#blue lock analysis

I am very insane about this pic so I'm gonna try to "break it down" (more like give my take on what's going on here apart from noa serving 85 kilograms worth of cunt) So yeah, more under cut.

🌹A Michael Kaiser analysis🥀

According to the Egoist Bible, Kaiser’s favorite historical figures are Nietzsche, Freud and Napoléon, and Kaiser’s hobby is reading psychology and philosophy books. As Kaneshiro is a smart ass, I’ll assume that it’s not gratuitous and I will yap about this with absolutely no shame. This “essay” focuses on Friedrich Nietzsche because he has the biggest mustache.

Summary:

1) Winners and losers: On Kaiser's delusional persona and coping mechanisms;

2) Gazing into the abyss: On excruciating disillusionment and how it will lead him to his true self.

Usual disclaimer: this is by no mean a final analysis. Just some philosophical thoughts on that soccer manga that has me obsessed.

💪WINNERS AND LOSERS👎

“Every time he harvested a new despair, he became a little more human” (Chap. 261).

Let’s begin somewhere: the blue rose tattoo.

As stated in the manga, the blue rose is a symbol of impossibility. At several moments, Kaiser says that “nothing is impossible” to him. He presents himself as a rebellious human being that had succeeded in his rebellion and became the “emperor”, the ultimate winner.

Kaiser rebels because he’s the victim of an utter cosmic injustice: being born in a shitty family. It is one of the many injustices we suffer in this world. We can blame destiny, we can blame social determinism, or just bad luck. But here we are.

It’s a maddening thought: it must be some kind of reason, right?

So Kaiser wants to fight the unjust fate that presided over his birth and made him feel like a helpless loser (a “piece of shit”). He wants to be a rebellious mortal that defy the gods, or destiny.

We can see this as a reference to a Greek concept: hubris. *slaps her cheek* I'll stay focus and I won’t talk about hubris. *whispers* (It’s a sin of pride!)

To cope with cosmic injustice and assert himself as a winner, Kaiser imposes on others the violence he has himself endured (like a good amount of douches existing in this wrecked world). He dehumanizes others like he’s been dehumanized. He brags, presents himself as the "king", the “emperor”, while the others are, in his delusional perception of reality, “clowns”, “supporting characters”, etc…

This made up scenario allows him to assert his very existence. It's a survival mechanism.

This imagery, borrowed from cinema and theater, as well as Kaiser’s general attitude toward others, reminds me of what Nietzsche calls the “Back-worlds”:

1) Human beings are upset to witness change and destruction (plants die, my cat died, we die, love dies, even STONES erode goddammit!)

→ Kaiser witnesses destruction at very close quarters during his childhood: physically (he’s beaten up; his father’s body is destroyed by alcoholism) and psychologically (his worth is crumbled; his father also suffers from self-depreciation).

2) We cling on some idealized thoughts to cope with this painful realization: it must be something out there that cannot be destroyed. IT MUST BE (or else why bother with life, hey?). Insert [true love]; [ultimate beauty]; [God]; [eternal life]… These ideals are the Back-worlds.

→ Kaiser clings to a scenario in which he’s the main character, the ultimate winner who will be eternally loved ; so he focuses on being the best soccer player because Blue Lock is about soccer yeah but not really okay I don’t need to elaborate on this topic.

(The ball, the moon, the symbolism of the unreachable ideal,🤤)

3) To cling on these Back-worlds make us think that the actual world we’re living in is not the real deal. We begin to think that we’re all living on some kind of stage, and that the Real World is somewhere behind the scenes.

→ He’s unable to see what he does own in his actual life: friendship and love from Ness, for example (+ Ness is searching for magic within the actual world; it’s an opposite perspective on reality; but this post is not about Ness, sorry puppy).

4) We fool ourselves by devoting our energy to search for what’s hidden behind the scene. This can take various forms: devoting our lives to our so-called soulmate, to our nation, to our faith, to power… Whatever.

→ Kaiser thinks the only way to exist is to exercise absolute and tyrannical power over others. He confuses this fake (and very fragile) power with true Will to Power (more about that later, or maybe not).

5) We're letting life pass us by, like morons.

→ Kaiser is a moron. Q.E.D.

This state of mind is called “Negative nihilism”. It’s like a band-aid (Back-world) on a purulent wound (despair).

