Blue Lock: The Movie stars explain why it\u2019s the ideal anime movie for the UEFA Euro 2024 CrunchyrollThe timing couldn\u2019t be better for Blue Lock: The Movie \u2013 Episode Nagi. Besides arriving during a boom in sports-related anime, the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is in full swing, so audiences are already football-obsessed. The new movie provides an entry point and fresh perspective on the beloved sports anime. Instead of Yoichi Isagi, we\u2019re following the eponymous Seishir\u014d Nagi, another hot shot in the Blue Lock programme vying for his chance on the international stage. His journey into the hardcore training regime, offering a slot on Japan\u2019s under-20s squad, is markedly different from Isagi\u2019s. Not a footie fan at all to start, it\u2019s only when enthusiastic rich kid Reo Mikage notices some fancy footwork and coerces him does he even humor the idea. Blue Lock: The Movie creates another football icon Episode Nagi, then, covers his descent into soccer obsession, as well as the pair\u2019s tricky relationship, since only one of them is getting that coveted prize. It\u2019s all to play for, and stars Bryson Baugus and Kamen Casey loved every second of getting to expand their roles. \u201cI was thrilled that we got more Reo Mikage. Selfishly, as an actor, I was just excited to be front and center \u2013 we\u2019re kind of off the bench,\u201d Casey, who voices Mikage, explains to Dexerto. \u201cI\u2019m super happy to be here.You\u2019re telling me, \u2018Oh, man, we get to star in this thing. Whoa, whoa, then this show must be blowing up!\u2019\u201d Although Nagi is the anime movie\u2019s namesake, Mikage brings the excitement, at least in the first half. Bored by his upper class life of privilege, the competitive, unpredictable nature of football gives him something to strive for and be excited about. Mikage and Nagi complete each other The term \u201cgolden retriever energy\u201d was used in the booth to describe Mikage\u2019s vibe, as apt a description as any, and it completely contrasts Nagi, who\u2019s soft spoken and resists physical effort at every turn. He\u2019s frequently underestimated, even though Nagi\u2019s more perceptive than most. \u201cWhat [English dub director] Jonathan Rigg helped me keep in mind, is that Nagi isn\u2019t quite so whiny throughout the entire thing, it\u2019s more he\u2019s got this curiosity,\u201d Baugus, who portrays Nagi, says. \u201cHe\u2019s alienated from the rest of the world around him. He\u2019s kind of aimless, but he\u2019s also kind of like this ghost, roaming through the halls, curious about the humans around him and everything, like seeing what makes people tick.\u201d The pair have a fun, flighty dynamic that makes them tricky opponents, as their fellow Blue Lock hopefuls learn. The film covers the entire first season, but focussing on their trials, offering old viewers greater understanding of the roster, and newer ones a jumping on point. Episode Nagi gave the cast a second chance Certain scenes were re-recorded, and both Baugus and Casey welcomed the chance to do more takes, emboldened by a feeling of \u201crecontextualizing\u201d the show so far. \u201cGetting some lines back from the first season, now having more insight in the character, and now even wanting to protect the character and understanding them more, I was really thrilled to be able to take a couple new cracks at it,\u201d Casey states. \u201cI really wish I had had that opportunity to go back and really incorporate more of Nagi\u2019s quirks and characteristics into the earlier scenes with him. This movie was just like the perfect opportunity to be able to do that,\u201d Baugus adds. Unlike a lot of typical anime heroes, such as Blue Lock\u2019s regular hero Isagi, or Tanjiro from Demon Slayer or Deku from My Hero Academia, Nagi doesn\u2019t think he needs to grow much at the start. To be fair, he\u2019s a cut above most on the pitch, but part of the sports movie is him learning he has to train and improve if he wants to win every time. Blue Lock shows talent won\u2019t win everything \u201c[Nagi\u2019s] an example of the person that\u2019s just effortlessly good at something, but showcasing that it can get you far,\u201d Baugus states. \u201cYou have to start putting in your own efforts and starting to find your own reasons for enjoying it.\u201d Without spoiling anything, once Nagi starts doing that, he and Mikage aren\u2019t quite so tight any more. There\u2019s a moment anyone who\u2019s read Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura\u2019s manga will know (Episode Nagi is an ongoing spin-off of Blue Lock, starting in 2022), but even if you\u2019re savvy, the execution hits like a punch to the gut. \u201cWhat I related to is [Nagi\u2019s] need to have his own dream. Having that, and it\u2019s going to happen this way, and the stubbornness we can have about trying to make that happen,\u201d Casey muses on a particularly heavy scene. \u201cThen when Nagi breaks free from Reo\u2019s idea of what the dream looks like, it completely folds them.\u201d An anime betrayal for the ages Casey gushes about getting to perform that twist, calling it \u201cbeautiful writing\u201d and \u201ca dream come true\u201d. It\u2019s the kind of scene where everyone flourishes; Taku Kishimoto\u2019s screenplay adapts the material perfectly, Jonathan Rigg understood what was needed in the dub, and Casey then finds the emotional nuance. Always in Nagi\u2019s corner \u2013 as he should be \u2013 Baugus points out what happens isn\u2019t out of malice, but \u201ccuriosity\u201d and a desire to have a more personal presence. However you read it, Nagi and Mikage have kicked off a rivalry that should permeate Blue Lock Season 2 and wherever the franchise goes after. In league with Haikyuu!! and Slam Dunk, Blue Lock further pushes our collective understanding of Shonen anime by pushing away from constant fights into intense team competition. The stakes are still there, they just aren\u2019t so literally life and death, as are the theatrics. \u201c[Blue Lock is] dog eat dog. This isn\u2019t holding hands and going through the finish line together. There can only be one,\u201d Casey explains. They\u2019ve done such a good job of doing the research on sports and how they were pulling quotes. You think of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, like all these people, they don\u2019t have counterparts. So how do you become that? How do you become that freaking great? What is it going to take?\u201d Sports anime are evolving Shonen ideas Baugus adds that the ensemble casts bring a sense of energy similar to some of the major combat-oriented franchises. \u201cIf any fans have had any hesitation about watching a sports show, and they love stuff like Jujutsu Kaisen or Dragon Ball, or any of the standard Shonen battle manga, they\u2019ll find it in the more team-focused shows like Haikyuu!!,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a team of protagonists versus a team of antagonists, and the stakes are presented in such a heightened way that it feels just as hype as Goku versus Vegeta.\u201d Or England vs France or Germany vs Spain, or any of the other matches in the UEFA Euro 2024. Blue Lock: The Movie \u2013 Episode Nagi keenly looks at the kind of drive that gets players into those championships, one of an elite club who get to represent their country around the world. I ask who Baugus and Casey support, and they\u2019re united in backing the USA, but second would be Japan. Could Blue Lock inspire the next striker for either country? They could really disrupt the expected order of things. \u201c10 years from now, Blue Lock will hopefully inspire enough American and Japanese players that we\u2019ll see a finals with them two against each other,\u201d Baugus says. In the meantime, we have the film, and that\u2019s plenty. Blue Lock: The Movie \u2013 Episode Nagi is in cinemas now. You can read our breakdown of the Blue Lock: The Movie ending if you want to go deeper on what\u2019s next, and we have an upcoming anime list for other releases to keep up with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blue Lock: The Movie stars explain why it\u2019s the ideal anime movie for the UEFA Euro 2024 CrunchyrollThe timing couldn\u2019t be better for Blue Lock: The Movie \u2013 Episode Nagi. Besides arriving during a boom in sports-related anime, the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is in full swing, so audiences are already football-obsessed. The new movie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}