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Capitalism ho! Let's Read Kengan Asura

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Sadly I have enough second hand knowledge that some match ups are spoiled by virtue of knowing the final matchup . But expunging that from my brain:

-Cop vs Cosmo: Cosmo takes this with a heroic second wind by virtue of all the foreshadowing of 'look at how far you can go' that happened.
-Protagonist vs Raian: he's the protagonist. Him fighting Raian this early instead of penultimate/ final round makes me think something is going to go screwy so they have a rematch to show off how cool (they think) Raian is.
-Waka vs Julius: Julius is handicapped too much by his weird 'anti-martial arts' mindset while Waka has no such hurdle. I'd give it to him.
-Muteba vs Seki: As much as it pains me, Muteba probably takes this. He's no-nonsense and unlikely to fall for Seki's taunting and psychological tactics and Seki's lack of guard is too much of a weakness.
-Loudspeaker vs Rei: Probably Rei, because fast. But it takes a while because Loud's skull is so thick.
-Gensai vs Kiryu: anyone's game, Kiryu has a lot of weird stuff going on and Gensai hasn't been pushed yet.
-Hatsumi vs Luffy: Bando is too busy being posioned. He hasn't died from it, given he's not going to do it off screen, but how well he is doing is up in the air. Hatsumi by virtue of not being posioned. Also preserves his mystery.
-Gaolang vs Agito: Agito, he's the single pillar of strength every fighter has been compared to. I don't think Gaolang has it in him to make enough if an upset. Maybe Hatsumi could pull it off for a very funny Ohma v Hatsumi final while Nogi sits in the background being very smug.
Gaolang gets sacrificed to hype up a Hatsumi / Agito fight.

Edit: changing my mind about Waka v Julius. Julius has his whole menacing big-bad wannabe boss thing going on while Waka is just some guy. Waka himself attributed his victory over the Olympian to just being stronger, so I expect that to be thrown back in his face.
Also, Kiryu has a clear lead over Gensai in that it sets up an esoteric martial arts thing in the next round with Rei.
Rei has to have one single stroke fight where one of them trembles only for the other one to just straight up collapse. It's the only way to take him down.
Just have an entire chapter of backstory, audience analysis, 5 panels of the referee calling out go, and maybe some rain falling in slow motion so you know it's going fast. All for 0.1 seconds of an actual fight.
 
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I dearly wish I was going into this blind, but I've waiting on the anime to finally get to the rest of Round 2 made me go ahead and read the manga.

No regrets there because it was quite a read. Honestly I'm looking forward to all of these fights, everyone a pretty good match for the most part.
 
Guile said:
... Didn't Bando die? I feel like Bando died.
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Without giving out details on whats up with Bando in particular, "Didn't X die" is a feeling you'll have a lot if you decide to read on deeper into Kengan. The series is almost bizarrely averse to killing people in supposed deathmatches.

This becomes hilarious later where the only tournament with actual explicit non-lethal rules sees multiple deaths because suddenly a fighter dying matters.
 
Do they at least have a wizard cyborg surgeon to handwave away more of the other fakeout deaths? As absurd as that plot device is, Hanafusa is a distinct flavor of murderously unhinged than the other murderously unhinged members of the cast, and that's fun.
 
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Chapter 117 - Addition
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    • ​

    Welcome back, folks. The first round is done, but you can be sure as shit we aren't! The best is yet to come. But for now, night has fallen on Ganryu Island…and there's partying to be done.

    The Round 1 closing party is being held in a glitzy, high modernist place, a huge circular building paned on all sides with glass and filled to bursting with bright lights and dapper suits. I guess this is what Metsudo meant by come on up? Or maybe Sandro forgot, who knows. In any case, all is glitter and glamour, and it's in this familiar environment that we find two familiar faces. Kushida is in awe, particularly at the sheer number of people here, but Akiyama isn't as impressed. Which fits, she's the personal secretary to one of the richest men in Japan, she's probably been in this sort of situation a lot. She's also quietly nursing concern for Ohma, but…god that just kind of defeats the point of my last sentence, doesn't it? It's been a while since the last time it came up, but the manga is pushing the ship, and I just really don't like it when this shit subsumes a character's other interesting qualities. It's always the women who get it worst, too. But at least she isn't the only one, Yamashita's wondering where Ohma is as he ambles along with a plate full of Cartoon Meat On The Bone. We quickly pivot away from him though, 'cos there's much more interesting shit to be resolving.

    'Cos Okubo's back, and he's dramatic as shit. Stalking across the party on a goddamn mission in an exceedingly well fitted suit with a dramatic scarf dancing to his pace as people note his presence and wonder if he's alright. Which is fair, given how we last saw him and the Fang's reputation for causing retirements. I guess he was also knocked out cold last they saw him, so that makes sense too. He complains about how large the hall is, because yeah. He's absolutely on a mission.


