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Blue Lock Chapter 350: Coach Ego Benches Rin, the Team's Untouchable No. 1

ブルーロック350話「絵心エゴ理論爆発・凛ベンチ送り」日本のファンの反応

Blue Lock
Blue Lock Chapter 350: Coach Ego Benches Rin, the Team's Untouchable No. 1
“Oh. OH. So when Ego says "if you doubt me," he doesn't mean "if you can't follow my theory" — he means "if you don't believe Blue Lock can make you the best in the world." That recontextualizes the whole thing.”

いや、そうか。 「俺を疑うなら」ってのは「俺の理論に従えないなら」じゃなくて「ブルーロックじゃ世界一になれないと思うなら」って意味で言ってるのか。

— @くちくら178

Blue Lock's latest chapter (350) had coach Jinpachi Ego go fully unhinged again — benching Itoshi Rin, the series' perennial No. 1, right after Japan's loss to France, while Isagi volunteered for the bench himself. The most-liked Japanese reactions split three ways: a genuine re-reading of Ego's philosophy (the top comment realizes his "if you doubt me" line isn't "if you can't follow my theory" but "if you don't believe Blue Lock can make you the world's best"); a wave of dark glee at the untouchable Rin finally getting dropped; and a flood of in-jokes only Japanese readers catch — most of all the panel parodying "The one who's cut is Kaz, Kazu Miura," the coach's infamous real-life line dropping the national-team king from the 1998 World Cup squad. The recurring theme was relief: after months of "this had turned into a normal soccer manga," fans felt Blue Lock remember it was always supposed to be an insane death game, and it lands on the kind of one-line verdict that only a Japanese fan refreshing the chapter at midnight would write.

This titleJapanese reactions to Blue LockRead all 4 roundups on the title page
An official Crunchyroll clip, "Isagi Outsmarts Rin," from the Blue Lock anime — the Isagi-vs-Rin rivalry that this manga chapter pays off. The reactions below come from a Japanese fan-reaction clip of Chapter 350. （YouTube · Crunchyroll Dubs）

Japanese fan reactions (excerpted from 480)

  • The chapter's tagline was literally "The name announced was completely unexpected!" lol. Bro, it was the most predictable outcome possible.

    今回の煽り文が 「告げられたのは予想外の 名前！」でワロタ めちゃくちゃ順当の結果やろ

    — @白黒玉426 likes

  • The fandom is going WAY harder over this than they did when Nagi got eliminated. I'm cracking up.

    凪脱落の何倍もキレてて笑った

    — @しゅん-m6l409 likes

  • Isagi straight up volunteers to bench himself — and then Rin is the only one actually ordered to the bench, sitting there stunned. The contrast is just brutal for him, isn't it.

    潔さんが自分からベンチに行くなんて言ったらただ1人ベンチ送りを言い渡されてびっくりしてる凛ちゃんが惨めじゃないですか

    — @漆黒の中坊れたす恥202 likes

  • Isagi, who didn't even play that badly, feels responsible and tries to bench himself — while Rin, who hard-griefed the whole game, looks unconvinced that he deserves the bench. That contrast is so good.

    そこまで悪くないのに責任感を感じて自らベンチに行こうとする潔と大戦犯をかましたにも関わらずベンチ行きに納得してなさそうな凛の対比おもろい

    — @ああ-m6u2d40 likes

  • Yeah, of course you're benched, Rin. You're the one who threw the game.

    そりゃベンチ送りですよ凛さん あんたが戦犯だもの

    — @hotatekaibashira179 likes

  • Theory aside — watching Rin, the guy who's been No. 1 this entire time, finally get dropped is just delicious…

    難しいことは置いといて、常にNo.1で居続けた凛が落とされるのおもしれえ……

    — @neee6864112 likes

  • Guess it's confirmed Rin is going to keep playing soccer until he's 59. lmao

    凛が59歳になってもサッカーをやり続けることが確定したの草

    — @StarrySky-X199 likes

  • Dying at the panel parodying "The one who's cut is Kaz — Kazu Miura." (For non-Japanese readers: that's the real, legendary line a coach used when controversially cutting national-team icon Kazuyoshi Miura from Japan's 1998 World Cup squad.)

    「外れるのはカズ、三浦カズ」をパロってて笑った

    — @にゅ-b9i218 likes

  • I was sitting here thinking "the one cut is YOU, Rin Itoshi" would've been a cleaner line — didn't even realize it was a King Kazu parody lmaooo

    「外れるのはお前だ、糸師凛」とかの方が言い回し綺麗だろと思ってたけどあれキングカズのパロディか気づかなかった笑笑笑

    — @user-so1kc7ms1s59 likes

  • Ego's sentence on Rin… it's just like '98… ugh, my heart.

