The key to this work is a facility called "Blue Lock." The protagonist, Kiyoichi Isagi, and his friends aim to become the world's best striker in this facility. In this article, I would like to explain the mechanism and facilities of the "Blue Lock."
About the "Blue Lock"
300 high school students gathered by the mysterious person Ego Jinpachi travel by bus across the mountains to arrive at the "Blue Lock." A large rectangular box suddenly appears in the mountains. In this facility, completely isolated from their previous lives, they aim to become the world's best egoist and the world's best striker. (By the way, all belongings such as cell phones and wallets will be confiscated when they move into the dormitory.)
About the team
The players are given body suits with numbers and letters written on them. The numbers indicate the rank of the player out of 300 people based on the abilities quantified by the artist's arbitrary and biased judgment, and the letters indicate the team they belong to, from A to Z. The top five players in this ranking will be given the privilege of being registered as players for the U-20 World Cup unconditionally, while those who are eliminated will lose the right to join the Japanese national team in their future soccer careers. In addition, the 11 players in the same room who passed the dormitory entrance test will proceed to the first selection as a team.
About the buildings
The facility is made up of five buildings, divided into buildings B-F, G-K, L-P, Q-U, and V-Z. One person from each room dropped out during the dormitory entrance test, so dormitory life began with 275 people remaining. Each building is pentagonal, with a dining hall in the center. Each team is three stories tall, and on the first floor there are four training rooms, a room with a bath, changing room, and toilet, and a monitor room where you can watch past matches. The second and third floors are the indoor training fields mentioned above.
Testing and strengthening programs
The players who move into the dormitory will undergo physical tests for several days. General physical fitness is measured through running tests using machines, 20km/h runs, and jumping tests. In addition, this facility is programmed to do things minute by minute, and meal timings are also managed by machine. Each team is also equipped with a full-court indoor training field, and they can practice 24 hours a day.
Other meals
Meals are provided by a machine, but if you rank low, you can only have natto rice, and conversely, players with higher rankings can eat meals with better ingredients. Points are given according to the number of goals scored in the first selection, and one goal can be a luxurious meal of one steak. By the way, one goal earns you a sirloin steak or a massage, three goals earns you your cell phone back, five goals earns you a luxury bed, and ten goals earns you a one-day pass to go out.
Detailed daily schedule
Wake up at 7am and have breakfast, machine training at 8am, warm-up and running at 9am, team training from 10am to 12noon, lunch and break from 12pm to 2pm, second team training from 2pm to 4pm, individual training, dinner, meetings from 8pm, and free time. Except for meal times, the players hone their skills in this facility, which is a veritable soccer prison, where they can only do soccer-related things.
Other/Supplied Items, etc.
Your belongings will be confiscated when you move into the dormitory, but you will be provided with daily necessities for soccer or daily life. You will be given as many soccer necessities as you want, such as black-based bodysuits, goalkeeper gloves, shoes, balls, and everyday sweatshirts. In addition, it seems that daily necessities such as shampoo, treatment, towels, sports drinks, and hair dryers are provided to the minimum extent of life. It seems that there is a space issue, but it is also prison-like to sleep on the futons provided to everyone instead of beds.
Summary
What did you think? The mysterious figure, Eshin Jinpachi, and the mysterious facility "Blue Lock". I'm sure you're wondering what kind of changes the players will undergo as they are forced to live a literally prison-like life in a special environment. The anime will start airing in October 2022, so it will be interesting to see how these facilities will be depicted. As more and more information is released, I'm looking forward to finally seeing the players moving in animation.
