BLUE LOCK CHAPTER 71: FRIENDS

FRIENDS  

Chapter 71 continues Meguru Bachira’s emotional story, but this time the focus shifts from the birth of his “Monster” to the person he has been searching for all along. In this Chapter, Bachira’s loneliness, fear, and hope all lead toward one name: Yoichi Isagi. This chapter explains why Bachira believed in Isagi from the beginning, why Rin’s words shook him, and why the coming battle matters so much.

“I want a real friend…”
“…who wants to play fun soccer with me.”

This is not just a chapter about friendship.

It is about Bachira choosing who can truly dance with his Monster.

Bachira’s Imaginary Friend: The Monster Only He Can See

The chapter opens with Bachira and his mother talking about the “Monster.”

His mother calls it something simple and gentle.

“‘Imaginary Friend’?”
“Right! I’m sure that ‘Monster-kun’…”
“…is a friend only you can see.”

This moment matters because it gives Bachira’s strange inner world a softer meaning.

The Monster is not treated as something scary by his mother. It is described as a friend — someone who plays the kind of soccer Bachira wants to play.

“Monster-kun just plays the kind of soccer you want to play, right?”
“You’re not weird.”

But Bachira still asks the painful question.

“Am I…”
“…weird?”

That question matters because Bachira’s fear has not disappeared.

Even with his mother’s support, he still knows the outside world does not understand him.

Bachira Wants a Real Friend

Bachira does not want the Monster to be his only companion forever.

He wants someone real.

Someone who can feel the same joy.

Someone who wants to play the same kind of fun soccer.

“I want a real friend…”
“…who wants to play fun soccer with me.”

This is the emotional heart of the chapter.

Bachira is not only looking for a teammate.

He is looking for someone who can understand the world he sees when he plays.

His mother gives him hope.

“Yeah…”
“I hope you can find one someday!”

Bachira believes he will.

“Yep! I know I will!”

Until then, he asks the Monster to stay beside him.

“So, Monster…”
“Stay by me until then…”

This moment matters because it turns the Monster into a bridge.

It keeps Bachira from being completely alone while he searches for the real friend he dreams of.

Bachira Arrives at Blue Lock Half-Asleep

The chapter then jumps to Bachira’s arrival at Blue Lock.

He has fallen asleep almost immediately after getting there.

When he wakes up, the first game has already started.

“When Meguru Bachira awoke…”
“…after promptly falling asleep upon his arrival in Blue Lock…”
“…the first game of ‘Tag’ had already begun.”

This moment matters because it throws Bachira straight into chaos.

There is no calm introduction.

No gentle welcome.

Blue Lock’s battle is already underway.

The rules are brutal.

“Whoever is ‘it’ when time runs out…”
“…has to piss off back home.”
“And you can’t use your hands…”

Bachira is sleepy, but the environment around him is violent, intense, and alive.

And that excites him.

Blue Lock Becomes Paradise

Even while half-asleep, Bachira senses something special.

He believes Blue Lock will be full of different kinds of players.

“In Blue Lock, I’m sure…”
“…there’ll be all kinds of people…”

This matters because Blue Lock represents possibility for Bachira.

He has spent so long being misunderstood.

Now, he has entered a place where intense soccer is not strange — it is the whole point.

“…this place, where soccer is played with such intensity…”
“…is a paradise.”

That word matters.

Paradise.

For Bachira, Blue Lock is not just a training facility.

It is the place where his loneliness might finally end.

Bachira’s Fear: What If Nobody Can Match the Monster?

But excitement does not erase fear.

Bachira’s deepest worry returns.

“What if, even here…”
“…nobody can take on the Monster?”

This moment matters because it shows the risk behind Bachira’s hope.

If Blue Lock also fails to give him someone who understands him, then he will be trapped in the same loneliness as before.

He remembers why he came.

“I came here to change my life…”
“No…”
“I’m here to become…”
“…the world’s best…”

But beneath that ambition is a more painful question.

“What if, even here…”
“…nobody understands me?”

That is Bachira’s real terror.

Not losing.

Not being eliminated.

Being alone again.

Bachira Chooses the Strongest Guy

During the Tag game, Bachira feels something.

He looks toward Isagi.

He tells him something wild, direct, and important.

“If you’re gonna crush someone…”
“Go for the strongest guy. ♪”

This moment matters because Bachira is testing something.

He is not just playing randomly.

He is searching.

He wants to know if someone in Blue Lock can hear the same call of danger and fun that he does.

He is scared, but he still believes.

“I’m…”
“…sick of being alone.”

That line gives the scene emotional weight.

Bachira’s action is playful on the surface, but underneath it is desperation.

He wants proof that his real friend exists.

The One Bachira Has Always Been Searching For

Then the chapter gives Bachira’s inner belief its full force.

“But…”
“…I believe.”

He senses someone.

The one he has waited for.

The one he has searched for.

“The one…”
“…I’ve been waiting for…”
“THE ONE I’VE ALWAYS BEEN SEARCHING FOR…”

This moment matters because Bachira’s faith finally finds a target.

