Rin Itoshi

Overview

Synopsis

Relationships

Image Gallery

“	My ego wasn't just destructive urges!! It's 'Life-risking Destruction...' That's my true nature!!!	”
	— Rin Itoshi discovering his ego

Rin Itoshi
Japanese	糸師 凛
Rōmaji	Itoshi Rin
Biological Information
Gender	Male
Age	16
Birthday	September 9
Height	186 cm (6'1")
Blood Type	A
Hair Color	Dark Green
Eye Color	Turquoise
Relatives	Itoshi family Sae Itoshi (older brother) Unnamed father Unnamed mother
Professional Information
Occupation	Student
Affiliation	Blue Lock
Blue Lock rank	1 7 1 2 1 221
Team	Paris X Gen (Starter)
Former team(s)	Blue Lock Eleven (Starter) Team A (Top 6) Team Blue Lock (1st Clear Team) Team Red Team V
Jersey Number(s)	1 (Second & Third Selection) 10 (Blue Lock Eleven & High School) 11 (Middle-School) 9 (Paris X Gen)
Position	Forward
Weapon	Kick Accuracy Spatial Awareness Off the Ball Movements Dribbling Puppet Control Flow State Predator Eye
Debut
Manga	Chapter 40
Anime	Episode 11
Portrayal
Japanese Voice	Koki Uchiyama Yuka Terasaki (Young)
English Voice	Matt Shipman Lisette Monique Diaz (Young)

Rin Itoshi (糸 (いと) 師 (し) 凛 (りん) , Itoshi Rin^?) is a contender of Blue Lock, who currently plays as a center forward for France's Paris X Gen in the Neo-Egoist League.

Rin is the younger brother of Sae Itoshi, who started playing football with him at a young age. He has played as a forward on every team he was on and has always been regarded as one of the top players. He is regarded as Blue Lock's best player until he is officially confirmed to be by Jinpachi Ego at the beginning of the Third Selection.

Rin's main goal is to become the world's best striker. He used to be fixated on defeating his brother in football and in turn, getting revenge for abandoning their shared dream, but after the Blue Lock Eleven played against the Japan U-20 he let go of his revenge and decided to change so that he may become the world's best striker, defeating anybody in his path. Rin is an ideal candidate for the type of striker Ego strives to create.

Quick Answers

What is the significance of Rin Itoshi's 'Destroyer Flow'?

Rin Itoshi's 'Destroyer Flow' is a heightened state where he harnesses his destructive instincts, significantly enhancing his performance. In this state, Rin provokes opponents to use their strongest skills, only to overpower them directly. This state represents Rin's self-realization that the answers he seeks are within himself, not externally.

Provided by: Fandom

How did Rin Itoshi's relationship with his brother Sae influence his football career?

Rin Itoshi was inspired to play football by his brother Sae. They played and won games together, aspiring to become top strikers globally. Their relationship deteriorated when Sae moved to Spain, prompting Rin to aim to surpass his brother. This change sparked a shift in Rin's playstyle from instinctive to logical. Despite claiming they're not on bad terms, Rin becomes visibly upset at any mention of Sae.

Provided by: Fandom

What makes Rin Itoshi the best player in Blue Lock?

Rin Itoshi's status as Blue Lock's top player stems from his advanced football techniques, diverse roles including captaincy and offensive focal point, and his cooperative spirit with teammates. From a young age, Rin has been a standout football player with a singular goal of becoming the world's best striker.

Provided by: Fandom

What is the role of Rin Itoshi as a center forward for Paris X Gen?

Rin Itoshi is a center forward for Paris X Gen in the Neo Egoist League. His skill set includes kick accuracy, spatial awareness, puppet control, and flow state. He uses off the ball movements to position himself in an opponent's blind spot and to maneuver into goal scoring positions. Rin also excels in positioning himself to receive the ball in space and score a goal.

Provided by: Fandom

How did Rin Itoshi get confirmed as the best player by Jinpachi Ego?

Rin Itoshi, a forward and top player in every football team he's been on, was confirmed as Blue Lock's best player by Jinpachi Ego during the Third Selection. This recognition came after Rin showcased his high physical stats and scoring abilities in the games.

