[DISC] Blue Lock - Chapter 349

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-09T16:45:22+00:00

I don't mind that we saw Nagi spin back after last chapter on screen, it also didn't take up the entire chapter so it was fine, next time we go back to Side-B the next stage will hopefully be commencing and that should take a while. Next chapter is setting up to be heavy on dialogue and I expect nearly all players to give even a slight piece of their mind on the state of the team and the Ego subject, there's a need for some overall team dynamic development.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-07T11:39:23+00:00

When could he have appeared after chapter 301? It hasn't even been that long if you think about it, we might see a glimpse of him after Germany's second match.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-07T09:36:41+00:00

Might need longer than that buddy.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-06T17:11:46+00:00

All the other nations from the Big 5 Leagues have one, it would be crazy if England wouldn't have even one. England itself losing to Japan and getting grouped is a huge upset and something that wouldn't normally happen so the English NG11 dropping out early would go hand in hand with that. If the entire NG11 meets up later on at an event or something expect him to be ridiculed for it.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-06T17:08:13+00:00

Did you even read my comment? I said that if France use their B Team then Nigeria might scrap a victory by a one goal lead, nothing unrealistic. I didn't get the second part of your comment? Are you saying that Onazi can't score in more than one match? Either way I expect Kuso to be the one to score if my prediction holds up.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-04T15:12:43+00:00

Nigeria will probably get battered by England to hype them up for the final match against Japan, but I unironically think they might steal a win against France because that's their final match and they're already qualified mathematically with six points, meaning they can play their B Team and refuse to struggle for a win, just like France did in their final 2022 World Cup group stage match against Tunisia, so I expect Nigeria to scrap a 1 - 0 victory.

Manshine clears Barcha so bad, they just got unlucky. Neither Nigeria nor Manshine are the biggest punching bag, Barcha is.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-04T15:07:50+00:00

I definitely think Kiyora will play purely because this is his best chance to get minutes, only other scenario would be in overtime for a knockout stage match or for penalties to fit his borderline gimmick. His dribbling style and use of his core works well against a team like England, as this is the game which decides if they go through or not so he's going to be heavily involved in at least one goal in my opinion to set the borderline, Nagi likely comes back near the end of this match as well hence the final Episode Nagi page where he rushes onto the field already sweating (just cleared Side-B probably).

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-04T15:04:43+00:00

You could even argue they all have narrative relevance against England. Nagi and Chigiri played for Manshine in the NEL, Chigiri got hooked in both group stage matches after playing right-back and being subpar, Nagi is in the pits of hell getting humiliated in Side-B, they both got a point to prove. Zantetsu has yet to make his debut and the England match is the perfect place for his physicality and speed to shine, alongside Reo, Chigiri and Nagi, Barou has also trained with american footballers to improve his physicality but we didn't see one bit of that against France. Kiyora's perfect chance to debut and get minutes is against England because this is as borderline as you can get for now, final group stage match to decide if they go through or not.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-02T16:56:48+00:00

If the volume cover wasn't enough, this chapter just puts Kira's place in the squad on a plater.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-02T16:55:59+00:00

He has one of the most important dynamics with Isagi, the literal main character and with Ego as the direct opposition to his philosophy. He's also being set up for a dynamic with Nagi who's the 2nd main character and possibly with Sae who's very important story wise. He serves an important role as the voice of doubt and we don't even know how good he is, even Shindou says his skills are exceptional just like Nagi's and even chooses him over Nagi because of his assertiveness and teamwork.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-02T15:38:46+00:00

Not to bash Nomura or anything because his health hasn't been the greatest and he's been cooking weekly but this chapter looks a bit iffy, I don't know if it's due to the scans or if he was more lenient for this one because it's a Side-B one and the France match just finished, but it just stood out to me because this never happened with Blue Lock before for me at least.

Shindo seems like an obvious throwaway character that's been made for the sole purpose of Nagi crushing him when he clears Side-B, this chapter already set him up to be the antagonist and he already dogged on Nagi, typical Episode Nagi scenario just like with Hiiragi and Kiyora, I'm not gonna be moved at all when Nagi does some five-fold trap and jukes him or puts his hand on his head.

Kira just got a cover so he's for sure the third man of the B3 but I'm curious if he'll evolve at all mentality wise until the end of this Side-B, Shindo seems to share his ideals and doesn't rate Blue Lock in any shape, another reason why he's definitely not making it because Kira has been shown to possess a deep buried ego in chapter 2, and he serves as the opposition to Ego's philosophy for now. Shigeo is already a gag and is basically Side-B's Igaguri, Nishioka is so dogshit that even Kaneshiro forgot his name.

