two episodes, upon witnessing what 8bit was actually capable of, they were left disappointed at what it could have been. Fans have certainly become interested in witnessing the anime's third season. Unfortunately, the anime has yet to announce the same.