Provided by: Fandom

Appearance

Rin is a tall teenager with a slim but muscular build. He is noticeably taller than Yoichi Isagi who is 5 months older than him. He has black hair with a bang going across his face more in his right eye than left eye, slim teal eyes, and distinct eyelashes that he shares with his brother Sae Itoshi. As a young boy, Rin looks largely the same, his facial features just become more distinct as he gets older.

At Blue Lock, Rin wears the standard issued body suit (black with gray stripes) and tracksuit. During Second Selection, he wore Team Red's #1 jersey and wore Team A's #1 black jersey during the Third Selection. Only once the Japan U-20 match begins does he don an official blue Blue Lock player uniform with the jersey #10 and a captain's armband.

Volume Cover 6

Young Rin

High School Uniform

Team Red Uniform

Team A Uniform

Blue Lock Eleven uniform (Manga)

Blue Lock player icon

Team A Uniform

Blue Lock Eleven Uniform (Anime)

Personality

As a young boy, Rin was very innocent and in awe of his brother, Sae, wanting nothing more than to become a cool and strong player like him. He started playing football because his brother told him to, following his orders without question. As they played football together, Rin listened to whatever Sae said and adjusted accordingly. When Sae left for Spain, Rin found football was more difficult without his brother but strived to become just like him and replace him. This is where Rin's core style of play would begin to shift from his instinctive style to a more logical style.

Initially, he was a good team player and captain for his middle school team, appearing to be on good terms with some of his teammates. However, due to his fallout with his brother, he has become cold, blunt, and overly serious. He is entirely focused on soccer, to an almost obsessive degree and is also very egoistic, as he is always putting his goals first over everybody and their motivations. Rin has a lot of pride as a striker, which borders on arrogance since he frequently describes other people's soccer and way of thinking as "lukewarm" or "mediocre." These mannerisms and behaviors came from his brother; in an attempt to be like his brother, Rin copies his words and embodies his mindset.

Rin seems to respect almost nobody. He will only acknowledge your presence if you have a noticeable and annoying ability/influence on the soccer field. He seems to have no friends, only rivals (with only Isagi and Bachira seemingly being on generally even terms with him). By the time of the Japan National Representative match, he is more noticeably talkative with the team, giving instructions on the pitch and conversing with Isagi specifically.

Rin commits to a routine of aftercare at the end of each and every day to improve his physique, and he is often found in the training room doing drills or weights. Despite his arrogance and aloofness, Rin truly lives and breathes soccer, dedicating every waking moment to improving himself. This mentality combined with his personality is what makes him the top candidate for Blue Lock's supposed best striker. Everything Rin does is to enable him to beat his older brother and end the rivalry, but after Rin moves past his revenge against his brother and his rivalry with teammates, he reaches clarity in his decisions. He now aims to free himself from anything that ties him down and establish his own identity as an egoist without relying on his brother, teammates, or rivals.

It has been noted that Rin's primary flaw is his inability to acknowledge other strikers as serious threats to his goal-scoring, as proven during PXG's final match against Bastard München. Even after finally discovering his hidden ego, he still continued to see Isagi as a minor threat, especially after the latter managed to nullify his attempts to score more than once. Another example is how he believed he could easily best Michael Kaiser, one of the New Generation World XI, in physicality to score the winning goal. Ultimately, this all led to his defeat in the Neo Egoist League.

Abilities

Archetypes

• Forwards: also known as strikers, have the main objective of scoring goals. They are often the players who get the most attention since their role is designed to be in a scoring position. They also take part in penalty kicks and corner kicks when the opposing team kicks the ball out of bounds. They are normally the players in charge of starting off the game at the start and halftime.

• Playmaker: A player who controls the flow of the team's offensive play and is often involved in passing moves that lead to goals through their vision, technique, ball control, creativity, and passing ability.
  
  Whether on offense or defense, Rin's playstyle consists of him grasping the abilities of both his teammates and his opponents and forcing out their best plays and abilities. He either manipulates them in his efforts to score goals for himself or aims to crush them at their strongest.

