Capitalism ho! Let's Read Kengan Asura

[Manic Dogma]

It's 10:45 pm on Ganryu Island. The night is going long, but plenty of folks are still out in the evening air drinking and having fun. Not everyone, though. Some people have been squirrelled away deep in the vast resort complex. People like Yamashita.

Oh, honey. You ARE small.​

Now, there's a quick montage of CEOs I skipped there, but I didn't want to just deadass post a whole fucking page of the manga this early in the chapter, so I'll go over them here. Most of them are unfamiliar faces we have no names for, though. Soryuin and Togo are here, but there's also some guy who looks like Steven Universe after resolving a mid-life crisis. Another guy with a head like he's a bit character in Hey Arnold (God, I hope I'm not so old that nobody gets that reference). One panel is shared by an ambiguously brown lady with hair like a cockatoo and the most texan japanese man I've ever seen. Oh, and there's also the guy who, for some reason, came to this meeting in a full pure-black kimono with a fucking Daisho hanging at his hip.

…granted, if I could get away with that I would too, so I won't judge.

Anyway, we get a really brief flashback with Yamashita that elaborates on the next few seconds after the cliffhanger of the last volume, wherein the Bodyguards politely explained why they're here. Which would rather have sucked most of the fear out of the moment. Katahara summoned all the company representatives, and they were there to fetch Yamashita, ideally after persuading him into some more formal clothing.

He's still profoundly comfortable regardless, even after figuring out that this is all just some official business, because he's Yamashita. So he decides to creep off into the corner to try and attract as little attention as possible. A plan that goes immediately awry when he bumps into the back of the biggest CEO in the room, a mountain crag of a bloke with a scar splitting his face in two, who nails Yamashita to the floor with an absolutely withering glare. Fortunately that's as far as his aggression goes, he turns back away with a dismissive grunt after Yamashita's reflexive, squeaky apology. It's not just Yamashita, everyone's on edge, he notes. With an edge of confusion, since he's unused to not being the most anxious person in the room.

He's still up there in the rankings, though. Someone barks a Hey you at him, and his immediate reflex is to flinch back and apologise, to the confusion of the person in question. Who, it turns out, is an old acquaintance of ours.

Manga don't be-...actually, this scene is being pretty respectful to him. Huh.​

Turns out when the stakes are much higher Yoshitake is a much nicer guy? Or maybe he's just cooled off a bit after losing that Kengan Match. Either way, he's here to snippily insist that Yamashita stop skittering around like the world's most anxious cockroach. Everyone here is already in a touchy mood as is, and it's not helping. Yamashita's apologetic, but more than that he's confused, and as Yoshitake realises he has no idea what's going on someone else chooses that moment to vent some of their nerves. It's the guy Yamashita bumped into before, demanding to know how long they're going to be kept waiting. Yoshitake, with some disdain, identifies the man as Magatani Juzo, CEO of Magatanien, who was actually a fighter before retiring to the business side of the Kengan Association.

With that little aside done, Yamashita finally just up and asks Yoshitake what's going on.

​

This is, as you might imagine, fairly important. And Yamashita notes as much, to Yoshitake's slightly condescending agreement. What happens here tonight stands a solid chance of deciding who wins the whole thing. But before we get to further discussion of that, there's another subject that's going to interrupt.

Factional politics!

You see, the Hey Arnold background character and his friend have their own bits of condescension to get in. They sardonically point out Yoshitake helping out the new guy, and have a good chortle over how the novices are bonding. Yoshitake seethes over this, calling them "the three nobles" and snarling over their arrogance. Yamashita, curious fellow that he is, asks what Yoshitake means and the man is willing to explain.

Yes my boy, give in to the altruism.​

With a clarifying aside, Yoshitake explains why two men are called the three nobles. The other one went bankrupt in the middle of the fucking meiji period. For those unaware, the Meiji period lasted [brief googling noises] from 1868 until 1912. A bit over a century of this naming nonsense, and Yoshitake isn't any more pleased with them. He dismisses the whole group as has-beens, with nothing to their name but former glory.

The second faction he goes over are the four dragons, the other old faction within the Association. Who's four member corporations are Yato trading co, Byakuya news, Furumi Pharmaceuticals…and the Nogi group. This predictably gets a reaction out of Yamashita, who marvels at how influential Nogi's company is even in the context of the wider association. And further, he notes that Nogi still isn't here. It's a pertinent gap in attendance, given the competition's nature.

With the older mainstays of the association gone over, Yoshitake moves on to newer pastures. Particularly, he notes, one group has been seeing particularly meteoric rise recently. And who should step through the door but that very man.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.​

Yamashita is immediately met by a wave of sheer presence. The pressure Hayami exerts on the room is not unlike that of Katahara. Not the same though, not at all. Yamashita may simply be unused to being in the presence of such force of charisma, but the other reactions are pretty telling. Where Katahara was met with awe, Hayami is met with distaste and disdain. The Japanese Texan, CEO of motorhead motors Takakaze Kirimi, scoffs at his swagger. Togo just up and hisses in the privacy of her own mind about how intensely she dislikes him. And the monocled CEO of Muji TV, Atami Hisashi, notes how Hayami is acting like he's already won and what flagrant underestimation it is.

And Yoshitake isn't an exception. In place of respect, he offers Yamashita a warning. Be wary of Hayami Katsumasa. Where the other factions can roughly be considered to be associations of equals, exchanging favours and influence, The Society of a Hundred is structured more…imperialistically. Hayami is at the top, and that is that. He's the subject of countless unflattering rumours, and yet his influence is nonetheless mighty.

And then Ohya Ken walks in the door. And he isn't drunk. He isn't even smiling. And takes his place at Hayami's side. Is Kenny working for the incredibly obviously designated villain? Well, maybe, maybe not. As they walk Hayami notes that he expects a favourable answer to some earlier question, and very unsubtly warns him not to pick the wrong side. Ohya is quiet for a moment, before flatly thanking him for the consideration.

If it is an alliance, it isn't an easy one. Yamashita wonders what happened to his friend.

But then more immediate questions rise. Yoshitake asks Yamashita what's wrong, and he answers that he has a funny feeling this other man's been watching him, looking to a rotund man in thick sunglasses. Yoshitake, and the reader, recognise this man as Ohta, CEO of Under Mount incorporated. A company that was founded ten years ago, and joined the association five years later, launching into the upper ranks of the association with incredible speed.

…how old was Kenzo when Under Mount was founded? He can't be older than his mid 20s.

Anyway, amusingly for us, Yoshitake warns Yamashita not to underestimate Ohta, based on the explosive success of his company. And then further asks Yamashita if he did anything to offend him, insisting that he think back when Yamashita's immediate answer is a frantic no.

As they bicker, Ohta wipes his forehead in relief that Yamashita hasn't figured out the ruse yet.

Speak of the devil and…he shall appear?​

Nioh Yamashita. Fucking glorious.

As Ohta works himself up into another panic attack, the PoV moves over to Soryuin, who wonders how long they're going to be kept waiting as she stubs out her cigarette in a portable ashtray. And then someone teasingly calls out that smoking's not good for your looks.

I mean, it's no business of anyone else's to start with. And frankly, Soryuin smokes like a steam engine, has done for years, and it doesn't seem to have slowed her down so far regardless. So I feel she's fair justified in telling Nishihonji Akira, CEO of Nishihonji security services, to keep his opinions to himself. Then they start sniping at each other as Yoshitake explains both of them to Yamashita.

There it is. Sigh.​

As Yoshitake does this weird schoolgirl wiggle over how skilled Nishihonji is (why are you like this, Kengan Asura) Yamashita thinks over what he's been told. This takes the form of a neat little chart of the various factions and power dynamics which I'll post just for being a neat summary. It's not been terribly complicated, but it's nice to have something you can reference at a glance for this stuff.

​

After that, with a very abruptly feral look on his face, Yoshitake points out another couple of new arrivals. It's Rihito and Kurayoshi, the latter of whom offers Yoshitake a friendly greeting. Possibly out of spite, since she's completely ignored regardless in favour of sniping at Rihito. Or rather, taunting him. Jabbing at what a joke being a CEO and fighter is, crowing about how much stronger than Rihito his new fighter is, and no joke indulging in a big old Ojou-sama laugh. Rihito takes all of this pretty well, right up until the point he decides to flex.

Actually a little intimidating. Not the dialogue though, that's just dumb.​

Yoshitake immediately backs off. The manga tries to frame it as him just being a massive bitch, giving him a weird run and having Rihito call him a pussy and all that. But frankly, Rihito's fucking massive and on a practical level really damn scary for normal people, so I don't think I'm gonna actually buy it. Fortunately, Yamashita is less of a prick about it, and just frets over having forgotten to thank him for all the exposition. Kurayoshi notes what a good friend he is, and on this I'm like to agree. Yamashita is, usually, a good boy.

Then the wait is over.

Katahara enters the hall, with Nogi in tow. The CEO of Boss Burger hops in and tries to taunt Nogi, but gets slapped down with a single glare. He's in a really intense mood, and our little group notes as much. Yamashita's never even seen him like this before. Kurayoshi isn't surprised though, in fact she thinks it's obvious he would be.

After all, if he loses, his company is gone!

​

This…seems drastic? I mean, I guess it'll stop people from just pushing for Annihilation Tournaments over any old bullshit, but surely there's meaningful sanctions you could place that aren't outright obliteration.

Anyway, Yamashita sees a silver lining to this. After all, if Nogi Group goes under, then doesn't that mean his debt goes with it? He has some savings, he could survive unemployment for a while, land on his feet. It'll be fine. It might actually be better for him if Nogi loses!

Kurayoshi, sympathetic, notes how hard it'll be on Yamashita and Rihito if Nogi loses. Yamashita disagrees, right up until the point where Kurayoshi notes that Nogi told her that they'd put up all their personal assets as collateral to raise the entrance fee.

Then it sinks in.

Holy shit, even Rihito finally gets it.​

You boys are fucked. End chapter.

Next time we see the matchups. See you then.

 

[Manic Dogma]

​

It's time, folks. Let's see what's gonna go down.

As Yamashita contemplates his fate, the bodyguards wheel in the machine that will decide the fate of at least some of the room's occupants. It looks like something ripped right out of the Las Vegas strip, glitzy and wood paneled, but the important parts are on the top, as Katahara generously decides to demonstrate. A large button sat in the middle, which he presses and sets off the rack of wheels just above the button. They spin and when they stop, they'll land on a number. Anywhere between 1 and 999,999,999. Everyone will take their own spin on the machine, and the highest number gets first pick of their Tournament slot.

