Ao Ashi - Vol. 17 Ch. 172 - The Black Flame is Put Out in Prague

[Duckiedoggo]

@Mogs he doesn't focused on what he does at Prague, and keep trying to looked down on anybody, including the ones that stays in Japan.

 

[Chasaey]

@Knighto when does Days start to get good? i read like 40 chapters & dropped because it's just full nonsense & the mc is insufferable but I've seen many people talk about it in a positive way

 

[Detoxive]

@Chasaey prob when Seiseki goes to that training camp with all those powerhouse schools? For me it's when MC starts getting recognition/play time.

 

[dael8]

Yay, Akutsu will stay being Akutsu. I need him and his ego to balance this rainbow-everything-went-smoothly-after-aoi-learn-something-one-chapter-and-solve-it-in-a-week-plus-hana-drama.

 

[lisaisa]

The only good concept I could grasp after reading 20 chapters of Blue Lock was how the Japanese mentality of teamwork can be rather punishing for people that want to follow an individualistic growth. Akutsu wants to grow to be THE best (not precisely the best TEAM) if the team wins it has to be because he led them to it. I admire that kind of determination, that's why Kurobayashi is so great in my opinion. Now while this chapter made a great point; ego and ambition are not wrong ideals to have, It kinda undermined the point of the last chapter, in my humble opinion. That childish attitude has to go.

 

[gintamacountry]

@lisaisa

The manga could've been more explicit by depicting it but he's repeatedly been described as lacking composure, being unsettled.

One example of him not playing like himself is when they were bitching at him for tackling the senpai too hard. The usual akutsu would've told them to shove it up their hole. He showed a type of reserve that's uncharacteristic of him. He's usually more direct and upfront when he has issues with those around him. Being in the NT environment did affect him in a way.

 

[Duckiedoggo]

@lisaisa ironically, Japan football are forced to play teamwork type of football because there's lack of individual skills in the first place.

Back to the manga, Akutsu's determination are still pretty shallow. Like, there's no explanation behind his behavior.

Also, there's no way he could have that ego on the pitch, since the defenders have to communicate with each other to forming the defense line. So I think that ego only applies outside the pitch, not in the actual football match (except if there's more context about him later on).

 

[HCO]

I really like Akutsu as a character. He's a good foil to the rest of the players and adds a lot to the cast, so I'm glad to see his ambitions aren't going to just die here

 

[lisaisa]

@Duckiedoggo Totally Agree, Even when I try to make sense out of this chapter the context that we have been given is not nearly enough to explain his behavior. Is childish, in par with a high school bully you can say, but even then I'm trying to draw a line between his ego/ambition and his actual behavior towards his teammates (following the narrative of this chapter). The NT coach explained that they need players like Akutsu with ego/ambition because players like him are rare, the author is making a point of how Akatsu ideals are not in the wrong, the problem is how he expresses them. As a defender, Akatsu is a star player and he does communicate with his teammates as long as he sees them as equal (hence why Fukuda called him out for not giving instructions to Ashito) and that's precisely where his behavior problem kicks it. His ego pushes him forward to be an excellent defender while his behavior just makes him an asshole. At least that's what I got from this chapter XD, I want to see where the author is going with Akutsu (part of me just likes him as he is right now a full Disney Villian)

 

[yoshiii]

I still think he's childish, but it's high school so what am I expecting lol

 

[lisaisa]

@gintamacountry that's an interesting point of view, the root of his unsettledness may the reality check he has experienced in NT. The constant rejection from the coaches has definitely frustrated him to the point he started to doubt his style of play for a brief moment and adding the current presence of Kitano who he seems to look as a rival. His current view is not absolutely wrong, is his lack of professionalism that really blocks him, and the coach tried to make that clear to him. I appreciate how the author is not going for a black or white humbling moment there.

 

[Knighto]

@lisaisa we also got hints of his ambition when he felt dumbfounded by the conversation of fukuda and kurebayashi as to why he got called by the youth team and had to leave the pros.

the moment he got called for the NT, he genuinely shown happyness, that lasted like 5 seconds before sassing his teammates.