    Kingship means being a snappy dresser.​

    Mission complete.

    Agito is quick to acknowledge his presence, even with pasta to eat, and for once outside the arena Okubo is in serious mode. Or, well, sort of. He apologises to Agito for interrupting his food, before interrupting himself by wondering if Agito even needs to eat. Which is probably a joke, and maybe a way he's coping with the existential crisis he seemed to be undergoing when we last left off. Agito calmly refutes the question, he is in fact actually human regardless of all the poetic metaphors on his strength, and asks what he actually wants.

    Okubo has to pause.

    ​

    You won this time, he says, admitting that he can't really imagine beating Agito right now. The Fang immediately picks up on the wording, as Okubo stomps up to him, looks him dead in the eye and declares to his shocked face that Okubo Naoya's going to make a comeback. He's gonna win next time, stronger than ever.

    Agito's face curls into the first quiet, genuine smile we've seen on his face this whole manga. Okubo has overcome…and that makes the Fang happy.

    I genuinely love this moment for a variety of reasons. For one, it doesn't completely no-sell the threat of the psychological wall Agito presents. Just look at the screencap above, Okubo's still feeling it so strongly. A part of him sweats in fear. But it doesn't beat him. By allowing the effect to stick, to retain a serious impact on Okubo and inflict a visibly palpable mental toll, it doesn't just preserve the heat Agito was given but it also heightens Okubo's. He seems all the stronger for overcoming this, in a way he wouldn't if we didn't have that moment where he flashes back and needs a moment to clear his mind.

    For another, it's a humanising moment for Agito, after a lot of flashbacks where he's largely been haughty and dismissive. He clearly doesn't have any particular intention of holding back, but there's still a sense that he doesn't really enjoy that he breaks people so completely. Which makes sense! He's a complete fightmonkey, all of his braincells are dedicated to the fine art of facepunching, how many potentially promising opponents has he seen just completely break down? How many fun future battles and opportunities for growth has he watched circle the drain before vanishing into the void? And, well, potentially there's an element of genuine empathy there, even if it's maybe limited just to people who impress him.

    And lastly, a running theme in my commentary…Adult! Male! Friendship! Agito, still smiling, tells Okubo he'll always be ready to accept his challenge, and that he'll see him at the top. That's faith! And then because he's just like that, he reveals that he's still stuck on Okubo's whole Zetton speech and presses Okubo for who the heck Zetton is. Himuro steps in and tries to explain, but Agito has no idea who he is. Failed to make an impression, I guess.

    But of course this isn't the only conversation happening in the ballroom. Another little group are watching the former conversation, and musing on how cozy it seems over there, that you'd never think they had such an intense fight only hours ago. This is revealed to be Kaneda, and a second voice agrees. None of the people here are crossing fists out of personal enmity, it is simply competition. Once the match is over, it's all water under the bridge, that's what being a Fighter is.


    Mmm, Gaolang in a suit.​

    I'll say it again, for the folks in the back. Adult! Male! Friendship!

    Still though, Kaneda's musing on the tournament itself, noting what a tough opponent Gaolang has in the next round (as Okubo uses his phone to show Agito what Zetton is). Gaolang agrees, Agito is the strongest man in underground martial arts, but is unphased. A worthy foe, not an insurmountable one. He's about to solemnly declare his absence of doubt, how he must win in the name of his king, but then Saw Paing pops up and is, uh. Saw Paing all over the place. Draping his arms over the two men's shoulders and shrieking their names, provoking more change in Gaolang's expression than Agito ever did. "Damn, he found me," Gaolang moodily complains as Saw Paing howls how moved his was by the fight, and behind them Sayaka quietly pretends she isn't happy not to be the sole focus of his diaphragm anymore.

    Okay she actually just mostly congratulates him on finding Gaolang, but that's the vibe I get.

    The scene quickly pivots as Retsudo pops up and drapes his suit jacket over Sayaka's shoulders, asking if her dress isn't too revealing. He then scrambles to clarify that she can wear what she want and he's actually just worried she might catch a cold, which is probably the first time a joke like this has actually landed for me. Mostly because it's leaning into the self-serving hypocrisy of it. Still gonna have to dock points for it though, y'all have made way too much use of the Possessive Male Relative gag to be rolling back and taking the piss out of it at this point, I don't believe this was actually meant as a takedown. Anyway, when Kaneda asks who the hell this is, for the audience's benefit I assume, Gaolang drops the introduction and notes that Saw Paing of all people introduced them. Saw Paing gets around apparently? I mean, I guess it makes sense that someone that loud and outgoing would be an extroverted people person, but somehow it still feels surprising that people bother with him.

    Sayaka though, goes for a different tack. She wonders, since he's here, if the extermination force is off for the day. Retsudo claims that they are…technically. But he needs to be at this party for security purposes, because their father is about to announce a change to the tournament rules.

