Real World.
The first episode of Blue Lock had finished airing. The screen had already started rolling the ending credits, but the audience's bullet comments were still scrolling.
'Great face fault!'
'Awesome!'
'What is this? Getting eliminated means you can never join the national team?'
'My god, another sports anime that doesn't follow the usual path. The last one that gave me this feeling was Kuroko's Basketball!'
Kuroko's Basketball?
Tendou saw this bullet comment and glanced at the short-tailed cat with some concern.
"Don't worry, it's not a parallel universe or anything like that. You still exist in the world of Kuroko's Basketball, and the changes you've made won't be altered. But for convenience, the system has temporarily changed your avatar," the short-tailed cat explained.
Everything he had experienced was real. He still existed and participated in the Kuroko's Basketball anime; he was still the one and only Tendou Kageyoshi. It was just that when he started a new "dungeon," his avatar in Kuroko's Basketball changed, including people's impressions of him.
"That's fine." All Tendou cared about was the subsequent income of popularity points. Although the work had concluded, new viewers would still get into it later. While these popularity points wouldn't be as much as during the serialization phase due to less promotion, over time, it would still be a considerable income.
Tendou continued to watch, observing the audience's reaction.
Excluding a small number of trolls and meme-makers, the majority of the audience had a pretty strong reaction to the final moments of Blue Lock.
A reviewer named Fanshi rubbed his face with his palms a few times and began to share his viewing experience.
"It's obvious that this is another cult-classic sports anime."
"We all know that traditional hot-blooded anime are full of positive energy, and their themes are inseparable from the words 'friendship' and 'bonds.'"
"But these two things are basically invisible in this anime. At least in the second half, you won't see this kind of stuff."
"Egoism is the theme of this show. Even for the protagonist, Isagi Yoichi, when the coach was rambling on about 'all for one, one for all,' the resistance in his heart was already very obvious."
Fanshi sat in front of his computer, speaking eloquently to the camera.
"Overall, my impression after watching the first episode is quite good. The production is excellent; it doesn't look like it's lacking funds. I hope they can keep it up. The theme of 'soccer + battle royale' is very novel."
"And then there's this character. I think everyone should pay close attention to him."
Fanshi dragged the playback bar back to the opening match between Ichinan and Kokuo. On the screen, Tendou was flying like a beam of light, first breaking up the opponent's one-on-one chance, then sprinting 70 meters to score Ichinan High's first goal.
"A completely different art style. While everyone else is still playing soccer properly, this person named Tendou has already started playing with superpowers."
"I know this is an exaggerated animation technique to express a character's ability, but the visual impact it gave me was still very strong."
"Did you all notice these details? Tendou's dribbling ability isn't actually that strong; he kicks the ball 10 meters away with one touch, but in the end, he still catches up to it."
"This means this character's talent is exceptionally outstanding, with explosive athletic ability."
"And then there's the part where he enters Blue Lock, Ego Jinpachi's brief memory flashback."
"Although it was a fleeting image, it showed Tendou's motivation for playing soccer. He used to play basketball, and the reason he switched to soccer was because he was too invincible."
"So, everyone can definitely look forward to the character of Tendou Kageyoshi in the future. He's different from the protagonist, Isagi Yoichi. Much of Tendou's portrayal is more subtle, telling you what kind of person he is bit by bit through small clues."
Fanshi carefully shared his discoveries with his audience. As an uploader in the animation section, his greatest strength was discovering details that ordinary viewers might not notice.
"The information given in the first episode is just right, not too much, not too little. Let's look forward to the plot development together. A theme like this, similar to a battle royale, will definitely not be as simple as just playing soccer. There will certainly be many more rich designs later on."
As he spoke, Fanshi dragged the progress bar again.
In the animation, the monster on Tendou's body suddenly swept out, almost swallowing Bachira Meguru. Then, he dodged the incoming soccer ball, got up to chase it, and volleyed the ball at Kuon Wataru.
"Your life ends here."
So cool!
Fanshi clicked the bookmark button without hesitation.
The coolest scenes in the first episode so far all came from Tendou, which had attracted a lot of attention to him.
Tendou closed the virtual screen. He could see that the speed of his popularity point collection was already accelerating.