Rihito, the gambling addict, of course immediately declares what fun this looks like, as Yamashita wonders how he recovered so quickly, but that's not the only sentiment. The CEO of United Clothing, Yanagi Makoto, has an objection. Katahara had the machine brought in by his dudes, without anyone else's input, what assurance does anyone there have that there's no shenanigans going on? Hiyama steps in, not to provide assurance but to note that cheating would be impossible. The number of permutations the machine provides would make it impossible to perfectly predict its randomisation pattern and get the number you wanted. Mr Texas points out an automated remote control system could be an option, but Takada disagrees, encouraging everyone to check their phones. Turns out nobody has service, the entire room is under a jamming signal. Which isn't to say that there aren't other means of cheating, without wireless devices, but we could dance around this point all day and Katahara has no more patience for it than we do.

So he took the liberty of picking first anyway. Last match of the first round.

​

It's funny, we're back here again. The heart and soul of the self-declared hive of scum and duplicity, the Kengan Association's chairman, and consistently he's the most bizarrely forthright figure among the CEOs. He simply doesn't consider any of them a threat. He knows how they're going to be planning, because he knows that all their plans will revolve around him. And avoiding fighting him for as long as possible.

And he's right. We get a brief look into the inner monologues of several CEOs as they tut and curse his insight. Shikano Gen, Sekibayashi's boss, showing a crack in his faith in the Wrestler as he notes that yeah, he wants to avoid facing the Fang in perfect condition. It makes sense! Of everyone in this tournament, both inside and out, the Fang has the direst reputation and the most heat.

Still, funny that for all the story tries to push its narrative of the Association being the domain of the sneakiest and most deceptive motherfuckers, the man the narrative pushes as the scariest Final Boss of the lot is just a self-contained dreadnaught of complete self confidence.

Now, he says, who'd like to try it first?

Most of the CEOs do that thing students do when a teacher asks the class a question, staying quiet and trying not to make eye contact. Yamashita's still too out of it to have any reaction at all, but Rihito is eager to give it a crack. Then Katahara declares they'll let Yamashita have a go first. He takes it well.

Katahara knows exactly what he's doing.​

As the weirdo with the Daisho, the President of Teito University Dazai Yukio, contemplates his own goals (which are apparently unrelated to the seat of Chairman. Intrigue!) Yamashita vibrates over to the Machine and, on Katahara's barking prompt, hits the button.

He watches the numbers spin. It's fast, far too fast for human eyes to track. Should he press it at random? Is there any kind of…wait. He pauses, confused. He can…see the numbers? He's confused, is it malfunctioning? Is this okay? His finger lands on the button, for the second decisive time.

989,086,296. A wildly, shockingly high number.

Katahara congratulates Yamashita on the roll, literally patting him on the back. Yamashita's still distracted by the way the numbers slowed down, though. He knows he saw it happen. A fault in the machine, maybe? Does that count as cheating? In the end he decides to just not mention it unless it happens to somebody else too. He is, ultimately, not that bothered.

Rihito immediately leaps into action, with manic glee. He's confident! He's unstoppable! All this needs is a little intuition and POW.

How did you even manage that?​

The next roll goes to Hiyama, who also manages a tremendously high roll, though still lower than Yamashita's. With her perfect internal clock she calculated the timing of the randomiser from the three results before her, which is absolutely insane. Less than it sounds, since she entirely ignored everything after the first digit, but it's still an incredibly impressive display of raw computational intelligence to do that unaided.

After that noone gets particular focus, just a brief montage of people smashing that like button, and then we get the selection order.

​

And so, as the rankings go, Yamashita gets to pick first. Anxious as ever, he considers the matchup board. Taking Katahara's advice, he decides to avoid the Fang's block, and when prompted for his decision by the masked Bodyguard he points to the board. Number 8, the fourth match of the first round.

It's like if Rincewind were a modern Salaryman.​

That's right, it's not just Ohta anymore. Yamashita is managing to bumblefuck his way into impressing everyone.

Anyway, while we'll be going through all the matches in chronological order anyway, for the sake of clarity and not having to type any more letters than I have to, I'm going to post the matchups page. Feel free to browse, and ponder what the hype moments will be in the first round.

​

And with that, the stage is set. Tomorrow the matches will begin, the CEOs and Fighters had best prepare. Yamashita shivers with uncertainty, wishing they'd given him time to think over his placement.

The Kengan Annihilation Tournament is nigh. End chapter.



Another short and simple chapter today, fairly light on content but heavy with implication. And full of large half-page spreads with very little to talk about. But, we have the matchups now, and with them we have expectations to build up. Half of the fighters will be eliminated by the end of the first round, so I invite you to consider a few things, based on what we've seen so far. Which ones are the obvious blowouts, to secure heat for characters who haven't received any? What do you suppose is going to be the rough arc, as Ohma progresses and develops? Do you think you see any dark horses making themselves known? What chicanery might interrupt the tournament, as such arcs are wont to experience?

What matches are you most hyped to see?

I hope to see them with you all, next time and beyond.

 

[Manic Dogma]

Ladies, gentlemen, creatures and critters.

​

Thank you for your patience.

The place is here. The time is now.

​

The entire arena goes absolutely fucking ballistic. A wall of noise that slams into Yamashita from all sides like the dastardly closing deathtrap walls of the sort of James Bond style supervillain who by rights would own a place like this. He's struck dumb by it, a scale of enthusiasm and attendance that Public martial arts tournaments simply never match. He's struck so dumb by it, in fact, that he manages to bump into someone while reeling from it. He turns and, as is his wont, immediately apologises to the fellow he accidentally bumped.

It's Obama.

Like, the sitting president of the United States during the time this manga was being released. That Obama.

If Yamashita was already struck dumb, this makes his brain dribble out of his ears and make a mess on the carpet. And this time he isn't alone, Akiyama has a moment of disbelief and even Kushida has to pause to confirm what she saw. And then Yamashita looks beyond Obama to the seats beyond. What must be all the world leaders are here.

Yamashita and Kushida are still off balance, but true to form Akiyama quickly recovers and points out that…well duh, of course they're here. The Kengan Association is a massive cornerstone of the Japanese economy, a potential shift in policy like this is something to keep an eye on, something liable to have real consequences on the global stage. Now, that doesn't actually explain why they'd be here in person watching the actual tournament when they have World Leader stuff to be getting on with…but in their position you're damn right I'd take the excuse to grab some time off and watch a gonzo martial arts tournament. So whatever.

And then they notice Yamashita, to his blissful ignorance.

Well that first panel got awkward over the last few years, didn't it?​

Yamashita's bumbling journey into prominence continues.

Anyway, it's time for a bit of structural setup for how the tournament is actually going to progress. The announcer lady explains that the tournament will take place over a five day period, with all 16 matches of the first round happening on day 1. After that will be a day of rest, then round two, and after one more day of rest the Quarter finals and finals will take place on the fifth day. Our little group briefly discuss it, Akiyama suggesting it's to make things easier on the fighters. Which does make sense, and is probably at least part of the reasoning. Yamashita wonders if it's the whole story, though.

And he's probably right to. The camera pulls back from our underdogs to join Katahara in his personal spectator's box, a lushly appointed space for him to watch the bloodsport with whoever he cares to bring up there. The whoever in this case being, of all people, Kure Erioh, to whom Katahara expresses just how high his expectations are for this tournament.

Erioh agrees, to an extent. The facilities the modern Association uses are so luxurious and grand, a far cry from what they used when Erioh was Katahara's fighter. Which is probably an unsurprising revelation, certainly aesthetically they seem to be of the same generation. Katahara has a good, hearty chortle over it, and points out the irony of their position. The authority Katahara accrued using Erioh's help is now under threat by that same man. What a cruel twist of fate, eh? Erioh just smirks, and encourages Katahara not to worry. He won't pull any punches. The Kure will deliver his coup de grace, for old times sake.

Isn't it nice to see the elderly enjoying healthy, stimulating friendships?

Anyway, then Karla comes in. And in the time between her last appearance and how has shifted gears into full bore maximum moe. Including a Seifuku style school uniform.

​

I'm gonna be real with you chief, the least helpful thing you could have done in this situation was remind everyone that you're writing a teenager demanding a grown man's…well, you remember. Anyway, Erioh devolves into a partially melted cliche and Katahara notes what a doting great-grandfather he is, moving the fuck on.

This time the cut takes us outside of the stadium, into the woodlands of Ganryu Island where Kaburagi and Hassad peer through a monitor with which they mean to watch the matches. The camera they're watching through is a bit poorly placed though, so Kaburagi rings up the bearer to chivvy him closer to the ring. Said bearer, Kaburagi's CEO, asks if he's sure and Kaburagi's insistent. It's not the first time they've pulled hidden tech shenanigans, after all.

At the same time, Ohta Masahiko is called up by Yamashita Kenzo for similar reasons, and nearly bumps into Kaburagi's boss. They both scuttle apologetically away from each other, hoping the other didn't notice their panic. Cute.

We cut away again, but this time not to elsewhere around the ring itself, but to a corridor off somewhere in the stadium's structure. Here we find Kurayoshi Rino being confronted by Hayami Katsumasa. Now, just to remind everyone, Kurayoshi was one of Hayami's targets during the shenanigans on the SS Kengan, and she clocked the hidden camera basically immediately. And Hayami has, for some reason, decided to take out his frustrations by all but cornering Kurayoshi and having a good old fashioned sexist, swerfy rant at her.



All credit to her, Kurayoshi girlbosses this right to the hilt. Cool as a cucumber, she doesn't back down an inch, and she doesn't even have Rei on hand right now to lean on. She is simply, in her own right, impeccably confident. Even in front of one of the most powerful figures in the association. It's kind of funny actually, while her design hasn't changed since her introductory scene it almost feels like the author's flipped on how they wanted to write her after that. Ever since, in all the scenes she's in, she's managed to be this odd blend of pleasantly kind and powerfully unflappable in a way that sets her apart in nature from the other CEOs while making it clear she handily keeps up with them. And a social juggernaut on top of it, casually spinning conversations and setting people on the back foot without a single aggressive word. It's not exactly feminist writing, that introductory scene still exists and there's a more than reasonable argument that her strengths are all leans into the manipulative temptress archetype, but it's better than I felt reason to expect for her.

They aren't on their own, either. Nishihonji comments on the terrifying pressure the two enemies are generating, impressed by how unphased Kurayoshi is. Soryuin, who happens to also be there for reasons, is unsurprised. She's still on that whole "vixen (derogatory)" thing, but after she says her piece she does privately note that it's not like Kurayoshi to be this openly confrontational. She must be pretty worked up.

Back to the stadium, the announcer calls a close to her explanation of the tournament's workings, and announces that she'll be the "master of ceremonies" for the event. It also turns out that her name is Katahara Sayaka. No, not Metsudo's granddaughter, but his direct daughter. By a mistress, apparently, Kushida notes with an unimpressed expression. They wax lyrical between them for a bit on how smart and talented Sayaka is, as we get a weird panel where some idiots in the audience demand Sayaka let them fuck her and then apparently aren't immediately ejected from the stadium and island for being creepy stalkerish weirdoes.

