Blue Lock Timeline

In Blue Lock, high school soccer players from all over Japan gather at a training facility vying to become the best striker in the world. The Blue Lock Project aims to create the perfect player for Japan’s national team, and it pits 300 different players against each other in a series of fierce competitions.

Blue Lock is more than just a sports anime. The series puts a heavy focus on the relationships of its players, their motives for entering the competition, and spotlighs their personal growth. Although the Blue Lock Project starts off with 300 contestants, it quickly thins them out, and the competition gets fiercer than ever as Blue Lock‘s story goes on.

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Yoichi Isagi Joins the Blue Lock Project

Ch. 1-4 (Manga), Ep. 1-2 (Anime)

Blue Lock‘s story begins with its main protagonist, Yoichi Isagi, losing an important game for his team in the National High School Football Qualifiers. When he returns home, his mother informs him that he received a letter from the Japan Football Association regarding their Player Improvement Project — the controversial Blue Lock Project. Isagi decides to learn more about the project, and he joins the other 299 players at the facility.

Jinpachi Ego, the creator of Blue Lock, explains to the players all about his goal of creating the world’s best striker and making Japan worthy of winning the World Cup. As part of the Blue Lock Project, players will live at the facility and follow a strict training regimen. The project also comes with heavy consequences — those who are eliminated will essentially have their soccer career ruined and be unable to play for Japan in the future.

The First Selection Eliminates The Weakest Players

Ch. 5-38 (Manga), Ep. 3-11 (Anime)

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The Blue Lock contestants are quickly put to the test right after entering their dormitories, and the stakes are already high enough for the losers to be eliminated. A brutal game of tag puts the players’ instincts to the test, and soon after, Isagi learns that he is currently ranked 299 out of the 300 competitors. Afterward, Jinpachi Ego announces the First Selection round-robin tournament which divides the twenty-five teams into five subsections. Only the top two teams will advance further in the Blue Lock Project, and the players can advance through the tournament in two ways: through the scores of their team or based on how many goals they personally scored.

These rules created conflict in the matches, with players selfishly wanting to score the most points and refusing to work together as a team. As some of the lowest ranked players in the Blue Lock Project, Isagi and his allies are on Team Z. They suffered a brutal 5-1 loss in their first match before coming together better as a team and managing to clutch a win in their second game. A 4-4 tie with Team W resulted in Team Z playing a third round match against Team V, narrowly squeaking by and winning 5-4.

The 125 Remaining Competitors Are Put to the Test

Ch. 39-86 (Manga), Ep. 11-22 (Anime)

Following Team Z’s survival of the First Selection, Ego quickly moves the players on to an even more rigorous second selection that will narrow the remaining contestants down to just 35. The Second Selection is divided into 4 stages where each player must pass every stage in order to move on to the next round. A holographic goalkeeper forces the contestants to play at the top of their game, scoring 100 goals within 90 minutes to pass through to the next part of the selection process.

The difficulty in the holographic challenge increases along the way, with additional holograms being added to make scoring a goal even more difficult. Then, the players face off in a series of grueling matches that put their Blue Lock Project fate on the line. After multiple rounds of exciting Blue Lock games, the Second Selection enters its “clear stage” where teams of four are pitted against each other and the first team to score 5 goals emerges victorious. The winning team chooses one member of the losing team to continue on, and after Isagi’s team loses, he is luckily selected to join a winning team and continue his journey to achieve his goals.

Third Selection Players Must Co-Exist with Blue Lock’s Elite

Ch. 87-108 (Manga), Ep. 23-24 (Anime)

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With just 35 players remaining in the Blue Lock Project, Ego’s Third Selection process forces the surviving players to work together with the current top six best players in the entire project. These highly ranked Blue Lock competitors are Rin Itoshi, Ryusei Shido, Tabito Karasu, Eita Otoya, Kenyu Yukimiya and Seishiro Nagi. The top six split off into three different teams, with Rin and Shido leading Team A, Karasu and Otoya as captains for Team B, and Yukimiya and Nagi rounding things out for Team C.

A series of five matches ensues, pitting the 35 players against each other under the leadership of the Blue Lock elite. At the end, Ego arrives and announces the Blue Lock Eleven — the official starting lineup for Team Blue Lock. Isagi is chosen as an offensive midfielder for the team, having come very far from his early days as #299 of 300.

The Blue Lock Team Shows Their Skills to the World

Ch. 109-151 (Manga)

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With the formation of the Blue Lock Eleven, the new team debuts and is ready to face their fated rivals, the Japan U-20 — the very team that the Blue Lock Project was created to take down. At this junction, Ego is closer than ever to being successful at his mission, and he hopes the team perform well enough to secure a victory (allowing him to take over the Japanese National soccer team). Because the Blue Lock Team is made up entirely of strikers, they all tend to be pretty selfish players with very aggressive playstyles, and this proves to be the opposite approach of their rivals on the U-20 team.

The showdown between the two super-teams puts their different gameplay strategies to the test. An intense game between U-20 and the Blue Lock Eleven eventually ended with Isagi making a clutch final goal, changing the tide of the match and giving Blue Lock the win, 4-3. With Ego securing his first real victory in front of Japan and the world, all eyes are now on the Blue Lock team, with everyone eager to see what they will do next.

The Blue Lock Players Prepare for the World Cup

Ch. 152 – Ongoing (Manga)

After Blue Lock obtained their surprising victory over the Japan U-20 team, Isagi has easily proven himself to be one of the most valuable players on the team. Ego is also given complete control over the Japanese National Team and many investors are interested in supporting his endeavors. He uses his new resources to train the players even harder to get them ready for the World Cup, and he also turns Blue Lock into an entertainment program streaming around the world.

The Blue Lock Project now emulates Europe’s Top 5 soccer leagues with the Neo Egoist League. The remaining Blue Lock Team players join up with players from France, Germany, England, Italy and Spain. Depending on which country they choose, the players train with a host of U-20 level players from that respective country and face off against each other in Blue Lock‘s most competitive matches to date.

Ego then has the teams participate in another Round Robin tournament, and the Blue Lock players face off against the other world-class teams they’ve been united with. The top performers will be put on the new Japan U-20 team for the World Cup. This part of Blue Lock‘s story remains ongoing, but it has seen the introduction of numerous new characters and new teams, including Bastard München (where Isagi plays as an offensive midfielder) and FC Barcha.

The Neo Egoist League Arc of Blue Lock‘s manga is still ongoing, but the dynamic tournament is narrowing down Ego’s selection and helping him craft the best team in the world. It is all in preparation for the U-20 World Cup, which will eventually put Ego’s hard work and the entirety of the Blue Lock Project to the test like never before.

Blue Lock

High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best and most egoistic striker in the world.

Release Date

October 8, 2022

Cast

Kazuki Ura
, Tasuku Kaito
, Yuki Ono
, Soma Saito
, Masatomo Nakazawa
, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
, Shoya Chiba
, Shugo Nakamura

Seasons

1

Studio

Eight Bit

Franchise

Blue Lock

Characters By

Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura

Creator

Muneyuki Kaneshiro

Distributor

Crunchyroll

Main Characters

Yoichi ISagi, Meguru Bachira, Rensuke Kunigami, Hyoma Chigiri, Wataru Kuon, Jingo Raichi, Yudai Imamura, Gin Gagamaru

Production Company

Eight Bit

Story By

Muneyuki Kaneshiro

Writers

Muneyuki Kaneshiro

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