"But how should I build my persona?"
The domineering aspect couldn't be changed; it had already become a habit for him. Just like a certain actor, after playing too many overbearing CEO roles, he had become a "greasy king."
In Kuroko's Basketball, he could get away with it because the character archetypes were more diverse. But in Blue Lock, it was somewhat repetitive. There were too many soccer maniacs in here.
A yasashii (kind) persona was out of the question. In this show, not even the protagonist Isagi played that role; it would make him a complete outlier. A pseudo-yasashii persona could be considered. Contrasted with all the maniacs, it would make him stand out more. There are many cruel moments in Blue Lock, so he could put on an act when those useless guys get eliminated.
"I'll act like this for now."
With a plan in mind, Tendou left his room and went to the field to practice again. The match against Itoshi Sae a week ago, his opponent's exquisite footwork had been a real eye-opener. A youth academy player had already reached that level, so what about professional-level players? He knew that later in the original story, there would be opportunities to play against professional players.
...
'He's here, bro!' 'I'm first!' 'Do you know how I've spent this past week? Do you?!' 'You just meme all day, you think you're Tony Leung? Can you even speak Mandarin?'
A week had passed in the real world, but only a few minutes had passed for Tendou. The plot of Blue Lock was very fast-paced. The program was only six months long and included several "test" phases.
The second episode began with the members of Team Z crazily lifting weights. Kuon Wataru's elimination had made them realize that the mushroom-headed Ego Jinpachi was serious and not joking with them. Those who were eliminated would really be forever barred from the national team. The invitation letters were all issued by the JFU. Whether they could be selected for the national team or not, wasn't it up to the JFU to decide? Otherwise, how could a spot on the national team have a price tag?
"Where's Tendou?"
Isagi finished a round of training, looked around, but didn't see his teammate.
"He left after finishing the physical assessment. He's probably on the field now," Bachira Meguru said with a smile as he walked over. He admired Isagi's choice at the last moment, giving up the easy target Igarashi Gurimu and instead choosing to challenge a stronger person. He was happy to play soccer with someone like that. And of course, there was Tendou. Bachira felt he had finally met his own kind.
"Are you looking for him? Let's go together."
"Oh, okay."
Isagi nodded in agreement, though he felt that Bachira was a very strange person.
Before long, they arrived at the field and, sure enough, saw Tendou practicing various drills.
"Tendou, you really are here."
"Isagi? Just in time. I was about to practice my shooting. You can help me get the ball."
Alright then.
Isagi had originally wanted to rest for a while, but since Tendou said so, he could only agree.
Soon, the sound of the soccer ball hitting the net, swish, swish, swish, could be heard on the field.
Seeing this, Isagi suddenly thought of the hysterical expression on Kuon Wataru's face after he was eliminated. He couldn't help but ask, "Tendou, what were you thinking when you eliminated that guy, Kuon?"
"I was using my brain to think."
"Ah, that's not what I mean. I'm asking... did you feel any guilt?" he asked cautiously, because he had once fallen for Tendou's act. Then he realized that if he had been the one to eliminate the higher-ranked Kuon, he would have felt incredibly satisfied.
"Yes."
"I knew it... Huh?"
Isagi's eyes widened, and he stared at Tendou in surprise.
Tendou took the ball and stepped on it. He said, "The feeling of burying someone else's dream with my own hands isn't good."
"Isagi, why do you work so hard at soccer?"
"Me? Of course, it's to become the best striker in the world, just like Noel Noa. That's my reason for coming here."
"He's the same as you."
"Eh?"
"Kuon Wataru is the same as you. He also stepped onto the Blue Lock bus with a similar dream." Tendou played with the ball with his right foot, his expression not great, perfectly feigning a deep sense of guilt. After all, he was an old actor with "works" to his name.
Tendou kicked the ball into the goal before saying, "So that feeling isn't particularly good."
'Hey, I didn't expect that. Tendou is actually a pretty nice guy.'
'Me too. I saw him on his killing spree in the first episode, I thought he was a super cold person.'
'This is a typical case of a cold face but a warm heart, right?'
'I'm suddenly starting to like Tendou!'
...
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