Kira Ryosuke might be coming back to the story.
The people who have been holding onto hope for the last few years for the return of Kira Ryosuke might just be right. In the latest chapter of Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s manga, Buratsuta told the remaining 23 Blue Lock members that three players will be joining them ahead of the knockout rounds. It turns out that one of them might be Kira, who got eliminated in the first round of Blue Lock. But what’s in store for the rest of the players?
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Blue Lock Chapter 311 recap
The issue begins with only one day left before The U-20 World Cup match against Nigeria. The Blue Lock members all practice together, with Isagi scoring an impressive goal. After that, he tells Hiori that he’s a beat too slow and he will be easily blocked at the international stage. Karasu argues with him, saying Isagi could’ve worded it better, and Oliver Aiku gets between the two players to calm him down. Rin asks if Isagi already thinks he’s the center of the team and everything has to go his way. He then challenges Isagi to beat him properly once. But before things escalate any further, the JFA chairman Buratsuta walks into practice.
Ego asks what he’s doing here and the chairman answers that he’s not here to interfere with the football. He only wants to tell the players about the promise he and Ego made so they’re extra motivated. He announces that there are a total of 26 slots in the final U-20 World Cup team, and the remaining three slots are his. One of those slots will be filled by Sae Itoshi in the knockout stage. He is also arranging for a similar programme to Blue Lock to select the best two players from 300 new candidates. Although it’s mostly to make money, he’s sure two amazing players will join the team before the knockout stage. He shows them a picture of the 300 players who will be competing and one of them is Kira Ryosuke.
Fans might remember Kira as the person who defeated Isagi in the match he played before coming to Blue Lock. At Blue Lock, Kira was kicked out right after round 1 for failing the game of tag. After Buratsuta leaves, Isagi asks Ego what’s this about. He reminds him of his promise to never let any player who has been kicked out of Blue Lock to play in the Japanese team again. Ego assures him that he intends to keep his promise. He doesn’t intend to use the players Buratsuta brings in as aside from Sae Itoshi, none of them could outperform the Blue Lock candidates.
After that Ego says that if they don’t win the U-20 World Cup, then he will also be kicked out of Blue Lock. This means he has a lot riding on their win as well. He promises to make them so strong that they won’t lose to anyone. He intends to create the No. 1 striker in the world as he doesn’t want to hand Blue Lock over to anyone else. He then says that he will announce the starters for their upcoming match against Nigeria. All around Japan, fans gather together to cheer on the new team. In the final panel, we see Nagi walking around just two hours before the first WC match.
Blue Lock Chapter 311 review
The appearance of Kira was not surprising as fans have been speculating about his return ever since Buratsuta first talked about the three players he intends to choose. It’s likely that other than Sae, the other two players to join the World Cup team at the knockouts will be Kira and Nagi. I’m really eager to see what happens when these three finally play in the matches (if they’re even allowed to). Nagi’s appearance in the final panel felt like a prophecy, as we know he probably changed his mind after talking to Igaguri. However, the most exciting aspect of the manga right now is the upcoming World Cup matches in the group round, starting with Nigeria.
Blue Lock Chapter 312 release date
The next chapter of the Blue Lock manga will be published on Tuesday, 22 July, 2025. You can read the series on Kodansha’s KManga platform.
