Barou Shouei

Shouei Barou

(馬狼照英, Barō Shōei) is a Project Blue Lock aspirant, currently playing the center forward position for the Italian team Ubers of the Neoegoist League.

Appearance

Barou is tall, with red eyes and long black hair that he wears in a spiked up style; when let down, his hair reaches down to his neck. Barou also has a muscular build, due to his dedicated training regimen, maintaining his physical condition. In Blue Lock, Barou wears the standard uniform (black with blue stripes) and tracksuit. During the First Selection in Team X he wore the number 10. During the Second Selection in Team Red and Team White he wore the number 18 and from the match against the Japanese U-20 team onwards he wears the number 13. Before the match against Bastard München, Barou dyed 3 red lines in his hair to celebrate the 100 million offer he had received from Ubers.

Personality

In keeping with his perception of himself as "the King", Barou has an imperious personality, seeing himself above others by maintaining an arrogant and egotistical attitude. Initially, Barou perceived everyone else on the field as supporting roles, moving for the sake of their own goals, with himself being the main actor on stage. He is obsessed with pursuing his own football, but is not actually into it or passionate about it. Barou is motivated by the need to take on others who play football and use his goals to push them out of the main actor's seat and replace them. The pleasure obtained through this is something Barou believes is only for the strong. Barou is the type of player who refuses to pass the ball and every time he loses possession he strives to win the ball back or steal a goal.

Personality

Following his symbolic loss to Isagi, where he felt he lost his position as a leading actor, Barou took a more evil approach to his own philosophy. He is now willing to take on a "villain" role if it means regaining that position. Despite this new evil take, Barou also matured after that match, being willing to admit when he was defeated and asking Isagi about the football he wants to play. Barou was visibly upset when he was not chosen for Blue Lock's 11 lineup, despite Isagi doing so, and has since been focused and waiting for his moment to play. When Barou is finally replaced to play against the Japanese U-20 National Team, he still has his overly critical and rude demeanor. In keeping with his obsessive personality, Barou is a perfectionist when it comes to controlling his surroundings and routine. He maintains a constant order in his surroundings, cleaning and organizing his living space within Blue Lock and getting angry at those who don't. This also extends to the bathroom area and controlling how people behave within it. Barou's obsession also extends to his training, where he is diligent and stoic. Always performing an extensive physical training routine, in order to maintain his strength. During the Neo-Egoist League, Barou shows what his ultimate ambition is, to "conquer" the world wanting to leave his mark on an entire generation of football as a king and will crush anyone who dares to challenge him or his throne. However, he states that he will do it his way, refusing to accept help or any kind of philosophy from anyone, even Marc Snuffy, who wants Barou to become his successor as king of Ubers.

Skills: Archetype

Complete Forward: Complete forwards are forwards with great skill, technique, clinical finishing and physical strength, allowing them to fulfil multiple roles. They can link up and play with others, create chances for themselves, finish team plays and hold up the ball. These players are often given the freedom to play as they wish, without rigid tactical instructions, as their versatility allows them to be fluid on the pitch. Barou's physique allows him to hold up the ball and compete successfully with other players. His carrying ability allows him to dribble and create chances for himself. His shooting and villainous style allows him to finish team plays, devouring his teammates. Barou has one of the best physiques in Blue Lock, as well as having one of the best techniques at his age in Japan, according to Anri Teieri. Barou is often given the freedom to play and devour whoever he wishes on the field, as shown during the Second Selection, with Ego telling Barou to ignore the team's plan and focus on devouring Isagi against the Japanese U-20 National Team.

Skills

Predator's Eye: Described as the complete opposite of Metavision, instead of expanding his vision, Barou narrows it excessively and focuses solely on the goalkeeper and patiently waits for the opponent to let their guard down and score a goal.

Skills

Sliding Shot - By maneuvering into a position where he can intercept a pass, Barou uses his physical strength to take advantage of the pass and take a shot at the same time, while standing on one knee. He was able to score while keeping Miroku Darai and Kazuma Niou at bay.