Skills

• Superior Football Technique: Rin is one of two players in Blue Lock who has top-tier stats, along with Ryusei Shido. During the Third Selection, he scored an average of 2.5 goals a game, which was the highest among the Top 6. A handful of players only rival his spatial awareness, ball control, power, and kick accuracy. Though Shido can be described similarly, the thing that makes Rin the best in Blue Lock is his willingness to cooperate with and create chemical reactions with his teammates, while Shido scores goals completely independently. Rin's experience and techniques are advanced enough that he is able to play the role of captain, act as the focal point for an offense, play in defense, and even overcome high-level defenders, using their own strengths against them.

• Perfect Kick Accuracy: Rin's primary weapon is his highly accurate kick. His shooting/passing accuracy is near perfect, as demonstrated when he kicked two balls in such a way that they travelled different trajectories yet still hit each other in midair. Rin's kicks are so accurate that he is able to score from long distance; Isagi implied that he could potentially score from anywhere below 35 meters, free kicks, and even directly from corner kicks. His main method of scoring is with curve, powerful shots. Even when players like Ryusei Shido or Tabito Karasu physically pressure him, he is able to make a pinpoint shot. Oliver Aiku notes that his shot power and accuracy decrease when he uses his left foot, but in most conditions where Rin can get off a shot, it is on target. Rin needs space and range to set up his shooting pattern, the denial of which can result in his shot being off. However, he uses his other weapons to find himself with plenty of both, making him one of the top scorers in Blue Lock.
  • Pinpoint High Speed Free Kick: Rin fires a blazing fast free kick with incredible accuracy. This free kick was so fast and accurate that it went right over Isagi's head without giving him a chance to react.
  • Vertical Spinning Direct Shot: A direct shot from the corner spot, which targets the furthest top corner of the goal. This shot can take players off-guard if they do not expect it, though it can be prevented through positioning.
  • Line Drive Shot: Rin attempted to replicate his brother's shot by dribbling to the byline and using his left foot to fire the ball over the goalkeeper and into the far side netting. However, the decrease in shot power and accuracy meant his shot was saved and hit the post.
  • Jump Shot: After feinting to circumvent an opponent's defense, Rin lifts the ball and performs a jumping roundhouse kick. With this technique, Rin is able to both shoot with frightening accuracy and evade a challenge from an opponent.
  • Blind Shot: Rin takes advantage of the movements of another player to shield the ball from the keeper's vision before firing a blind shot that the keeper cannot react to in time.
  • Trivela (Shot): A technique wherein one puts spin on the ball using the outside of their foot.
    Rin hides his form to force the assumption that he will shoot with his left foot before shooting with his right. Rin is able to do this and score from outside the penalty area, as demonstrated against the Japan U-20.
  • Spinning Midrange Shot: Rin shoots the ball from mid-range with a large amount of spin so that it bounces into the goal.
  • Crash Shot: A high-speed, precision shot that Rin makes whilst colliding with another player. The precision and curvature of the shot is such that it resembles a free kick being taken in mid-air. Rin uses this technique, against Isagi, to score during Bastard München vs Paris X Gen.
  • Trivela (Pass): A technique wherein one puts spin on the ball using the outside of their foot.
    Rin can use this technique to pass the ball, manipulating the opponent into thinking his pass has missed, only for it to spin back to its destination.
  • Oppressive Pass: Rin makes a difficult pass to his teammate in order to continue a play. He will usually play this pass into the optimal space for his teammate to retrieve it and return the pass (in Aryu's case) or into the space where he expects his teammate to break through (in Bachira's case). This pass, as opposed to a more creative one, challenges the limitations of Rin's team, forcing them to rise to meet his expectations.

• Spatial Awareness: Rin analyzes the entire field, including the positions of himself, his teammates, and his opponents, to determine the best play. Rin's tactical ability and spatial awareness are at such a level that only Isagi can understand, counter, and rival his analytical ability. Rin is routinely able to predict the positioning and movements of other players, including Isagi, setting up traps and baits to lure them into unfavorable positions, intercepting their plays, and setting up his own.
  • Spacing: By reading the weapon of his opponent, as well as the positions of other players on the field, Rin spaces himself in such a way as to allow for him to predict and respond to whatever they decide to do.
  • Synchronization: Rin is also able to use his spatial awareness defensively; through reading and understanding the core of his opponent's football, he can overlap his thoughts with theirs to predict what they will do next. He used this to halt the combined offense of Sae and Shido during the U-20 match. However, focusing solely on playing defensively makes it difficult for him to join the offense to score his own goals.

