After Japan crashes out of another World Cup, the Japan Football Union hires an eccentric coach named Jinpachi Ego to fix the national team's biggest problem: no true striker. His answer is Blue Lock, a sealed training facility for the 300 best high school forwards in the country. Only one will become Japan's striker. Anyone eliminated can never play for the national team again.
The series' big idea is that a great striker has to be selfish, an "egoist" willing to shoot when passing is safer. So every character is built around a different kind of ego, and a "weapon" that makes them dangerous. This guide covers the characters by the stage of the story where they matter most, from the underdogs of Team Z to the professionals of the Neo Egoist League, then lists every main name A–Z.
- Story
- Muneyuki Kaneshiro
- Art
- Yusuke Nomura
- Manga
- Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha), since 2018
- Anime
- 8bit, season one 2022–23, season two 2024
- Spin-off
- Blue Lock: Episode Nagi (manga and 2024 film)
Team Z: the underdogs
Team Z starts as the worst-ranked team in Isagi's building, a collection of players nobody rated. Most of the main cast comes from here, and the first selection is about them learning to win as individuals who happen to share a pitch.
Yoichi Isagi
Protagonist · Forward
Isagi enters Blue Lock haunted by a moment from his school's prefectural final: he passed instead of shooting, and they lost. He has no obvious physical gift. His weapon is how he sees the pitch: spatial awareness that grows into "Metavision," a near-overhead read of every player's position and intent, plus a sharp direct shot. His defining trait is that he learns by stealing and "devouring" other players' strengths. That makes him the story's best example of what Ego means by an egoist.
Meguru Bachira
Dribbler
Bachira is a cheerful, eccentric dribbler who talks about the "monster" inside him, the instinct that tells him where to go. As a child his style of play made him an outsider, and he's been looking for someone who can play on his wavelength ever since. He's Isagi's first friend in Blue Lock, and their partnership and rivalry is one of the series' best threads.
Hyoma Chigiri
Speedster
Chigiri was a sprinting prodigy whose knee injury made him afraid to run at full speed again, and he arrives at Blue Lock half-ready to quit. Learning to trust his speed, which is the fastest in the facility, gives him one of the early series' clearest arcs. He's also prickly, vain about his long red hair, and devastating on the break.
Rensuke Kunigami
Power striker
Kunigami is a muscular forward with a cannon of a left foot who wants to be a "hero" for the people watching. He's the most decent person in the building, which the program punishes. After a hard elimination, he returns through a secret Wild Card system, colder and stronger. His transformation is one of Blue Lock's darker turns.
Jingo Raichi
Defender at heart
Raichi is loud, angry and convinced he's the best player in the room. Over time he finds his value in tireless defensive work, and he becomes a fierce supporter of his teammates.
Gin Gagamaru
Flexible athlete
Gagamaru is a calm, bizarrely flexible player who seems to bend in impossible directions. He moves into goal and becomes one of Blue Lock's most useful keepers.
Gurimu Igarashi (Igaguri)
Comic relief
Igaguri is a shaven-headed player from a temple family who wants to escape the monk's life. He's loud, cowardly and endearing, and he's never far from a comic scene.
Wataru Kuon
Team Z's turncoat
Kuon is a charismatic midfielder who rallies Team Z and then betrays it, a lesson for everyone about trust in Blue Lock.
Yudai Imamura
Quick forward
Imamura is a fast, flirty player who's useful in a crowd. He's one of the Team Z regulars.
Asahi Naruhaya
Forward
Naruhaya is a quick-reacting attacker who pounces on loose balls. He's a member of the original Team Z.
Okuhito Iemon
Goalkeeper
Iemon is a big, quiet member of the original Team Z who rarely gets the spotlight but fills in wherever he's needed.
Rivals from the selections
As the selections go on, Isagi meets the geniuses ranked above him. The second selection lets players pick teammates, and the lineups that come out of it decide who makes the cut. These are the rivals who define the anime.
