Blue Lock creator confirms the "other" protagonist besides Isagi (and it's not Rin Itoshi)

Since the start of Blue Lock, fans have often debated one major question about the series: Who was the "other" protagonist of Blue Lock? Considering their early presence in the series, many fans believed it was either Meguru Bachira or Seishiro Nagi. However, the fanbase later came to a common consensus that it was Rin Itoshi.

While it made sense to most fans for Rin Itoshi to be the series's "other" protagonist, Seishiro Nagi fans found it hard to believe, especially since their favorite character had his spin-off manga, Blue Lock: Episode Nagi. Fortunately for them, the series's creator debunked the fanbase's analogy in the manga's latest release.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Blue Lock manga.

Blue Lock creator's latest comment confirms the series's "other" protagonist

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On Friday, May 16, 2025, Blue Lock: Episode Nagi manga released its seventh compiled volume in Japan. As part of this, the series's three creators, author Muneyuki Kaneshiro, the main series's illustrator Yusuke Nomura, and the spin-off series's illustrator Kota Sannomiya, commented on the manga.

While all three comments were interesting, manga author Muneyuki Kaneshiro gave fans the most significant information.

Muneyuki Kaneshiro's comment, translated by fans:

"After I finished showing all the sides of Nagi I wanted to show, I discovered new sides I wanted to depict. He's the other protagonist of Blue Lock."

Seishiro Nagi as seen in the anime (Image via 8bit)

As revealed by manga author Muneyuki Kaneshiro, after he finished showing all the sides of Seishiro Nagi that he wanted to show, he discovered new sides to him while penning the spin-off manga. With that, the manga author officially confirmed that Seishiro Nagi was the "other" protagonist of Blue Lock. Needless to say, Seishiro Nagi fans were happy that the manga author made this revelation.

Amidst the creators' comments, Kota Sannomiya expressed his delight at finally finishing the latest match and how he had poured his soul into the manga's seventh volume. Meanwhile, Yusuke Nomura called Episode Nagi the best spin-off manga for revealing more expressions and sides of Nagi and Reo.

Fans' reaction to Kaneshiro calling Nagi the "other" protagonist

As one would expect, Seishiro Nagi fans were delighted to learn that their favorite character was the series' second protagonist. This suggested that, despite his elimination in the main series, he could return in a future story arc. Some fans even expressed that they liked the spin-off manga more than the original series.

"Nagi second mc confirmed LET'S GOOOOOO. No way he won't come back," one fan said.

"Now if I say Nagi's perspective and story was way more interesting than whatever plotsagi had going on....," another fan added.

Meanwhile, Rin Itoshi fans were livid after hearing about Kaneshiro's latest comment. They believed they were robbed of an "Episode Rin" manga, and now the author had taken away the character's title as the series's deuteragonist.

"Yes, I'm not happy about this. Kaneshiro, first you robbed us of Episode Rin, and now this? At least give some importance to Rin too!," another fan said.

"Maybe that’s why he eliminated him this early to make another spinoff of his journey after Blue Lock, maybe???," other fan said.

Amidst such back and forth, one fan theorized that Kaneshiro must have eliminated Nagi in the main series to show his post-U-20 World Cup journey with a second spin-off manga.