• Off-the-Ball Movements: A term used to describe the moments where players are not in possession of the ball.
  Rin makes use of these movements to position himself in an opponent's blind spot as well as to maneuver into goal-scoring positions. He does this after determining the field of view of the players on the pitch, similar to Isagi.
  • Positioning: Rin has incredible positioning, constantly moving to areas where he can receive the ball in space and still be able to score a goal. If Rin realizes that he will not receive a pass, he always positions himself in a place where he would be able to score if he should receive the ball by chance. He demonstrated this positioning during the Second Selection, as well as during the U-20 match. Rin also uses this defensively in combination with his spatial awareness. After using his spacing, Rin gives himself enough room to predict where the opponent will likely break through, then uses his positioning to intercept them.
  • Super-Speed Interlock: By using the movements of another player as a precursor, Rin moves into a position where he can meet a quick cross in an open space. He used this in conjunction with Bachira to score against the Team World Five.

• Dribbling: Rin has demonstrated the ability to move the ball at high speed and with great control to advance past either one player or multiple. While Rin is not a specialized dribbler, he has a well-rounded style that involves utilizing feints, hand blocks, technique, and physicality at a high level.
  • Feints: Rin often combines feints with his dribbling, baiting opponents into a specific action before evading their challenge. By positioning himself at a range where he can shoot, Rin manipulates his opponent into thinking he "will" shoot. This draws in the opponent to attempt a block before he feints in order to bypass them. Rin can also use this in reverse. By changing his form and hiding his motion, he fools his opponent into thinking he "won't" shoot before he does.
  • Marseille Turn: After manipulating his opponent into thinking he will perform a regular feint, Rin transitions into a roulette to get around their defense.
  • Elastico Nutmeg: Rin knocks the ball sideways with the outside of his foot in order to force a challenge from his opponent before using the inside of his foot to push the ball between their legs and get past them. He used this to get past Sendo.
  • Occlusion Break: Rin navigates through multiple players in succession, breaking their formation, using quick touches and hand blocks. Ness noted that this required high-level touch, speed, technique, and reading.

• Puppet-Controlling Soccer: A playstyle Rin developed to compensate for the absence of a playmaker, where he uses his high-level technique to control and manipulate what his opponent thinks.
  After identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each player on the field, Rin uses his superior technique and tactical and physical ability to manipulate them into scenarios that will result in a goal. He can do this by using his own abilities against the opponent or by combining his strengths with his teammates'. This style of soccer pushes his team's abilities to their limits and beyond, resulting in highly complex and effective passages of play that often result in a goal.

• Flow State: Flow, as Ego describes it, is the state of "total immersion" or "being in the zone." It is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
  The trigger for Rin's Flow state is the impulse to destroy a strong opponent whilst simultaneously risking himself. This typically takes the form of bringing out the best/strongest weapon of his opponent and then focusing on a play that crushes it.
  • Pure Destruction: An incredibly aggressive playing style where Rin attempts to draw out his opposition's strongest weapon and defeat them at their strongest.
    During the final minutes of the Japan U-20 match, Rin was able to completely defeat Teppei Neru, Miroku Darai, and Kazuma Nio in quick succession, using each of their weapons against them. In this state, Oliver Aiku observed that he would have 0% chance of defeating Rin by himself and a 50% chance with Shido assisting. Rin was also able to neutralize Sae's dribbling, as seen in the last minute of the U-20 match, by keeping up with his techniques to bait out Sae's favorite move (the cross elastico nutmeg) before shutting it down. During Paris X Gen's game against Manshine City, Rin was able to take over the game to score a hattrick. Finally, after fully understanding the trigger to his Flow state, Rin entered flow against Bastard München where he is currently competing with Isagi and Kaiser to dominate the game.
• Predator Eye: In the late stages of the Bastard München VS P.X.G. game, he manages to evolve once again and develops his predator eye by pinpointing and focusing himself in the point where Kaiser passed to Isagi.

