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While the Blue Lock anime is currently airing in Japan, a live-action version seems to have unfolded over at Qatar. Japan’s surprise 2-1 win over Germany in the Group Stage of the FIFA World Cup on 23 November prompted a wave of posts hailing the Japanese team as the real-world iteration of the Blue Lock Project, with series illustrator Yusuke Nomura sharing the same excitement.
To celebrate the historic upset, series illustrator Yusuke Nomura took to Twitter to share his disbelief and joy through a new piece of art. The drawing shows protagonist Isagi fist-pumping and roaring in victory, with a caption that reads, “A historic history! Go and get ’em, Japan!”.
The moment of underdog triumph truly feels like a scene out of an anime — Germany is a four-time World Cup champion team, while Japan has never once won the world’s biggest football tournament. Back in August, Nomura also collaborated with World Cup to draw the Blue Lock characters in the national team jersey.
Set in the wake of Japan’s defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Blue Lock follows Yoichi Isagi, who joins the Blue Lock Project — a harsh competitive training camp that gathers 300 of the nation’s brightest young strikers and pit them against one another — in hopes to become the best player in the world.
The anime first premiered on 8 October and has become one of the most popular Fall 2022 series with seven episodes thus far. The eight episode will be released on 26 November, a day before Japan is scheduled to play Costa Rica for its next match.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
