Everybody seems into the current styles and builds of synthetic football boots. And why not? They seem to be coping with ever-increasing speed and intensity of today’s football. However, leather football boots at one point were the norm, and Mizuno through its Morelia II is a great reminder why K-leather once ruled and why the material stays relevant to this date.
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Mizuno Morelia 2 FAQs:
What changed in the Morelia 2?
Relative to the Morelia 1, the Morelia 2 has a shape that makes the boot more form-fitting. The opening especially on the heel has been narrowed down and the heel cup has been made stronger. The liner has more tensile strength to limit leather stretching and the classic fold-over tongue gives way to a more standard tongue construction.
How much does a Mizuno Morelia 2 Mij weigh?
At a size 9.5 US, the boot packs in around 210 grams in weight. Much can be said about the Morelia from that fact alone!
Morelia 2 Options
True to their reputation, Mizuno puts up a strong lineup of Morelia 2s out there, from the most premium Made in Japan model down to the takedown Pro entry.
MIJ
Elite
Pro
The Made in Japan has all the materials geared towards making the boot as light as possible. The Elite is not far enough, having less (but nonetheless still) premium materials, which somehow adds a bit more weight. The thing is the Elite can go toe-to-toe with the Nike Elites and adidas pluses or .1s, even though it is meant to be a takedown option. If the first two are your BEST and VERY GOOD options, the Pro we can say is your GOOD one.
In other words, Mizuno’s takedowns give value-for-money and encourages you to go for the gold *only if you really have some amount to spare.*
Mizuno Morelia 2 Made in Japan Review Proper
Five Things You’ll Want to Know About The Morelia 2:
Morelia has been around since 1985
Costs more ore less £300
K-leather from toe to heel and classic all-conical stud layout
Better to go true-to-size to offset some of the leather stretching; good for wide feet
The traditional offering in contrast to the synthetic Alpha and progressive Morelia Neo
Our Mizuno Morelia 2 Expert Review
Nike Phantom GX
The Nike Phantom GX are made for you to stick out on pitch with Gripknit technology to give you precise ball control, they are grippy on the ball but not too sticky.
Feels like butter on bread in terms of fit because of the excellent synergy between leather quality, the boot shape and the laces with the standard tongue construction; ridiculously comfortable
Deceptively lightweight; trending towards the weight of modern synthetic boots rather than classic leather boots like the Copa Mundial
All-conical stud layout somehow gives it some AG applicability
❌ Cons
A bit old-school in looks
Not necessarily performance-oriented
Elite takedown option offers great value for money, rendering the Made in Japan not a necessity despite the additional quality
Could do better by changing the laces as the OG cotton-based ones soak up much water
Finest K-leather. Most comfortable. Deceptively lightweight. These are some of the consensus opinions about the Mizuno Morelia 2.
Morelia 2 a boot that shows that new tech does not necessarily mean additional performance from modern football boots
Possible it can outlast any of the modern boots produced by the bigger brands
Responsiveness may not be able to reach Mercurial or X speed boot levels, but is part of sacrificing just a bit of performance benefit in exchange for incredible comfort (overall a net positive considering the huge gain/payoff versus the minimal loss)
True-to-size
Mizuno Morelia 35th Anniversary Celebration
The first Morelia was launched in 1985 and morphed into the Morelia II in 1991. Since then the Morelia II had seen several renewals, with each contributing a thing or two to Mizuno’s Morelia principles of “lightweight/flexible/barefoot feeling.” It was in 2020 during the 35th Anniversary of the silo that Mizuno produced the Morelia 2 which we are now familiar with. Note that ‘II’ has been changed to ‘2’ as part of the brand’s naming standardisation.
Safe to say that between 1985 and today, the Morelia maintained its looks and premiumness of the K-leather while introducing incremental changes to the different aspects of the boot like the tongue, lining, soleplate and laces. However in 2020, aside from renaming the ‘II’ to ‘2,’ a significant change was applied to the last. The Morelia 2 is based on the ‘engineered fit last,’ claimed by Mizuno as more representative of today’s foot shape than the one they used before.
Morelia 2 with the Engineered Fit Last
It has been 35 years since the birth of the first Morelia.
While maintaining the concept of “lightweight/flexible/barefoot feeling”, the last, which can be said to be the life of shoes, has been renewed for the first time in 30 years.
For modern footballers, all parts have been reviewed from scratch, and
a pair of shoes with a better fit has been completed.
-Mizuno, 2020
Given that the Mizuno lasting process ‘lasts’ 24 hours instead of the industry-standard 20 minutes, the new shape consequently changes the fit of the boot. This is best seen on the shape of the heel, which is now narrower than it has been previously.
The fold-over tongue is now smaller with the velcro at the back being wider for better security-in-place. However, the Morelia 2 with fold-over tongue is available mostly in Japan, and other places like Mizuno Europe more often than not sells the short tongue versions (which should explain the tongue difference between the abovementioned images versus the Morelia 2 options presented on this page.
Dean has worked as Chief writer for FootballBoots since 2020, he has an in depth knowledge of all the soccer shoes from the big brands, you have him to thank for all the updates to our Boot Secrets guide and he is first on the scene with all the new releases for you!