    Well this is probably going to be important.

    Immediately Metsudo's face appears on a large screen overlooking the party, as he asks if everyone's having fun. With a quick and halfhearted apology, he notes pretty well as much as Retsudo said, he's adding an another rule to the tournament. And of course, because some people are antisocial fucks, he's broadcasting across the island to make sure everyone hears it. Since it'd be unfair if the people at the party had an information advantage, which is definitely something he has a history of giving a shit about.

    As he says this last bit, we get a full page spread of what a lot of the non-attendees are up to. Some are pretty cute, we see Kiryu and Tomoko hanging out together in one of the resort's parks, Rino and Rei snuggled up together on the beach. Some are predictable, Kuroki is meditating in the woods, Julius is weightlifting, and Akoya is sat alone in his room scowling at the wall like a loser. And for some godforsaken reason, the manga considers it very important that we know that yes, Muteba is still enjoying absolutely biblical quantities of pussy.

    Excuse me while I sigh deeply and wearily. I thought we were past this, but I guess I'll never learn.

    Anyway, back at the party, the whole room has gone quietly tense. All the CEOs are transfixing the screen with focused stares, as Yamashita begins wobbling in his shoes. What kind of rule is he gonna add? Everyone's waiting for the guillotine to drop.

    ​

    And as one last bit of clarification, he adds that the substitution can be made right up until the match begins. So make sure you think good and hard. Then he signs off.

    The room remains quiet. It doesn't sound like much at first glance, does it? And sure enough, Yamashita doesn't think much of it either. He reads it as being allowed to keep a spare, and dismisses it as not a big deal, while acknowledging he couldn't really take advantage of it anyway. Ohma would throw a shitfit. Now, I hope it's clear that in this situation Yamashita is, as ever, being positioned as the rube. The ignorant figure without much reading comprehension. Because the instant we turn to someone else, say, Nogi and Hatsumi? They acknowledge it as a big deal. A potential source of chaos.

    Everyone's allowed to poach other company's fighters. As long as you can get their consent, of course.

    Hatsumi wonders if Toyo will jump on this, but Nogi dismisses the notion. Toyo's heaviest hitter, Julius, managed to make it to the second round completely untouched. They don't really stand to gain from substituting him, the biggest threats from that direction are the Heavenly Wolves and Hayami's Guardians. So, sabotage and direct assault, essentially. It's mostly just affirming factors we already knew about, but this is the first chapter of a new volume and the second act of the story, so giving Nogi a moment to strut his stuff as a tactical thinker isn't uncalled for. And in that vein, Nogi proceeds to point out one person who definitely will like this rule. Takada Seisuke, CEO of Juoh Communications. Remember him? The squinty fellow who was Bando Yohei's boss, he went into prison to pick up the serial killer for the matches. Nogi rattles off what he knows about the man, particularly that he's one of the top companies in the Association despite not being affiliated with any of the factions, getting by on his own company's capital and strong ties to politics. A man well placed to persuade people to lend their fighters. And one with good reason to want to, since Bando's infection by Hanafusa in their match. Now, I'm not sure it'll actually do much for him, this rule only allows you to substitute your fighter once, and there's four more rounds including the semifinals. But maybe that'd give him time to work something out, persuade Metsudo to allow him to bring someone new in, who knows. Or maybe the one substitution isn't just for one match but for as long as they agree to, it's not completely clear given this element of confusion.

    Oh, and Nogi chooses this moment to drop the fact that he had an agreement with Teito University, Hanafusa's employers for the tournament, to finish Bando off if Hanafusa couldn't. Hatsumi isn't especially pleased that Nogi was going to have him kill a man, but quickly shrugs it off before thinking more on the new rule. Not many fighters are actually loyal to their employer, a few are explicitly working for cash, some could defect if offered a good enough deal. He ponders what he should do with this information, with a smirk. Potential future shenanigans? Hatsumi is notably unreliable, but is he a turncoat? I guess we'll see.

    The next page is a similar chunk of implication. In one of the party venue's outer corridors, the CEO of Furumi Pharmaceuticals is approached by Takada Seisuke. Now, I wonder what he could possibly need the help of an industrial scale manufacturer of medicine for…

    But that's enough conspiracy, this is a manly manga for manly men, so we gotta move on out into the forests where Ohma is PUNCHING BOULDERS, YEAH. Covered in rivulets of sweat as they caress the chiseled contours of his firm, sculpted flesh. Ahem, sorry, got a bit distracted for a moment there. But that's fine, Ohma's distracted too, by thoughts of Kanoh Agito's lips. Telling him how weak he is, I mean.