That aside, Kushida does muse on how she's pretty sure she remembers the Chairman having another kid around Sayaka's age. And sure enough, we see him on the next page. Metsudo's son and Sayaka's half-brother, Katahara Retsudo. Red-headed pretty boy with a cool glyphic tattoo over his left eye, and Captain of the Bodyguard special task squad known as the Extermination Force. He hopes they won't get called upon to act.

But whatever, we have a tournament to get started. After a brief aside back to the stadium, where Sayaka announces the start of the first match, we cut to one of the waiting rooms. Cosmo is stretching, and when Nishihonji comes in asks where he's been. Just watching a show, he responds, before asking how Cosmo feels. The boy claims to be in better condition than ever, shadowboxing the air as Nishihonji's eyes take on a studying cast.

He'll say this just once more, he says. If you realise you don't have a chance, throw the match. Cosmo sighs. This again? Nishihonji reminds Cosmo that he thinks of him like a little brother first, his fighter second. Cosmo just laughs. Has he really forgotten what Cosmo is like?

​

Okay, I'm down for the homoeroticism, but maybe not immediately after the guy has said he considers the boy his brother. That said, I do continue to find it funny that a manga this casually homophobic continues to have moments like this that are just so casually gay in their body language and presentation of the male body.

But enough preamble. There's a match on the way, and the clock waits for no man.

Sayaka, after a deep breath, introduces the first fighter of the tournament.

​

From the other fighter's entryway Cosmo's opponent scoffs. He's just a little kid! The man's boss is quick to try and warn him. Imai Cosmo, a jiu jitsu master at 19, and has won 21 straight matches. He's no joke. Of course, Ronald Haraguchi doesn't think Cosmo is any match for his Fighter.

​

…Okay, dude, do you have to make everything about this or that being gay? Can you comment on anything without the sucking of dicks coming up? You have a one track goddamn mind, man. Talk about homophobic homosexual, I'm not even sure it's a meme anymore.

Anyway, end chapter. We're finally here folks, the first match of the Tournament begins next time.

See you all then.

 

[Manic Dogma]

Okay lovely readers, I know I promised you that the match would start this chapter. And it will! Have no concerns about that. But first, we have to take care of a little housekeeping. Only one fighter in this match has had meaningful heat built for him, which is an issue.

So let's go globetrotting!

​

That's right, we're visiting the ol' US of A, specifically the deepest south. With an especially dumpy looking Bald eagle sat there just in case the point didn't sink in.

Ah, but what is the sport that's been lighting up the backwoods of Texas like wildfire? Why, what else but streetfighting. Unauthorised, unpromoted slugging matches, that nevertheless have their own rules. The Texas style, of specific relevance to this chapter, allows strikes to all areas but completely bans groundfighting. So no grappling or anything, just strikes. Now, while this nonsense goes on all over the country, in Kengan Asura's reality its considered to have found its peak in the state of Texas. For one reason.

The strongest brawler in America lives there.

You think we can trade him in for Muteba?​

Funny thing, the very next panel notes a rumour that he was once hired by a Japanese corporation to fight for a vast sum of money. So yeah, this dude's been in at least one Kengan Match. But he apparently didn't stick around, for whatever reason. Still, whether he won or lost that Match, here in the american south Punk Abbot is king.

We leave compressed time exposition to enter the real time portion of the flashback. After another streetfight concludes, the ringleader waves Abbot in for the main event. A man of calm and even temperament, he asks the ringleader, a man called Dennis, who his opponent is for the day. And Dennis points the guy out. A new player on the scene, who's been brawling his way across america. Adam Dudley. 28 years of age, and built like a tank.

The two huge men square up. As the audience throws around random homophobic remarks Punk studies his opponent. He can tell the kid is strong. But he's unintimidated. The privilege of the strong.

The announcer calls it. The fight is on.

Abbot immediately rushes in, slicing at Dudley's guard with a mean elbow. Rather than attempt to counter, the younger man smirkingly notes what a nasty move it is, earning a rightful shut the fuck up in turn. Abbot keeps rushing, now pressuring Dudley with more orthodox punches. From a man that large, it's nothing less than an avalanche of knuckles, and Dudley can do little but back down. Dennis decries him as a fool. Noone can beat Abbot in the streets.

And Dudley will grant the strength of Abbot's rush. Unfortunately for him, it's a little too late for him to make distance. Abbot's already got him into a corner, between a few shipping crates, and the bloodthirsty audience exhorts him to let the brat have it. Everyone, including Dudley himself, can see how Abbot had control of the match right from the start. I'm not sure how cornering someone against the ropes is a tactic specific to street fighting, but everyone's very convinced that this demonstrates Abbot's mastery of street fighting. They're also convinced that this marks the end for Dudley, to the point of Dennis even sighing and dismissing him outright. The boy was barely worth mentioning, he thinks.

Then a brief gust of wind blows sand into Dennis' eyes. He flinches, screws his eyes shut, and in that moment hears the most ungodly, crunching impact. When they open again, Abbot lies unconscious on the opposite end of the impromptu arena.

​

Dudley has a big ol' laugh about how easy that was. And this moment is why he's here today. Ronald Haraguchi, CEO of Boss Burger, came to Texas to find his fighter for the Annihilation Tournament. He'd been gunning for Abbot, since the man's a legit heavyweight with previous Kengan Match experience, only to watch him get folded like a lawnchair before they could even speak. And as he watches Dudley take in his victory, a young lady in daisy dukes hanging off his arm and a crowd of random fuckheads saying just…the most random shit, Haraguchi makes his decision. This man will win him the seat of Chairman.

…I'm not kidding about how random they are by the way, one of the ones that gets prominent placement is some dork with his hat on backwards shouting, with great glee and no apparent shame or self awareness, "Holy Testicle Tuesday."

The beauty of media written by people who don't speak english, but try to play with it anyway. Gorgeous.

Anyway, now we return to the present day as Haraguchi makes a valiant attempt at a sinister face. The fight with Abbot was two months ago, and he's been keeping Dudley in his back pocket most of that time. And now the day has come to set him loose.

Meanwhile, Sayaka winds up the audience.

​

"The Emperor" huh. Of what? There's no particular royalty or imperial motif to Dudley. I'm not sure why that's his tagline.

Maybe he's the emperor of inappropriate comments, because the instant he gets within speaking range of Cosmo he immediately says, and I quote, "Do the japs really make their bitches fight." I suppose this is what it looks like when Kengan Asura is trying to make a character offensive and unpleasant. Cosmo meets him evenly though, if not in height, noting Dudley's foul mouth. Not that he cares, he goes on, because Dudley won't be able to talk much longer. It's solid trash talk!

Then we pull back a bit for some audience reactions. First to the Koyo Academy group. Soryuin asks what "you" think of this match, and Tomoko's immediate reaction is to note that all the men involved are some flavour of her type. Which is concerning for her future love life, but then she hasn't seen as much of Dudley as we have, she's just seen those massive, meaty man-tits and his growly voice. So some level of attraction is probably fair.

Anyway, Soryuin clarifies that she was actually asking Kiryu, which prompts him to drop his own commentary.

Tomoko, you're going to pass out again, calm down.​

It's an incisive comment, as much as he plays down his insight. As we just learned this chapter, Dudley's going to be going for pure strikes. And we've already seen how the "King of Stranglers" does things.

We briefly skip back over to the Yamashita crew for a moment, where Kushida notes the sheer size difference between them. Cosmo almost looks like a kid next to Dudley. Yamashita agrees, and makes the judgement that it's going to be a tough fight for Cosmo. Kushida disagrees, though. Size means nothing to this man.

In the announcer's box, Sayaka has taken her seat and goes into the last words before the match proper. Will the winner be the Jiu jitsu warrior of Japan? Or the bull-fighter of America? She points out the referee as he begins the pre-fight formalities, commanding the fighters to face their opponent. And take their stance. Which are as opposite as their physiques. Dudley raises his fists in something like a boxing stance, high and proud. Cosmo's posture lowers and widens, his hands hold open and in front of him, ready to tackle and grasp.

They stare each other down, as the audience begins to broil in the tension.

.BEGIN.



End chapter.

…what? I told you the match would start this update.

Oh alright, fine. One more, while I'm feeling motivated.

Chapter 45 starts with another flashback, back in the days of Cosmo's really early teens, where he was a scrappy little bastard. Constantly in fights. And on this specific occasion, he somehow managed to get on the wrong side of four goddamn Yakuza. Pretty definitely dead, or at least severely hospitalised.

Or he would have been, if not for one man's timely intervention.

​

This man then offhandedly complemented Cosmo on the cast iron balls he's dragging around, and offhandedly asks him if he wants to learn martial arts. Thus was born the cosmo we know today.

The sort of mad bastard who lunges at a man more than double his weight and tries to pressure him with a flurry of goddamn strikes. I'm not joking, that's literally what he does, but to his credit Dudley seems to be taking him seriously. The mocking grin from before the fight is gone, and he even tuts with irritation before trying to clear away the annoying gnat buzzing in his face with a snapping kick. And before the kick can go off, Cosmo stomps on the knee of his other leg.

Dudley grits his teeth, that one hurt. And then he grits harder when Cosmo uncorks a fierce looking roundhouse right into his gut.

​

Nishihonji nods. Brilliant, he's polished up well. Cosmo isn't the only fighter in his company's employ, and the rest are all heavyweights that outmass Cosmo significantly. And he spars with them every damn day. And since the tournament was announced, Nishihonji's had cosmo sparring with these men even more. The boy knows how to fight people who're much bigger than him.

And sure enough, Cosmo goes over the lessons he's learned in his head as he applies them to Dudley. As he flits around the larger man's jabs he notes that you avoid direct exchanges of blows. Then you throw them off balance, he declares as he kicks the inside of Dudley's knee. And it's doing very little good for the american's temper. He's specialised for knockdown, dragout fights, but Cosmo is refusing to fully engage. So he decides to force an engagement, charging in, feinting an uppercut with his left arm to set his right up to spear Cosmo's eyes with his fingers.

​

Just like that, all six feet of Adam Dudley are thrown to the ground. Yamashita celebrates the throw, and consummate showman that he is, so does Sekibayashi. They're in Cosmo's field now. And as Dudley swears at him, the prodigy capitalises, raining blows with his elbows and knees to force a mount.

Can Adam get out of this predicament, Sayaka asks as Jerry Tyson contemplates. Doesn't he know this guy from somewhere?

Then Cosmo finishes his mount.

​

Dudley tells Cosmo not to run his victory lap until he's actually won, and the boy deadass hammer-blows his fucking face, cold as ice. That was his plan anyway, he has no intention of giving Dudley another turn. And indeed, he seems in a terrible position. As elaborated in the above image, a mount is a death sentence for a striker, and Sayaka announces as much. The fight is starting to look one sided, and Imai's offensive is brutal and unbroken. What can Adam do?

