Sae Itoshi

Sae is tall and lean, topped with reddish-brown hair that the anime renders in a softer maroon. His narrow teal eyes are framed by the same long lower lashes that mark his brother Rin. For the national representative fixture he dons Japan U-20's white number 10 jersey with a black undershirt and black gloves.

From childhood Sae has been chilly, curt, and intensely serious, caring about almost nothing beyond becoming the finest midfielder alive and refusing to spend time on anything that fails to advance that aim. He can be haughty and dismissive, talking down to people older than himself and those holding authority over him, and while his own play carries an egoist streak, he is disciplined enough to hold his position and avoid needlessly upstaging teammates. His pride runs deepest in his scorn for Japanese football; he claims he would sooner die, or play in Europe among mere college students, than turn out for the J-League, and he laments having been born in the wrong country at all.

Difficult as he is, Sae is not unworkable. On a whim he stays in Japan once Blue Lock intrigues him and even suits up for the Japan U-20 against the Blue Lock Eleven, but the moment his curiosity is satisfied he thinks nothing of walking away from anyone he deems beneath him. He accepts his job as the team's key passer, feeding the forwards chance after chance and shooting himself only once they repeatedly failed. He is also capable of conceding error, telling Rin afterward that he had misjudged Japan and that the country could indeed produce a striker worth respecting in Isagi. Flashbacks reveal a gentler boy who once doted on his little brother, even taking the blame when Rin broke his toys.

Sae operates as a playmaker who orchestrates his side's attack, threading calculated passes and dribbles to plug defensive gaps and steer play toward the most decisive point, aiming to dismantle opponents cleanly and, as he puts it, beautifully. He has already made his name in Europe with Re Al's second team, earning a place among the New Generation World XI. His kicking borders on flawless: he governs the power, angle, speed, and precision of every strike, producing passes that arrive easy to receive yet nearly impossible to cut out, from long driven balls and delicate lobs to the trivela struck with the outside of the foot, a byline line-drive shot, and an ultra-fast set-piece pass that skirts a shot.

When he chooses to run rather than distribute, Sae counters defenders by reading their rhythm and flowing past them, wielding hyperspeed scissors, double touches, Marseille turns, and a repertoire of nutmegs, along with a shoulder block that reverses his balance to slip a tackle. He has repeatedly bested Rin one on one and nutmegged him at will. Underpinning it all are extraordinary reflexes that let him weigh every variable on the pitch in an instant and deliver the ball to whoever holds the best scoring angle, a quality that lets him operate on the same wavelength as Shido. In the closing minutes against the Blue Lock Eleven he entered Flow, his dribbling sharpening enough to slip past both Nagi and Barou.