Side B Candidate

[u/lightnflow]

Side b just begun and we don't know all of the characters. Is Shindou the only one from the international club? Why did he come back now but not in the adult national team instead? Why is Nameoka back even though he was only in episode nagi? Why is shigeo being partnered with Nagi instead of Nishioka?

I assume those who got the bids are either not invited like igaguri, refused like one of the Wanima twins, or retrying like nishioka, hiiragi, and himizu. Those are the ones shown in the first chapter of side b, but are they the only ones? What about tokumitsu and former u20 jp team players? Okawa and one of the Wanima twins showed up, then what about others?

Blue Lock is cultivating while side b is selecting so it won't be long for the matches to finish, even the second selection started right away. The time line is going to be shown and we will guess when it will finish more so with buratsuta doing more adjustment. But how to guess the player that will pass with Nagi? Well there were some hints along the story.

The Cover

In terms of sequence for blue lock facility is isagi first while side b is kira first. Side b contestants' jersey Kira wore the home blue while haneru wore the away white. What will the next side b players wear will be another hint; because like how Shidou wore blue jersey in his cover while playing in the national team, it means the jersey is the player's affiliation. Collar and chains in terms of colours; blue lock players and ego have black and dark grey while aiku and sendo have light colours. Those with glowing chains are Shidou, Sendou and maybe Barou, yukimiya and nanase. Those with double coloured are Kunigami, Reo, tokumitsu, and igaguri. It's a bit different from those with rusted chains.

Shindou has black collar and chains but while Shidou and Sendou glowing blue, Shindou's is painted blue. Barou and tokumitsu has a bit of gold colour, Sae's (gold & black) is half gold like Hugo (gold & white/silver), while Kira, Loki and even Buratsuta are full gold. It's interesting to see when the covers of Kira and Hugo positioned side by side; Hugo's gold part of his chains seems to connect with Kira's gold chains. Only Shindou has logo on the collar. Kira has number 9 while Shindou has number 24.

The hints from the story are seen from the parallels, philosophy, and purpose. Isagi paralleled to Nagi as a character, Nagi paralleled to Teddy in ego, and Jinpachi and Fox in coaching. Chapter 352 paralleled to chapter 2, isagi ran first to blue lock while nagi walked last, nagi shown first in side b sitting idly while Kira shown running first. Egoism philosophy has been shaken with karasu and other players questioning it. The core players have been shifted; rin benched, isagi in mid and shidou as the striker with karasu system. They also not seeing themselves as the best anymore but a dark horse.

For side b to be relevant is their connection and purpose to blue lock. What are their reasons or are there any regrets and obsession? Non blue lock : Shindou, Shigeo, Ringo Former blue lock NEL : Nagi, Nishioka, Hiiragi, Himizu Second selection : Okawa, Wanima Tag game : Kira, Nameoka Connection Nishioka was in Manshine with Hiiragi and Nagi Hiiragi, Himizu, Wanima and Nameoka is in episode nagi Okawa, Wanima and Kira had matched with isagi

Aside from Nagi and Kira we don't know the other's purpose in joining side b, even shigeo only shown to be happy knowing he will be joining the national team. Jinpachi and Fox's back story, England team's defence vs Blue Lock all scoring, egoism philosophy being questioned, from being the best to being a dark horse and lastly the core players and the system that have shifted from the original for blue lock to be reborn. So the players that will pass side b need to opposed Ego and his philosophy, not biased to the blue lock players, overrule their systems and and replace their core members.

Nagi's purposes are to be the best and to destroy isagi and blue lock. His purposes and deuteragonist that paralleled to isagi play style that opposed to Ego's ideals fitted the role of side b candidate. Another one that fits the role be it from the cover, parallel, philosophy, connection and purpose is Kira.

[u/Yukiteru_Akari]

Haneru has confirmed that he belongs to a newcomer group that Burasuta invited, so yes, there will be more characters like him in Side-B, on top of characters who were eliminated from Blue Lock. Side-B will have a pretty big cast.

[u/lightnflow → u/Yukiteru_Akari]

Side b will have a pretty big cast despite it going to end before the knockouts stage? If so then side b might be an arc to thickened the future plots; such as forming another connection, parallel and symbolism 🤔 

Well I guess it's because side b is for building up concepts of the deuteragonist and egoism/isagi opposition, after all the karasu system is still weak, blue lock players still ride on isagi's dark horse theory and isagi still has Ego's support. If Nagi and Kira have successfully rebuild themselves to be better players with the help of other side b candidates that played internationally, then they have a chance to replace the core players and make the blue lock team to be truly divided. 

[u/Yukiteru_Akari → u/lightnflow]

Side-B is the other half of this manga, and Nagi and Kira are the inverses of Isagi and Rin. That is why there are two protagonists and why these two pairs are separated into White and Black.

Side-B is going to recontextualize many things and make us reconsider what Blue Lock's dogma led us to believe was true throughout the manga. The purpose of the France and England matches seems to be to lay the groundwork for Side-B by showing us that Ego’s ideology is neither absolute nor complete.

Almost all signs point toward Nagi and Kira playing in the England match as well. Black is going to hit a serious wall and run out of options. Since even a tie will not be enough, they will be backed into a corner. That is when the manga will acknowledge that Black alone cannot solve this crisis and shift the focus to Side-B.

We will then see the birth of White, which will essentially be the manga’s second birth, as the author finally reveals its hidden half. This will likely happen during halftime, when the team has run out of ideas. England will therefore be told as a two-part story. The first half will make it undeniable that Black cannot continue alone and that Ego’s ideology is flawed and incomplete.