Tendou walked out of the locker room and headed towards his destination. As he walked, he realized he was lost.
"Everywhere here looks the same. Which way should I go?"
Tendou looked at the uniform steel-colored surroundings and then glared at the camera in annoyance.
"Hey, four-eyes! Which way should I go?"
"Keep walking straight, then turn left and you'll be there," Ego Jinpachi's annoyed voice came through the microphone to Tendou's ear.
"I really don't know what your taste is, designing this place to look like a prison."
"Because this place is called Blue Lock, you idiot! And I prepared a map for you; you just didn't look at it carefully."
Tendou was unwilling to admit that he was lost; it was completely out of character for him. Similarly, Ego Jinpachi wouldn't admit that his taste was terrible. He felt that the design of everything here was very cool and logical.
"If that's the case, I suggest you go rob a bank with a stocking over your head right now, and while you're at it, you can shoot those pigs at the JFU. That way, you can spend the rest of your life in a prison villa."
Bickering, chatting.
Tendou finally arrived at his destination. The person in front of him was none other than one of the people in charge of Blue Lock, Anri Teieri.
At this moment, she was like a little fan, staring at Tendou with shining eyes. To the media and the pigs at the JFU, she was as fierce as a goddess of war. But in Blue Lock, in front of Ego Jinpachi and these players, she could transform into the softest, cutest girl. The contrast was very strong.
It couldn't be helped. Which straight guy doesn't like a cute girl?
"Tendou-kun..."
"Just call me Tendou. I don't like the Japanese way of adding '-kun' or '-san' after a name."
So cool.
This was Anri Teieri's first impression of Tendou. The cool, handsome guy type. Speaking of which, she seemed to have been quite obsessed with this type of boy during her school days. It seemed to have started with Hanazawa Rui—cold on the outside, warm on the inside—which had completely captivated her.
"Hey, wipe your drool."
"Drool?"
Anri Teieri hurriedly wiped her mouth, only to find there was no drool at all. She had been tricked. She glared in annoyance, about to show him the privilege of an older sister and give him a good lecture, but then she saw Tendou hold out his hand to her.
"What's wrong?"
"My tablet. Didn't that four-eyed guy tell you to bring me a tablet?"
Ego Jinpachi was very busy, responsible for the training and selection of 300 forwards. He didn't have any assistant coaches to help him. His only partner, Anri Teieri, also had to take care of his meals and daily life. But then again, there had only ever been two administrators in Blue Lock from beginning to end. It was a mystery how they managed so many people.
"Oh, here you go."
Anri Teieri was a little moody. Why did she feel like a little sister? She was clearly several years older than Tendou! So embarrassing!
Tendou ignored her, took the tablet, and turned it on. He scrolled through it and, sure enough, saw many high-definition football matches that had already been downloaded. All of the top five major leagues were there: the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and Serie A. In addition, there were also some older match recordings.
"These are what I consider to be the most classic match recordings. You don't have to thank me."
Ego Jinpachi's voice came through again. But it was met with Tendou's ruthless sarcasm, "Are you that free?"
Ego Jinpachi: "..."
The broadcast went completely silent.
Anri Teieri marveled. She never thought that the arbitrary and despotic Ego Jinpachi would have a day where he was retorted into silence.
After looking through it and seeing no problems, Tendou was about to leave.
"Wait a minute, Tendou," Anri Teieri called out to him.
"What else?" Tendou turned his head.
"It's something personal."
She wanted to understand this genius in front of her a little better. Not for reasons like liking him, at most it was just admiration. Just like how a fan who likes a player would especially want to know about the star's past.
"You used to play basketball?"
"Yeah."
Hearing this, Tendou already guessed what she wanted to ask. Sure enough, Anri's next words confirmed his guess.
"Then why did you suddenly want to play football? Is it really just because you were too strong at basketball and couldn't find an opponent?"
'Huh? This Tendou guy used to play basketball?' 'No way! He's already so strong, and he used to play basketball?' 'I want to say I can understand, after all, Tendou is 193cm tall, very suitable for basketball. But I can't accept it at all! This guy is so good at football, wasn't he playing since he was a kid?' 'Ha, after all, this is the world of anime. Nothing is impossible.' 'That's right. Sakuragi was a complete beginner at the start, and by the end, he became a top-tier player in the country.'