    And funnily enough, that's actually serious. Ohma, with a self-deprecating laugh, muses on how fucking pathetic and weird that whole situation was. He briefly recaps the end of the last volume, how he got provoked then distracted by a hallucination of Niko, then got fucking walloped. He thought he was just here to kill Setsuna…so why did he square up against Agito? Now, we know he spent a lot of the Manga's earliest wordcount talking up how his goal was just to be the strongest. We know now that was at least partly a lie, he wants to kill Kiryu, but…what is his motivation then? Especially given how clearly muddled his thoughts are. And sure enough, he doesn't get what's going on either. If he just stays confused like this, he'll never…

    His train of thought is interrupted. A voice from nowhere telling him to calm down, if he just keeps straining like he's shitting a brick he isn't going to get anywhere. The ghost of Niko is here again, telling him to use "that." Ohma, his chill having returned to him, grumbles a bit but does as he's told. Just to get Niko to fuck off, you know. Just ignore that this Niko is probably more Ohma's subconscious than anything. Thus does Ohma perform the Nil Kata technique, Void.

    It's a breathing technique. This isn't Wuxia or similar sorts of Martial Arts Fantasy, so it's nothing particularly fancy, but it's still an exercise of concentration and focus. Today's episode of Facts With Kengan Asura tells us it's a process involving a deep breath that pressures the abdomen, generating high pressure before expelling the entire breath in one go, directly comparing it to techniques like Karate's Ibuki Breathing and the Neigong of Chinese Kung Fu. I don't know enough to really comment on how elegant or appropriate the comparison is, but given we're looking at a character whose jelly is this jammed, some internal balancing and cognitive realignment could be just the thing. And sure enough, he sees immediate results. Something slips past the barriers Niko mentioned last time, and Ohma sees a memory. Niko fighting…Ohma?

    A memory Ohma has no memory of, to which he responds without thought.



    ​

    Well now. This is a scale of destruction we haven't really seen Ohma demonstrate the capacity for in chapters past. Niko chimes in again to answer Ohma's question. It was an Adamantine Kata, Iron-Breaker, and a damn well executed one. Ohma really is going back to his old self. And it's a good choice for a move to demonstrate it. It's big and it's flashy, yes, readily readable. But it's also very outspokenly one of the Kata Ohma isn't fond of. Isn't much good at, relatively speaking. Or so we know about Ohma as he was, the man we've known for the manga so far. It's becoming increasingly clear that this isn't necessarily the man he really is.

    Niko exhorts him. Reclaim it all, all your power, all your memories. And once you do, it'll all be over.

    We get a singular splash page of the various subjects of this chapter and what they're up to. Ohma is boggling at his fist. Metsudo stands in his quarters looking shockingly morose. Agito and Nogi share expressions of dour concentration. Takada Seisuki's smug smile has returned. Yamashita is still anxiously looking for Ohma. We sign off with one last distant view of the island, as night marches on. Chapter end.



    God damn, how's that for a return chapter? One of the longest single-bills so far, possibly the longest. It's so nice to have a chapter I can simply talk about on its own, and which doesn't have me evaluating whole packets of pages to decide which ones to screencap. Ah well, I'm sure we'll get back to the double bills and hype fights soon enough.

    Once again, welcome back, and I'll see you all next time.
     
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    • I know we cover this a lot in this thread, but I really like the fact that the fighters are giving respect to each other here.

    Something that you hear sometimes is that the easiest way to learn about someone is by fighting them, and to a large degree that's true; it shows you how they act under pressure, how good they are at thinking on their feet, how emotional they get, how much work they've put into being skilled, how they respond to your skill, and more. You even get a sense for how their body moves and how they respond to trauma. I remember back when I still did martial arts, I got good enough at reading the body during a grapple that even if I only was able to touch your hand with my eyes closed I'd know what you were doing, because hand position told me the position of your arm and shoulders, which would tell me how you were moving your torso, and thus the position of your legs. The body doesn't lie, and it speaks volumes if you know how to listen.

    Sandro's writing can be hit-or-miss at times, but the most consistent thing so far is that the fighters now know each other. They know how each other works, they've gotten a look at the mindstate and headspace of the other fighters through the lens of body language and skilled exchanges on the field of battle. And... most of them have just decided to respect each other. There's a few outliers of course - nobody likes Akoya, even as they respect his skill - But Okubo and Agito are a great example of this in action, and Kaneda won Gaolang's friendship even though by narrative standards he was a jobber meant to hype up the big boxing man. There's incredibly few throwaway characters, because Sandro has taken the time to ensure every character has a "voice" that exists beyond simple dialogue, and gave the other fighters the ability to listen in.
     
    I've said before and I'll say again, Sandrovich is legitimately excellent at characterization. Not only in having a large cast of well-developed characters but bouncing them off each other in interesting ways. Moments like these and the fights themselves, where the dodgy worldbuilding and questionable machinations fade away, are where Kengan is at the top of its class.
     
    Mmm... Gaolang in a suit... I mean, ahem, yes, the chapter.