Manga Appearances

Second Selection Arc
39. Hungry
40. Second Selection	Debut
41. BLUE LOCK MAN
42. About-Face
43. Three-Man Teams	Appears
44. Rivalry Battle	Appears
45. Battle to the Death	Appears
46. TOP 3	Appears
47. Chemical Reaction	Appears
48. The Beauty of the Parabola	Appears
49. After the Parting	Appears
50. Match Confirmed
51. Creator
52. Talent and Mediocrity
53. Blind Spot	Mentioned
54. Devour
55. A Dream that Won't Come True
56. Proof I've Wagered My Life
57. Chance Encounter
58. The Battle Begins	Appears
59. Triple Combo
60. Field Vision
61. Leverage
62. Loser
63. Buried Ego
64. The Lead Actor's Stage
65. Trick of Fate
66. Loser's Crossroads
67. Power of Despair
68. Promise
69. Chaos	Appears
70. Dancing Boy	Cover
71. Friends	Appears
72. MATCH UP!!	Appears
73. Ultra-Coordination	Appears
74. Monster	Appears
75. Wild Dance	Appears
76. Can't Go Back	Appears
77. All-Out	Appears
78. Irregular	Appears
79. I'm Not There	Appears
80. Unlimited	Appears
81. Last Action	Appears
82. I Don't Need You	Appears
83. Voice	Appears
84. Initial Impulse	Appears
85. Eight Seconds Ago	Appears
86. Pride	Appears

World's Best Arc
87. Luck	Appears
88. World All-Stars	Appears
89. Demon
90. Third Selection	Appears
91. Divine Speed	Appears
92. The Closest	Appears

Third Selection Arc
93. Gathering	Appears
94. Time has Come	Appears & Cover
95. Tryouts	Appears
96. Chosen Path	Appears
97. Last Ticket	Appears
98. Villain	Appears
99. The Assassin and the Ninja	Appears
100. Optimal X Supreme - Worst	Appears & Cover
101. New Relation	Appears
102. The World of Feeling	Appears
103. Total Sensory Experience	Appears
104. Trance	Appears
105. 5 X 6	Appears
106. Chameleon	Appears
107. All Matches Over	Appears & Cover
108. Top 11	Appears

U-20 Arc
109. Battle Group	Appears
110. Newcomer	Appears
111. FLOW
112. Grand Stage	Appears
113. Cops and Robbers	Appears
114. Quartet	Appears
115. Sae Itoshi	Appears
116. Revenger	Appears
117. Nice to Meet You	Appears & Cover
118. Warped	Appears
119. Third Arrow	Appears
120. Blue Genes	Appears
121. 1st HALF	Appears
122. Headliner	Appears
123. World's Best	Appears
124. Night Snow	Appears
125. Ruin	Appears
126. 2nd HALF	Appears
127. Dragon Drive	Appears
128. Dramatic Exchange	Appears
129. Cool Head and Chameleon	Appears
130. The World Doesn't Know Me Yet	Appears
131. What You Taught Us	Appears
132. Dictator	Appears
133. Extreme Focus	Vision
134. Flowers	Appears & Cover
135. Shachihoko	Appears
136. Culmination	Appears
137. Last Step	Appears
138. One Mind in Two Bodies	Appears
139. Synchronize	Appears
140. Essence	Appears
141. Monster Trance
142. World Standard	Appears
143. Not Alone	Appears
144. Disposition	Appears
145. Born Slippy	Appears
146. Final Match-up	Appears
147. Last Attack	Appears
148. Declaration	Appears
149. Complete	Appears
150. Holiday
151. Changing World

Anime Appearances

Season 1
1. Dream	Absent
2. Monster	Absent
3. Soccer's "Zero"	Absent
4. Premonition and Intuition	Absent
5. To Be Reborn	Absent
6. I'm Sorry	Absent
7. Rush	Absent
8. The Formula for Goals	Absent
9. Awakening	Absent
10. Just the Way It Is	Absent
11. The Final Piece	Debut
12. The Second Selection	Appears
13. TOP3	Appears
14. The Geniuses and the Average Joes	Appears
15. Devour	Absent
16. Tri-Fusion	Appears
17. Donkey	Absent
18. The Stage for the Lead	Absent
19. Dancing Boy	Appears
20. Super Link-Up Play	Appears
21. I'm Not There	Appears
22. Voice	Appears
23. Luck	Appears
24. The Time Has Come	Appears