Kaiser is so focus on his Back-world (a fictional realm in where he’s a worshiped emperor of soccer) that he vows to destroy other’s dreams.

We, as humans, need interaction with others to become who we are. We can’t built a sense of identity into the void, all by ourselves.

However, since Kaiser comes from a background of abuse, he cannot think of other feelings to “harvest” from others (love, compassion, friendship, admiration, trust…). He only can seek in others what he personally knows from himself: the feeling of despair. At one point, Kaiser acknowledges that he does the exact same think his father did to him: feast on despair to feel alive.

He legitimates this attitude by asserting himself as strong (“emperor”, “main character” shit and all), while the others are supposedly weak.

In his twisted representation of reality, they basically asked for it… Just like he did when he was a helpless child, because the idea that there is absolutely no reason to be abused is too agonizing to contemplate.

Indeed, in chap.243 (Ness’s backstory), Kaiser states that he hates the “weaklings who dilute their egos” to survive. This could literally be a quote from Nietzsche.

Nietzsche strongly advocates against weakness, that is to say, a certain kind of weakness revolving around self-pitying and overprotective behaviors in order to prevent any discomfort. Aaaand Kaiser realizes than he’s guilty of this exact thing when he goes through his existential crisis in the final moments of NEL arc.

(I had written several paragraphs about ethical critique and Will to Power, but this is already way too long guys. Next!)

🫣GAZING INTO THE ABYSS 😱

“What does your conscience say? — ‘You shall become who you are.’” (The Gay Science)

(Yes the title is Gay Science, I heard you snicker)

When Kaiser’s powerful persona is wrecked by Isagi, Kaiser falls into despair and finds himself gazing into the abyss. Not a cheerful thing to do.

By standing up to him, Isagi enables him to cast off his ideals about himself (it’s basically Isagi’s hobby).

But it’s really painful, like, excruciatingly painful.

As we already stated in a previous post about alienation and freedom, true emancipation only can rise from constraint; provided that the constraint is understood and absorbed (“devoured”) to settle in a new version of oneself.

At the end of NEL arc, Kaiser explicitly tells that he thrives more when he’s constrained, that too much freedom and sense of comfort defuses his power and his will to fight. That his emperor persona had been in fact deleterious to his growth, that he had buried himself in a seductive narrative just to ease the pain. From now on, he has to accept what he is; namely, a weakling who yearns for love.

I think that Kaiser realizes at this moment that he is indeed the victim in his own story, and not the perpetrator; he’s the loser, not the winner. This is what it is, there’s no need to hide this truth. The fact that he accepts this situation will allow him to be reborn.

Because, let’s be crazy and state this : an ugly truth is better than an alluring fiction.

At the beginning of the NEL arc, Kaiser is indeed a seductive tease… until he breaks apart and shows his ugly sides despite himself. His flirtatious mask fell off completely and he doesn’t act the same anymore. This is one of the ways in which the author stages the crumbling of his persona and the reconquest of his true self. Kaiser switches from his idealized ego to a more realistic representation of himself.

In the end, this shift in perspective allows for true emancipation.

But this reconquest is neither immediate nor easy (that’s partly why Kaiser loses to Isagi in the end).

In Nietzsche philosophy, a key moment is the famous (or infamous) death of God (Thus Spoke Zarathustra ; see also The Gay Science). It’s when we realize that we are all alone in the dark, just a few steps away from a gigantic cliff above nothingness. That’s a savage disillusionment. Without transcendence (Back-worlds), we feel lost. But from now on we’ll have a chance to embrace the real world as it is.

In Kaiser’s case, the god who really dies in the end is Kaiser himself, or rather, the idealized persona he had built for himself in order to cope with his inner nothingness.

And when the god, the false ideal dies, the true Kaiser can collapse and be reborn.

For now, Kaiser is stuck in between the negative and the positive phases of nihilism:

The negative phase stands for denial of the absurdity of life and the ridiculous grip on illusions and false ideals (“I’m an emperor and nothing is impossible to me, bow to me, you’re a clown” and so on…). Kaiser is beyond that phase now.

The positive phase of nihilism is

1) 😨 when we realize the absurdity of our Back-worlds, and when we acknowledge the fact that nothing, in this very real world, is stable and worthy of worshiping (and certainly not us, mere stupid mortals bound to die alone) [Kaiser stands right HERE].