    What's that, Okubo continuing to be a great character? O joy of mine.

    Seriously, when was the last time a shonen battle manga afforded this much character development and seriousness to a side-jobber whose only reason to be in the plot was to prop up the strongest contender of a tournament arc? Okubo is damn great.
    Also, as has been generally noted, these side chapters to the fights only highlight how good Sandro is at character writing. All of this is here just so we can see our favorite meathead fightmonkeys interact and be cool with each other outside of the context of the fights, and it's great.

    Now, if I may delve into some spoiler territory for, well basically the entire rest of the manga, I like Metsudo's new rule addition and how it shakes up the tournament, as well as how it comes into play for future matches, by
    never actually coming up at all, except for the one time Sekibayashi uses it to pull a stunt. Aside from that, every time that substitution threatens to become a thing, it ends up being subverted, and for good reason: it would deprive us of cool battles we know are coming for the sake of cheap shock moments. Instead, this new rule adds some tension to speculations without ever depriving us of anything, and is even used to big up some characters by making them not get substituted and keep going.
    It's another moment of Sandro really knowing how to build this tournament arc well and playing to it's strengths.

    But that is for the future. For now, we have the matchups for the second round, and I am hype to see them all again, even knowing what's coming up. Some of the strongest matches in the story are about to happen and once they start we are not slowing down at all. My personal favorite of the lot would have to Wakatsuki's, because I'm a basic bitch, but there's no wrong answers here. Mostly. Until then, have this picture of Rei and Rino at the beach, not only because they're cute together but also because Metsudo set up a massive fucking projector right in fucking front of them, just so his face could be properly seen everywhere on the island.
     
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    Manic Dogma said:
    Which fits, she's the personal secretary to one of the richest men in Japan, she's probably been in this sort of situation a lot. She's also quietly nursing concern for Ohma, but…god that just kind of defeats the point of my last sentence, doesn't it? It's been a while since the last time it came up, but the manga is pushing the ship, and I just really don't like it when this shit subsumes a character's other interesting qualities. It's always the women who get it worst, too.
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    Is a tepid romance which flattens an interesting character better or worse than introducing a flat character so she can be involved in a tepid romance?

    Saw Paing gets around apparently? I mean, I guess it makes sense that someone that loud and outgoing would be an extroverted people person, but somehow it still feels surprising that people bother with him.
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    Saw Paing's fast, most people can't escape him.

    ​
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    Completely forgot that rule wasn't introduced until right now. Speaking of which:
    OdysseusOfGaming said:
    I like Metsudo's new rule addition and how it shakes up the tournament, as well as how it comes into play for future matches, by
    never actually coming up at all, except for the one time Sekibayashi uses it to pull a stunt. Aside from that, every time that substitution threatens to become a thing, it ends up being subverted, and for good reason: it would deprive us of cool battles we know are coming for the sake of cheap shock moments. Instead, this new rule adds some tension to speculations without ever depriving us of anything, and is even used to big up some characters by making them not get substituted and keep going.
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    I see what you're saying, but:
    • A lot of potential political intrigue goes down the drain. That's supposed to be what sets the Kengan Annihilation Tournament apart from other battle manga deathmatch tournaments, right?
    • The beat of injured fighters insisting they would fight to the end no matter what got repetitive. It emphasized the things that most of the cast has in common, instead of things that set them apart from one another.
    • Not using the substitution rule deprives of us unexpected cool battles. We could see different assassination styles pitted against each other, or one of the fighters KO'd in the elimination round could come back, or Mokichi Robinson could get a fight where he's not jobbing for Raian. There's an infinite variety of theoretical cool fights that could happen in this tournament, and only 31 can be part of the tournament.
     
    OdysseusOfGaming said:
    Now, if I may delve into some spoiler territory for, well basically the entire rest of the manga, I like Metsudo's new rule addition and how it shakes up the tournament, as well as how it comes into play for future matches, by
    never actually coming up at all, except for the one time Sekibayashi uses it to pull a stunt. Aside from that, every time that substitution threatens to become a thing, it ends up being subverted, and for good reason: it would deprive us of cool battles we know are coming for the sake of cheap shock moments. Instead, this new rule adds some tension to speculations without ever depriving us of anything, and is even used to big up some characters by making them not get substituted and keep going.
    It's another moment of Sandro really knowing how to build this tournament arc well and playing to it's strengths.
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    When you think about it, it all seems like different expressions of the same general principle:

    You can't have drama if only one outcome is narratively possible.

    Agito winning wouldn't be impressive if Okubo never had a comeback. Okubo overcoming his fear wouldn't be impressive if it didn't visibly affect him. Fighters continuing after injuries wouldn't be impressive if they had no other choice.

    Much like with suspension bridges, there's two ways to build suspense in a tournament arc: meticulously balancing everything as perfectly as possible, or cutting all the safety wires and letting God sort it out.
     