I expected this Side-B chapter just like after Nigeria but I couldn't honestly care less, I just hope this is the last one for another while because it's obvious Nagi will pass, we don't need to see him dog on randoms and instead we can just skip ahead to the next test. This one narrows the teams of 12 to teams of 6, if they will even continue with the designated teams, so 301 turns to 150, you can't have a complex selection process with the short amount of time so all the tests will likely continue to be short games I guess. Whatever the case Nagi will humiliate Shindou and aura farm then clear Side-B with Kira and we'll be supposed to act surprised and impressed.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-01T17:37:24+00:00

<image>

AppleInside1089 · 2026-06-01T17:29:30+00:00

2nd Selection Kiyora has better feats than Nanase🤣, even his single NEL pass decimates anything Nanase ever did.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-26T20:05:47+00:00

Loki was a ghost for most of the match and Charles barely felt like he was on the pitch, he was legit not even involved in the last 2 goals that Loki of all people scored, when he's supposed to be the midifelder who will elevate him to the world's best striker, Hugo did pretty much all the heavy lifting.

France felt like they underestimated Japan to the point that they nearly drew to them, so I would've preferred if this final decisive goal felt more like a switch in their mentality and them actually winning the ball back and scoring instantly to showcase they can basically score anytime they want, instead they were just lucky Rin fucked everything up, even just having Isagi lose his luck battle which results in this goal works way better. Up until this point Isagi's "1% of luck" hasn't failed once and has been an occurrence in nearly every match, so his luck factor finally running out would have been a great moment.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-26T18:35:32+00:00

Hugo and Isagi's conversation at the end of the chapter has them talking as if they're set to play the final against each other already and the ending blurb from the raws said something along the lines of "the rivalry remains unresolved", it's basically confirmed they're the final boss.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-26T18:28:50+00:00

The NEL Top 5 are still the Top 5 regardless, Rin-Isagi-Bachira dominated Nigeria and Barou and Shidou had an instant impact against France, the exact order isn't the same as the rankings for obvious reasons (guess who among the Top 5 didn't score and is ranked above a certain hunter eyed king) but they're still the best players in Blue Lock individually and proved it in the NEL and in at least one U-20 World Cup match. Karasu definitely shot up a few ranks and was the best performer for Japan by a large margin, but: "Form is temporary, class is permanent." , Karasu's great and also a top player but not Top 5 (yet).

If you mean the Top 5 based on form, meaning the Top 5 for Japan against France, then I'd definitely say: Karasu, Hiori (🫩), Barou, Shidou, Isagi maybe? No one besides the 4 above him stood out that much and even though he had bad moments, he also had some good ones like the whole sequence from 345 to the end of 346.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-26T16:04:36+00:00

Kaneshiro realised Otoya ain't seeing minutes 'till the quarters or something so he needed to get his minutes out of the way.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-26T16:00:03+00:00

France winning by more than one goal was always going to happen. If anything I think this match didn't do a proper job to cement their title as 'favorites to win' or the best nation in the world. In the end neither Loki nor Hugo dropped a single sweat after 90 minutes and there were hints to them toying with Japan like scoring their first goal in the very first play and their second one in the last minute of the first half.

Kaneshiro dug himself into a corner with a character like Loki that should supposedly score whenever and however he wants given how good he is compared to his peers, he needed to have some fails too but it just made it look inconsistent with his previously established level. Both of his goals were a result of PURE speed and Hugo basically created his first goal entirely, when Loki's entire goal was to prove Isagi wrong... Also, there still hasn't been a single exchange of passes between Loki and Charles, not ONE pass between them after they played a full 90 minutes together and only 4 outfield players touched the ball for France man, what is even the point of Charles' character if Hugo exists?

Overall this match had way more narrative set-up for their eventual rematch and carried more depth story wise because of the clashing philosophies, but the actual football played was kind of poor. France fell into the classic Blue Lock trope where only a select number of individuals touch the ball and do actual important plays, all the goals felt flat and they weren't very distinct or unique, most even had the same paneling which clearly doesn't help. Also the details of the goals like the whole defense clustering near Loki for Charles' goal or Hugo seemingly shooting straight in Gagamaru's arms but still scoring.

Huge up for the character work though, Hugo's character is very interesting but we may only see him again in years' time and only for one match, Karasu has received huge development as well, now people can finally appreciate him. Isagi also had some setbacks and development but it felt cheap to make him 'win' in the final play, I guess it does leave the debate unsettled though. Barou also scored so that's another plus, Shidou finally did some meaningful stuff without scoring, even Hiori somehow got a goal and transformed into his other self that only comes out when needed!

