The sports genre in anime & manga is incredibly loved by fans worldwide. Sports anime always offers something for everyone’s platter. Some may argue that sports seen through the anime medium are just as exhilarating as watching real people play on T.V. Additionally, this genre serves as an excellent gateway to pull sports and anime fans into this experience.
Unlike other genres like shōnen, shōjo & seinen, Sports aren’t as popular as these genres, nor do they have too many diversifiers. But for this very reason, the genre is quite special, with a comparatively small but very devoted fanbase. Some well-recognized sports anime with such fanbases as Slam Dunk, Haikyuu, Free, Hajime no Ippo, Kuroko no Basket, and the newest sports prodigy Blue Lock.
With Muneyuki Kaneshiro as the writer & illustration done by Yusuke Nomura, Blue Lock is the newest iteration of sports anime to join the ranks of the most popular sports anime ever. It tells us the story of a young high school boy, Isagi Yoichi, and his journey to becoming the best striker in the world. The story also offers a wide range of exceptionally crafted characters that invigorate fans with the hype they bring. And Rensuke Kunigami is one such character.
Rensuke Kunigami is a young aspiring football player from Akita whose dream was inspired by two of his favorite “heroes” (footballers), Didier Drogba and Olivier Giroud. With a healthy sleeping schedule and a massive interest in physical education & exercise routine in his free time, he was heading in the right direction toward the path of his ideal version of a ‘superhero.’
Kunigami is a fan favorite. So, today we’re here to tell you some facts about Rensuke Kunigami that you may not have known.
Also Read: Blue Lock Review: Not Just A Sports Anime
1. Rensuke Kunigami, Character Done Right
Rensuke Kunigami debuted in the first serialization of both the manga & the anime. Rensuke Kunigami is potentially a fan favorite for many, even more than the main lead. Kunigami might have the same goal as the rest of the Team-Z members. But, his motivational reason is a lot simpler in comparison to others. Even so, Kunigami follows his heart and strikes true like every other fierce competitor in the Blue Lock project.
Unlike many, Kunigami wasn’t an Egoist. Kunigami focused on being fair & supportive of his team. Resulting in quite the unusual candidate for the title “best striker.” Kunigami went as far as favoring Isagi Yoichi by sharing some delicious food & helping him recognize his weapon.
For better or worse, the Kunigami we currently know in the manga is not the same caring figure we once knew from season 1 of the anime.
2. What Did The Wild Card Do To Kunigami?
After the end of the second selection in the blue lock experiment, seven teams made it to the third stage. Unfortunately, Kunigami wasn’t part of the 7. Isagi was crestfallen upon realizing Kunigami wasn’t present in the second round of selectees. But, to much surprise, Kunigami was given a second chance through an internal experiment called the Wild Card.
According to Kunigami, Wild Card training is an experiment to create a vessel. A vessel that is capable of inheriting the exact copy of Noel Noa, ‘the best striker in the world.’ Kunigami not only enhanced his skills and learned to be Ambidextrous but also matured as a character with physical and emotional development, leaving behind his naïve self in the Wild Card.
Kunigami’s change in his attitude also changed his playstyle. When Kunigami was part of one of the best European teams, Bastard München, he then realized. You may play for a team, but it’s essentially every man for himself, just like in the real world. This transformation from a naïve character to an Egoist is what Kunigami needed to step up his game.
3. Kunigami’s Rival Is Wild!
When it comes to rivalry in anime, such as Blue Lock, everyone rivals everybody. Even so, some players have the zeal to beat that one person that bested them once before. With no exception, Rensuke Kunigami has, his eyes set on one player that once crushed Kunigami’s old self.
Shido Ryusei is an odd one but a character with depth. Ryusei was ranked 111th (last place) in the second selection. Ryusei appeared in episode 24 (chapter 88) as the last person to clear the second selection. When Isagi questioned Kunigami’s failure, Ryusei mockingly criticized Kunigami’s honesty and righteous attitude. Rubbing salt over this wound made Ryusei team-Z’s #1 enemy…
With that said, Shido Ryusei’s rank doesn’t do him justice. With Ryusei’s inhuman speed & accurate drive-shot capability, he’s arguably the best striker in the blue lock experiment. Ryusei’s character is a wild one. His perspective on football/soccer differs greatly from how anyone else would view it. Ryusei potentially views the sport as a series of biological phenomena, with the ball as the seed, the goal as the egg, and the “Explosion” as the fusion process when he scores a goal.
This makes the villainous Shido Ryusei the perfect rival for the heroic Kunigami we once knew.
4. Rensuke Kunigami’s Voice Actor
Yuuki Ono is the voice of some well-recognized characters in the anime medium, characters like Higashikata Josuke (a fan favorite from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure), Kagami Taiga (a stern voice from Koroko no Basket), Zenkichi Hitoyoshi (Medaka Box), and many more.
Rensuke Kunigami is an excellent character. Not just through his actions but also through his dominating voice in the anime, thanks to Kunigami’s talented seiyuu, Yuuki Ono. His uplifting vibe and stern voice make him stand out from the bunch. Additionally, fans are excited to see Yuuki Ono’s performance in Blue Lock season 3 when we see a different version of Kunigami, post Wild Card experiment.
5. Kunigami’s Type & Fetishes
Since Kunigami is considered kind and moral, it’s not unnatural to expect a love interest of the same kind to reciprocate. That’s right, Kunigami’s ideal type of woman would be kind and gentle, just like Kunigami himself from Season 1. In addition to that, he would also want his love interest to be cute.
