Instead of the next round, the survivors are thrown into brutal conditioning. When it finally ends, Ego drops a revelation that reframes everything the players thought they knew about the fifth stratum and the real purpose of Blue Lock.
Summary
As the survivors brace for what comes next, Raichi rages at the monitor, demanding to know why the Second Selection is not beginning at once. Ego answers that the gap will be filled with punishing physical conditioning during which no one may touch a ball for any reason. Iemon and Igaguri pile on with complaints, but Ego reminds them that their squad ranks dead last and that the training ends only when he decides. The regimen that follows stacks hours of endurance work, harsh core and weight sessions, and sprints, leaving most players, Isagi and Naruhaya among them, too drained to eat at dinner. Three days in, some are vomiting from sheer exhaustion.
After ten grueling days, Ego announces that the First Selection has wrapped across every stratum and orders the remaining players into their training suits and down to their basement. Team Z celebrates, believing themselves one step closer to the top. Ego greets his so-called unpolished gems, then reveals the deception: no one before him came from a first, second, third, or fourth stratum, because those never existed. There were only five separate groups all labeled the fifth stratum, a lie meant to convince every player he was among the worst so that each would claw desperately to prove his worth. When an outraged player accuses him of betrayal, Ego explains that shredding their fragile confidence was the point, breeding a hunger for goals that might forge a world-class striker. Blue Lock, he says, exists solely to raise players who starve for the net, and with that he declares the Second Selection open.
Key Events
The survivors endure ten days of extreme physical training under a total ban on handling the ball. Ego exposes that the ranked strata were a fabrication, all of them the fifth, designed to keep the players insecure and driven. Having stripped away their comfort and stoked their appetite for goals, he opens the Second Selection.
Notes
Bearing the title Hanguri, this twenty-page chapter launches the Second Selection Arc inside Volume 5 and is covered in Episode 11. It sits between Chapter 38 and Chapter 40, with Anri Teieri featured on the cover.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in Blue Lock Chapter 39?
In Blue Lock Chapter 39, titled Hungry, the survivors endure ten grueling days of physical conditioning with a total ban on touching a ball, and Ego reveals that the stratum rankings were a fabrication before opening the Second Selection.
Why does Ego forbid the players from touching a ball in Chapter 39?
Ego fills the gap before the Second Selection with punishing physical conditioning, banning any ball contact so the players focus purely on endurance work, core and weight training, and sprints.
What twist does Ego reveal about the stratum rankings in Chapter 39?
Ego admits that the labeled first through fourth strata never existed, since every prior group, including Team Z, was secretly part of the fifth stratum, a lie meant to make each player believe he was among the worst.
Why is Blue Lock Chapter 39 titled Hungry?
The chapter is titled Hungry because Ego designs the deception and grueling conditioning specifically to strip away the players' confidence and starve them for goals, the hunger he believes forges a world-class striker.
What happens at the end of Chapter 39?
After exposing the ranking lie, Ego declares the First Selection over for every stratum and formally opens the Second Selection, sending the surviving players toward a new stage of competition.
Sources & Information
Looking for more on Hungry? The Blue Lock Wiki on Fandom has a dedicated page with community notes.
View on FandomThis content is original writing by Daddy Jim Anime based on the Blue Lock anime series, manga, and official materials. Episode and chapter references are cited where applicable.
Rights holders
- Created byMuneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura
- Published byKodansha
- Animated by8bit
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