This is a great manga! I Saw the anime before I read this one and it's also a great manga.
The artstyle is super cool and the story is really interesting. It takes the 'battle royale' format to football. Interesting concept and well done.

Blue Lock is absurd, in such a great way, and so much fun. They gather 300 high school boys and put them in what reminds me of a Squid Game environment. With Blue Lock though instead of death they just lose their opportunity to join the Japan soccer team and go to the World Cup when eliminated. I don't usually read sports manga but this one has almost a dystopian vibe to it as well and it's just so much fun that I couldn't put it down, this one just hits different. I definitely will continue this series because I want to see what other crazy things this coach has them doing to train and who continues on. I suggest whether you usually read sports manga or not that you at least give this first volume a try.

I am hooked. I haven't read a lot of manga based on sports so this was new for me. And there are a lot of characters to keep a track of but by 50% mark it gets easy and the tag game was something...tbh I didn't see the elimination coming. I was sure they are going to bond at some level in the facility. But sign of a good manga is crushing your expectations in some way, I think manga lovers read it for that high. Can't wait to see what vol 2 brings for us. I am already rooting for two of them.

It's quite fast paced and that sort of makes it a little difficult to keep up with in the beginning. Like there are two players and then suddenly twelve in a dorm. But like I said after 100 pages or so, remembering th is easy. It's just the first beginning so that's not a big issue.

I enjoy reading sports manga and this one didn't disappoint.

I love the competition and game aspects of this manga! Therer are characters who I find interesting and likable.

I am looking forwards to more! This is a good one and I love the anime adaptation for this manga too.

Going into this I assumed it was going to be an easy-going but highly competitive football tournament. What I was not expecting was a slightly dystopian, highly tense and highly exhilarating competition in which a whole footballer's life could be ruined if they lose if they don't make it to the top.

This made a sport that I don't really understand, easy to digest and something to be invested in. The characters are super interesting and I kind of like the fact that the stakes are so high. I will 100% continuing this series. I NEED to know how it ends!

I've already seen the anime and it's nice to see, that they animated it close to the manga. I have to say, the start is more on the boring side, but I really like Bacchira, also his interaction with Isagi and it's a bit strange to say I like Ego but well, he's crazy

Thank you, Netgalley!

Unfortunately, this book wouldn’t appear in my app, and it wouldn’t download for me. I am giving feedback based on the beginning of the anime haha.

Although I love the concept, the execution was unsatisfying because I didn’t connect with the characters. It couldn’t hold my attention.

But because I didn’t get to read my copy, I’m still giving a high rating.

3.8 ⭐

After losing an opportunity to participate in the national championships, Yoichi Isagi received a letter from Japan's Football Union for a special player training program. Upon entering the building, Jinpachi Ego announced to all three hundred of the best high school soccer player that they're given the chance to train in a facility called Blue Lock.

"Starting today, You'll all be living here together while undergoing the special training I've devised. You can't return to your homes, and this marks the end of your previous soccer careers. But I promise this whoever survives this Blue Lock and outlasts the other two hundred ninety-nine. The last remaining person will become the world's best striker."

In the beginning, We see Isagi passing the ball to his teammate and prioritizing teamwork over his chance to score. However, Jinpachi Ego takes a different approach. He tells the players that soccer isn't about teamwork, but rather about scoring more points than your opponent. He continues to state that to become the world's best striker, You need to become the world's top egotist.

As someone who isn't interested in soccer, this manga gives a great introduction about the teams in Blue Lock and their goal of winning the world cup. Who will be the last one standing? Well, We are just going to find out.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for the e-ARC!

This was such a fun, unique story. I never thought I could be this interested in soccer but I guess I am, I loved the story and the plot line. I had a fun time reading this and I will definitely be reading the rest of this series.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I found the story to be so boring, and I wasn't a fan of the art style unfortunately. This may be because I haven't read a sports manga in a long time, I just really didn't enjoy this. I usually like manga that leans into a creepy art style, but I particularly did not like the way this mangaka did it. (DNF at 60%)

For a genre of manga that would not usually appeal to me whatsoever (more due to it being about football, than because it was a Shonen, as I love my Shonen titles as much as any other genre) this held my attention more than I thought it would.
The concept is interesting enough that I wanted to keep reading to see where the story was progressing. Whilst I don’t think I would rush to buy this title for me personally I can see it’s appeals and would still read the title as it was definitely intriguing enough for me to want to see how the characters and the plot develop.
One thing I will say for this particular volume is we don’t get much background about any of the particular characters and we are very much thrown into the story. I can see that we will get further character development as the story carries on but this is something to bare in mind if you’re someone who likes to have a bit of a background or story before diving into the main plot.
Overall I would definitely recommend picking up this volume if only to see if you like it as it was a brilliant first volume.

Thank you so much for letting me read this manga. This story is enjoyable and also a little creepy, if I imagine having something like this in real life.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the authors for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review! I have read this before, but I really enjoyed it, so I wanted to skim through again and leave an opinion on more sites.

