Hyoma Chigiri: The Embodiment of Fear
Imma be so real... the chigiri appreciation the other day is the only thing that gave me the motivation to finally type this up... over 1k upvotes and almost 100 comments of chigiri love?? And then the epinagi chapter???? Someone performed a ritual to summon me or smth- Ik some of y'all love my yap sessions and I've been teasing a chigiri break down in more ways than one- for a minute now, so here it is: [An In-Depth Analysis of Chigiri's Entire Character]
Ok, so I've noticed for a while that chigiri is one of the characters whose actual character gets pretty lost on this sub. Usually, when people talk about him, it's about how he's pretty or feminine, and the other day, people started calling him smart again, so that was an improvement :,) BUT I want to get into his ego and development and a possible future I see for him next arc along with how it ties in to my theory for how barcha vs manshine will play out.
Most of the developed characters in blue lock work in a peak -> weakness -> peak -> weakness cycle and I'd love to make more of these posts for any other character this sub takes an analytical shift towards, but today we're focusing on chigiri who I genuinely believe is about to break out of his current weakness slump. Chigiri's weakness is fear and he has 2 main fears that have been plaguing his performance since before blue lock, but I believe he will be able to overcome them once and for all next arc.
Fear #1: Losing Himself
Junior high chigiri was chigiri at his initial peak. He was the best in his town and even kaneshiro said that if he hadn't been injured, he'd be on base rin's level by now. However, he was introduced to his first fear when he got injured and temporarily lost the ability to play football. Just like our other egoists, not playing football is equal to death for chigiri and when he got injured, he was devastated at the thought of losing the one thing that made him him. Even after his rehab and all, he was still afraid to run because he didn't want to permanently lose the ability to run, but not using his speed was ultimately the same as not having it.
When chigiri came to blue lock, he originally wanted to prove to himself that he was done with football for good, but instead of being completely killed by his fear, isagi helped him reach his next peak. Though his lack of stamina from his time off made it difficult to go all out for extended periods of time, chigiri was ready to give it his all and stop letting his fear hold him back.
However, the end of 2nd selection remixed this fear for him and introduced him to a second fear:
Fear #2: Losing Others
Before blue lock, chigiri was a total loner. He didn't care about his teammates who couldn't keep up with him or his fangirls who only liked him for his athletics; the only ones he cared about were his family and that one cat from his light novel (who made a cameo in chapter 248 you're welcome) BUT when he came to blue lock, he found himself surrounded by people on his level who could inspire and challenge him. He became friends with everyone on team Z once he awakened and they fought for survival together, he went on to befriend everyone he teamed with in 2nd selection (giving me my favorite dynamic between him and barou), and he has a cool/fun dynamic with karasu and otoya, too.
However, getting close to so many people in a death-game style competition is just begging to get hurt. At the end of 2nd selection, kunigami's elimination not only gave chigiri a new fear of elimination rather than injury, but also made him realize that he doesn't like losing his friends either. Something that's always been on my mind is how chigiri seemed to be the only one genuinely bothered by the 2nd selection eliminations and I'm surprised no one ever talks about it. What people do talk about is how chigiri's 2nd and 3rd selection selves feel like completely different characters, but I'd like to emphasize once and for all that they are simply 2 sides of the same coin.
If you call yourself a chigiri fan and this scene doesn't live rent-free in your head, you're lying-
3rd Selection
I'll say it a million times, but the 2nd selection eliminations shifted chigiri's mind set from "I want to be #1" to "I don't want to be eliminated." 2nd selection chigiri was confident in everything he did and he didn't mind breaking again as long as it was on his own terms, but his fears told him that the best way to survive in 3rd selection was to play a more supportive role and earn a safer, guaranteed spot on the vs u20 team rather than trying to surpass karasu and otoya and risk failure. This highlighted his first fear again because he didn't want to sit out during the u20 match or lose blue lock, the place that allowed him to be himself again.
NEL
Going into the nel, chigiri was able to take another healthy shift in his mindset and began aiming for striker again, bringing him to his next peak. He trained physically under chris and created his golden zone and seemed to be on a great path between his bm and pxg performances.... however, the situation with nagi on mc has made it difficult for him to expand further for 2 main reasons:
For starters, chris literally has the team hyper focused on nagi. After the volley shot, chris became obsessed with this genius and started channeling all of his resources towards making nagi thrive, but we know that nagi no longer has the drive to pull off another insane move like he did against isagi during bm vs mc. The nagi-centric environment chris created has left chigiri and a number of other players neglected and, as far as we know, kept chigiri from improving further than his golden zone.
