Footballer Zico acknowledging his reference in Blue Lock anime has fans in awe

Modified Oct 26, 2024 13:58 GMT

Footballer Zico acknowledging his reference in Blue Lock anime has fans in awe — Meguru Bachira and Zico (Image via 8bit and Getty Images)

With the Blue Lock season 2 anime currently airing, the hype around the series has returned to its peak. The manga became the highest-sold manga for the first half of 2023. Unfortunately, the animation studio 8bit hasn't been able to match that hype with the series' production quality.

Just then, out of nowhere, the Blue Lock anime received a shoutout from Meguru Bachira's favorite player, Brazilian football legend Zico. He acknowledged his reference in the anime, expressing his joy from learning that he had become a part of the evolution of football in Japan.

Football legend Zico expresses his joy of appearing in Blue Lock anime

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On Thursday, October 17, Brazilian football Legend Zico posted a snap from the Blue Lock anime addressing the reference made to him in the anime. As fans might remember, in the first season, just as Meguru Bachira was struggling with his inner Monster, he envisioned Zico as a player he wanted to play alongside.

Zico seemingly saw this scene recently and wanted to address it through his Instagram account.

Meguru Bachira and Zico as seen in the anime (Image via 8bit)

While his original post caption was in Portuguese, here is what he said as per Google Translate:

"Recently, I came across this scene from a Japanese cartoon in which I briefly appeared and I felt a great feeling of joy! What a pride it is to have been part of, and to watch, the evolution of football in Japan."

Besides this, the Brazilian legend spoke about Brazil's recent performance against Peru in the qualifiers. While their win helped them gain fans' trust, there was still room for improvement. With that, Zico expressed that Japan could act as a source of inspiration, which could help them the the rebuilding phase of Brazilian football.

While it is unsure what Zico meant to say, he could be either referring to the real Japanese Football Federation or the Blue Lock Project as seen in the anime. This made sense as the Brazilian legend was previously appointed as Japan's head coach.

How fans reacted to Zico's Instagram post

Zico as seen in the anime (Image via 8bit)

Many fans were elated to learn that Zico finally saw the reference made about him in the anime. The reference itself was made in the first season, so it was a surprise to learn that Zico finally saw it. Another fan expressed how Zico watching the anime automatically made it their favorite series despite not watching a single episode.

"Finally the king discovered the tribute Blue Lock did for him," one fan said.

"Zico watched Blue Lock = automatically my favorite anime (never saw an ep)," another added.

"When you talk about legends, you can't leave Zico out, and that's what Blue Lock did," another fan said.

"Well slide show or not I bet it's an honor," other fan said.

Another fan expressed their appreciation for the series for not leaving out Zico amongst all the legends referred to in the series. However, not everyone appreciated the anime as some fans took the opportunity to joke about the series' poor production quality in the second season.