    凛ちゃんへの絵吾の宣告が、まるで98年…ウッ…

    — @piccarinyo20 likes

  • Even knowing it's purely the "the one cut is Kazu" homage — Ego, who only ever uses full names, dropping to just "Rin" for a single beat made my heart skip.

    外れるのはカズのオマージュでしかないのは分かった上で、普段フルネーム呼びしかしない絵心さんが「凛」って一瞬下の名前で呼んできてキュンとしました

    — @リドル-l8x10 likes

  • Ego, internally: "…which is why Gagamaru is the only one I actually feel sorry for."

    絵心「だから臥牙丸にだけはすまんとおもってる」

    — @pokoi__si_07362 likes

  • Ego, basically: "The hell is this ego of yours? It's too damn humid. Stop stealing other people's goals."

    絵心「なんやねんお前のエゴ 湿度高いねん。人のゴール奪うな。」

    — @akarapo-r8l137 likes

  • The fact that these are rough draft pages somehow makes it MORE raw — it's got this unhinged texture to it.

    これ下書きなのが逆に生々しくて味出てるわ

    — @すったもんだ-m9j338 likes

  • Getting to see unhinged Ego again after so long — I'm satisfied.

    久々にイカれた絵心を見れて満足である

    — @ぺぺぺろし92 likes

  • Honestly the rough-draft look gives it real flavor, kinda glad about it~ Ego's still completely off the rails. This chapter was a blast.

    下書きなのが良い味出してるとこがあって逆に良かったな〜 絵心さんやっぱぶっ飛んでんな 今回めちゃくちゃ面白い

    — @Rreremixy51 likes

  • Something about this just feels like Blue Lock again, for the first time in ages.

    なんか久しぶりにブルーロックって感じ

    — @あいう-v8t9p111 likes

  • Oh right… this is Blue Lock. I was the fool for expecting a sane, normal turn of events.

    そっかこれブルーロックだった まともな展開を期待してた自分が間違ってた

    — @あや-b7i4o105 likes

  • It had become just a regular soccer manga lately, so this chapter was great — it reminded me this is a death-game manga.

    ここん所ただのサッカー漫画になってたから、この回は良かったなデスゲームの漫画だと思いださせてくれて

    — @かまぼこダンス-u8t42 likes

  • "You signed up for an insane plan and made it this far — so why have you suddenly gone back to thinking sanely?" hits so hard I've got nothing to say. I think we readers also forgot that Blue Lock itself was never a safe winning route — it's a deranged experiment.

    元々狂った計画に参加しておいてここまで来たのになんで正気に戻ってるんだ？は本当にその通りすぎて何も言えねぇ。 ブルーロック自体が安定した勝利ルートじゃなくてイカれた計画だってこと読者も忘れてたんじゃね。

    — @takeda-x1b88 likes

  • We got early-era unhinged Ego back, it reminded us "Blue Lock is a lab built to manufacture a single best-in-the-world striker," and it cleared up the nagging frustration readers had been carrying. That's why it's so good.

    初期のイカれたエゴさんを見れたし、「ブルーロックはたった一人の世界一のストライカーを作るための実験場である」ことを再認識させてくれたり、読者にあったモヤモヤを解消させてくれるからいいよね

    — @くるす647 likes

  • Reminded me all over again: Blue Lock wasn't built to win some U-20 World Cup — it was built to BIRTH the striker who one day wins Japan the World Cup.

    u20のW杯で優勝するためにブルーロックできたんじゃなくて、 日本をW杯優勝させるストライカーを誕生させるためにブルーロックができたの改めて思い出したわ。

    — @Terry-Bogard1525 likes

  • Oh yeah — Blue Lock was never about Japan winning the World Cup, it's a place to produce one single strongest striker out of Japan. I'd totally forgotten.

    そういやブルロって日本W杯優勝じゃなくて最強のストライカー個人を日本から生み出す為の場所だったな 忘れてた

    — @片翼の天使先輩19 likes

  • I'd been wondering where they'd take it after that loss, but this was a great chapter. So satisfying.

    この敗戦からどう展開していくのか気になってたけど、コレは良い話だった。すごくスッキリ。

    — @まる012513 likes

  • Blue Lock is buzzing again, and honestly? I'm just happy.

    ブルロがまた盛り上がってて嬉しい

    — @Mei-wy4wf12 likes
Read next · Blue Lock

Blue Lock Chapter 351: Isagi Calms Down a Furious, Benched Rin — What Japan Said

“Isagi's aftercare is so ridiculously good he's got every single guy he's ever devoured completely hooked on him. Mass-producing stalkers included — the man has the talent of a No.1 host.”

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