4.5⭐

Great start of a promising manga, I will definitely continue reading it. Wondering if this is inspired from Classroom of the Elite, as the main character is also quite skilled, yet starts from the lowest ranks and aims for the highest.

It is inspiring and motivational to see how these young people focus on their passion for football and train to become the best. Still wondering how the characters will develop psychologically, as I am not totally agreeing with the perspective that they are encouraged to have at the moment, but the idea that someone's dream can be shattered in seconds is indeed devastating. I learnt a lot about football-related references and I am looking forward to read about the following qualification rounds that the characters will have to go through.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an eARC! This manga is better than I imagined. The story is so good and how the final panels lead so well into volume 2 makes me excited. As a shojo reader I enjoyed this thoroughly and would recommend people with similar tastes as me to try this.

The beginning of this manga had me think it was similar to Haikyuu or any other sports shounen that was popular in recent years. I was, however, wrong. Blue Lock quickly takes a turn, abandoning all the team spirit and power of friendship the other sports mangas stand by and focusing more on an individual. 300 young strikers are taken into a revolutionary program that's supposed to help pick the best striker and give Japan a national championship. Out of the 300, only one can win. The boys are encouraged to be selfish, and ruthless and fight for their best interest. It's probably not for everybody but I enjoyed such a refreshing take.

The manga introduces us to a lot of characters that will probably be developed better in the next volumes but we can already see some interesting ones. The designs are not wild or fantasy-like but they are still distinct and it's easy to tell who is who. The main character has the potential to be a really interesting lead.

I'll happily pick up more volumes of Blue Lock as I'm very curious how will the story develop.

*A big thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the digital ARC!*

Blue Lock is, essentially, a competition survival-of-the-fittest style to determine Japan’s best striker for the World Cup team. A big emphasis is placed on finding your ego, and using that selfishness as motivation to succeed in the sport. As someone who spent years being part of a performance based sport, I can understand what author and characters are saying. To succeed in any sport, there does need to be a certain amount of selfishness. But not selfishness as in being a bad person per say, but in the way that you need to not be complacent in your skill. Knowing that you’re essentially proving everyday why you deserve the spot or position you got, and not someone else.

The overall message of this manga is vastly different from the “power of friendship and teammates” that can be expected from the average sports manga. And it is not a bad thing, as it truly makes this concept unique. Another thing I appreciate is seeing how people’s different backgrounds can affect their level of desire to achieve something. There is a character that refuses to follow the path in life that they were set up to follow, and that is why they want to go big in their soccer career. On the other hand, there are also characters who simply got invested in the sport after watching professionals play, and then decided they wanted to dream big. Those are all legit reasons to want to pursue greatness, and I wonder if that will be more emphasized in future volumes.

However, maybe I’m not the right target audience for this type of manga because as much as I enjoyed a majority of aspects of the story, it didn’t quite vibe well with me. I can see the appeal, but there is something a bit too harsh, in my opinion, about the Blue Lock training and philosophy that reminded me a bit of my lowkey-highkey toxic coaches. Nevertheless, if curiosity gets the best of me, I wouldn’t be opposed into reading future volumes.

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review!

"Blue Lock" was the first sports anime that I fell in love with! I was very surprised because I know nothing really about soccer or sports in general. "Blue Lock vol. 1" reminded me again why I loved the show. Meguru Bachira and Yoichi Isagi are definitely some of my favorite characters from this series. <3

"Blue Lock 1" is a thrilling and engaging read that will have readers on the edge of their seats. The story follows Yoichi Isagi, a talented soccer player who is scouted by the national team to participate in a unique training program called "Blue Lock." The program aims to create the world's deadliest striker by pitting the players against each other in a cut-throat competition.

One of the things that stood out to me about this manga is the way it portrays the intense pressure and expectations that professional athletes face. The characters are all driven by their desire to succeed and prove themselves, and the stakes are incredibly high. The art is also impressive, with dynamic action sequences and expressive character designs that capture the intensity of the sport.

That being said, there were a few moments in the story that felt rushed or underdeveloped. Some of the characters didn't receive as much attention as I would have liked, and there were a few plot points that could have been fleshed out more. However, these issues didn't detract too much from my overall enjoyment of the story.

Overall, "Blue Lock 1" is an exciting and promising start to a new sports manga series. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys soccer or high-stakes competition stories. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me this eARC to review.

I really like the art of this manga and I love how unique (or atleast unique to me) this concept is. I want to read more of the volumes and watch the anime as this got me very invested and my heart racing while I read the sports intense part of the volume. Highly recommend this for sports fans!

Not normally a fan of sports manga because if there is SUPER melodramatic and long-winded genre within the manga world it is sports manga. This is not an exception - in order to give the national team a change at the world cup, the Japanese soccer federation basically kidnaps and tortures 300 high school soccer players in a training facility weirdly called "Blue Lock" (why?). There are a lot of angry faces, a lot of getting smacked in the face by footballs and of course the character who is the underdog but will CLEARLY win all the prizes. Meh.