Rin Itoshi
Blue Lock's top-ranked player
Rin is ranked first in the facility for most of the early story. He's cold, clinical and furious at his older brother Sae, who abandoned their shared dream of becoming the world's best striker. Rin has near-perfect technique and vision, and he plays with a destructive edge that grows as Isagi pushes him. His rivalry with Isagi becomes the centre of the series.
Seishiro Nagi
Genius ball control
Nagi is a lazy, gaming-obsessed genius who only took up football because Reo talked him into it. He can trap any ball, from any angle, dead. After losing to Isagi, he wants to win for the first time in his life, and he walks away from his partnership with Reo to chase that feeling. His story gets its own spin-off, Episode Nagi.
Reo Mikage
All-rounder
Reo is the heir to a vast corporation and has had everything except something he wanted badly. He found that in Nagi. He's an all-rounder who can copy other players' moves, and Nagi choosing someone else leaves him furious and lost. Rebuilding his identity apart from Nagi becomes his arc.
Shoei Barou
The "King"
Barou is a hulking, imperious striker who considers every other player a servant and refuses to pass. His arc is one of the series' best. He's forced into the role of a supporting player, and he rebuilds his ego as a predator who devours the opportunities others create. He's also strangely fussy about manners and rules.
Ryusei Shidou
Explosive wild card
Shidou is chaotic, crude and brilliant: an acrobatic finisher who sees goals as moments of pure pleasure. He's Rin's nemesis, and he's the player most likely to do something impossible.
Tabito Karasu
Analytical forward
Karasu is a sharp-tongued, Kansai-speaking tactician who reads opponents' strengths and dismantles them. He's patient and opportunistic, the kind of player who wins by making you play badly.
Eita Otoya
Stealth runner
Otoya is a laid-back player who moves off the ball almost unseen. He's Karasu's frequent partner.
Kenyu Yukimiya
Dribbler · Model
Yukimiya is a composed, glasses-wearing dribbler who also works as a model. He plays with a quiet intensity that comes from a private fear of losing his sight.
Jyubei Aryu
Aerial specialist
Aryu is tall, theatrical and obsessed with being "stylish." He dominates in the air and was among the top three when the second selection began.
Aoshi Tokimitsu
Physical powerhouse
Tokimitsu is a gloomy, anxious player who spirals into panic between moments of overwhelming physical power. He's another member of the second selection's top three.
Zantetsu Tsurugi
Team V speedster
Zantetsu is a fast, earnest forward from Team V who isn't the brightest player on the pitch. He's the butt of many jokes and a reliable runner.
Yo Hiori
Playmaker
Hiori is a gifted passer and all-rounder who grew up under pressure from athlete parents. He comes into his own once he plays alongside Isagi.
Ranze Kurona
Support runner
Kurona is a shark-toothed, polite player who repeats himself and specialises in pinpoint, rapid-fire combination play.
Ikki Niko
Defensive midfielder
Niko is a defensive player who, like Isagi, reads the field from above. That makes him an awkward mirror for Isagi to overcome.
Japan U-20 and the Itoshi brothers
The second anime season pits the Blue Lock Eleven against Japan's U-20 national team in a match that decides whether the program survives. The U-20 side brings in two of the most important characters in the series.
Sae Itoshi
Japan's prodigy midfielder
Sae is Rin's older brother. He left for Spain as a teenager, discovered he wasn't good enough to be the world's best striker, and turned himself into a midfielder of brutal precision. He is blunt to the point of cruelty and disdains Japanese football. His contempt for his brother's dream drives Rin. On the pitch he and Shidou form a frightening partnership.
Oliver Aiku
U-20 captain · Defender
Aiku is a laid-back, flirty centre-back and Japan's best defender, who seems to see attacks before they start. He is a wall Blue Lock's strikers have to break through, and he grows to respect them.