Unfortunately, chapter 45 is named for Dudley's ring name for a reason. And Jerry has remembered where he knows the name Adam Dudley from.

Cosmo pauses to catch his breath. For all the blood dripping from his fingers, he's no closer to opening Dudley up for a more significant offensive. Nasty a position as a mount is to be in, it's not exactly prime stranglehold material. Dudley, to paraphrase, asks him what's the matter. Punches like this aren't gonna do shit. Now this? This is a real punch.

In the stands, Okubo Naoya scoffs. What a stupid move. You can't deliver a knockout blow without being able to put your hips into it, and against someone like Cosmo a half-assed blow is just begging for him to tie you into a pretzel. And sure enough, it's what the boy is angling for. On the moment of impact he'll catch Dudley in an arm bar, and from there he'll choke the life out of him.

It's over.

​

Quite a few people don't get it. Sayaka emphasises the dramatic shock, asking the audience if he isn't being too cautious. But Rei, nestled in Kurayoshi's arms, firmly declares that was the right answer. If Cosmo hadn't bailed, the match really would be over.

Jerry Tyson, who's somehow gotten into the announcer's podium to Sayaka's consternation, explains. Ice hockey. A full-contact sport played on ice skates. In which Adam Dudley was once a notorious player for a big league team.

What does it take to be good at fighting on the ice, do you wonder?

​

As the manga is happy to explain, Ice Hockey is the one modern non-combat sport where fighting between players is tacitly approved. But, such fights rarely end in knockouts, because there's no way in hell for you to plant your feet in the rink. And without that firm grounding, it's near impossible to generate enough torque to meaningfully threaten anyone with your bare hands. Or, at least, it should be. As a star player for the Texas Snowmen, Adam Dudley was straight up laying people the fuck out.

The secret to this power? Abnormally developed core muscles, that add phenomenal strength even to basic jabs. Enough that, even on unsteady footing that makes serious blows impossible, he can strike with enough force to KO men his own size and bigger.

Imagine then, what he could do when fighting on solid earth.

Cosmo tries to avoid finding out. Keep mobile, he thinks, shower him with blows. Unsteady him and go in for the kill. Alas, it's not going to be that easy. For Cosmo, at least.

​

The one it'll be easy for is me. C'mon man, who the fuck is this preoccupied with the idea of fucking other men without it being of interest? I hope Adam Dudley figures himself out and learns to accept who he loves before too long, I feel like he'll be much happier for it.

Also fuck, I think Cosmo's dead. Boy got literally bounced off the arena floor, and I'm pretty sure that shit isn't made of trampolines. End chapter.



Okay, so not much to say about chapter 44 to be honest, that one's mostly setup for the twist of chapter 45, the reveal of Adam Dudley's gimmick. And it's not an especially complicated gimmick, but I feel like the execution really shines on this one. Cosmo dominates most of the early fight, playing on some pretty ingrained genre expectations which are largely fulfilled when he gets a mount on Dudley. By the logic of a pseudorealistic battle manga which cares on some level about the biomechanics of combat, it's a slam dunk position. The peanut gallery lays it out clear, by the rules of how this shit works Cosmo had it in the bag. Thus the brilliant simplicity of Adam Dudley's gimmick. It does one thing, but that one thing breaks the rules in just such a way that Cosmo's first resort isn't that easy to pull off. Thus building more tension than the haphazard heat of walloping Punk Abbot ever could. This is anybody's game now, especially after Cosmo got bounced off the floor like my nephew playing with expensive electronics.

This fight never really stood out to me among the Annihilation Tournament's many matches, but after this I don't think it's necessarily for lack of quality in its own right. The art isn't as impressive as others, and the interactions not as elegant or exciting, but its got serious chops in both, especially that punch on the last page. Cosmo vs Dudley is just a solid, well executed David vs Goliath narrative, and I think we can all appreciate one of those.

Let's see how the manga sticks the landing on this one, shall we?

See you all next time.

 

[Manic Dogma]

No fucking around today folks, we start off the first panel with Imai Cosmo's body fracturing the arena floor, hitting it with such force that he bounces off and cartwheels off into the distance. Adam Dudley smirks after him, fist gently smoking, as Cosmo lands and hacks up a mouthful of blood. He's shaking, and his forearm is already swelling. He didn't have a hope in hell of properly guarding against a blow like that, it was simply too much. He needs to recover, and fast, but his vision swims. The Referee wobbles and distorts before him like he's being paraded through a house of mirrors. He doesn't have any time to waste, he's…

​

Unfortunately, Dudley isn't wasting any time either. He hoists Cosmo up by the fucking scalp and lays into him again, blowing the boy away. This time Cosmo was some degree of ready for it though, and Jerry points out for our benefit that he jumped back to disperse the damage.

Somehow he got a microphone. Sayaka's as surprised as anyone.

Cosmo lands on his feet rather than his face this time, skidding back on a trail of sweat and blood, eyes wide and feral with determination. He isn't done yet, as much as that hurt, and he knows full well he can't afford to sit back. If he lets Dudley control the pace of this Match, between the man's superior reach and bulk it's over. So instead he attacks. He attacks and he attacks and he attacks some more, darting around the american with speed and ferocity. His blows hammer Dudley's guard like rain, seeking his opening.

He is not the first to find it.

​

Ronald Haraguchi cackles. Adam Dudley is an experienced street fighter…for some reason he considers it important to point out that Dudley is used to fighting heavyweights, which is very not relevant for him here and also kind of hamstrings my attempt to keep up the drama of the moment. In order to make this panel make real sense I'd need to rewrite it to be more along the lines of having fought smaller people before so he's familiar with anti-heavyweight tactics, and I'm not here to lie to you folks just to make things make more sense.

What does mean something though, is when Ronald McBastard points out just how much bigger and stronger Dudley is. Cosmo's technique may well be better, but his opponent can turn the match around by landing a single punch. As we've seen! That's pretty much exactly what he did when Cosmo had him mounted. Cosmo might as well be paper fluttering in the breeze, before The Emperor.

Now, of course, we know what kind of manga this is. But shhhh, let's see how this actually plays out.

Dudley rushes Cosmo as the boy recovers from that last blow and, to his shock, Cosmo charges back. A fierce straight opens a cut across Dudley's chin and takes a bit out of his ear, and the moment's distraction opened by that pain is enough for Cosmo to uncork a right shiner of a roundhouse kick right into Dudley's jaw. It doesn't KO him of course, it doesn't even knock him off his feet, but it puts him off balance just long enough for Cosmo to take some distance and contemplate his situation.

It's not great, all told. He's tougher than Cosmo could have imagined, there's no opening to close in. But if Cosmo keeps his distance and lets it turn into a battle of attrition, then he's at just as much of a disadvantage there. Rock and hard place are closing in on Cosmo from both sides.

But Cosmo didn't get this far by being the sort of person who sees an insurmountable wall and just folds. He exhales, centering himself, and slicks his hair back with his own sweat. Fine. Down to the wire it is. It's time to show people what the King of Stranglers can really do.

Cold as ice.​

They've both taken stances, and are poised to strike. Jerry notes it looks like they're ready to end this in the next strike, we have entered the last exchange of the fight.

They stand, frozen for long moments, sweat streaming off them in sheets.

Every fighter picks out that they're about to move immediately before they do.

It's a simultaneous attack. Cosmo darting low with hands ready to grasp. Dudley charging high with a hammerblow fit to crush stone. Dudley's High Stick Shot hurtles down as Cosmo activates THE ZONE-

​

Dudley hoists Cosmo's limp body up by his ragged shirt, laughing himself hoarse. Thus do we face the harsh truth, of the overwhelming superiority of strength. How helpless technique is in the face of sheer power.

Dudley sneers at the boy he sees in his hands, panting, biceps pulsing. He hears the boy try to call him a son of a bitch, but cuts off the insult with another bone-cracking punch.

On the punches rain, even after he sees the boy hit the floor, an avalanche of spite and indulgence. The perfect sandbag, he says.

​

He howls at the broken body he sees before him, Cosmo's mangled body lying in a crater stained with blood. Dudley demands to know if that's it, demands he keep fighting, The Emperor is only just starting to have fun god damn it!

The ref's voice echoes through Adam Dudley's head. That's enough. Huffing, he turns. Really? You're gonna stop this already?

Then he freezes.

​

Adam Dudley never even noticed. Not until reality beat hard enough on his delusion to be heard. He never struck Cosmo at all. The match is over, but it was won by Cosmo, with a perfectly placed Triangle choke.

The first match of the Annihilation Tournament goes to The King of Stranglers. Living up to his name.

In the stands Sekibayashi guffaws wildly. What a ballsy way to end it! Wakatsuki agrees, he doesn't think Dudley even realises he's been choked yet. Then he explains the Zone.

It's a funny sort of technique, more a quirk of timing and exploitation of the limits of human attention than anything you'd traditionally call a martial arts technique. The practitioner discerns the precise interval in which the opponent is fully committed to an attack, usually a space of time occupying less than a tenth of a second, and using that instant to move into their blind spot. Cosmo has the technique down perfectly, and seems to disappear to enemies who fall victim to it. This was what happened to that Agnostic Front guy.

​

Sekibayashi asks Wakatsuki if he could pull that off, and without hesitation the Wild tiger gives a firm no. In fact, in his opinion, Imai Cosmo is the only person who can fight like that. Purely the realm of genius, of prodigy.

As Ronald tries to cope, and the Magatanien crew ruthlessly mock him and his fighter (Kiozan claims he'd kill Cosmo before he got a chance to strangle him, which is probably what Adam Dudley thought too, you smug prick) Cosmo strides proudly out of the arena. Nishihonji is waiting there to tell him what a good job he did, for all it was a narrow win, to get some rest, something to eat…and to catch Cosmo when he all but collapses into his bro's arms. Then hocks up a bit more blood all over the guy's nice white dress shirt.

It's a relatively minor moment, and the manga moves on very quickly, but I'd like to linger for a moment to point out that a precedent is developing. This result should be fairly familiar. Remember Ohma vs Sekibayashi? How after that was over the lighter fighter was absolutely fucked up, even in victory? Yeah, while this is definitely a martial arts manga where sheer mass frequently gets overcome by skill, Kengan Asura is surprisingly grounded in how it doesn't mean you get out scott free. If mass is good for one thing, it's soaking up damage. I wonder how much Cosmo can recover before his next match the day after tomorrow?

Especially since, no matter who wins the next match, his opponent will be another heavyweight.

​

End chapter.


So, that was the first match of the annihilation tournament, and you know what? It's a promising start. It was probably pretty easy to guess who'd win based on nondiegetic factors, but Kengan Asura's strong track record of very rarely truly worfing people begins here. Cosmo vs Dudley was a strong back and forth match where both fighters got ample opportunity to demonstrate how frightening they are. The standout moment to me is the hallucination, which makes for a really strong "wait what" bait and switch moment that genuinely got me the first time I read it. It's a really creative way to emphasise the power of Cosmo's Zone gimmick, lent authenticity by the way oxygen deprivation really can do shit like that. Probably not so intensely, but it can certainly drop people into delusions and cause hallucinations. It's a great use of Shonen style heightened reality to add impact to a twist.