Season 2
25. Tryouts	Appears
26. The Assassin and the Ninja	Appears
27. The World of Feeling	Appears
28. Chameleon	Appears
29. Flow	Appears
30. Grand Stage	Appears
31. Sae Itoshi	Appears
32. Blue Genes	Appears
33. Night Snow	Appears
34. Dramatic Exchange	Appears
35. What You Taught Us	Appears
36. Flowers	Appears
37. You're Not Alone	Appears
38. Last Attack	Appears

Etymology

• His given name, Rin (凛 (りん) , Rin^?), means "cold" or "dignified."
  • His given name should not be confused with the same word in Filipino (rin) meaning "also" when a word ends in a vowel, w, or y (except for words that end in ra, raw, ray, or ri). In other cases, din can be used.
    • The same goes for daw/raw, dito/rito, diyan/riyan, and doon/roon.

• His surname, Itoshi (糸 (いと) 師 (し) , Itoshi^?), means "a thread master."

• His name can thus be interpreted as "a cold thread master" or "a dignified thread master."

Quotes

• (To Ego) "How lukewarm of you, four-eyes. To me, this match is just another stepping stone to becoming the best in the world."

• (To Isagi) "To me, you're just stepping stones. You guys and this 'Blue Lock' as well."

• (To Isagi) "If you keep winning, you'll get into Japan's U-20 Team. I'm here to just take advantage of that system. It's all so that I can become Japan's representative and overcome my brother."

• (To Isagi) "Soccer is a death match as far as I'm concerned. Just come already so I can kill you. Your lukewarm ball kicking game will end here."

• (To Team White) "You guys don't learn at all, do you? I'm staking my life on each moment here."

• (To Isagi) "How long are you going to circle these passes around? And you call yourself a striker? Come. I'll end this."

• (To Isagi) "Did you really think you could read me? A puppet sideshow like you."

• (To Isagi) "Luck isn't a result of pure coincidence. It's an underlying element of the field that reaches only those who move by their will. If you can't understand that, you've got no right to live in a competitive world."

• (To Isagi) "Don't get swept away, Isagi. You just have to look at me. In 90 minutes, I'll turn those cheers into screams of anguish."

• (To Nagi) "Who cares, idiot? Do babies think about death when they're born? After they're born, they have no choice but to live their lives with all they've got... Whether what comes next is Heaven or Hell... I'll be the one to decide my story. This place is filled with tepid losers... so I'll go down to Hell, Whitehead."

• (To himself) "All that's left is for me to set my life ablaze in this moment and bring forth the courage to die!"

Trivia

• The majority of this information is from the official Egoist Bible.
  • He says he doesn't cry.
  • His favorite food is ochazuke, especially ochazuke with bream.
  • His favorite manga are Dragon Head and Ciguatera.
  • His favorite animal is the owl.
  • His favorite movie is "The Shining".
  • His favorite song is Prayer X.
  • The first thing he washes when in the bath is his eyes.
  • He is unfriendly or blunt.
  • He is fluent in English.
  • He spends his holiday either by playing horror video games or immersing himself in horror movies.
  • He is not good at calligraphy.
  • If it were his last day on Earth, he would fight with his brother.
  • He doesn't remember how many Valentine chocolates he got last year because he declined all of them and gave them back.
  • His morning routine consists of opening the window to let in fresh air, taking a deep breath, stretching, morning yoga, meditation, revisiting his feelings of sadness and rage, and finally starting his day.
  • When Rin asked what he does for luck before a showdown, he said, "Think about beating nii-chan [Sae]. I can't lose to all of the other small fry."

• Rin ranked 6^th in the first popularity poll with 1,028 votes.

• Rin's English voice actress for when he was a child, Lisette Monique Diaz, also voices Oliver Aiku when he was a child and Tenka Naruhaya.