    GreatWyrmGold said:
    Is a tepid romance which flattens an interesting character better or worse than introducing a flat character so she can be involved in a tepid romance?
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    Flattening an interesting character is worse, absolutely. They could have been used for something else and, as you rightfully pointed out, it's a situation that could be solved by introducing a flat character. You'll hate the flat character, yes, but at least the first one is still interesting.

    The real answer of course is "don't write a tepid romance". If you can't write a decent or good one, whether for lack of skill or lack of space within the narrative, you probably shouldn't bother in the first place.

    Though, honestly? I do feel like the tournament should probably have more Olympic Village vibes going on in this. Extremely healthy attractive people tend to want to bang constantly when they're surrounded by other extremely healthy attractive people, but Muteba's the only one doing that, and he's... well, Manic has expounded on that particular character.
     
    Halae said:
    Flattening an interesting character is worse, absolutely. They could have been used for something else and, as you rightfully pointed out, it's a situation that could be solved by introducing a flat character. You'll hate the flat character, yes, but at least the first one is still interesting.

    The real answer of course is "don't write a tepid romance". If you can't write a decent or good one, whether for lack of skill or lack of space within the narrative, you probably shouldn't bother in the first place.

    Though, honestly? I do feel like the tournament should probably have more Olympic Village vibes going on in this. Extremely healthy attractive people tend to want to bang constantly when they're surrounded by other extremely healthy attractive people, but Muteba's the only one doing that, and he's... well, Manic has expounded on that particular character.
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    Screen time is a limited resource, the interesting character might not be used for something else because the flatter character was introduced.
     
    I think it's kind of disingenuous to suggest that Akiyama and Ohma even have a romance. To me it seems more like she's basically his actual manager because Kazzy's too oblivious and nervous a lot of the time. I never read any attraction there.
     
    I'll grant that it's not specifically a romance, Ohma clearly doesn't reciprocate anyone's attraction, but like...come on? The manga has made way too many gags about Akiyama being into Ohma, and unconvincingly denying it, at this point to dismiss commenting on it as "disingenuous."
     
    Halae said:
    The real answer of course is "don't write a tepid romance". If you can't write a decent or good one, whether for lack of skill or lack of space within the narrative, you probably shouldn't bother in the first place.
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    Don't bother with a pointless romantic subplot? Is that allowed?!

    Though, honestly? I do feel like the tournament should probably have more Olympic Village vibes going on in this. Extremely healthy attractive people tend to want to bang constantly when they're surrounded by other extremely healthy attractive people, but Muteba's the only one doing that, and he's... well, Manic has expounded on that particular character.
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    There are, like, three prominent women in this series, one of which is in a will-they-won't-they holding pattern with Ohma, the other of which is actively pursuing him (across the beach). Considering that gender imbalance and the series's implicit attitudes towards homosexuality I'm not surprised that kind of drama is absent.


    no. said:
    I think it's kind of disingenuous to suggest that Akiyama and Ohma even have a romance. To me it seems more like she's basically his actual manager because Kazzy's too oblivious and nervous a lot of the time. I never read any attraction there.
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    Your mistake was assuming that "romance" means "story where two characters develop a deep, intimate relationship," and not "standard plot structure which ends with both characters either kissing or grieving how they can't be together".

    It's not a good romance, but it's clearly supposed to be a romance.
     
    Chapter 118 - Training
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    • We begin in a slightly odd way, given that Part 2 of the manga has already been kicked off last chapter. Entering a scene as a character wakes up is a pretty classic signifier of a fresh beginning, classic to the point of arguably being overdone, so the vibes are a little weird if the beginning has already been newed. Well, whatever, let's not harp on it. We start on Yamashita's sleepy mug as he rouses slowly from deep slumber, lying on his back under perfectly neat sheets like the straight laced man he is. Alternatively he doesn't so much sleep as go fucking comatose. He introduces himself in those little nondiegetic though boxes that he used aaaaalllllll the way back at the manga's start (adding to the Non-Actually-the-New-Start weirdness), taking a moment to highlight that he's an average businessman as he has a good stretch, mumbling about what a good night's rest he's had. Emphasis on the average, because otherwise this visual gag wouldn't work.


    Is that a pool? The humidity in there must be unbearable.​

    We quickly move on to the rest of the process of getting up, specifically breakfast. Metsudo seems to have the Bodyguards looking after the competing CEOs, and a very pretty blond man with a ponytail and an eyepatch greets Yamashita with a plate of food and a friendly note that…lunch is being served. I guess Yamashita slept in. He accepts, and takes a spot at the table where everyone else, here meaning Ohma, Akiyama and Kushida, is already awake and admonishing him for sleeping until noon. Which is a little mean, I doubt the man's had a single sleep in for his adult life. But the manga doesn't linger on it, moving on the actual spread itself, a sumptuously heavy meal produced using ingredients from Ganryu island itself, with venison steak as the main dish. As is usual for manga, it looks goddamn delicious. But Yamashita has just woken up, and doesn't feel up to anything that dense, so the Bodyguard offers to bring him a Japanese style meal. Yamashita accepts.