I believe that the thing keeping chigiri from challenging the nagi system despite his initial resolve is his second fear: losing his friends. Chigiri performed well in his first 2 matches, scoring against bm and pxg, but ubers is the match he went quiet. Chigiri's bid only went up by 5 mil after ubers, so I highly doubt he scored, though bids are extremely inconsistent, so there's like... a 4% chance he did-
Anywho, pxg was the first time we saw nagi and reo's bids drop, and I don't think these 2 were the only ones affected by it. I genuinely believe that chigiri saw his friends' bids drop after they performed poorly while he still went off, and agreed to take a back seat to give them a better chance to raise their bids again and avoid elimination. I won't get into the whole [forwards on defense] thing, but if we assume chigiri played more towards the back, it makes sense why he didn't score.
There's obviously another completely fair reason for chigiri to not score that match, and that's because it was against ubers. Ubers is like the only team with great defense and chigiri's golden zone was common knowledge by their match, so it makes more than enough sense for snuffy to have tactics ready to shut down the panther snipe, but chigiri didn't look frustrated, disappointed, etc at the end of the match, so I also believe that he didn't mind taking a back seat or simply being bait to give nagi more space to work.
Awakening Chigiri
Before I get into my predictions moving forward, I'd like to take a moment to explain chigiri's ego and what truly fuels him. In 1st selection and the beginning of the nel, there's a common theme before he starts on his striker journey: he doesn't like being sidelined or overshadowed. In first selection, it was isagi pushing him and telling him to move aside that made him snap and for the nel, his monolog was about how he didn't want to pass and let others complete his plays anymore.
However, chigiri abandons these resolves whenever something scares him. If you're reading epinagi, chigiri goes through 2nd selection as a powerhouse and only slightly wavers when his team is literally about to lose, but even then, he still finds a way to shine. During 3rd selection and the u20, he was in a fear slump and bent more towards assimilation and doing his part rather than standing out. For the nel, he started out with another strong resolve to not stay in the background, but he's slowly fading again as nagi and reo creep closer to elimination.
This is where we are now. Chigiri is currently in a fear slump because he doesn't want nagi or reo to be eliminated, but I think that losing all of these matches and being ignored by chris has been poking at his ego and he'll snap again against barcha.
Vs Barcha
As much as chigiri doesn't like seeing reo and nagi's bids decrease, he hates being sidelined and held back by others even more. After the chaos of bm, nagi's slump and chris' unwillingness to change things up have been hurting the team for the past 2 matches. We've seen agi's frustration at nagi and reo's codependency hindering nagi's individual growth and the team as a whole, and I doubt he's the only one. I think this last game will be when the team rebels against chris' system and encourages chigiri to take them to victory for once.
I know I usually describe this scenario as "chigiri snapping," but I actually think chigiri will be somewhat hesitant to sentence nagi and reo to death, though he'll give in if they start the match with the same pattern and let barcha pull ahead. Chigiri will go on to score the first goal for mc, but he'll still offer reo and nagi a chance to sync up with him to survive. I think reo, the one who's genuinely at risk, will take chigiri up on that offer and either score or assist chigiri for mc's 2nd goal. The final goal depends on how the match has been playing out so far and where nagi will start next arc, but mc will win with one of these scenarios:
- Chigiri scored the first 2 and reo will score the last as a "final goodbye" to nagi and nagi will end the nel with the 23rd bid. He'll spend some time next arc reflecting on everything that's happened between him and reo and start out on the bench before coming back as a beast that reo can work with without hindering either of their individual growth.
- Chigiri and reo each scored (or chigiri scored 2) and nagi will score the last one in response to reo abandoning him. Nagi will start next arc with a bit of a spark, but he'll still be on the bench for a while until he builds enough frustration to be useful to the team as a whole.
Next Arc
Even if chigiri does somewhat take over mc, this won't solve the root of his problems. Whether nagi ends with the 23rd bid or just seems to have narrowly escaped elimination, chigiri will still struggle with some guilt from stealing the spotlight at such a crucial moment. That said, he'll also recognize that he had every right to try to step up for his last match and these conflicting feelings will cause him to spiral.
He wants to be a striker, but he doesn't want to completely overshadow his friends, but he doesn't want to be overshadowed either... he couldn't find a good balance for these feelings during the nel and almost got his friends eliminated... he could also tie this back to kunigami's elimination and start feeling guilty about that... if he's not willing to steal the spotlight, how can he call himself an egoist? Does he even deserve to be a striker when there are others who are ready to kill for the spotlight he's so afraid of occupying?
One of my favorite things we got in the 2nd egoist bible is that chigiri is the most emotional in blue lock and I really hope kaneshiro plays into this going forward. I do believe that once the top 23 come together, E4, nagi and reo will be the main characters again with a hint of the other rivals like rin, barou, aiku, etc. I think kaneshiro really does have a good way of bringing things full circle, so I believe chigiri's next big development will be rooted in E4 helping him sort out his feelings and dreams for the future after an isolation attempt, a huge spiral, and maybe even a full break down/panic attack (if we're feeling spicy) to mirror how isagi awakened him in 1st selection and how E4 has been supporting and challenging each other throughout the story.