The Neo Egoist League and world-class players
After the U-20 match, Blue Lock invites five top European clubs to train its players and runs a league where every player gets a market value. The professionals introduced here are Blue Lock's next level of rivals.
Michael Kaiser
Bastard München striker
Kaiser is a German striker with a blue rose tattoo, a ferocious shot known as the "Kaiser Impact" and a habit of taking credit for everything. He treats Isagi as a servant. Isagi's attempt to steal his place is the big rivalry of the Neo Egoist League.
Alexis Ness
Bastard München playmaker
Ness is a "magician" midfielder whose whole game is built around making Kaiser shine. He's devoted, petulant and very hostile to Isagi for interfering.
Noel Noa
The world's best striker
Noa is the striker Isagi idolises, and the series calls him the best in the world. He plays for and coaches Bastard München. He's ruthless about results and shows almost no emotion, a model of the egoist Ego wants to create.
Julian Loki
PXG's young star
Loki is a French striker with breathtaking speed. He's treated as one of the best young players in the world and the ceiling for Blue Lock's fastest players, Chigiri above all.
Chris Prince
Manshine City
An English superstar who coaches Manshine City with relentless positivity and believes physical training is everything.
Lavinho
FC Barcha
A Brazilian dribbling genius who plays for pure fun, and the natural teacher for Bachira.
Marc Snuffy
Ubers
A tactical Italian master who runs his club like a precision machine.
Don Lorenzo
Ubers defender
A menacing, metal-toothed defender who specialises in shutting down star strikers.
The coaches
Jinpachi Ego
Creator of Blue Lock
Ego is a gaunt, bespectacled coach who lectures players about ego, death and evolution from a monitor room. He despises Japan's culture of team harmony and wants to create a striker who lives for goals. His speeches are half genius, half provocation, and the players never know which.
Anri Teieri
JFU staff · Ego's partner
Anri is a young Japan Football Union employee who brought Ego in because she wants Japan to win the World Cup. She fights for the program against the union's sceptical bosses.
Japanese voice cast
8bit's anime gathered a strong Japanese cast. Here are the voices of the main players.
| Character | Japanese voice |
|---|---|
| Yoichi Isagi | Kazuki Ura |
| Meguru Bachira | Tasuku Kaito |
| Seishiro Nagi | Yuma Uchida |
| Rensuke Kunigami | Yuki Ono |
| Hyoma Chigiri | Soma Saito |
| Rin Itoshi | Kensho Ono |
| Shoei Barou | Junichi Suwabe |
| Jinpachi Ego | Hiroshi Kamiya |
For more on Japanese voice casting, see our voice acting guide.
Every main player's "weapon"
Ego asks every player to find the one thing they do better than anyone else. Reading a character by their weapon is the quickest way to understand where they fit.
| Player | Weapon | Type of ego |
|---|---|---|
| Isagi | Spatial awareness, Metavision, direct shot | Devouring others' strengths |
| Bachira | Dribbling | Pure instinct |
| Nagi | Trapping and ball control | Raw talent |
| Chigiri | Top speed | Pride |
| Kunigami | Left-footed power shot | Heroism, then survival |
| Rin | All-round precision | Destructive rivalry |
| Barou | Physicality and dribbling to shoot | Kingship |
| Reo | Copying techniques | Ambition |
| Shidou | Acrobatic finishing | Pleasure |
| Kaiser | The Kaiser Impact shot | Domination |
Themes and where to start
Blue Lock is a sports story that plays like a survival game. The selections have elimination stakes, a ranking board and constant betrayal, and the drama is about identity: who you have to become to be the one person who matters. It turns the usual sports-anime virtues upside down. Where Haikyuu!! celebrates teamwork, Blue Lock asks how far a player can push selfishness before it breaks the team. In practice, most of its best moments happen when two egos find a way to use each other.