    And, as Yoshioka says he'll have it readied at once, we get the lowdown on why everyone's here now, rather than the hotel. In short, it's a strategic move by Nogi in response to Metsudo's new rule, mirrored by many of the CEOs. They've moved into private boarding houses scattered loosely across the island. Yamashita judges the move as sound, you staying isolated means less contact with others, less contact means less chance of your fighter being poached. And as if we needed telling, we get a little aside noting that he needed to be told this by Akiyama. Patterns do be followed. But then, in a turn that actually is odd, Yamashita isn't particularly nervous. He doesn't see Ohma defecting. Which is fair, he'd probably see it as a failure. The tv witters on in the corner as Kushida and Akiyama discuss the holiday vibes, Yamashita suggests everyone go fishing, and Ohma scarfs down steak after steak.

    Then everything changed when the fire nation att- hold on, had my notes the wrong way round.

    Then a recognisable, earsplitting voice interrupts the peace.



    Bro just shat a brick.​

    Yes indeed, Karla is here, accompanied by Elena Robinson, Dr Hanafusa and the nurse, Yoshizawa Kokomi. Thinking about it, Karla has been all but severed from the Kure contingent entirely, hasn't she? At least by presentation. We haven't seen her in their company in forever, though she still has the eyes and is still the only woman in the cast with any visible muscle definition. Instead she's been spending time with her new friend, and said new friend is probably responsible for the presence of the medical professionals, given her gratitude to them. It's cute, honestly, for all this joke continues to feel kind of mean to Ohma.

    Everyone except Ohma, who understandably stays behind moaning about what a pain in the ass Karla is, proceeds out. Yamashita's invigorated, experiencing a swell of confidence as he rattles off another set of old nicknames from his youth. Kazzy the fish in the water, and Kazzy the fisher with a pole he says, and Hanafusa chips in with Hajime the Bug Catcher. Could this be the start of a new friendship? Either way it's cute, especially with the two of them in full Dad Gear.

    Back in the apartment, Ohma breathes a sigh of relief, but the Bodyguard is concerned. Wouldn't it be better for him to accompany them? Ohma brushes it off. Hanafusa can deal with anything that goes wrong. Which is a display of faith I'd never have expected before the rise of Chill Ohma…and also a demonstration of the manga's complete disrespect for Karla, god damn. Not even a mention? She's supposed to be one of the Kure's brightest rising stars, capable of fighting dozens of her fellow assassins and obliterating them singlehandedly, but she apparently doesn't even merit mentioning next to one of the weakest fighters in the tournament. How token those words of hype were.

    Moving on, Ohma asks the bodyguard if he can fetch a few things, and Yoshioka agrees. If it's on the island he can have it brought immediately. But what? The page concludes by zooming in on the tv behind him, its news crawl bringing breaking news. Multiple bomb threats at the national diet and tokyo. How is this relevant? Unclear. I guess we'll see.

    We cut to the Kengan Dome, where the mundane necessities of this kind of tournament are being carried out. Checks on the fittings and light fixtures, cleaning of the stands…and repair of all the craters and gouges the fighters have made in the arena's walls and floor. Probably not so mundane, in retrospect, but it's being handled like it is which I find fun. Ridiculous scale being normalised, to the point of people having systems to deal with it even, is something I find appealing. Indeed, the Bodyguard overseeing the process is the very picture of professionalism, as he calls back to Metsudo's estate to inform home base that the repairs will be complete soon, and he'll regroup sooner. Presumably he's already been briefed on the subject of the meeting the other Bodyguard Squad Captains are all gathered for.

    And oh boy, another almost full-page spread of character designs with names attached. What is this, Bleach? Are any of these people going to be relevant? Even the frankenstein looking fucker heading up Squad 11? Another thing that's unclear, but based on prior evidence it is unlikely. The cast of this manga is already big enough as is. But on to the subject of the meeting. Essentially, it's about the infiltration that happened during the first round. After going through the ship that landed at Ganryu's northern cliffs they found evidence of at least a hundred people on board. And there's only one place on the island they could hide that many people, the forest also on the north side. On the assumption they aren't just here to throw a slumber party, the First Squad Captain declares that as of this moment, a full half of the Bodyguards are going to be reassigned to Canvas the area. Metsudo hasn't said a word, so far, which I like. He has people for this sort of thing, he doesn't need to be a commander.

    Unfortunately, it's not just the Squad Captains listening.