2) 🙌 and now we embrace that truth, we embrace it so tight we’re hugging that no-sense life, and we’re making babies with it. We dance on the edge of the abyss, with pure joy, no after-thoughts, just with the intense euphoria of being alive and being able to experience the world with no fake boundaries. Enjoying bare life, naked life, embracing that horrendous and glorious life as we would french kiss that sublime yet terrifying witch that would lead us to climax and kill us right after.

CALM DOWN *slaps her cheek again*

One last thought:

A famous quote by Nietzsche is that mysterious aphorism: « He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. » (Beyond good and evil, Aphorism 146).

Mmmh...

Nietzsche philosophy is famously known for its poetic depth; it allows for a lot of interpretations. In our current context (a soccer manga rant), we can understand this as follow:

- Kaiser fights with monsters (his traumas) and becomes a monster (he’s tyrannical).

- When his delusional persona is wrecked, he gazes into the abyss (he’s a “piece of shit” once more). He finally faces his traumas. This is the only way to assert his existence: facing the “zero”, the nothingness from which he was born (for Kaiser it’s obvious because he wasn't a wanted child, but we all come from nothingness, wanted or not).

- The abyss gazes back: he has to accept and embrace his past, and above all, to embrace the absence of meaning. In other words, he was born into a shitty life because of absolutely... nothing.

And we all have to face the same abyss.

💃DANCING ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS🕺

CONCLUSION

The resolution of Kaiser’s arc could be that total acceptation of the duality of life: creation and destruction, pleasure and pain, weakness and power. He went from dehumanization (childhood) to acknowledgment and comfort (his “emperor” state), to dehumanization again (end of NEL arc), but this time, with a fertile ground for change. I’m not saying this is a healthy way to live, but Kaiser’s acceptation of his “piece-of-shit” self will lead him to surpass himself once more, to reinvent himself to become stronger. Because true transcendence, in Nietzsche term, is not metaphysical, it only can occur at a human scale, within oneself, when all the denial has been scrapped off.

I think Kaiser will be able to redeem himself by accepting the ugliness and the beauty of himself with no judgment.

Just chill out Michael. You'll find a way.

And so will we.

I leave the last words to the German Dancer:

“My formula for human greatness is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not in the future, not in the past, not for all eternity. Not only to endure what is necessary, still less to conceal it—all idealism is falseness in the face of necessity—but to love it.” (Nietzsche, Ecce Homo, §10).

***

Huh, I think I got carried away. If you read this, YOU'RE SO BRAVE! I'm sincerely grateful❤️‍🔥 When I saw that Kaiser’s favorite historical figure was Nietzsche, I took it personally. It was as if I’d been given a license to rant by Kaneshiro himself. If you want to come at me about the shady interpretations of Nietzsche's works, I'll be glad to discuss this topic (but right now I'll call it a day).

Take care, my fellow dancers.

More philosophical analysis:

Eros & Thanatos or On libido and death impulses on Bllk

Why the heck are they wearing shibari suits?

For me, it's the second-most relatable sports anime before Haikyu solely because I personally believe that the Haikyu characters have more realistic executions of the beliefs and ideologies that they're meant to reflect. That isn't to say that Blue Lock doesn't execute its philosophies well though.

Whenever I'm watching the show and one of the characters is going through an 'evolution' I just look at the character like, "Yeah, dude. That's life. Welcome to the world." And every time I think that I realise that that is literally the entire point of the show.

We're watching a bunch of teenage boys achieve their dreams and make their way in the world whilst they learn about it in real time, which in turn, makes us reflect on our own lives and how the characters' philosophies apply to us as the viewer, outside of football. Like when we see Barou go through his crisis of being 'The King' or when we see Bachira get rid of the 'monster' (I'm sure there's better examples but I'm too tired to do a full-blown analysis.)