The real-world audience was stunned. Looking at Tendou again, the "genius halo" above his head became even more dazzling.
"About that... there are some other reasons," Tendou said ambiguously. As was customary, he felt that "Big Data Statistics" would probably add another background story for him.
The next second.
The scene in the animation indeed began a flashback. Following a moment of hesitation on Tendou's face, a several-minute-long flashback montage violently burst into the viewers' line of sight.
"One year ago, Tendou Kageyoshi. Basketball court!"
A narrator briefly explained the time. Immediately after, Tendou, wearing a basketball jersey, was seen dominating the court. To highlight his strength, the production team even had extras cheering for him.
"Amazing!"
"As expected of the strongest high school student in the country! That's already Tendou's 40th point!"
"It's only the third quarter! Tendou will definitely get 50 points in this match."
"I heard he's also a model, the super popular kind."
The extras shouted in amazement, and then the match ended.
The scene shifted to after the match, with Tendou returning home. A kid who looked about 60% similar to him suddenly appeared in front of the audience.
"Nii-san, you're back."
"Congratulations on successfully winning the Winter Cup championship."
"What's there to congratulate? Wasn't this already a foregone conclusion? Because..."
"I'm (You're) the strongest!" the two brothers said in unison.
"You little rascal." The Tendou in the memory smiled and put his brother in a headlock, then asked with concern, "And you? How's life in the football club?"
"Life in the football club is fine. Everyone takes good care of me, but my results definitely can't compare to yours, Nii-san. But next year, we will definitely make it to the national tournament."
"You said that last year too."
Tendou released him and looked helplessly at the papers covered in numbers on the table.
"That's why I'm telling you, Souji. Matches are played by people. You can't win just by relying on data."
"That's not true! In today's games, whether it's football or basketball, everything can be calculated through data."
"It's just that you haven't noticed, Nii-san. Even the professional basketball clubs have hired a team of very professional data statisticians."
Tendou Souji grabbed the data he had carefully prepared and continued, "Modern football, including basketball, has actually reached a bottleneck in terms of tactics. It's difficult to make new breakthroughs in a short period of time."
"At a time like this, if you want to get a head start, you need to rely on data statistics. Data doesn't lie, and it can't be lied to. What your team is best at, what they're most afraid of—you can find all the loopholes in the data! I believe that as long as I perfect my data statistics, I can definitely become the world's number one striker."
"Oh, right, Nii-san! How about I teach you too? If we combine my data with your eyes, you can definitely become the true strongest!"
The Tendou in the memory looked as if he was used to this. But he still encouraged his younger brother, telling him to keep up the good work.
But then the screen flashed. With a BAM, a truck suddenly burst out from the screen. By the time everything returned to normal, Tendou Souji was already lying in a hospital bed. Tendou sat alone outside the operating room, and then a doctor walked out. The two had a simple conversation, but no sound was heard. Just from Tendou's devastated expression, the audience already knew the outcome.
Sure enough.
The screen flashed again, and a year had passed. Tendou was at a grave. The sky was gloomy, looking as if it was about to rain at any moment. A background music similar to Naruto's "Samidare" (May Rain) began to play at the perfect time.
Tendou stood there quietly, without a word. From the moment the truck appeared, the story had become as silent as the air, oppressive. At this time, a few more scenes were inserted, showing Tendou winning the national championship again.
Finally.
He returned home, walked into his brother's room, and picked up the data statistics that had been gathering dust for a year, holding them in his hands.
The flashback ended here.
'Huh? There's a story like that?'
'So this is the reason why Tendou switched to playing football?'
'Wait, in a normal situation, shouldn't the younger brother be the one to get stronger after the older brother's death?'
'Who says the older brother must be sacrificed?'
'Sasuke! Look how fierce he became after Itachi died!'
'Fierce? Wasn't he just insane?'