A sexual fetish is when an individual is attracted to a part of the opposite sex’s body. Sexual fetishes vary from one person to another. But, Fetishes can be identified when you have an adrenaline rush by looking at or doing something specific to the opposite sex. Likewise, to our surprise, Kunigami has a neck fetish, specifically, the nape of the neck. The fact that Kunigami is looking at the nape of both men and women alike makes it all the more evident.
Interestingly, when Kunigami bathes, he tends to wash his neck first. Could this be a coincidence or a part of his fetish?
6. Kunigami’s Weakness
It was evident throughout season 1 that Kunigami was weak regarding taking compliments and praises. However, Kunigami was oblivious to one of his major weaknesses early on. A weakness for which Kunigami suffered stupendously.
Throughout the events of season 1, Rensuke Kunigami has exhibited remarkable skills on the team. Unlike most Egoists, he doesn’t strike a goal for self-gain; rather, he plays a fair game and considers each goal a team effort. However, some may consider this a required quality in a sports team. Blue Lock sees it quite differently because, in the grand scheme of things, It’s every man for himself on the field.
The Blue Lock experiment is to validate the “best striker” fit for world championship standards. Unfortunately, Kunigami’s naïve attitude isn’t very fruitful in this age of egoist rule. Kunigami’s unrealistic dream of becoming a real superhero, and the idea of depending on friends, quickly ceased to exist after the setback during the second selection.
7. Kunigami’s Insane Strength
The fan-favorite Kunigami we know is a hard worker. While others rest, he trains. Initially, Kunigami was a motivational factor for our main lead, Yoichi Isagi, which made Kunigami a dependable character from the get-go.
Kunigami acts as the team’s pillar of support. However, The reliable brother figure was more than just that. He was an exceptional shooter on top of being a moral player. Kunigami’s left leg strike is his greatest weapon, with the consistency of a professional striker. And with Kunigami’s superior physicality, he can remain active in a match while maintaining his rich well of stamina.
Interestingly enough, after Kunigami returned from the Wild Card training, he was reborn anew, with all his skills elevated to an advanced level and harboring the vessel of “the world’s best striker,” Noel Noa. Additionally, this makes Kunigami naturally ambidextrous, allowing him to strike with both his legs as if it were his dominant leg.
8. Is Kunigami The Best Striker?
Rensuke Kunigami has come a long way. He has won and lost some, from Team Z to where he is now. Kunigami had steady rankings growth, but only recently, his explosive growth to the top 5 surprised us and the fans alike.
Kunigami’s ranking progression is as follows:
With over 300 competitors,
- He was initially ranked 291st in Team Z.
- He then rose to 266th before the second selection.
- After the second selection, in episode 16 (chapter 58), he rose to the 50th rank.
- Post Wild Card experiment, in chapter 170 of the manga, Kunigami reached the 3rd rank. With a bid of $24 million.
- With the rise in competition and market evaluation broadening beyond Blue Lock standards, in chapter 204, Kunigami is ranked 5th. Almost twice as much as his previous value of 24 million, his current bid is $47 million.
Kunigami’s rapid growth after the Wild Card evaluation is certainly impressive. He reached the top 5 after a load of hardships. And without a doubt, Kunigami’s one of the strongest egoist strikers in Blue Lock.
9. Kunigami’s Dream Shattered
When Kunigami first opened up to Isagi during episode 4, we learned of Kunigami’s motivation behind participating in the Blue Lock experiment. His only dream was to become a real-life superhero. Kunigami’s “real superheroes” are football players he admired during childhood. This inspired Kunigami to start playing football at the early age of 6.
While Kunigami was a well-known figure within Team Z, he realized how unfair the world of Blue Lock was after the second selection. A world with no room for the moral and the righteous, something Kunigami stood for with pride.
After the events of the second selection, Kunigami’s failure as an egoist was exploited by Shido Ryusei. And this bitter truth led our former hero to the ‘Wild Card’ Experiment… From this, he emerged as a new man. Kunigami swiftly came to the realm of reality. The unsympathetic, cunning, cold-hearted, & mature version of Kunigami left his childish dreams behind in the Wild Card.
This ‘change’ upset some Kunigami fans. But as a silver lining, fans now expect greatness from his drastic character development as the “fallen hero.”
10. The Problem With ‘New’ Rensuke Kunigami
Most candidates in the Blue Lock experiment were well aware of the attitude they needed to rise to the top. However, some couldn’t keep up with the fierce competition. Kunigami was a special candidate with a polar opposite attitude to most egoists. And Kunigami was truly under the impression that achieving his childish dream of becoming a real superhero by playing fair would be possible. Unfortunately, however, this dream of his did not age well.
Kunigami quickly realized the depth of this experiment when he was brutally beaten during the second selection by Shido Ryusei. But after his second chance at the Wild Card, Kunigami stopped pulling more punches. Kunigami’s more straightforward, quiet, and unsympathetic attitude even left Isagi surprised by the realization of the “change” Kunigami had gone through.
Most fans are happy with Kunigami’s return during the Neo Egoist arc and his development. Besides Kunigami’s ranking and the skills he gained, his performance was underwhelming.
Kunigami joined one of the best European clubs, Bastard München. But his return hype did not meet fans’ expectations during Kunigami’s first & second matches against F.C Barcha & Manshine City, respectively.
Kunigami was under-focused throughout both matches and wasn’t shown to make any impressive plays. Though this disappointed many fans, they suspect the author is planning to use Kunigami’s time to shine in future matches. For example, Bastard München vs PxG and Bastard München vs Ubers.