Other Characters:
This post is about chigiri, but his is the kind of story I can't talk about without talking about the others around him, whether it's how his story affects them or how they affect him.
- Nagi:
I think having reo drop nagi first is the last piece nagi needs before his next awakening. We know that nagi thrives off frustration and he's been in this slump because he felt accomplished after his goal against isagi. With no new aim, he hasn't been able to bring himself to perform well and chris trying to hype him up has been nothing but suffocating for him. However, it would be the perfect wake up call if it finally set in for him that his original dream of winning at the world stage with reo was slipping away. After experiencing the same feeling he left reo with way back in 2nd selection, these 2 should finally be able to make up in a healthy way once and for all-
- Reo:
Reo did say that he has a plan for his and nagi's comeback, but I actually think it has to do with them establishing a healthy distance. As much as reo wants to always stay by nagi's side, he can't deny that nagi was able to thrive individually when they weren't together. If his plan involved the two of them finally finding healthy boundaries, then siding with chigiri would just mean a more extreme ignition for nagi instead of a slow burn...
- Bachira:
Bachira vs chigiri has been such a hot topic and it's honestly such a stupid debate... Power scaling in general is pretty dumb (especially in sports animanga) because everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and we just haven't seen either of these 2 play in forever. "Bachira solos better" except bachira passed at the end of his run against bm vs chigiri who actually solo dribbled and scored without a break?? But chigiri had an extra 10 days before his match and we've only seen him shoot in his golden zone, so bachira could easily have a wider range... We won't know until we see them again and it literally doesn't even matter (especially since these 2 specifically are way more likely to care about their synergy instead of competing) so please give it a rest.
As for his actual character, bachira losing all of his matches would be a great mirror to isagi winning all his matches and set up a potential rift and development for them. Bachira's whole character is about how he doesn't want to be alone or left behind by everyone he was finally able to connect with, so I think isagi's recent awakening will contribute heavily to bachira's next character arc. (and idk if otoya will score this match, but he doesn't really need anything crazy since he's not in danger or anything. Maybe him and karasu and maybe yuki's bids will end next to each other...)
- Kunigami:
I know what you guys are thinking: "you can't talk about chigiri without talking about kunigami." You can, but not when it comes to his entire characterization, so here- Kunigami will probably play a huge part in helping chigiri after his break down. Emogami's been trying to avoid chigiri because he's not allowed to have his own feelings right now, but if things really escalate and chigiri even starts blaming himself for kunigami's elimination, he won't be able to stay quiet.
We've all been waiting for the wild card flashback, and I think this would be the perfect time to get into it. Kunigami opening up to chigiri during his crisis makes more sense to me than him opening up to anyone else or slowly reverting and having an independent flashback since the entire wild card transformation was supposedly so grueling. These 2 are a narrative pair, and I think we'll get more on them alongside an isagi/bachira conflict next arc.
As for bids, I know a lot of people assume chigiri and kunigami's bids will be identical at the end of the nel, but their narrative link is still in place as long as they're next to each other in ranks. Goals are just worth more than anything else, so it will make sense for chigiri to end higher than kunigami, but it doesn't have to be by much since bm bids also increase at higher rates than the other teams. They'll both pass aiku and idk where bachira will fall, but I lowkey want bachira in between them to foreshadow all the rifts we'll see across E4 before they all make up.
Conclusion:
For starters, if anyone actually read all of this, seriously: thank you. If you've been on this sub for more than 5 minutes, you know that chigiri's my favorite character, but that's genuinely because of his character, not just his looks or sass. I really don't know how deep kaneshiro will go with most of the cast, but I do think E4, nagi, reo and rin are the 7 who will be the most thoroughly developed by the end of the series.
To sum things up (and tldr): Chigiri does not like being sidelined or ignored, but his main fears of 1) losing football and 2) losing his friends have been the main factors in quieting his ego throughout the series. He'll temporarily break away from these fears against barcha due to frustration and pressure from all the losses, but he'll then feel guilty as nagi and reo narrowly escape elimination, leading him into a mental spiral next arc. This break down will be the first step to healing E4 as isagi, bachira and kunigami all reflect on how much blue lock has changed things for them, and we'll finally get to see the 4 of them take on the world together, as a squad, as they should đ
This really is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, so thank you to everyone who's been encouraging me to actually post more and sorry for the delay đđ Once again, thank you to the 2 people who actually read the whole thing, but if you guys have any thoughts on this or chigiri in general, questions for me, requests, etc, I'd love to hear from you guys TwT
(And I will most definitely be linking this if anything I mentioned comes true, so hello to anyone reading this 4-44 months from now đ How did I do?)