'Damn it, the guy above me, I admit you made me laugh. I was feeling pretty sad, but now I suddenly want to laugh a little.'
Fanshi watched the bullet comments, wiped the corner of his eye, and joined in as well. He had seen similar plots many times. But even with so many years of watching anime, after watching these few short minutes of flashback, Fanshi's eyes still couldn't help but sting. It proved that as long as the atmosphere was rendered well, regardless of whether the plot was clichéd or not, it could still move the audience.
He rubbed his face, pretending to be calm, and continued his work, chatting with the audience and discussing the plot.
"So this is Tendou's motivation for playing football, and the reason why he can make such exquisite passes."
"The word 'data' was very rare in sports anime of the past, one could even say it didn't exist. Whether it was Slam Dunk or Captain Tsubasa, it seems such a word never appeared."
"But in recent years' sports anime, such a word has been frequently used. The three masters in Prince of Tennis, Momoi Satsuki in Kuroko's Basketball, and now Tendou Souji in Blue Lock."
"Pfft." Speaking of this, Fanshi couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I'm sorry, I really can't help it when I hear this name."
Tendou Souji, a name that no Kamen Rider fan would be unfamiliar with. He is from the Heisei Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Kabuto. This Rider series is very interesting. Why is it interesting? Many people complain that its plot is terrible, yet they hold the protagonist, Tendou Souji, in high regard. He subverted many fans' image of previous Rider protagonists.
Other Rider protagonists, when they appear, often have to suffer setbacks and then explode with power amidst words of encouragement, promoting positive energy. Tendou Souji was not like that. He appeared as a max-level character from the start. Beating monsters was as simple as chopping vegetables. And every time he appeared, he would start with "Grandma used to say..." spouting one slick line after another. Some viewers even found their fun in watching the series just to see what Tendou Souji's grandmother had said in each episode.
In short, seeing the name Tendou Souji appear in Blue Lock, and on top of that, getting hit by a truck and dying, Fanshi couldn't help but laugh ungraciously.
"Ahem, ahem." He coughed and continued, "In the past, sports anime rarely had words like 'data.' Even if they did, it was just points, assists, and the like."
"But have you all noticed? In recent years' sports anime, the word 'data' has been frequently used in the works."
"As the times progress, basketball and football are also developing. Now, these professional clubs all have their own team of data analysts. These behind-the-scenes people play a very crucial role."
"Of course, relying on data alone, I still think Tendou's performance on the field is too monstrous. Even with artistic license, it's excessively powerful, beyond my understanding of data."
"But you should have all noticed, right? The younger brother also said one more thing: 'If we combine my data with my brother's eyes, he can definitely become the true strongest.'"
"Do you understand, my dear viewers? Tendou definitely has some kind of vision talent... Sharingan? How could it be Sharingan? Is this even a fair game anymore!"
Fanshi spoke eloquently in front of the screen, interacting with the audience. Finally, he concluded, "I am personally very satisfied with this flashback. It provided enough information."
"It showed Tendou's abilities and some of his past. More importantly, we now know that Tendou chose to play football for his deceased younger brother."
"This is another good older brother who dotes on his younger brother. It's easy for me to associate him with characters like Uchiha Itachi or Ace. It's hard not to have a good impression of him."
Fanshi announced on the spot that he was entering the "Dao Gate."
"Gates" were one of the characteristics of the Blue Lock anime, similar to fan groups. If you open Blue Lock now, you can see swathes of bullet comments like "Isagi Gate" and "Dao Gate."
...
Blue Lock world.
Tendou scratched his hair, a sense of helpless familiarity washing over him. Every time he unlocked a new ability without a description, the story would insert a background story for him. Some of these stories made him feel ashamed, old-fashioned, cheesy, to the point of cringing so hard he could dig a hole with his toes.
But without exception, these stories always helped him gain a lot of attention and popularity points.
Looking back at Anri Teieri, the emotional young lady's eyes were already moist. Although Tendou hadn't said anything yet, Anri, like the audience, seemed to have watched the entire background story. It was a good thing Tendou was wearing glasses; otherwise, people would have seen his current expression.
In short...
"Well, that's how it is."
...
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