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Description
Okuhito Iemon is a former contender of the Blue Lock Project. He first appears as a member of Team Z, the same team as protagonist Yoichi Isagi, and serves as the squad's goalkeeper throughout the First Selection. Before entering Blue Lock, Iemon played as a forward in high school, and he has no specialist training as a goalkeeper. His starting rank places him among the lowest-rated players in the facility, and he survives the initial dormitory entrance test by avoiding being tagged during the whole game.
Iemon is an eighteen-year-old born on November 19 who stands 187 centimeters tall. He has medium-length black hair shaved at the sides and short stubble that makes him look older than his actual age. A teammate remarks that he has the face of a goalkeeper, a joke the story keeps returning to because he ends up in that position almost by accident. He becomes Team Z's goalkeeper after losing a game of rock-paper-scissors, and he is upfront about the fact that he agreed to the role only because he lost, not because he wanted to play it.
In terms of personality, Iemon is serious, earnest, and cooperative, standing in clear contrast to the self-centered ambition that the Blue Lock program tries to cultivate. He is a caring person who likes to help his teammates whenever he can, routinely volunteering to set up practice equipment and staying behind to train with others until the end. He also finds it difficult to refuse a request, which is why he keeps being asked to fill the most thankless role on the team. He is conscientious, dependable, and even known for his neat handwriting. Within Team Z, he acts as the de facto big brother and the good conscience of the group, a stabilizing presence who keeps everyone focused when tensions run high.
His motivation changes over the course of the First Selection. Initially, he treats goalkeeping as a chore forced on him by chance. After the team's first loss, however, he reasons that rotating eleven different goalkeepers would be too risky defensively, so he volunteers to remain the fixed goalkeeper for the sake of winning. From that point, his goal becomes protecting the net at all costs so the team can survive, and he trains desperately to improve at a position he never asked to play.
In the story, Iemon fills a supporting but important role in Team Z's survival. In his first match against Team X, he fails to stop any of the opposing shots, including those of the powerful striker Barou Shoei. Against Team W, he concedes three goals and the team slips into despair, but he makes a dramatic one-handed save with the match on the line and then rallies his teammates by declaring that he will guard the goal even if it costs him his life, insisting that the team only needs one point to secure a draw. When teammate Kuon Wataru betrays the team and is absent from the strategy meeting, Iemon takes over the explanation of the tactics and correctly identifies that the Wanima twins' combination play can be neutralized by splitting them apart. In the decisive match against Team V, he struggles against much stronger opponents but still manages to block a shot from Reo Mikage, one of the standout moments of his time in the First Selection.
Iemon's most important relationships are built around Team Z. He is particularly close to Imamura Yuudai, the teammate who calls out his goalkeeper face and later jokes about him playing goalkeeper again. He steps into tactical leadership duties that normally belong to Kuon Wataru, taking over when Kuon is missing and organizing the team after Kuon's betrayal. He works alongside Yoichi Isagi, who acknowledges his clutch save, and he faces off against notable rivals such as Barou, Nagi Seishiro, Zantetsu Tsurugi, and Reo Mikage. His development is defined by his growing acceptance of self-sacrifice for the group, from a resentful rock-paper-scissors loser into a committed goalkeeper and occasional strategist who puts the team's survival above his own preferences.
In the Second Selection, Iemon forms a trio with Kuon and Imamura as part of the group of players who lag behind, and he is briefly delighted to finally play a position other than goalkeeper. His joy is short-lived, however, because he is ultimately not chosen by any other player and is eliminated as the last remaining member of his group. He therefore never reaches the Third Selection, and his participation in Blue Lock ends there. His notable abilities include his self-described all-round nature, his developing reflexes and shot-stopping as a goalkeeper, and his unexpected talent for reading opponents and organizing tactics, especially his analysis of the Wanima twins. While he is not one of the star players, his reliability, diligence, and willingness to do the unglamorous work make him a memorable presence in Team Z.
Iemon is an eighteen-year-old born on November 19 who stands 187 centimeters tall. He has medium-length black hair shaved at the sides and short stubble that makes him look older than his actual age. A teammate remarks that he has the face of a goalkeeper, a joke the story keeps returning to because he ends up in that position almost by accident. He becomes Team Z's goalkeeper after losing a game of rock-paper-scissors, and he is upfront about the fact that he agreed to the role only because he lost, not because he wanted to play it.
In terms of personality, Iemon is serious, earnest, and cooperative, standing in clear contrast to the self-centered ambition that the Blue Lock program tries to cultivate. He is a caring person who likes to help his teammates whenever he can, routinely volunteering to set up practice equipment and staying behind to train with others until the end. He also finds it difficult to refuse a request, which is why he keeps being asked to fill the most thankless role on the team. He is conscientious, dependable, and even known for his neat handwriting. Within Team Z, he acts as the de facto big brother and the good conscience of the group, a stabilizing presence who keeps everyone focused when tensions run high.
His motivation changes over the course of the First Selection. Initially, he treats goalkeeping as a chore forced on him by chance. After the team's first loss, however, he reasons that rotating eleven different goalkeepers would be too risky defensively, so he volunteers to remain the fixed goalkeeper for the sake of winning. From that point, his goal becomes protecting the net at all costs so the team can survive, and he trains desperately to improve at a position he never asked to play.
In the story, Iemon fills a supporting but important role in Team Z's survival. In his first match against Team X, he fails to stop any of the opposing shots, including those of the powerful striker Barou Shoei. Against Team W, he concedes three goals and the team slips into despair, but he makes a dramatic one-handed save with the match on the line and then rallies his teammates by declaring that he will guard the goal even if it costs him his life, insisting that the team only needs one point to secure a draw. When teammate Kuon Wataru betrays the team and is absent from the strategy meeting, Iemon takes over the explanation of the tactics and correctly identifies that the Wanima twins' combination play can be neutralized by splitting them apart. In the decisive match against Team V, he struggles against much stronger opponents but still manages to block a shot from Reo Mikage, one of the standout moments of his time in the First Selection.
Iemon's most important relationships are built around Team Z. He is particularly close to Imamura Yuudai, the teammate who calls out his goalkeeper face and later jokes about him playing goalkeeper again. He steps into tactical leadership duties that normally belong to Kuon Wataru, taking over when Kuon is missing and organizing the team after Kuon's betrayal. He works alongside Yoichi Isagi, who acknowledges his clutch save, and he faces off against notable rivals such as Barou, Nagi Seishiro, Zantetsu Tsurugi, and Reo Mikage. His development is defined by his growing acceptance of self-sacrifice for the group, from a resentful rock-paper-scissors loser into a committed goalkeeper and occasional strategist who puts the team's survival above his own preferences.
In the Second Selection, Iemon forms a trio with Kuon and Imamura as part of the group of players who lag behind, and he is briefly delighted to finally play a position other than goalkeeper. His joy is short-lived, however, because he is ultimately not chosen by any other player and is eliminated as the last remaining member of his group. He therefore never reaches the Third Selection, and his participation in Blue Lock ends there. His notable abilities include his self-described all-round nature, his developing reflexes and shot-stopping as a goalkeeper, and his unexpected talent for reading opponents and organizing tactics, especially his analysis of the Wanima twins. While he is not one of the star players, his reliability, diligence, and willingness to do the unglamorous work make him a memorable presence in Team Z.