This article contains spoilers from the Blue Lock manga series.Blue Lock’s soccer program targeted at developing the best striker in the world to lead Japan tovictory at the FIFA World Cuphas unearthed many egotistical players. This development leads the titular protagonist, Isagi Yoichi, to reach heights he could only dream of while he was still Ichinan High School’s ace. He started his journey as the 299th-ranked player in Team Z for the First Selection and slowly worked his way up to the top as he continued striving to be the sole survivor of the program.
Following the match between Blue Lock Eleven and Japan U-20, he was ranked as one ofthe program’s best playersand later recruited by Bastard Munchen to play in the Neo Egoist League. Among all of the weapons Isagi employs to dominate his opponents on the pitch, his Metavision is the most prominent, but how exactly does it work?
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Metavision Is An Extension Of Isagi’s Spatial Awareness
Isagi is a striker, but unlike other strikers, he is willing to let someone else take the shot if he believes they have a better chance of scoring it, as evidenced by his introduction in thehigh school tournament, where he gave the last-minute opportunity to a teammate who fluffed it and cost them the game, instead of taking it on himself. As a Ramdeuter, which is the German word for Space Interpreter or Space Investigator, Isagi constantly tries to exploit the half-spaces available between the midfield and the defense to his favor.
As a result, he is a limited dribbler but is very good at controlling the ball and effectively setting up the ball for a high-quality pass or shot. Fans who are familiar with European soccer know that Thomas Muller is an extremely accurate real-life example of this role and profile. Isagi’s spatial awareness in conjunction with his high soccer IQ and skillset, lets him scan the field and create high-quality plays for his teammates and himself. It also lets him analyzehis teammates and opponent’s skillsetso he can make accurate predictions, envision the best play, and execute it regardless of the difficulty and quality of his opponents. There are other players with spatial awareness inBlue Lock,but Isagi’s is the best, without a doubt, allowing him to override the vision of the others and deceive them by making them play right into his hands.
How Does Isagi’s Metavision Work?
By scanningthe soccer pitchby continuously rotating his head to the sides and utilizing both his central and peripheral vision, Isagi can see the playing field in a way nobody else can. He can simultaneously visualize every player, their plays, and their positions on the field. Prior to activating this ability, Isagi’s high brain capacity only processed a few plays at a time, but with access to all the information of the plays being executed on the pitch, it allows his brain to run at max capacity, bringing out his full potential. This is what sets him apart from other players like Niko Ikki and Hiori Yo, who are also good users of Metavision but do not possess as much soccer IQ as Isagi.
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Isagi’s first demonstration of Metavision was the five-on-five Third Selection match between Team A featuring Nanase Nijirou, Hiori Yo, and himself against Team B featuring Shiguma Kyohei, Sara-Madara Kairu, and Chigiri Hyoma. During the match, Isagi struggled to influence the game before noticing that Hiori Yo constantly turned his face everywhere, gathering information and asserting the situation of the whole field while calmly forming passes with Rin. After going down 4-3 and backed into a corner, Isagi rose to the occasion as usual, displaying his ability to make the right plays, stealing the ball from Karasu through his blindspot which led to a goal to tie the game, before ending the game by using his instincts to get on the end of a cross through acrowd of physically gifted playersbefore smashing it home.
Isagi uses Metavision in two major ways, namely Meta Burst Point and Egocentrism. The Meta Burst Point allows him to visualize and predict the critical play in an opponent’s setup, giving him the chance to swoop in at the last minute and break down their attack by tackling the opponentand stealing theball or intercepting the pass. This skill was on full display in the match against Manshine City in the Neo Egoist League.
On the other hand, Egocentrism lets Isagi connect to players on a much more personal level. While using his Metavision, he can discern the motivation behind the playstyle of every player on the pitch. This allows him to understand the players better, allowing him to create better chances for his team and himself by utilizing his teammates' profiles. It also comes in handy on the defensive end, with him studying his opponents and breaking down their plays by effectively predicting and defending even plays that would originally be considered miraculous, based on the play style of the person on the ball, as opposed to general team play like explained in the Meta Burst Point above. However,even prodigies likeMicheal Kaiser cannot use Metavision for the whole duration of a match, as it can be quite mentally taxing, so it will be imperative for Isagi to understand when to activate it.
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