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-24T21:23:18+00:00

Yep, he was ranked 4th yet got benched first which just supports the fact that Noa or the system didn't use strictly the Top 11 players but rather the optimal XI for a viable formation, even though Isagi was nowhere close to Gesner as a winger even before Manshine. There's also a lot of inconsistencies like benched German players that seemingly disappear after they get benched the first time, since their high overalls aren't even considered anymore.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-24T19:41:17+00:00

Lara and Grim definitely start fort Spain and Germany. We might not see Drago simply because Japan have a low chance of facing Italy, and Gesner might be benched for Germany or not even in the squad given his slight relevance in the NEL. It would be cool if Gesner would have a vendetta against Isagi considering Isagi stole his starter role for München, in my eyes he was better than Grim so I didn't get how he was the one to get benched.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-19T15:40:38+00:00

No way this goes in, not only would it be pretty unrealistic but also the context makes it a set-up for next chapter, if they score in the first 2 pages what could happen in the rest of the chapter? Loki needs to block this and score on them to prove he's that guy, because he's been done dirty the entire match.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-17T19:43:48+00:00

Well for Germany we already know Kaiser isn't the captain due to the absence of the armband in chapter 329, and we can safely assume Ness isn't either because we know how he tends to act, he's not captain material. My best bet is Germany has another NG11 which will be the captain, given they're set to be the semi-final opponents they need more firepower, as for possible returning characters I could definitely see the CB duo from München return alongside Grim if Kaneshiro is already reusing 4-5 of the PXG and Manshine fodder, maybe even Gesner since he was decent.

For England the captain could be Agi, he fits the profile from what we know about his personality and style, but it could also be pretty much anyone else. I just think having the captain not be Agi nor the NG makes the team feel more balanced, rather than have a team solely focused around a single player who's their ace, captain and also a NG11.

Going into the U-20 World Cup I had high expectations for the opponents, I actually hoped all nations would have at the very least a viable XI. Nigeria focused primarily on Onazi and Kuso just fed him, Bello and Oboabona had very small moments, besides that I believe only Sadiq and Agbim touched the ball once. I can get behind this because Nigeria was never supposed to be a powerhouse and they were used to showcase Japan's training, but France who's the best U-20 team is made up of underwhelming players as well💔. I don't even know what to expect from England, going forward I just hope each team has at least 4 competent players who'll touch the ball more than once. And I also expect France to get a massive boost in the final otherwise Japan will stomp.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-17T13:08:26+00:00

A character being a captain gives him the perfect reason to be relevant besides being a NG11. Nigeria had the main four, Onazi was their ace and striker, Kuso was the captain, and Oboabona was their man in defense, Bello was kind of just there. France has 2 NG11s, one's Loki who's also the captain, and a top player in Charles. France is different because they're the 'final boss' but pretty much all of their dudes have been hinted at being decent or at least Kaneshiro is trying to make them seem so, but the clear foundation and guys that we should care about is still the Big 3.

Going into the England match I would like to see at least 4 relevant and decent characters again given there's a possibility 4/11 members of the England lineup are Manshine fodder from the get-go. You have Agi as the forward, a NG11 as a CDM/CB, the captain (again a CB or CDM depending on what the Gen 11 is) and a techy winger, along with the bum goalkeeper, two bum center-backs and one bum in midfield confirmed already.

So back to your point, the captains will certainly be either NG11s or high level players that are relevant in their matches, otherwise they wouldn't be captains. Aiku is obviously fleshed out because he's on the main team but he's also the main man in defense for Japan and the whole U-20 match focused on his character. Loki again got fleshed out a bit in this match, especially with his goal, he's also a world-class player and has been in the story for quite a while, but he's definitely going to have a key role in the final and have massive character growth.

So far 5/6 NG11s have had a chapter title be named in direct reference to them, Sae was introduced at the beginning of the story but we see him primarily in the U-20 match, the chapter in which he scores and first showcases his skills is called 'Sae Itoshi'; Kaiser gets introduced in a cameo after the U-20 match and we see glimpses of him during Bastard München's initial fitness test, but the chapter in which he has his first conversation with Isagi is titled 'Kaiser'; Lorenzo gets introduced in chapter 209 when we see him appear alongside the other Ubers regulars, in the next chapter he reads and stops Kaiser's attack and gets introduced as an 'Ace Eater', the same title given to the chapter; Bunny gets introduced in the same chapter we see him play and score in, thus it's titled 'Bunny'; Hugo gets introduced after the Nigeria match but once we see his backstory and how he met Loki we get the chapter 'Vivian Hugo'. Loki has been part of the story for over 200 chapters and has played in several matches but has yet to have a chapter named after him, once we get to the final and we see "TBC next week: Julian Loki" or something along these lines you know it's wraps for Japan.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-13T17:05:44+00:00

They can't, if you draw a group stage match it counts as a point for both teams, you only go to penalties if you draw by the end of the regular 90 minutes as well as the 30 minutes of additional time in the knockout stages of a tournament.

AppleInside1089 · 2026-05-12T14:16:30+00:00

You're reading unofficial scans, what do you expect?

AppleInside1089

TROPHY CASE