Feeling conflicted about Isagi

Now don’t get me wrong, Isagi’s my favorite character and I love a lot of things about him. I like how he’s unique/different from other players who have a lot of physical talent and how he makes the best use of what he has. I like how analytical, strategic and adaptable he is.

But lately, I feel like he’s a paper tiger and isn’t really worthy of his place as Top 1/2 in Blue Lock(through no fault of his own). I know I’m gonna get roasted by Isagi fans but pls be gentle with me as I’m a new reader and I just don’t get it.

First of all, his physical skills.

He has great IQ, vision, off the ball movements and all that but after almost 300 chapters he still sucks at Dribbling and physical skills. Every other important player like Rin, Barou, Chigiri etc are way above his level at dribbling past players and far more self reliant than Isagi. And that’s fine, absolutely fine. It’s their talent, their specific thing and they should be better at it than Isagi.

But I feel like it’s starting to get ridiculous because Isagi himself still can’t get the ball past any remotely relevant players on his own. He can get easily stopped by Karasu, Aiku, Niko, and imo even players like Nanase and Raichi can stop this guy if they just man-mark him. Even when it comes to NPCs, he usually can’t or doesn’t dribble past them. Instead, Isagi uses passing and off-the-ball movements to get past most players, which is great and all, but that means he relies heavily on players who are better than himself(at dribbling) like Hiori and Kurona. I feel like he relies on and gets carried by great players like Hiori and Kurona and kinda sucks as an individual. He absolutely cannot get past anyone if he had two NPCs helping him rather than good players like Hiori and Kurona. I don’t mind his over-reliance and getting carried at the start but it’s been hundreds of chapters and I feel like he should at least have some level of independent skills.

Every time another Metavision user like Aiku, Niko, and Karasu engage him he gets stopped and blocked with ease. He cant even put up a fight he just gets rolled, stomped and loses possession of the ball. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great players but how can Isagi be top 1 or 2 if, alone, he gets so easily stopped by players with a fraction of his bid?

Second, his uniqueness and talent.

Like Isagi said when he was getting destroyed by Rin and the other geniuses, anyone can do what he does. What happened to his unique talent of Spatial Awareness? He got Metavision which is like a better version of his Spatial Awareness, now everyone and their mom has Metavision so how is Isagi any special anymore? Chigiri has speed, Nagi has control, Kaiser has Kaiser Impact, and Isagi has… Metavision, Direct Shot, Two Gun Volley. All of which can be developed or trained by anyone else(especially Metavision). Don’t get me wrong, I love how hardworking he is, but how can he keep up at the world level when every other player has these amazing and unique talents no one else can replicate? Now that so many other players like Kaiser, Aiku, Karasu and Niko(and many more to come) have Metavision and the same level of vision and awareness Isagi has how does he even stand out anymore?

Lastly, his latest evolutions.

First of all, his Metavision is an insane development and power up, but like I said it overshadows his spatial awareness, and now every Metavision user has the same level of Awareness and vision and can stop him.

Second, his latest ‘power-up’ and new way of fighting is just him playing differently and deciding to work with Kaiser. There’s no way around it, he was just forced to give up on everything else like his animosity with Kaiser(justified as he’s an asshole who actively jacks Isagi’s shots), and his desire to shine on his own and impress Noa and everyone watching. He didn’t suddenly become a better player, come up with a new weapon, or play that much differently from what he was doing before. He just decided to team up and coordinate with Kaiser(something he was partially doing before) and was basically forced into it cuz otherwise he will lose plain and simple.

That’s fine with me if it’s not so great a power-up, but players like Rin, Kaiser, Barou, Nagi, Bachira and even Hiori suddenly become so much better players when they evolve, becoming better dribblers, gaining new weapons etc while nothing special happened with Isagi, he just decided to work with Kaiser.

In conclusion, I guess I’m just venting about Isagi. He feels like a paper tiger who relies heavily on better players, having no special talent of his own, and heavily overrated(in-universe). I love the character but I don’t think he deserves his spot in the current bids, or to be compared with players like Kaiser and Rin who are pretty much better than him at everything he does(especially Kaiser).

If anyone could change my view I’ll appreciate it, because like I said he’s my favorite character but lately he just feels like a fraud rn.