Isagi seems so much more impressive here than I remembered in the anime! I'm not sure if that means it's different in the anime or if it's because Isagi is a bit of an unreliable narrator. I kept thinking that while reading this chapter. There were a few times where people saw him as their equal while he sees himself as nothing. Or where someone notices a talent he has that he's surprised to discover in himself later.

Like here:

Ryosuke Kira remembered Isagi, imagined being on the same team as him, and purposefully asked him to address him less formally. This all says to me that others see more in Isagi than he sees in himself.

(Though, I can't tell if Ryosuke wanting passes from Isagi is a compliment or if he's seeing him as a good teammate but not a good striker.)

In the game that starts the chapter, Isagi did the same thing as Ryosuke, he got the ball and set himself up for an important shot. The only difference is that Isagi didn't take the shot. I think it'd make sense if that messed with his confidence and made him an unreliable narrator.

But clearly he is a good enough soccer player to get himself invited to Blue Lock even with that pass and missed goal at the end of his game. And he's good enough for a star player to notice and remember.

So, I'm definitely interested in reading more and seeing how else I read Isagi differently in the manga.

Ryosuke also noticed right away that Isagi has "impressive field perspective and a high football IQ." That becomes so important later! But Isagi seemed so surprised in the anime. It's interesting that others notice it when only playing against him once, but he may not even realize it himself even after being complimented on it here.

Something else I noticed is that we definitely see signs of Isagi's ego early on. I haven't watched the anime in a few months, so I didn't remember that! It's also easier to really slow down and notice something in the manga.

In this page, his team is trying to comfort themselves, and Isagi isn't having it. It's upset they lost and that he passed just for his teammate to miss. He doesn't care that the team had fun because he wanted to him. Definitely a sign of ego.

And here when Ego is describing being the star of the world cup, of caring more about having the most goals and attention than being a team player, it wakes something up in Isagi. It's like he had this ego in him all along and just needed permission to be selfish. As soon as he has it, he runs forward to be the first one to enter Blue Lock.

After reading that, I decided to skip over to Episode Nagi to compare the beginning of Isagi's story with Nagi's.

Nagi also is talked about, but he seems way more conscious of it. Isagi was surprised someone knew of him. Nagi knew people didn't like him. He was surprised Reo stayed around. He just didn't show a reaction to this other than when talking to Reo, and even then he didn't go into detail.

And during the first match, Nagi didn't consider passing to anyone. He did was Reo said and made a goal, unlike Isagi, who chose to pass. Though it's interesting that Isagi was also listening to others when playing as a team player. They both end up thinking for themselves later at Blue Lock and growing stronger because of it.

But I love that here Nagi is confused why this opponent thinks he'd be in trouble. For Nagi, this is easy. He knows he's good, and unlike Isagi, he doesn't question that fact.

For Nagi, it's easy to imagine winning the world cup. Isagi sees it as a dream he has to chase and work for. Nagi sees it as something inevitable if he tried for it, but putting in that effort would be a pain and that doesn't sound fun to him.

That's why Isagi is the first through the door and he's taking it at a run and Nagi is the last through the door and only with Reo motivating him to go that way instead of the exit.

Isagi has something to prove to himself. Nagi just doesn't want to leave or disappoint Reo. Though, he definitely seemed intrigued by Ego's words, and I know from the anime that once he's challenged more he'll find his own ego and intrinsic motivation.

And of course that challenge and growth will come when he meets Isagi, our main character. But I love that he already noticed him right away.

Again, Isagi doesn't think he's memorable, but Nagi noticed him instead of the star player next to him. Maybe he stood out because he's the main character, or maybe Nagi could tell he was worth keeping an eye on.