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Muneyuki Kaneshiro's bestselling Blue Lock established itself as a genre-defying sports manga through its themes, settings, and unique cast of characters. One of these characters was Kira Ryosuke, who was set to be a soccer star in the making before Blue Lock subverted all expectations through his exclusion from the story.
Kira's elimination from the story was done to establish the themes of the story, and the manga's theme of egoism. However, many fans believe that it is precisely Blue Lock project's theme, its director Jinpachi Ego's vision, and Kira Ryosuke's character which guarantees his return.
There are several solid arguments to be made for Kira to come back in a major role in the story.
Disclaimer: This article will contain manga and anime spoilers.
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Who is Kira Ryosuke, and why was he eliminated from Blue Lock?
Blue Lock's story opens with striker Isagi Yoichi passing to one of his teammates in the inter-school national soccer league. However, the teammate from Ichinan High fails to score a goal.
The goals scored by his rival team's ace striker Kira Ryosuke leads Kira's team to win the prefecture final. Kira appears in an interview, voicing his gratitude towards his team for helping him score, while a disappointed Isagi goes home.
Kira and Isagi have their second encounter at the Blue Lock project, where the former voices his dissent against Ego Jinpachi's attitude towards soccer. This is based on egoism and individual betterment through a selfish desire for scoring goals. Despite claiming that choosing to focus on one's own self rather than his team is wrong, he still joins his fellow contenders to partake in the first elimination round.
Kira Ryosuke becomes one of the twelve members of Team Z, who are instructed to kick around a soccer ball to hit their fellow players. The one who touches or gets hit the last before the timer runs out is eliminated.
In a desperate scramble to not be unqualified, Kira finds himself running along with the others, when Isagi, in a split second, chooses to hit him instead of the injured Gurimu Igarashi before the countdown stops.
Fans think Kira Ryosuke will return, because of his ego.
Kira's elimination was shocking for fans who expected to see more from Japan's 'national treasure'. However, it was essential from a storytelling perspective to set the tone for Blue Lock to subvert the common tropes of sports manga.
Kira Ryosuke seemed like a player that would fit in the stories of Kuroko no Basket, Haikyuu!! or AoAshi. However, fans believe that his egotism is no less than any of the other Blue Lock players.
This is evident in his final scene where he falls into a frenzy, and berates Isagi for hitting him. He even angrily lashes out at the other players by saying that he was leagues ahead of them in skill.
Readers realized that his polite behavior and desire for teamwork had always been a facade. This was subtly foreshadowed when Kira praised Isagi, saying that someday the latter's passing skills would help Kira score.
In this regard, his ego shines through and he is no less egoistical than Barou Shoei. The latter also looks upon his teammates as secondary characters in his own grand narrative as an ace striker. Reddit user u/CloudyLikeANimbus speculates on his reappearance in the story through the use of the Wild Card system, much like Rensuke Kunigami had.
Meanwhile, other fans believe that Kira Ryosuke shall face off against Isagi at a foreign club or against Japan in the upcoming U-20 World Cup. This idea makes perfect sense in light of Ego's words that anyone who gets eliminated from Blue Lock forfeits the chance to play for Japan's national team again. However, there is no mention of disbarment from foreign teams.
Kira's future role in the story is still up for a matter of debate. However, his popularity among fans even after such a brief panel time in the Blue Lock manga leads many to believe his upcoming role as a recurring character.
His parting words to Isagi and the other Team Z members hold open the possibility that fans will see a different, version of him reappear to seek revenge against Japan's national team later.
Fans can read the Blue Lock manga on Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine and the MangaPlus app.