    ​

    Hayami smugs to himself about how he totally knew Metsudo would make that move. The implication is clear, at least. There's still yet more shenanigans afoot, Hayami isn't leaning on Julius to solo the rest of the tournament. We could already have guessed those men were his, he's pretty much the only force of chicanery going here, and now one can further guess that he's got those people elsewhere. Possibly already in the Dome or some nonsense like that.

    Hard cut away from that, back to fun in the sun. Kokomi is relaxing on a beach chair, Karla and Elena are splashing about in the shallows, Hanafusa is drifting pleasantly along with a floatation ring, merrily radiating omen. And Yamashita is taking full advantage of the freedom from stress, possibly the most unambiguously happy we've seen him this whole manga. Kushida and Akiyama note as much, that he's having the most fun of all of them. Down beneath the water, he apparently wasn't exaggerating something for once, perfectly at home in the water as it nostalgically reminds him of the waters around where he lived as a child. As ever when Yamashita catches a break, it's genuinely pleasant to see, for all some of the girls are being spoilsports about it.

    He gets halfway through betting himself he could catch some good fish before running into two figures.

    ​

    Akiyama asks what's wrong, and Yamashita clarifies that he saw people in the water. Apparently having reflexively dived in to sort them out, Karla breaks water to note that she didn't see anyone. Choosing to respect the judgement of the superhuman assassin girl, Yamashita muses to himself on how weird that was. He wasn't wearing his glasses though, so maybe he was seeing things?

    As two shadows move through the treeline behind him.


    Hassad's in his trunks again! :D​

    Kaburagi and Hassad, up to no good? No, Hassad just wanted fish for dinner and was willing to risk their cover to get it, which is very funny to me. Especially since we just got done with a scene layering on conspiracy. Expectations set up and then broken, very smooth gag. I also appreciate that Karla almost picks them out, even through their stealth. Shows Sandro isn't completely unaware of the implications of the heat he built for her, though she doesn't go after them. She probably decided it wasn't worth the fuss.

    We cut once more to another barely inhabited stretch of the island, a little river swell at the base of a beautiful waterfall. Yoshioka, the bodyguard assigned to Ohma, is here waiting at the water's edge. Watching the water bubble, before Ohma erupts from its surface, sucking in a desperate, burning lungful of air. From the shore, Yoshioka dryly notes that was a new record, eight minutes and forty one seconds.

    After a few moments of panting, neck tendons sticking out like buttresses, Ohma nods, and dives back below.


    ​

    …does anyone else feel like these water effects look a bit weird? Like, the linework is great as usual, but the visual effect to suggest light passing through the water and wibbling on the rocks is a bit…flat. And it kind of feels like the one suggesting the water's surface is behind Yoshioka, which can't be right.

    As for the actual content of the page, I like it. The manga claims it improves muscular and cardiovascular function, which makes sense to me, and that it's unique to the Niko style, which doesn't. If it works at all, it seems like the sort of thing more styles would use, at least in this sort of heightened reality. Though of course, it's obvious why noone would use this method in real life, it's just begging to accidentally drown. Oddly though, the time frames involved aren't as ridiculous as they might sound. To my knowledge, the longest time a human has spent holding their breath is a little over 24 minutes, while holding perfectly still. How long would be realistically feasible while shadow boxing against water resistance I don't know, but an average of 7 minutes being ridiculously impressive feels right.

    That seems to be the end of that exercise though, and Ohma clambers onto the riverbank after his 20 reps to move on to the next. And Yoshioka has the objects Ohma asked for, as part of this training session. A whip and a spear. Ohma declines a rest, despite what's presumably going to be drastic, dangerous training, and invites Yoshioka to pick up his weapon. And then Yoshioka does something I find very cool.

    He warns Ohma that he isn't experienced with weapons…and therefore Ohma should be wary. Because he won't be able to hold back.

    This is a great element of verisimilitude. So many works of fiction, especially in this sort of medium and genre, forget that skill at arms isn't like a stat that grows over time, resisted absolutely by opposing skill. It's abstract, parts of your abilities develop quicker than others, some things become possible earlier or later. Part of knowing how to handle a weapon is developing control over it in motion, and that means that before a certain point it can be more dangerous to spar with a lesser fighter than a greater one. Because fighting while pulling your strikes is hard! And it's hard in a different way than just fighting normally. It goes against every biomechanical component of fighting, even against someone you don't actually want to hurt. And it only gets harder when you're doing it with weapons, tools that are notoriously unconcerned by the resilience of human flesh. Yoshioka is more dangerous to Ohma right now than he would be if he were an expert with whips and spears.

    Weird thing to get hyped over, I know, but I just love little martial details like this.



    And that's the chapter. We're well back into the weeds of setup here, and I wouldn't expect that to end until the day does. I wonder if the next chapter will annoy the people who dislike the Niko style as much as I suspect it will.

    See you all next time, when we'll find out.
     
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