Man idk. Maybe I'm just stating the obvious but I just wanted to give this show its flowers.

rins character is often described in the most surface level ways possible (cold, closed off, hostile and unapproachable). these traits r easy to see, so people assume that they r the cause of who he is. but rins emotional landscape is farrr more complex than the mask he wears. his behaviour isn’t born from arrogance or cruelty. instead, it comes from something far more fragile, far more human and like far more deeply rooted in his earliest emotional experiences (like he has a fear of needing other ppl). to understand rin, u gotta understand that he is a character that is shaped by loss, not by ambition. his coldness ISNT a personality, its like a reaction (a scar tissue response that formed after the deepest emotional wound of his life). when he pushes ppl away, when he refuses to connect, when he pretends indifference, he is protecting the most vulnerable part of himself: the part that once loved openly, fully and w out fear.

With the NEL arc having ended, we’ve seen Isagi “sell his soul”. While to me, what this entails in full is still somewhat unclear, one thing is a abundantly apparent: Isagi is losing the sentimentality he once carried for fútbol. He states it himself- in order to survive as a “talented learner” in a world of geniuses with God-given talents, he needs to become a machine. To claw his way to the top, he can’t just ride along the high of his own abilities anymore. No matter how great he can become, there will always those who with random, natural gifts, like Noel and Loki. No matter how hard he fights, the randomness of fate, luck and genetics will override his efforts simply by existing. Now his only purpose is “absolute victory” at all costs, even if it means sacrificing the fundamentals of what being a egotistical striker once meant to him.

How does this relate to Bachira? To start, his and Isagi’s play styles have always been polar opposites. Isagi uses his analytical skills to make up for his lack of notable physicality, while Bachira relies on his dribbling and off-brand instincts, following the unique, sporadic ideas that spur from his monster. However, the two still inherently understand and complement each other from their shared passion. Despite taking the ruthless journey to become number one, they share a love for the game and each other. They want to see each other improve and feed off of each other’s egos. This is why Isagi fills (filled?…) the void of Bachira’s monster. Their greatest strengths are also their greatest weaknesses, too- Isagi feeling like a second fiddle sheep for his lack of physical gifts, and Bachira’s crazy visions never being understood, isolating him from others- they balance each other out that way.

However, the passion they both once shared has fundamentally changed. Isagi most likely will not view the way he can grow off Bachira’s development in the same light. He won’t view any other players’ talents being steppingstones for his own in the same manner, either. Now, he must take in everything around him like a computer, nothing has personal can be at stake for him anymore, and no relationships can serve him beyond what lies directly in front of him. The sentimentality he and Bachira once he does not serve his new nihilistic mindset. If all the hard work in the world can be outdone simply by lucky genetics, is it even worth it? To outdo fate itself and become the best striker in the world, he has to sacrifice the hope and passion he once shared with Bachira. To make nothing off-limits to win, nothing has to be off-limits to lose, except for total victory itself. Thus, he has to destroy all personal and emotional connections in the game, as they can inherently be a weakness to be exploited; that’s what he’ll be thinking, at least.

We can see this loss of enthusiasm shown in how he refers to himself in the first vs third person at the end of the U-20 vs Japan / NEL arcs respectively. Yoichi Isagi is no longer the scrappy underdog using only his mind to make it up the ranks, he is now the face of the multi-billion dollar soccer corporations, dominating everything that gets in his way. Even to himself, he is just a product, a variable that must be used in whatever way is most optimal to win (16 y/o btw). The bright enthusiasm and determination in his eyes have dulled, being replaced with a cold, distant stare. Instead of the hope he carries for Japan being represented by him in jersey, he is dressed up and is “presentable”, as the only thing on his mind is the business of total victory. The sins of his choices literally surround him, encasing him in darkness, in comparison to the enlightening hope he once carried.

This is not what he bonded over with Bachira. Bachira has assumedly remained true to himself during the NEL, honing in his skills, creativity and ego while still holding a deep love for the sport. We’ll see if this will be enough for him to make it further, as I think it’s unclear if Bachira falls into the category of either “talented learner” or “genius” that Isagi has roped all great players into. Thus, their conflicting ideologies will now inevitably clash, the calculating puppet master vs the free-spirited monster. Before, they were enthusiastic to grow off of each other and take down those who stood in their way, while paying respect to their enemies’ talents. But now, their relationship has no merit in that regards. It is unclear if Isagi will still be equal to Bachira’s monster- was he only able to before because of the untapped potential and passion he held? Will he still be able to predict Bachira’s heart of playfulness with his own cold, detached soul?