Incidentally, this chapter gives us Cosmo's profile, and it's honestly interesting? Most of Sandro's commentary on the writing and conception of the character is pretty much as you might expect, but it's interesting to hear about the artist's difficulty in getting his design down. We've all seen his magical, shapeshifting shoulders, but it was especially his hair that gave the guy trouble. To the point that the earliest versions had an afro!

Also, apparently he likes older women. One for the cougars, I guess.

See you all next time!

 

[Manic Dogma]

Match 2 of the Annihilation Tournament is here! But there's a problem. We know the fighters names, we know what they look like, and we've had a few moments of implication for each of them. We know Akoya is schtupping his boss and is obsessed with justice. We know Haruo is near impossible to meaningfully control. But we don't know what either of these guys' actual deal is. There's only been so much space for raw exposition after all.

Well, it's time to get some knowledge dumps in. Let's meet the fighters!

Chapter 47 opens on a palatial estate, all white stone and classical pillars, save for the curious presence of what seems to be a Controller's D-Pad decorating the frontmost gates. And peeking over the mansion's rooftops is the very tip of a crane, suggesting the presence of construction workers. And sure enough, a fellow in a hard hat and overalls approaches a new guy with a huge grin on his face, congratulating the fellow on how quickly he's getting a grip on things. And hey! Look who it is!

Somehow hard graft gave him a jawline.​

Yeah, seems like Yasuo meant it when he said he'd turn over a new leaf, and it's done him a world of good. He's happier and healthier looking than ever, and even has a career lined up waiting for him to finish highschool. And on top of that, he seems well liked by his coworkers. Chalk that up as a W, kid's on a roll.

He's come over all mindful and dutiful on us too, as he sprints off to put some gear away before knocking off for lunch. As he's doing that, he comes across some other workers, including the foreman, marveling at some absolute fuckery. Yasuo's not sure what's wrong, so he asks. And being well liked, he gets an answer from the foreman. Damndest thing, their company actually just did repairs on the mansion not six months ago.

Not that you'd know it to look at the place now.

​

Right, we had a fighter to introduce, didn't we? And boy howdy, this fucker got some gamer rage.

In the federal democratic republic of nepal, among its vast forest of mountains, are a number of native tribes. In the Himalayas specifically, one particular tribe, one particular village, was home to a child who was known to be monstrous. The boy's name was Haru.

By the age of six he could lift a grown man over his head with one hand and little effort. By ten he was the tallest man in his village. At eleven a snow leopard attacked the village and he throttled it to death on his own. And this is barely the beginning of Haru's legend. But his definitive story centered around a coming of age ritual demanded of every young boy of his culture.

At the bottom of a sheer cliff, down in one of the high mountain valleys, a herd of wild Himalayan goats rests. With only a single knife, each boy is required to hunt one of these heavy, powerful animals, and carry it back up the cliff. The master of the ceremony asks for a volunteer to go first, and Haru answers, a fresh young titan of 15.

One of the other boys objects. Not out of outrage, but concern. Haru forgot his knife! He scrambles to pull out his own knife, flipping it in hand to offer the handle to Haru. Here, he says, you can use mine. Haru says he doesn't need it. There's a pause, while the other boy processes this. Before he can get another word out, Haru tells the other boys to wait there for him.

And then he fucking yeets himself off the cliff edge.

A casual sunday stroll.​

He lands among the goats who, for all at least some of them noticed him coming, are blown away by the impact of his landing. And then it turns out the ravine is deep enough that he can't even be properly seen, as everyone else present is leaned over the ledge peering down, including the grown-ass man presiding over the whole thing. And even he only spots Haru as the boy is on his way back.

Btw, he's charging back up the cliff at a flat sprint as well, leaping clean over everyone's heads to land a dozen feet into flat stone. And he's not alone.

Those goats are not calm, they have simply accepted death.​

The presiding adult sweats bullets. Every single one of those animals is 80 kilograms of ornery adult male Goat, and he ran up the cliff like a goddamn wuxia hero carrying six of the fuckers. That's over 480 combined kilograms of belligerent herbivore. And he is, to repeat, only fifteen.

That was the day Haru was recognised as the most powerful Warrior of his tribe. Out of sheer, overwhelming physicality. And when someone becomes a figure like that, rumours spread. And there's always some bizarre, physiologically improbable ears listening.

A few years after his initiation into adulthood, the elder of Haru's village told him they had a guest. And that guest wished to speak with Haru. Said guest turned out to be Kono Akio, the Hey Arnold bit character and member of the three nobles who controls Japan's premier gaming company. The CEO of Nentendo comes to Haru with tales of the Kengan Matches, duels between mighty warriors for riches and glory, and tells him how he has been searching for a surpassing gladiator to fight on his behalf. When he heard about Haru, he couldn't not come to invite him. He'll give the boy whatever he pleases in return, if Haru will just come with him to japan.

And Haru is immediately tempted. He's always wanted to fight with all his strength, limited by the fragility of people he doesn't want to hurt. And yet he hesitates, because he's teenager being asked to leave behind everything he's ever known. And on top of that, his might has been pivotal. Who will lead hunts? Who will fend off the most dangerous predators. What if-

He's interrupted. The boy who offered him a knife, those years ago. Familiar with the taller boy, Yaku has clocked his thought process and tells him firm. You don't need to feel held back. Look around you. Everyone here is supporting you. Haru is struck dumb, and yet the praise continues. The man who presided over his coming of age tells him that he is unrivalled in the Himalayas, but the world is vast. Go see it!

Yaku recalls a story. A bear had him dead to rights, and he'd given up on surviving. Then Haru fell from nowhere like a star, crushing the beast in an instant. That was when Yaku personally knew that Haru was the strongest man in the world. And how he knows Haru is too kind, that he worries so fiercely for the village. But all of them have high hopes for him. Is it not his dream to fight to the fullest extremes of his strength?

​

This is where the heartwarming story of a boy's ascension to fame and the faith in him carried by those he loves ends. And where the usual Kengan Asura brand problematic bullshit begins.

I'm sure you've all heard of the Noble Savage?

In the end, stereotypes are only ever a deleterious force in the human psyche. They are by definition a reduction, complete and complex human beings rendered down into the most digestible and convenient possible ideas. This applies just as much to positive stereotypes as it does negative ones. And while it's not quite as common nowadays as it was in the 90s and before, the idea that people who live lives unlike the modern, cosmopolitan ones we endure today are somehow more pure and enlightened is a hard one to purge.

Akio was not content to merely employ Haru. He conceived of a plot to bring the boy completely under his sway, and the events that followed are a pretty clear example of a story characterising the influence of modern life as toxic, and infectious.

Haru is struck dumb by the sheer scale of a modern Japanese city, the sheer number of people and the size of the buildings. Which is fine on it's own, there's certainly going to be that kind of culture shock. And I'm given to understand the panel of bunch of japanese people rubbernecking him in awe of his scale is actually a thing that does happen. The problems start after Akio decides he'll give "this backwater simpleton" a taste of luxury, and get him addicted to the flavour.

Specifically, that it works. It works beyond Akio's wildest fantasies.

Oh, it backfires on him, but it still works.

…dude, what the hell are you making your maids wear?​

Thus did Haru die. Thus was Haruo born.

I hope the point is clear. Haru started as a powerful, chiseled adonis. A little arrogant, but also kind, loving and beloved of his people. And then immediately upon exposure to the luxuries of modern life he balloons outward in a startling return of Fatness as Moral Decay, devolving into a consuming, hateful thing. Indulging wantonly in careless, destructive violence. Every inch, save for his size and strength, what people mean when they spit the word Otaku in judgement.

God, he's even sweatier than Kaburagi.​

When his sheer size is reacted to, I should note, very few of the reactions are of serious awe. Most of them, especially those of the other fighters, are reactions of incredulity.

And one of them is Hiyama, employer of Haruo's opponent today. She tokenly grants how big he is, before noting how poor his endurance must be because of it. Then she drops the subject entirely, hooking in an earbud and pulling a wireless communicator to her lips. She and Akoya confirm contact, and thus that there's no signal jammers in the stadium, using the communicator that Akoya has embedded into his skull. Some kind of bone-conduction transmitter, apparently, which seems wild to me.

So, they're definitely angling to cheat somehow, though Hiyama notes it's not their only strategy. That said, she'd apparently rather avoid Akoya using his "Trump Card." What card is that? I guess we'll find out when they play it. Because come on, that's some foreshadowing right there. The only question is if we'll find out this match.

We end on a panel of Akoya's heavily shadowed face, as he declares it is time to execute Justice.

Next time, we'll see what Akoya's deal is. See you all then.

 

[Manic Dogma]

We've seen the problematic epitaph to a noble savage that last chapter represented, the slow death of the pure and innocent Haru as the inherently evil badthoughts toxicity of modernity crept in, which he was apparently helpless to resist. Now we move on to the next hot mess. What's Akoya Seishu's deal?

A horror movie, apparently, as we open on the ragged front end of a series of abandoned office blocks to the sound of a bloodcurdling scream of fear and pain.

I'm gonna need to be careful about what images I post this chapter, good lord.

Anyway, a douchey looking dude with terrible hair sits whimpering, tied to a wall hands bound and watching another guy get mutilated. The screams die, bit by bit, until they peter out completely. The guy doing the mutilation apologises. Your friend's dead now, he says, in a strange and tinny voice.

Are there any larger fellows in this manga who aren't evil or useless?​

Like any good villain, Mimura pauses to monologue. He waxes lyrical on the many ways in which this poor sap is just so god damn unlucky. He pissed off the Godo group Don somehow, that's a bad start. And now he has Mimura as his executioner! Oh well. If his luck turns around now, this should all be over in less than an hour.

Fuck me, but this chapter is going as hard as it can to make this guy just…excessively evil. Now, if I were a betting creature, I'd say this gives me serious vibes of trying to set this guy up as a target for a villain protagonist. Let's see how that pans out, because events are very abruptly interrupted by a voice with an ominous black speech bubble, demanding that Mimura "hold it."

The sixth Ranger is here.​

Mimura then demonstrates himself to be a smarter cookie than he looked, with that metal cross bolting his head together. He immediately pegs this guy as police, and his mind starts racing for an explanation, since the secrecy on this place was supposed to be absolute. Outside of his head he brandishes a switchknife and basically tells the power ranger to fuck off, he's getting to a good bit.

The suited figure ignores him, and just starts walking forward. Oh, ignoring me are you? Mimura asks, the camera panning behind him to reveal the hand without a knife in it is pulling a gun out of a hidden back-holster.

Then with shocking speed and zero hesitation he unloads.

