Right Now

In Japan, a magazine sits down with Sae Itoshi, a seventeen-year-old midfielder already tipped for the national side yet openly contemptuous of the home game. He insists he would sooner die or turn out for German college sides than wear a domestic jersey, arguing that staying put would kill any chance of becoming the world's finest and reaching his dream of winning the Champions League. Declaring that no forward in the country can handle his passes, he walks out. His manager worries the arrogant remarks will turn the press against him, but Sae shrugs it off, saying he only flew back to renew his passport.

On his way out he wanders into a press conference for Blue Lock, where reporters grill Anri Teieri and Hirotoshi Buratsuta over whether the project is realistic. Anri answers with conviction that the program will work and mend the broken national game by producing a single hero, a claim that catches Sae's ear. The First Selection is laid out as a round-robin among the five squads of the fifth stratum, with only the top two teams progressing, or alternatively a player advancing by being his team's dominant top scorer. Points decide the standings, three for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss, with goal margin as the tiebreaker. Team Z, stunned to learn they must cooperate to survive, immediately start bickering over who plays where.

Back in the hall, Anri recounts how Japan has repeatedly come close to the World Cup only to fall short, and frames Blue Lock as the revival of the dream to stand atop the world. A hero must emerge from a facility crammed with players who crave nothing more than to be the best, one who will carry the nation to victory. Hearing this, Sae tells his manager to clear his schedule, eager to see just what kind of player Blue Lock can forge.

Sae Itoshi debuts, dismissing the domestic game even as Blue Lock's ambitions catch his attention. The rules of the First Selection are spelled out, including the round-robin format, the two advancement paths, and the points system. Anri articulates Blue Lock's true aim of creating a hero to lead Japan to the top of the world.

Known as Ima Koso, this seventeen-page chapter belongs to the Introduction Arc in Volume 1 and is adapted in Episode 2. It falls between Chapter 3 and Chapter 5.