He sees Isagi not just as another player.

He sees him as someone who might understand the Monster.

Then comes the decisive feeling.

“The…”
“…strongest guy…”
“…right there.”

And Bachira understands:

“That friend is…”
“…right there.”

This is the key emotional reveal of the chapter.

For Bachira, Isagi became hope.

Not because Isagi was friendly.

But because something inside Bachira told him:

“This guy is a monster.”
“Pass to him.”

So Bachira believed.

“So Meguru Bachira…”
“…believes in…”
“…Yoichi Isagi.”

Why Isagi Matters to Bachira

The chapter then returns to the present at the 4th Stage Training Field.

Bachira explains what Isagi has meant to him ever since that first moment.

“Ever since then…”
“…the one who understands my play style the most…”
“…and the one who can feel the same energy as me…”
“…has been Isagi.”

This moment matters because it makes Bachira and Isagi’s bond clear.

For Bachira, Isagi is not just a teammate.

He is the player who responded to his inner world.

The one who could move with his strange rhythm.

The one who made the Monster feel less lonely.

“Of course, that…”
“…still hasn’t changed…”

But Rin’s words now threaten that belief.

Rin Questions Bachira’s Monster

Bachira remembers Rin’s criticism.

“Your dribbling…”
“…shows you’re afraid to fight on your own.”
“You’re searching for someone with your soccer.”

This matters because Rin attacks the foundation of Bachira’s play.

He suggests that Bachira’s search for a friend is not strength.

It is fear.

Bachira asks Rin something important.

“Do you…”
“…have a monster inside you, too?”

Rin does not understand the question.

“What are you talking about, Bangs?”

Bachira explains that he means an image of the soccer someone wants to play.

“I think everyone who’s great has one.”

This moment matters because Bachira is trying to understand Rin.

If Isagi has one kind of Monster, maybe Rin has another.

Maybe Rin’s soccer is also guided by something deep inside.

Rin Rejects the Monster

Rin answers coldly.

“How should I know?”

Then he cuts down Bachira’s belief.

“I bet your plays are so tepid and cowardly…”
“…because you’re controlled by such a childish fantasy.”

This moment matters because Rin refuses to validate Bachira’s world.

He does not comfort him.

He does not admire the Monster.

He calls it childish.

Then Rin says:

“Keep on playing soccer with that ‘Monster’ of yours.”
“I’ll become the world’s best in the meantime.”

Rin’s words matter because they create a new conflict inside Bachira.

Is the Monster a true guide?

Or is it something holding him back?

Bachira Senses a Different Kind of Demon in Rin

Even after Rin rejects him, Bachira feels something.

“Rin…”
“…might have a kind of demon I still don’t understand…”
“One different from Isagi’s…”

This moment matters because Bachira does not simply dismiss Rin.

He realizes Rin may carry something powerful too.

Not the same as Isagi.

Not the same as Bachira’s Monster.

But something dangerous.

Something fun in a darker way.

This makes the coming battle deeper.

Bachira is not only choosing between teammates.

He is trying to discover which “monster” excites him more.

Isagi Comes to Steal Bachira Back

Then Isagi arrives.

He says exactly what Bachira needed to hear.

“Like I promised…”
“…I came to steal you back.”

This moment matters because it brings Bachira’s emotional journey full circle.

As a child, Bachira wanted a real friend who would play fun soccer with him.

At Blue Lock, he believed Isagi might be that friend.

Now Isagi has returned for him.

“Yo, Bachira.”
“I’ve been looking for you.”

Bachira says his name.

“Isagi…”

That one word carries all the history of the chapter.

The loneliness.

The Monster.

The first Tag game.

The belief.

The hope.

The Battle Is Confirmed

Isagi challenges Rin.

“Let’s battle, Rin.”

And now Bachira’s question becomes clear.

“Yoichi Isagi…”
“…or Rin Itoshi…”
“Which of their monsters…”
“…is more fun?”

This moment matters because the match is no longer only about winning Bachira back.

It is about Bachira discovering where his soul wants to go.

Isagi represents the friend who understood him.

Rin represents a mysterious demon he cannot yet understand.

Both are powerful.

Both pull at his curiosity.

And now the answer must come through soccer.

“MATCH CONFIRMED!”

The chapter ends with the stage set.

Not just for a match.

For Bachira’s heart.

Final Thoughts

Blue Lock Chapter 71: Friends reveals why Bachira’s bond with Isagi is so important.

Bachira spent his life wanting a real friend who could understand his fun soccer.

The Monster stayed beside him while he waited.

Then, in Blue Lock’s first game of Tag, Bachira felt something in Isagi.

“This guy is a monster.”
“Pass to him.”

That belief made Isagi special.

But Rin’s words now challenge Bachira’s way of playing. Rin calls his Monster childish, cowardly, and tepid.

Still, Bachira senses that Rin may have a different kind of demon inside him.

So the next battle becomes more than Isagi versus Rin.

It becomes a test of whose soccer makes Bachira feel truly alive.

“Which of their monsters…”
“…is more fun?”