The bullet strikes the invader dead in the chest. He reels back, staggered by the bullet's force…but then straightens again, with nothing to show for the impact but a scorch mark.

​

For some reason this doesn't intimidate Mimura. He just tosses his knife and gun away and calls the guy interesting, interesting enough to fight for real. He yanks a sword from a back-mounted sheathe, a square-tipped executioner's blade. A specially made weapon of unknown make or mechanism which can cut through steel with even a feather-slight touch.

He then tries to declare, like any good ha'penny villain, just how mean and nasty he's gonna be. Specifically, he gets halfway through declaring a start to this "slaughterfest." I say only half, because before he can finish the armoured guy dashes across the room and rips out his throat-speaker. Along with most of Mimura's throat. Slaughterfest? Don't get the wrong idea.

This is an execution.

The would-be victim is left in awe at this man's strength, and thanks him profusely after he's untied. In the process he's quick to note that his friend, the one our trooper was too late to save, wasn't a good guy either, apparently just to drum in those funny feelings I had early about the construction of this scene. Eager to make clear none of the people whose faces we see are good folk.

Armoured Guy mostly ignores him, and keeps ignoring him as he asks who the hell he is. Instead AG ambles over to the late Mimura's gun, and picks it up. Apparently unable to stop running his mouth, but then it's been a rough day for him so I'll cut some slack, he asks what the hell AG is gonna do with that, identifying it as a cheap chinese gun. Then, apparently eager to return the favour on some level, he goes on about a friend who sells the real russian model of this gun he can refer AG to, and so on and so forth. All the while Armoured Guy remains stone silent. Until he presses the gun into the shorter guy's hands.

​

So that's how the kid ended up in this situation. Sorry, Asai.

No good people in this scene at all, eh? Looks like my initial, earlier theory about a villain protagonist and greater evils and such is starting to bear out. But, I'll ask you to hold judgement for a bit. There's something cooking here.

Predictably, Asai goes ballistic on Armoured guy. What the fuck is he on about? He's going to kill him just for a hit and run? Besides, he weaselly tries to justify, the car belonged to gangsters. They're the evil ones, you should kill them. AG actually agrees, but pauses to clarify.

They're all already dead.

In fact we get a brief panel of all the Godo group executives hung up in a row by their feet, arms tied together to support their severed and inverted heads. A gruesome warning. They won't be after the kid any longer, AG says. Though in return he'll be joining them soon. Very much on the verge of justifiably pissing himself in fear now, Asai screams into the man's face that his claims of justice are bullshit, it doesn't exist. With eyes filled with a singular, white hot mania AG stares him down and insists that he is justice. Justice has molded him, and he carries it out. This is obviously nonsense, and the kid is smart enough to call it a joke, demanding to know how the hell murder is justice.

​

A pretty telling answer. Also a fucking insane torrent of drippy, rancid bullshit.

Asai's last act on this earth is to rightly tell AG he's crazy before pulling the trigger, as AG ducks around him and snaps his neck before he can finish firing the gun.

Cut to some time later. The police have arrived on the scene, and forensics are already picking it over and dealing with the bodies. A detective comments on how gruesome the scene is, and expresses hope he never ends up like this. Not every day you see signs of a struggle this terrible. A man with black speech bubbles confirms, he heard gunshots and by the time he got to the crime scene it was too late. Then he takes his leave, and the lead investigator apologises for taking up so much of his time off duty. The detective, who's apparently never met this guy before, asks if he was an officer too. The lead confirms, that was the strongest man in their entire police department.

Captain of the 44th Riot Squad, Inspector Akoya Seishu. Also Armoured Guy, in case anyone hasn't caught that.

And sure enough, as the camera follows Akoya away from the crime scene Hiyama turns up in her limousine and tells him to hop in. She'll take him home. He neither accepts nor refuses, instead reminding her he told her not to come here, probably for concern of her giving him away. Hiyama admits she couldn't help but worry, she can't have him dying on her. Then in a very unsubtle segue, she prods him for how long he's going to keep this up. If he's thought of taking a rest.

Then like the calm and rational man that he is, he informs her that this is preposterous, justice never rests, and furthermore that he will continue to fight until evil is eradicated. While nailing the camera with the sharpest, stariest set of crazy eyes I've ever been subjected to.

This man is completely fucking mental.

​

We hard cut to Kurayoshi Rin's room, where Rei has suddenly actually perked up, though apparently not quite enough to remove his head from her cleavage completely. He explicitly and directly notes Akoya's strength, and claims they should keep a close eye on him, opposite block or no. Now, note that Rei is one of the Tournament's many assassins. Because after another hard cut, Muteba is picking up how every other Assassin in the tournament is also suddenly paying very close attention. And then, he muses himself on something very, very pertinent to how I interpret the meaning of this chapter and Akoya Seishu as a character.

​

Funny, isn't it? The people who are taking the most notice of this policeman, this supposed arbiter of justice, are a very particular sort of person. Blood merchants, flesh-makers. Killers. The very people he'd condemn are the only ones here who do not see him as an alien, but instead recognise him as one of their own.

There was never a lesser or greater evil in that run down office building. Only the more vicious, more demented evil.

The referee begins the match, and Haruo lunges with an earth-shattering haymaker. Akoya bunkers down, and Hiyama commences her analysis. End Chapter.


Well now, this was an interesting change of pace. I don't think there's grounds here to suggest Sandro subscribes to All Cops Are Bastards, but he definitely thinks this shithead is a complete, deluded hypocrite. There's definitely an edge of "this guy is cool" to proceedings too, but that feels more like the natural background noise of all characters in Kengan Asura next to the blaring airhorns of what a psychotic weirdo he is. Of course he looks cool in motion, that's what makes him fun to hate.

Incidentally, y'all aint seen nothing yet.


Unrelated note, this chapter had Adam Dudley's profile page and just, fucking hell.

​

Someday these things will stop vindicating me, lol. Would any of you be surprised to hear his hobby is collecting guns?

See you all next time.

 

[Manic Dogma]

The second match of the Annihilation Tournament commences, it's ACAB man versus Literally The World's Biggest Otaku, and things start off no less explosively than the first.

All of Haruo's phenomenal bulk comes flying at Akoya at terrific speed, and the cop hunkers down for a siege as his CEO begins her work, stylised clockwork ticking away in her head. And Haruo is no less fast when he reaches Akoya. This is no simple momentum, the man's punches slash the air in a scything combination of blows, forcing Akoya to duck and weave even as he maintains his boxing block.

Then he tries to retaliate.

What ho kids, it's fatphobia o'clock.​

A lot of hay is made of how absurd this is contrasted against Haruo's physique, but frankly this would be an impressive backflip no matter how much of you is fat. In fact, I'm pretty sure literally noone in the manga so far has demonstrated anything like this kind of agility, the closest was Ohma's flash step against Sekibayashi.

And Haruo isn't even close to done. The instant he lands, the guy fucking L-cancels his landing lag and does this.

​

Adam Dudley bouncing Cosmo's little body off the arena floor was impressive, don't get me wrong, but this guy is on a whole other level of physicality. Akoya weighs 114 goddamn kilograms, and Haruo just launched his ass at a flat fucking trajectory clean across the arena, with enough force to crater the concrete wall on impact. It's impressive enough that Akoya survives this, but if it weren't for Wakatsuki's display on the ship this would be the most impressive display of strength in the manga so far.

But then, Wakatsuki actually took out his opponent with that blow. Not so here. And unfortunately, the heat gets rather undercut by the next page, which goes out of its way to emphasise how fucking sweaty Haruo is, and give us a little lens into his thoughts right now. Because he's hissing "I want to play video games" under his breath ad nauseam.

Sigh.

Anyway, time for a bit more backstory and a dash of worldbuilding, because Akiyama's heard of this guy before, though his sheer power is still a surprise to her.

Akiyama explains that the gaming industry is one of the most cutthroat, competitive parts of the Kengan Association, where the stakes are high and the best fighters tend to find employment. Which is honestly true to life, by now IRL the gaming industry is one of the biggest in entertainment, having eclipsed movies a good while ago. Anyway, more specifically, she relates a story she once heard about a match over the development rights to an advanced new console, which would incorporate revolutionary new hardware. Which I guess is comparable to the fifth generation of consoles and the fight over CD-Rom tech? Anyway, Akiyama explains that whenever three or more corporations are contesting the same thing, a special Battle Royale is held.

Incidentally, we get a panel of the supposed strongest fighters sent in for this, and it's chock full of references, it's cute.

​

Looks like Terry Bogard, Ryu with an eyepatch, idk, idk, Heihachi in his youth and…someone from Guilty Gear? Anyway, Haruo smeared the arena walls with a lot of them, he's the strongest fighter in the Gaming Industry by a wide margin.

Back to the actual fight, Haruo's CEO cacklingly commands him to get this over with, and the manchild complies with a guttural yell. Unfortunately for him, the level of competition here isn't that soft, and Akoya is only mildly phased. He grunts, wipes the blood from his mouth and raises his left arm, clenching it until the blood vessels stand out like a roadmap. A vision of a riot officer holding a shield and baton accompany him in that panel, along with what might as well be Akoya's catchphrase. Preposterous.

Then he deflects Haruo's thunderous haymaker with almost casual ease.

This time, among the peanut gallery, it's Gaolang's turn to be the exposition bot and he recognises the art being used as Taiho-jutsu. An MMA style designed by and for the police, specialising in restraining opponents and based on a mix of Japanese kempo, kendo and bojutsu.

Nah, he's a big ol' porkchop.​

Despite his excellent start, Haruo's clearly losing ground now, and it breaks his already poor temper. Winding up a second, hilariously telegraphed haymaker, he shrieks and demands to know why Akoya just isn't going down. This time when Akoya deflects, he takes a pound of flesh with him.

The Ripper slices open several weeping cuts along Haruo's arms. That fucking hurts, he howls as he throws a second punch, earning another cut for his trouble. Jerry Tyson calls out the technique as being like Rihito's Razor's Edge but, off in a side room watching the match over a TV monitor, Rihito actually disagrees.

With an oddly serious and academic tone, Rihito explains what Akoya's ripper is doing and how it's different to what his does. Simply put, he rotates his fist, catching his opponent's skin on the hard surface of his knuckles. And at the speed he does it, this opens a cut. Which breaks the skin, but doesn't really go any deeper, and Rihito points out this lack of real damage. He calls it a harassment move, real nasty shit for a real nasty guy.

Ohma just shrugs and walks away. He wants a nap. When Rihito complains, Ohma notes that watching them is a waste of his time. Neither of them, he says, to Rihito's incredulous surprise, are fighting seriously.

Back in the arena more focused fighters are studying the back and forth. Akoya deflects a blow in one beat, then retaliates in the next. Regular as clockwork. Okubo Naoya points out to Kaneda how steady the pattern is, and critiques it as lacking any flair, but Kaneda is distracted. When Okubo asks why, he isn't exactly sure, but feels like Akoya is taking his time.