Skills

Lightning Dribble - By making use of cut feints, continuous bounces and angled dribbles, Barou can perform a labyrinthine dribble that is incredibly difficult to stop. Barou has also shown the ability to use other players as screens, to get past opponents, a testament to the 'villainous' football he has adopted.

Skills

Cut-out dribble - A feint where a player uses his left foot to shield the ball, while hitting the ball in the other direction with his other foot, effectively deflecting the opposing player. Barou frequently uses this skill to complement his carrying ability, allowing him to keep his opponent guessing which direction he is going to dribble in.

Skills

Villainous Football - A selfish and unpredictable style of play, involving Barou "devouring" his own teammates for the sake of his own goal. On the field, Barou will look for where to steal the ball from his teammates, in order to capitalize on their positioning and devour them. He can also go a step further, watching the way his team evolves their plays and disrupting that process, as he did to score a goal in the match against the U-20s. Barou developed this style of play when he was forced to step up to a new level, at the prospect of Isagi stealing his in the spotlight. This style turns Barou into a complete irregularity on the field, making it impossible for even Rin to predict his moves. In fact, the more knowledge the opponent has about football, the more likely they are to be overcome by this skill, as it circumvents all conventional wisdom of the sport.

Skills

Flow State - Flow, as described by Ego, is the state of "total immersion" or "being in the zone." It is the mental state in which a person engaged in some activity is completely immersed in a feeling of energized focus, total involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

Skills

Nutmeg: Barou has demonstrated the ability to nutmeg at least two players in quick succession, in order to get through their defence.

Skills

Heel Tap: Barou overcomes the opponent's defense by lifting the ball over them and recovering the ball upon landing, demonstrating great technical skill.

Skills

Superior Physique - Barou is one of the handful of forwards in Blue Lock who has a very strong and muscular physique and uses this to his advantage when driving the ball down the field or marking players to defend. Barou's physique, as noted by Isagi, is incredible, maintained by a diligent and extensive workout routine that Barou undertakes before training. This allows him to leverage his physique against opposing players to create the space he needs, even managing to charge through a pile of players with the ball at his feet.

Skills

Charging Ability: Barou has the ability to create the space for his own shots, charging through an opponent's defence and into range for his mid-range shot. He has multiple attributes and techniques that contribute to his overall charging ability. Barou was able to charge through two of the U-20's defenders, whilst holding them off, to steal a goal.

Skills

Mid-range shot - Barou's primary method of scoring is his powerful and accurate shot, from a position near the centre of the goal. Barou can aim for the top right corner with incredible reliability, and is almost guaranteed to score within a specific area of ​​the goal (29 metres, near the middle). However, when outside of this specific area, Barou's accuracy can drop restrictively. He has taken this shot straight from the kick-off, although it has been saved. He has also shown that he can change the target of the shot, towards the top left corner, but this again suffers from a drop in accuracy. And finally, he took this shot when it was too far out of his range and hit the post.

Skills

Complete Forward: Complete forwards are forwards with great skill, technique, clinical finishing and physical strength, allowing them to fulfil multiple roles. They can link up and play with others, create chances for themselves, finish team plays and hold up the ball. These players are often given the freedom to play as they wish, without rigid tactical instructions, as their versatility allows them to be fluid on the pitch. Barou's physique allows him to hold up the ball and compete successfully with other players. His carrying ability allows him to dribble and create chances for himself. His shooting and villainous style allows him to finish team plays, devouring his teammates. Barou has one of the best physiques in Blue Lock, as well as having one of the best techniques at his age in Japan, according to Anri Teieri. Barou is often given the freedom to play and devour whoever he wishes on the field, as shown during the Second Selection, with Ego telling Barou to ignore the team's plan and focus on devouring Isagi against the Japanese U-20 National Team.

How did they meet?

You are a babysitter that Barou's parents already trust, since you had taken care of his siblings for quite some time. Now you and Barou went to the same school, he recognized you right away when he saw you enter class with your group of friends. He tried to remember where he had seen you before.