Blue Lock turned the anime sports genre on its head this last season with its unique take on a teamwork-focused sport: screw the team I want goals. The premise was quite different and it had a rocky start in the beginning thanks to an over reliance on said premise and a bit of edgy DARKNESS taking the front and center over character development, but after the series settled into a comfortable pace with its character building, the writing was quickly able to shine and build a one of a kind atmosphere for itself. After watching the entire thing, I’m definitely a fan of the series and hope to see a continuation down the road. Well, it looks like some people couldn’t wait for the next season and decided to take the Blue Lock spirit to the next level with a real soccer tournament. The tournament somewhat followed the rules of the 3v3 portion of the anime and took place in LA.

This is the kind of thing that warms my weeb heart. Growing up as a kid, I always tried to think of ways to bring anime stuff into the real world. I’d make up my own scenarios in my head and act them out, or try to construct games reminiscent of the action/combat in the series. Of course since I’m a dumb seven year old trying to bring anime into the real world, you can rest assured that my attempts were utterly terrible and never caught on with anyone other than my imaginary friends. Still to this day I can’t help but be happy to see kids running around yelling “DEKU SMASH” or doing the classic Naruto run. Sure they look very stupid, but that childlike imagination of almost believing you’re actually in the anime is something to be cherished I’d say. And this Blue Lock competition is the exact kind of real world anime adjacent event that would have my heart pumping. From excitement and from making a fool of myself on the field that is. I’m not sure what age range this was targeted for, likely not kids, but man as a young guy I would of loved to binge some Blue Lock and then play some real world soccer and try to hopelessly incorporate some of the anime’s techniques and moments into my playstyle with friends by my side.

PUT ME IN COACH! I'm ready to do another anime original tactic baby!

I feel like this sort of thing happens way more often in Japan. A lot of times I’ll see some event taking place that is associated with an anime, like a dance, archery, or basketball event where the theme is from an established franchise. Oftentimes that sounds like a match made in heaven, supposing you don’t have any diehard weebs show up who lack the social skills to really be attending such a get together. Regardless, I still appreciate these types of gatherings even if I don’t participate, and I hope generations can experience real world anime-themed events for years to come. Did you watch Blue Lock? Have you ever played soccer? Would you attend an event if it was tied to an anime you enjoyed? Put on some cleats, don that uniform, and climb to the top of the tournament using very practical, totally reliable anime techniques in the comments below!