Whatever the answer may be, the two cannot maintain their healthy relationship as it once was. In fact, codependency, not just on others, but on one’s own sense of self, is a theme VERY persistent in Blue Lock. Most clearly, we see it in Reo and Nagi. While Reo still held onto his love for Nagi, he was able to flourish as his own player independently. However, Nagi was too afraid and too comfortable to explore his own self worth without Reo and inevitably failed because of that (to Bachira nonetheless, that feels intentional.) Meanwhile, Kaiser and Ness’ development is the opposite of that. Kaiser eventually leaves Ness’ lapdog clinginess for his own similar “absolute” desire for victory against mad geniuses. In his despair, the once subservient Ness makes a play that Kaiser couldn’t catch. The god, once high and mighty in Ness’ eyes, was outsmarted because of his lack of faith and creativity in his former servant. However, Ness still places trust in Kaiser afterwards, now (assumedly) on equal grounds with his former “master”. In the pits of despair, Ness’ once toxic codependency for Kaiser brought both of them to rock bottom, and in that pit, they found the strength to make each other equals.

Reo / Nagi are a pitfall of what Isagi / Bachira could’ve became, and Kaiser / Ness moved up from R/N and became what I/B once was (can you tell I’m getting tired of typing all their names over and over). Now, Isagi and Bachira’s relationship is becoming something different, something worse. Imagine a spectrum of codependency, if you will: Nagi/Reo fall on one side, where their relationship fails because one of them got too comfortable. Kaiser/Ness falls in the middle, because they’ve reached a level of mutual understanding and respect. Isagi/Bachira were once that, but now they’ve crossed over to the other end- their relationship will fail because the basis of what it once was has changed too much.

Where will this leave the two of them by the end? Truly, I don’t know, only time will tell. Something to consider, though, is Snuffy’s words to Barou. Mick Moon killed himself because he made futbol his everything, and had nothing to fall back on when he failed. After hitting rock bottom, Snuffy took the steps to work on his sense of self, which propelled him to his greatest heights, while still being able to be truly happy both in and outside of fútbol; Mick Moon couldn’t find the heart to do that, as he made soccer his entire reason for existing. Isagi is currently following in Mick’s footsteps more than anything. While he may not end up as dire as Mick, if he fails, what will he have? His relationship with Bachira will crumble the same way Snuffy and Mick’s did. If he continues down the path he is on right now, Isagi has two options- to become the next Mick Moon- distraught and agonized by the failure of his own ego- or to become the next Noel Noa- the greatest player alive who (assumedly) sacrificed his sense of personal happiness to become a goal scoring machine.

Extra Tidbit:

This is just my personal theory because he’s my favorite character, but I don’t think Bachira falls strictly into either category of learner or genius. He has the “God-given” gift, not of his dribbling, but of his innate sense of unique and creative plays. Only he and Isagi- for the time being- can understand them (geez audhd allegory much) and it is an edge other players don’t have. But at the same time, the isolation he experienced as a kid, and the fact that his monster often prohibits him from being able to play well with others are all a set back. Thus, he has to adapt and rework his sense of self constantly, compared to the geniuses whose talents give them an automatic edge (I’M LOOKING AT YOU, LOKI). In this way, he is also a talented learner. I’d say Nagi is a little similar to Bachi in this regards, as well. He does have natural talent, but got locked off bc he didn’t focus on honing them in for his own gain. The main obstacle to that was the fact that it’s hard for him to actually care in the first place, which would mean that’s the obstacle that could make him a learner, as well. However, his downfall could also be a commentary on taking your given gifts for granted, so I guess it could go either way. Regardless, I really do think there is substantial evidence to suggest that Bachira might be the exception to Isagi’s current idea of fútbol players. Hell, I might even go as far to say this proves there’s maybe a 10% chance Bachira actually might win and become Blue Lock’s best striker, but that’s just my biases talking. I hope anyone who’s read this far enjoyed this yap session <3

tw: mentions of child abuse.

And this is what Ego believed the god of soccer looks like

Yatagarasu (八咫烏) is a god that symbolises guidance (specifically safe travel) and rebirth. It’s a guiding god. Crows usually represent change and transformation— which is exactly what Karasu did in the most recent chapters.

Considering that Karasu full name means “travelling crow”….? Im not implying he is the embodiment of “the god of soccer”, no way. But I can say tho, crows/ravens dont choose their masters (intertextuality).