Funny moment to have a beat like that, isn't it? Akoya's already on the clear advantage, but the manga takes a moment to remind us that he has a plan ready and that it hasn't gone off yet. His cards are still firmly up his sleeve.

The exchanges continue, and after a nasty shot to the face, Haruo uncorks a brutal lariat that launches Akoya a dozen feet away. The man catches himself though, break-falling and rolling to his feet where he skids to a stop, as Haruo clutches the fresh new cut across the back of his hand.

"You're a tough pig alright," Akoya states, in the most hilariously ironic comment in the entire manga.

Haruo loses his shit, rearing up and howling. He's the strongest man in the Himalayas, he screams. He's defeated leopards. Bears and tigers. He's defeated them all. What is a shrimp like Akoya to him?

Unfortunately, what Akoya is? Is a cop. And remember, kids. All cops are bastards.

Hiyama completes her analysis.

​

Akoya finishes his counter combo with a thunderous palm strike, right to Haruo's left orbital. The part of the skull that holds the eyes. And cracks it. The larger man reels, howling in pain. It's a counter! Sayaka hollers as Akio shrieks in shock.

True to form as a cop, Akoya just. Keeps. Punching.

Shit, what a gorgeously drawn rush. What momentum.​

It's a shocking and complete reversal of tactics. Gone is the riot shield, and out has come the shotgun full of beanbag rounds, except it's fully automatic. All out offence, capitalising on…what? Hiyama's clearly giving him signals of some kind, but what kind and to signify what? Well we aren't going to learn for now, because Haruo catches him by the gi, and fires another massive haymaker at him while screaming his hate to the heavens.

He's got him by the clothes, Yamashita yells, surely he can't dodge that now.

Come on man, surely you know better than that by now.

Akoya slips out of his Gi and the punch whistles over his head as he makes an attack of his own, while propped on one hand. A vicious side-kick right to Haruo's knee. Haruo's attacks, he claims, can no longer touch him.

End chapter.


Well now, this is an odd duck, isn't it? Ignoring all the problematic elements for a moment, common wisdom would suggest that putting two David vs Goliath matches in a row would be a mistake. Too much risk of sameyness. And yet, while the rhythms are similar, the actual matches are fundamentally different in tone. While the Goliath of this match is wildly more frightening and preternaturally powerful than the last, he's in much less of a position of strength. After Adam broke that mount he was fully in control of that match until Cosmo landed The Zone, but aside from his initial display of athleticism Haruo has been pretty well dominated this entire chapter, even before Akoya busted out his ace.

And I suppose that's the even bigger difference. Cosmo is protagonist material, through and through, he'd be the main character of this manga in different hands. He's a charming little scamp who can get serious when shit's down to the wire.

Akoya is a fucking madman. His dominance isn't framed as triumphantly overcoming a difference in weight class, its like an exercise in torture. He isn't an underdog making the risky plays that are his only chance of victory. He's taking it slow and safe, putting his opponent off balance with painful disruption tactics until his trump card is in place. David is fully in control here, and Goliath is a whinging child reliant on sheer brute might.

But the fight isn't over yet. And we all know how it goes when you're the first person to unleash your trump card.

See you all next time.

 

[Manic Dogma]

Haruo is on the ropes. His glasses have been blown away, his arms weep from a dozen bleeding cuts, and he's leaning on his knees wheezing. All his might amounting to little in the face of Akoya Seishu's cruel, methodical assault.

Give it up, the madman says. Accept your death, for the sake of justice.

Anyway, apropos of nothing, time for some really weirdly placed exposition!

The Teito university group have paused to discuss reaction times. Doctor Hanafusa muses on the human limits therein, citing the top end at about 0.08 to 0.1 seconds. By his estimation, Akoya's reaction times are about 0.075 seconds. Shocking, arguably superhuman, if only by a sliver. Obviously, he wants to dissect the man to figure out how he ticks. Can't accuse Hanafusa of not having consistent branding, I guess.

It's a strange and incredibly awkward aside, just jammed in right after the start. And immediately after the story cuts back to the arena like there wasn't even an interruption. Kono Akio makes a judgement call that Akoya is bluffing, based on precisely fuck and all, and demands Haruo finish him off already. Or does he want to be sent back home?

Well, so much for that heartwarming sendoff.​

For christ's sake.

Then we get the…payoff? To the weird reaction times thing. As if Haruo's attack wasn't incredibly telegraphed, Akoya counterattacks before the massive double-chop can even go off. Reacting in the space of 0.076 seconds he hammers Haruo's gut with a barrage of low punches. And then, as the man staggers forwards coughing blood, Akoya slams his elbow into the back of Haruo's head.

Haruo falls to his knees, clutching his head. During the lull in the fight, Himuro asks Kaneda if that isn't like how he predicts attacks. Kaneda has to think about it. It certainly looks like that, doesn't it? But something seems out of place to him. He's not sure what, though.

Incidentally, I think it's cute that Himuro is hanging out with Kaneda. There really isn't any hard feelings, even though he's still in a sling.

Anyway, Haruo's back up now and goes for Akoya with an open-handed slap. It's not a good idea. Remember those cuts Akoya opened up with the Ripper? Yeah, he basically just puts his fingers in the way of one of those and the force of Haruo's own attack drives them into his arm like a knife. Even Rihito's calling him a shithead for that one, and Haruo isn't inclined to disagree. Tank of a man that he is, his only response is another howl and an overhead hammerblow.

Something buzzes in Akoya's skull. He easily steps out of the way.

Even using the way the sfx are written to sell the blow. Oof.​

In the peanut gallery, Akiyama and Kushida reel in sympathetic pain. Blows to the liver are serious business, though Kushida is suspiciously quick to clarify that she definitely doesn't know from experience. Yamashita, though, is having similar thoughts to Kaneda. He doesn't know quite how to say it, and even less real idea of what he's seeing, but Akoya almost seems…like a puppet to him. Like he's being controlled.

That panel comes with a cute image of a wooden puppet version of Akoya on strings, btw.

But yeah, we cut to Hiyama as she's watching. She hits the switch on the little doodad she's holding, and it triggers the buzzer in Akoya's skull. In response he shifts, with perfect timing, out of the way of a right straight. Ideally positioned to give Haruo's extended fist juuuust a tiny pull, then fold the man around his leg.

Good, Hiyama thinks. They have this down perfectly.

Then we get the reveal of what's actually going on. She's reading the opponents "intervals", or rather, the timing of their breaths.

​

A strategy only possible because of her partnership with Akoya, and his superhuman reaction times. They've spent countless hours working on this, rote learning specialised for sheer reflexive action. Akoya abandons all thought and functions on reflex alone, taking the most drastic and immediate action available without hesitation. Yamashita was right. With these tactics Akoya Seishu is very much a puppet on Hiyama's strings, like someone playing a video game character. Push the button and the little man on the screen does the appropriate action. As they are now, Hiyama believes, they could even defeat the Fang of Metsudo.

I'm sure at least some of you have already clocked onto what the problem with this method is. Be sure to tell me how you think this is going to go wrong!

Anyway, back to the fight itself, Akoya's doing as he does and Haruo is starting to seriously feel the strain. As much of a tank as he is, noone can just take shots to the knee forever like this. Sweating more than ever, and repeatedly reiterating his own strength to himself like a mantra, he steps toward Akoya. No charge now, just a plodding walk, step by heavy step. Time to end this, Akoya, Hiyama says.

Roger.

This time Akoya charges. Haruo attempts a retaliatory blow, but with his opponent's strategy and his own linear, desperate fighting style it was never going to land. Akoya parries it, drives one last brutal kick into the Himalayan giant's knee. And he falls.

​

A leaping knee-strike to the jaw. There's no simply enduring that through sheer mass, the brain will rattle in your skull all the same. Haruo slumps to the floor unconscious, and Akoya declares he'll show no mercy toward those who impede his justice. As if that wasn't already clear from the exercise in torture this match has been. As if he stands for any true justice.

Execution complete, he says, as he walks away from his opponent's fallen body.

Kono Akio is losing his shit, his entire face stretching and distorting like a gremlin fed after midnight. Shrieking about what a useless piece of shit Haruo is. A more immediate and bafflingly stupid loss of faith than even Yoshitake's all the way back in the first Match of the series. At least there Rihito was a relative newcomer without all that much invested in him, Haruo has already won this man untold billions of yen.

The referee runs over, to execute on one of the few duties a Kengan Match referee has. He approaches Haruo and yells to him. Can you keep going!? He waits a moment, just to be sure. There's no response. So, being a sensible sort, he calls for a stretcher. Then declares that we have a winn-

​

There's no further action. Haruo isn't even really awake. His eyes simply stare, bleary and unfocused, at Akoya. The cop recognises he isn't even conscious. And yet, still, he feels…not fear perhaps. He isn't sane enough for that. But still. He feels caution. The wariness of a bloodlusted predator faced with the still, unspoken hostility of a hippo.

Far above the ring, in one of the guest boxes, the Elder of his village is there. So is Yaku. And as they watch, faces deathly serious, the Elder makes a note. He has returned. Yaku agrees. It would seem he has.

​

Hmmmmmnot sure if this makes the whole Corrupted Innocence of the Noble Savage thing better or worse. I'm gonna go with worse, tbh. It's a sicknasty panel at least, look at that goddamn aura.

End chapter. This match will end in the next one.

See you all then.

 

[Manic Dogma]

Okay, let's get this over with.

Haruo is back on his feet, but he's entirely unconscious. Nevertheless, in a startling moment of lucidity, Akoya is wary. Haruo hasn't stood up consciously, but stood up he is. And Akoya's feeling immense, deathly pressure from the man. Hiyama's unconcerned, though. She's already got him analysed, no matter how often he gets up Haruo doesn't stand a chance.

Then in the blink of an eye Haruo blinks across the distance between them and rocks Akoya's shit.

Another SurprisedPikachu.jpg​

So hey, remember last chapter when I asked you all what the obvious problem with their method is? Yeeeaaaaaah, everyone who answered "What the fuck are you on about you clown, the rhythm of breath isn't even consistent within the same person in the same fight, trying to use that to get openings by calculating when they'll be ahead of time is stupid and obviously never going to work" then well done. You put more thought into it than Sandro did. Breath is important, certainly, and as I understand it people inherently relax some when they exhale just as an unavoidable reflex. But it isn't some kind of binary, robotic process! Even just getting more tired as a fight goes on will change a person's rhythm of breathing, let alone the influence of any sort of breathing technique or simple kiai.

Anyway, Haruo has thrown off the cheat strat, at least for the moment. And that's not even all, Akoya realises as another right straight hammers his guard. The execution of his strikes has changed, become more refined, the way they're landing now his steel guard isn't enough. His bones are rattling. What the fuck happened? Hiyama, suddenly desperate, begs Akoya to bear with it as she reanalyses.