Its rivalries are the main draw: Isagi and Rin, Rin and Sae, Nagi and Reo, Isagi and Kaiser. They're worth reading alongside our guide to iconic rivalries. With dozens of players competing for screen time, it's also a useful study in ensemble casts.
- Anime season one covers the first and second selections.
- Anime season two covers the Blue Lock Eleven vs. U-20 Japan match.
- Blue Lock: Episode Nagi (film or manga) retells the early story from Nagi's side. Watch it after season one.
- The manga continues with the Neo Egoist League once the U-20 match ends.
For more sports and shonen series, browse our anime character guides.
All Blue Lock character names A–Z
A
- Alexis Ness — Bastard München
- Anri Teieri — JFU staff
- Aoshi Tokimitsu — Blue Lock
- Asahi Naruhaya — Team Z
C–E
- Chris Prince — Manshine City
- Don Lorenzo — Ubers
- Eita Otoya — Blue Lock
G–H
- Gin Gagamaru — Team Z
- Gurimu Igarashi — Team Z
- Hyoma Chigiri — Team Z
I–J
- Ikki Niko — Blue Lock
- Jingo Raichi — Team Z
- Jinpachi Ego — Coach
- Julian Loki — PXG
- Jyubei Aryu — Blue Lock
K–L
- Kenyu Yukimiya — Blue Lock
- Lavinho — FC Barcha
M–N
- Marc Snuffy — Ubers
- Meguru Bachira — Team Z
- Michael Kaiser — Bastard München
- Noel Noa — Bastard München
O–R
- Okuhito Iemon — Team Z
- Oliver Aiku — U-20 Japan
- Ranze Kurona — Blue Lock
- Reo Mikage — Team V
- Rensuke Kunigami — Team Z
- Rin Itoshi — Blue Lock
- Ryusei Shidou — Blue Lock
S–T
- Sae Itoshi — U-20 Japan
- Seishiro Nagi — Team V
- Shoei Barou — Team X
- Tabito Karasu — Blue Lock
W–Z
- Wataru Kuon — Team Z
- Yo Hiori — Blue Lock
- Yoichi Isagi — Team Z
- Yudai Imamura — Team Z
- Zantetsu Tsurugi — Team V
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character of Blue Lock?
Yoichi Isagi, a high school forward from Saitama. His school misses out on the national tournament after he passes instead of shooting in a key match. He enters Blue Lock as an average player and grows through his spatial awareness, reading the whole pitch and how to "devour" his rivals' strengths.
Who is the best striker in Blue Lock?
Inside the facility, Rin Itoshi starts as the top-ranked player, with Isagi, Nagi, Barou, Shidou and Bachira the main challengers. On the world stage, the series presents Noel Noa as the best striker in the world, and Michael Kaiser and Julian Loki as the top young talents Blue Lock has to beat.
Who is on Team Z in Blue Lock?
Team Z is the lowest-ranked team in Isagi's wing at the start: Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira, Rensuke Kunigami, Hyoma Chigiri, Jingo Raichi, Gin Gagamaru, Gurimu Igarashi, Wataru Kuon, Yudai Imamura, Asahi Naruhaya and Okuhito Iemon.
What are the Blue Lock teams?
In the first selection, the players in Isagi's building are divided into Teams V, W, X, Y and Z by ranking, and each team plays the others in a round-robin. The well-known names on the other teams include Nagi and Reo (Team V) and Barou (Team X). From the second selection on, players form their own squads.
Is Blue Lock anime finished?
No. The anime has two seasons so far: season one (2022–23) covers the first two selections, and season two (2024) covers the match against Japan's U-20 team. The Episode Nagi film (2024) retells Nagi and Reo's story. The manga is longer and continues into the Neo Egoist League and beyond.
Who created Blue Lock?
Blue Lock is written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and drawn by Yusuke Nomura. It has been serialised in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2018, and won the Kodansha Manga Award for best shonen manga in 2021.