The Heart Of Blue Lock:

The heart of Blue Lock:

I'm gonna go on a long ass rant about Isagi, Bachira, and Rin. The whole idea of being "the heart of Blue Lock" was tossed around a couple of times in passing, but in the U20 match the title was given to Isagi. Isagi is the protag and has to be at the center of the story and the center of everything, so this title is appropriate in that obvious sense. But also Isagi is absolutely the heart of a lot of other characters' developments, both positive and negative. Isagi is definitely the heart of Blue Lock, the team. But as far as who the heart of the story as a whole is, it's Isagi, Bachira, and Rin. The relationship between these three, or rather the relationship Rin and Bachira each have with Isagi in their own respects, I think make up the entire emotional core of the manga.

Isagi is the driving force that pushes everything and everyone forward. Bachira and Rin exist within the story and are pushed forward by Isagi, but within the story they both have this mirror effect on Isagi that pushes both him and themselves forward. The bottom line though is that I think Rin's personal crisis is the core conflict and barrier in the manga, I think everything will come to fall back on his ability to change and heal or stay the same and drown. I think it's Isagi's barrier too, not in the sense that Isagi has to solve Rin's problems, or that he even has to actively help him solve his problems, but in the sense that because Rin has decided to make his obsession over Isagi his whole personality and make it Isagi's problem (on the soccer field), nothing will progress for the better on an emotional level until they both figure each other out---which involves Rin figuring himself out.

But starting from the beginning: Bachira

Isagi being the main character and all obviously has a ripple effect on everyone. Most of the characters use this effect to their benefit, like Chigiri who decides that worrying about his leg is pointless and he might as well play until he can't, or Barou who figured out how to play the way he wants while also maintaining some consideration for his team so he isn't the biggest loser on the field, or Nagi who was able to step away from Reo and actually figure out what it is about soccer that he likes so he can get better (and keep playing with Reo). And then there's Bachira.

Bachira and Isagi's relationship is the starting point to everything, it's Isagi's beginning in Blue Lock and his development as a soccer player. Their relationship is free of drama, it's the prime example of what supporting each other while also competing against each other is supposed to look like. It's a relationship full of love and care and independent admiration of each other. I think the way their relationship is portrayed is the ultimate goal of the Blue Lock project for every character.

It doesn't start off that way though, as Bachira does have some demons to fight off, but Isagi isn't aware of this because Bachira didn't spill his guts about how he felt about being with Isagi until after he'd already solved his own problems.

Bachira was kind of one-sidedly codependent on Isagi's presence on the soccer field. He grew up lonely because he was "weird" (boy is so neurodivergent coded lmao) and when he met Isagi he felt that he finally met someone who would play with him in a way that was fun for him. Granted he didn't really make this Isagi's problem (unlike some people), but it started to become a problem for Bachira when Rin came into the picture (more on that later). As a result Bachira had to be willing to accept that nobody may ever understand or play with him the way he wants in order to enjoy soccer, but that he'll be okay even if he's alone and has no friends.

BUT--

Love wins. Lol. In the panels before Bachira is explaining the conclusion he landed on.

This is the epitome of a healthy relationship. I can live without you, so I can safely say that I want you here with me. That's Bachira and where he landed, and ever since then they've been able to play together and compete against each other without their affection toward each other being impacted. Bachira undergoes his own salvation early on in the story, and it sets the tone for something that needs to occur later (that hasn't occurred yet). Bachira being able to problem solve on his own is the reason that he and Isagi can be the way they are and the reason Isagi can stay grounded (even when things are looking somewhat not great personality-wise in the current arc lol). They can play with and against each other, they can challenge and encourage each other and neither one of them spirals into despair or self-loathing. Now, I don't particularly care about fictional relationships being "healthy" as it usually doesn't make a difference imo, if relationships in media are toxic hellscapes it's usually for entertainment and angst purposes. But in the case of Blue Lock, Bachira's relationship with Isagi is directly compared to Isagi's relationship with Rin. Between Bachira and Rin, one is way better off than the other right now, so I do think the differences in positive relationship vs. negative relationship absolutely make a difference in this case.

In summary: Bachira fought off his inner monster and can now play soccer without craving someone else's acceptance/approval. But even with this realization, he decided that he wants Isagi in his world still. So Bachira is in a good spot, but he didn't get there without some help.

Which brings me to Rin and Isagi.

These two started off as pretty decent rivals, just competing to be the best. But someone had to go and ruin it.

In the U20 game they both are fixated on surpassing each other. It's normal, it's okay and acceptable because they're both trying to get better and they view the other as a way to improve. None of this is an issue. Although...

Rin has issues, unresolved issues that nobody can solve because it has nothing to do with anyone but himself and his brother. More on his brother later and back to him and Isagi.

During the U20 arc Rin enters a "flow" state and goes nuts on the soccer field, which is good for his soccer playing but bad for his wellbeing. What sends him into this state is so interesting though:

As I said, Rin has issues. His brother absolutely crushed and devastated him, and this is the main reason for why he's acting the way he is in the U20 arc and the NEL arc (current arc being written right now). During the U20 arc and therefore after, Rin diverts his attention from his brother to Isagi, and the normal rivalry dynamic he had with Isagi is no longer what it was in Rin's case. It's one-sided, kind of like it was with Bachira. However Rin lets it consume him and bring him to a really dark place in the NEL arc. Rin starts strongly associating Isagi's effect on him with his brother's effect on him:

**Which is just unfair to Isagi and inaccurate anyway, because objectively speaking Isagi has done nothing to Rin other than what everyone in Blue Lock is doing to each other--competing. But as shown in the U20 arc when Rin started to deteriorate, Isagi is a threat to Rin. Isagi can catch up to Rin's playstyle, Isagi can keep up with Rin on the soccer field. What Rin realized and what sent him over the edge, was that EVERYONE was keeping up with his play style because Isagi's own playstyle was giving everyone a pathway to do so. Again--this is not a bad thing and maybe could have continued being a somewhat normal rivalry after the U20 game, but Sae being a fucking asshole had to go and make everything ten times worse for Rin by going out of his way to crush his spirit and acknowledge Isagi (this had to have been done intentionally—he knew what he was doing).

**Kaiser does this too with Isagi, the common denominator being that both Kaiser and Rin made Isagi their whole personality because they both were already beyond fucked up before the story began

Now I can tie Rin and Bachira together and complete the triangle.

After this Rin wasn't the same, and Rin became a very dark version of Bachira, which is ironic because it was Rin's words that made Bachira realize that he needed to save himself from his codependency on Isagi:

In the current arc Rin is searching for someone with his soccer too, but he can't direct his own advice at himself. What's really good about this current arc is that Rin relives moments from both Isagi and Bachira earlier in the manga, further emphasizing the importance of these three relationships in the story's progression. But unfortunately for Rin these moments aren't as positively enlightening as they were for Bachira and Isagi.

Rin reenacts a moment from chapter 2, where Isagi decided that if he was going to improve he didn't need to go for the weakest link. Rin on the other hand reenacts this but rather than with a moment of mercy (like how Isagi didn't go for the one injured player in the room and spared him), Rin's moment is kind of bratty and entitled and negatively impacted his team:

There's a difference in the two situations. Isagi's development was positive, Rin's was not, simply because it was a shitty choice that only benefitted his ego. But also it's because of Rin's personal issues. Rin chose not to score because he's searching for someone with his soccer. His brother:

Sae is Rin’s “monster”. He's reliving Bachira's dilemma, and just like Bachira he's becoming desperate to find someone. They both even said they either let Isagi become their reason for existing or devoted their entire being to him:

TO BE CONTINUED--