Back in the box with the chief and Yaku, they watch as Haruo's arms become a blurred lattice and blows. Solemnly, the chief declares this the true Haru. The mightiest man…of the Gurkhas.

​

Oh boy.

Leaving aside the, uh…interesting choice of design for these fellows for a moment, the Gurkhas are actually a real group. Not mercenaries, but rather a number of units of Nepali and Nepali speaking indian peoples recruited into the Nepali army and then seconded to other militaries and government organisations throughout the last hundred odd years. Particularly, the british army has made frequent use of Gurkha forces after the Kingdom of Nepal and British East India Company stopped fighting each other and signed a treaty, deploying them in both world wars and, uh…to quash rebellions. They've since spread out quite a bit, and units of Gurkha are active to this day in various places and roles, despite the Nepalese monarchy's collapse.

Kengan Asura does manage to include the signature weapon of the Gurkhas, the notorious cutting machetes known as Khukuri, or Kukri. But, uhm. I'm sure you've all guessed that they weren't veiny, tattooed white dudes wearing heavy metal masks, jockstraps, and fuck all else.

The 1st Gurkha Rifles, circa 1857​

I'm pretty sure Sandro on his team didn't even do a basic amount of research on these fellows. Fuck, I just went over the wikipedia page for what I just told you. That's all it takes to understand that these people aren't turbo-charged barbarian war gods made more than other men by the eugenic power of living in really high places. They're a decorated and notorious military force, certainly, with innumerable accolades to their collective name and no end of badass quotes regarding their psychology and prowess, but they're still just…dudes. Very good soldiers. Not an entire civilisation of budget Kratos clones.

I wasn't kidding about the quotes, either. A Former indian army chief of staff called Sam Manekshaw apparently once said "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha." Sick as hell.

God, but none of this is even the funniest part.

​

Ahhh, the delightful, consuming influence of propaganda.

So yeah, this is all just astonishingly racist. But in a very particular way that Kengan as a series trips face-first into a lot. Surface details taken as a given, all nuance stripped away, and people are reduced to Bigdick Murderlord of Fuck Mountain. It's a very juvenile form of racism that takes things at their simplest level, absolutely 0 biases examined, to turn them into a heavy metal album cover in motion. It's almost endearing, when you don't take into account the harm this shit can in fact do.

Kengan Asura is very guileless, like that. There's very few people it really judges, mostly for being anything less than perfectly masculine, and otherwise it's mostly interested in hyping this or that up as cool as it can possibly make it. Even when it's being incredibly racist, that racism is rooted in unexamined tropes it finds really cool and wants to share with you. Like hyperfixated eight year old vomiting dinosaur facts at you at every opportunity.

None of this to try and convince anyone to forgive or ignore of course, quite the opposite. I encourage you to tear into it. In a way, this is the most insidious form of racism. The sort that encourages a fist pump while rewriting your underlying assumptions rather than confronting you with blatantly dehumanising abuses.

Anyway, we were reading a manga, where were we…ah yes, at some point in the timeline we didn't see in his exposition chapter Haru was a member of the Gurkhas. And they basically feared him as their god, calling him an avatar of Indra. Who has returned for all Haru, and I quote, "debased himself."

Tbh, I want to know more about his anime choices before I agree or disagree with that. What do you guys think? Is Haruo the sort of degenerate fuck who unironically enjoys shield hero?

Akoya is struggling now, though he still manages to get in a faintly comical looking swinging kick to Haruo's knee before the half-conscious man blasts him away with a single open-handed slap. Hiyama apologises through the earpiece, Akoya will need to wait a bit longer for his updated signals. In response he tells her to make it quick. He doesn't have much time.

In the peanut gallery, Yamashita is having his usual reactions, but Kushida is more baffled than anything else. Akiyama asks her what's up, and Kushida isn't certain she isn't seeing things, but…Haruo looks different.

​

And then…fucking hell, just look at this shit.

​

Oh, did you guys think the whole noble savage and the inherent evil of living anything but a basic life off the land shit from previous chapters was insultingly on the nose? What do you think now?

God, if it were just the burgers and shit I could maybe appreciate that at least there's something to the criticism of his diet, but there's fucking sushi in there as well. And it makes a skull! A fucking skill made out of videogames and television, it's the most boomer shit I've seen in weeks.

Also Haruo gets even faster, which resets Hiyama's progress again. She's starting to grind her teeth.

Off elsewhere in the peanut gallery we get a bit more commentary from some medical experts. Including, interestingly enough, our resident Serial Killer. Bando Yohei comments on the process Haruo is undergoing with a detached but undeniably curious academic tone. He supposes that theoretically abnormal caloric expenditure could detoxify the body (I'm…fairly certain that's bullshit peddled by Facebook homeopathy moms?) but that should be medically impossible. It's happening right before his eyes though, so.

He wanted to be a doctor? How about that.​

Back in the fight, Haruo huffs and steams and a frantic Hiyama calls back in to Akoya. She's almost done, she's really sorry for the wait, but the corrections are just about fini-

That won't be necessary, Akoya says. Time's up.

Interesting thing to say to the person at the centre of your cheat strat. Especially when the next panel is you getting over-arm hammer fisted into the arena floor, which buckles under your back.

Haruo starts pounding away, raining blows on Akoya as Sayaka works the crowd for the match's final moments, asking if this is the end for Akoya. Meanwhile, lips pursing and on the edge of tears, Hiyama begs Akoya. She only needs fifteen- no, twelve. She only needs twelve more seconds to finish her analysis. Akoya.

Please.

​

Kono Haruo winds up one last bear-breaking blow, as Akoya quietly asks the man to die for his justice. Then he breaks Haruo's fucking knee.

Haruo collapses backwards screaming, and even Yamashita instantly picks up on what just happened. Haruo is over 300kgs, his knees undergo insane stress on a day to day basis, to say nothing of what they must experience when he's pulling his bullshit agility. Combine that with Akoya's ruthless, sustained kicks to his knees and it's a surprise the joint lasted this long.

Then Akoya walks up to Haruo's screaming form, and inverts his face with his foot. "You're lucky to be alive," he says.

​

The fight is over. The winner is Akoya Seishu.

There's a number of different immediate reactions. Kono Akio, the CEO, passes out frothing at the mouth. Yaku is horrified, and the chief solemnly warns that it's up to Haru whether he'll "continue to fall, or repent." Fucking ew. And Nogi and Hatsumi, who's arms have suddenly swelled five times their normal size for some reason, comment on how Akoya actually lasted long enough to clinch this victory. He has, quite simply, the best defence of any of the fighters, surviving Haruo's blows by perfectly deflecting each and every one off their ideal course.

Also hey, did anyone else notice that whiff of abusive relationship vibes? Content Warning for way more of that immediately following this paragraph.

Incidentally, we follow Akoya out of the arena now, and he meets with Hiyama in the corridors leading off the area. She's apologetic, profusely so, listing off a litany of reasons she wasn't able to properly support him.

That she never actually finishes.

​

Akoya speaks plainly, and very coldly. He doesn't need excuses. The basic fact is that she was an impediment to him. He's disappointed in her, and will be fighting alone in the second round.

Hiyama's reaction is to immediately and completely break down. With eyes wild and weepy, she begs him no. If he does that he'll…please think it over, she won't make any more mistakes, she'll do anything he wants just-

Please. Don't abandon me.

Akoya makes a terse face for a moment, before exhaling. He wipes the blood from Hiyama's lips.

​

Holy fucking shit, what a hot mess. There was already some rancid fucking vibes going on the first time we saw these two, but good grief. The main silver lining here being…I actually do think this intense YIKES reaction is actually intentional. I do feel like this is supposed to come off as abusive and unhealthy, and that this tracks with basically everything else we've seen about Akoya's character. His self-serving myopia, and reflexive justification of everything he does as in service to a nebulous greater good. He thinks of Hiyama as just one more tool to that end, and has apparently convinced Hiyama of the same.

It's so weird for this reaction to happen on purpose in this manga, but there it is.

Last half-page of the chapter, a stewardess with little plaited pigtails calls out Kure Raian for his upcoming fight, then collapses screaming back. Possibly because Raian is naked. The intended reasoning is probably that he's soooooooooo spooky scary skeletons terrifying while he's hyping himself up that her lizard brain shit itself, but I don't actually respect Raian enough as a character to buy that.

What do I mean by that? You'll fucking see. End chapter.


Hoooo, crikey that was a thing. I actually feel much more mixed than I expected to feel on rereading this match, and it's certainly not as…clean, as the first match. That was just a really solid back and forth slobberknocker, proper back to basics well executed shit. This match is going a bit more high concept, and has a lot more going on under the hood, but isn't nearly as cleanly executed.

So, just to get it out of the way, I'm sure we remember all the problematic aspects. Mostly on Haruo's side, various flavours of racism and regurgitation of old, incredibly misguided attempts to correct on older and more blatant forms of racism. On Akoya's side…

Well.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Akoya is the headliner of this fight. The one that the match was, ultimately, in service of. Haruo might have gotten a full chapter to deliver his deal and backstory, and got a whole second wind, but ultimately he didn't even have as much to him in structural terms as even Adam Dudley did. No techniques, no particular specific strengths, he's just a massive ball of sheer physicality that attacked Akoya in linear, thoughtlessly aggressive flurries of basic punches. Every meaningful reveal and tactic was on Akoya's side, coming together in what I feel is the strongest twist of the chapter. The cheating tactic being a limiter bolt on his psycho tendencies.

Because that, I think, is the main takeaway of the match. Between the deranged bullshit he was saying in his backstory hype chapter, the methodically torturous methods he used in the match itself and other character's reactions to him, the match goes to some lengths clarifying one thing. Akoya Seishu is a fucking psychotic monster. And that this will take a central role of importance in his future matches. Which is a funny thing, isn't it? As I noted before, Kengan Asura is a curiously non-judgemental manga, as long as you live up to its standards of masculinity. And Akoya certainly does that, and yet more than any of the other characters, including the man the manga refers to as "history's worst serial killer", more than any of them Akoya is framed by the narrative as just the most massive piece of shit. Up to and including his absolutely fucked relationship with Hiyama.

And honestly yeah, I think the match succeeded spectacularly in setting up Akoya as an absolute heel. The weak link was Haruo. His backstory and core concept is a bunch of archaic, racist bullshit. His fighting aesthetic is uninspired and boring, with no real core ideas or visual flourishes, which dragged down any possible visceral enjoyment of the fight itself. And as a person he's a pretty wretched and wearisome stereotype of nerds, the cherry on top of the diarrhoea trifle. People have previously noted that he gets better as a character over time, but his first appearance is a disappointing waste of what could have been a great match. In an agonising way that is, it'd probably sting real hard if I'd been rooting for a character I really loved.

Funny thing though, Haruo isn't my least favourite fighter. Oh goodness me no, that's still to come.

See you all next time.