The Curious Fan
Perpetually sleep deprived
They couldn't find any
Capitalism ho! Let's Read Kengan Asura
- Thread starter Manic Dogma
- Start date
- Discussion Manga
They literally hired Sasuke, wym?
- Location
- Leeds
They're a family of heavy sleepers.
This is kinda the least surprising surprise that I can imagine. We've already got hyper speed and chinese magic assassins who could already be reskinned ninjas.
IRL there are ninjutsu dojos, although I'm not sure they trace a unbroken historical line.
The idea that there are practicing ninjas in Kengan I'd have taken as a assumption.
Chapter 161+162 - Bando and Hatsumi
Manic Dogma
This, I can't deny.
- Location
- The far side of tired
- Pronouns
- Whatever
We begin in an office, draped in shadow, lit only by the actinic bloom of computer monitors. It's a part of a Police Department, as illuminated by Hatsumi Sen expressing wonder over how many pies Nogi has his fingers in. I wonder why he's surprised, myself. We all know how omnipotent this manga considers a CEO.
Anyway, the reason why they're here should be obvious. Bando is a high profile criminal, still alive if imprisoned, of course the police will have a dossier on him. And with the help of Nogi's corrupt little friend, they're browsing that file for stuff that might help Hatsumi in his match. Presently, autopsy reports.
Gruesome! And also pretty telling that there's something fucky going on. Nogi goes on to note that the testimony matches exactly to the ones from Bando's later cop killing, but in neither case is there any sign of explosives. Hatsumi takes a moment to think, before declaring he's figured it out. Or rather, he thinks he has. He's narrowed it down to a couple of possibilities at least. To confirm, he needs one thing.
The records of Bando's medical exam, taken the day he was arrested.
Aside from the base level strangeness of the testimony, the major thing that leapt out to Hatsumi was the lack of defensive wounds. Not so strange after an ambush or whatnot, but by all accounts Bando walked up to the victims bold as brass. The records of Bando's 45 failed executions then provided Hatsumi the evidence he needed to be sure of Bando's inhuman flexibility. These he combined with the facts at hand. The victims were taken by surprise, without an ambush and at a distance. Did he use his super flexibility to dislocate his arms and do a Mister Fantastic? The very thought seems ridiculous. And yet.
It's right on the money. The very next page is Bando doing exactly that, snapping his arm at Hatsumi like a whip with all the amplified acceleration and bomb-like momentum that implies. Hatsumi evades, and jabs him in the eye, just as last chapter ended. Of course it's not that easy. Hatsumi backs off again and Bando's eye is red and bleeding, but not ruptured (we get a little cut in of Muteba calling Hatsumi an amateur. He's in his sapeur drip, it's great). Even with his aim thrown off Bando tries again, and we get a nice little wide angle shot of how the missed blow tears up the ground where Hatsumi was standing. Notably, Sayaka can't seem to tell what's happening, and Nogi confirms in his own little cut in panel that he can't see it. Even knowing ahead of time what to look for, Bando's arms are just too damn fast for normal people to see. And the last panel draws on that in another visual trope I'm super fond of.
It's a bit like impact frames in an anime, this visual. An all black panel, broken only by painterly white streaks suggesting the course of dozens of blows, so fast they seem simultaneous. It's a great little prelude to a more complete action beat, and sure enough that's what we get in the next page. Bando stood there whipping his arms about like a demented Doom Octopus, tearing apart the arena floor with each grenade-like impact, as Hatsumi condescends at Sayaka in his head. "No wonder little miss sayaka hasn't noticed" come on, man. Are you just pissy because she shot you down hard?
The rest of the page is better than that, though. Hyping up the power of Bando's Arm Whip, first by noting that only a handful of fighters could have figured this technique out on the fly, with the handy example of Jerry in the panel struggling to parse what he's seeing. Followed quickly up by a comfortable assertion that obviously none of the spectators could see it, accompanied by some guy in a suit shocked that Bando's arm seems to be disappearing. And in a moment of humility Hatsumi admits in the safe confidentiality of his own mind that he's not sure he could have dodged it if he hadn't known ahead of time. That got close. And yeah, given the smoking tear in the front of his gi, I do buy that.
But before we go on, time to take a moment away while Bando and Hatsumi feel each other out with all cards on the table. Let's see what's going on down in the infirmary.
That's the face of someone with a growing pile of questions. And at the top of the pile, as someone who fought him last round, Hanafusa has one question in particular. Why didn't Bando do this last round? Sekibayashi's eyes widen in understanding as Hanafusa notes that not even the professional fighters could properly identify what Bando is doing at first glance, as more of a casual warrior Hanafusa would have been the next best thing to helpless. And in that scenario it's essentially a win button. So why didn't he use it in the first round? Because he didn't want to…or because he couldn't?
Now, it's obvious what this little bit is going for, but ironically the manga's own previous strengths kind of hamper it here. Sandro seems to have forgotten the multiple prior occasions where characters were keeping things under wraps for the surprise factor of unleashing them as an unknown. Which is a perfectly valid excuse for Bando too! Especially with the understanding that, as someone who doesn't necessarily fight like this for his living, Bando can afford to hold back like that against Hanafusa. This isn't a structural problem so much as just an issue within this page, I think. The obvious alternate answer makes the question feel insincere and forced, even if the reader picks up what he's going for. Just a little more awareness to cover that option would have made this all flow much nicer.
Anyway, back to the fight.
Genuinely kind of funny that noone's even letting the announcers in on what's going on.
Anyway, the first thing we get is a cut in from Muteba, highlighting what a problem Hatsumi has made for himself. Fucking up that eyepoke is going to sting. Bando's arms take precise, subtle motions to direct, if he'd lost his depth perception the technique would be near useless in an aggressive posture. Left unsaid is that Bando is going to be wary of it now, making it much harder to get an attack like that off in future. Hatsumi's had a chance to neutralise his opponent's most dangerous strength and flubbed it, and now he's still in that dangerous position but with less space to try neutralising it again. It's a good, ominous beat, with Kengan's previous treatment of mindgames and mid-fight adaptation supporting it.
Bando's not stupid, either. His perceptiveness, established in his first match, continues here as he accurately picks apart Hatsumi's behaviour over the match so far. Hatsumi was feeling out Bando's range. Risky shit, and thus the weird face and sheets of sweat he was making. It was tension. Fear. He was in a position where he'd die instantly if he fucked up, and that takes its toll. In his usual, stoic way, Bando is in awe. He openly congratulates Hatsumi on his courage, and despite it being a classic arrogant "I know I'm about to win so I'll give you some token praise" move, a part of me believes it's genuine. It's hard to tell, the man emotes like a brick.
Hatsumi isn't listening anyway, he's focused on the actual mechanics of what's happening in front of him. Bando's technique isn't that complex, he's only got so many directions of attack, and Hatsumi's beginning to parse out what motions lead into each. The two men stare each other down, Bando's whirlwind approaching step by ponderous step.
Hatsumi catches it. The flick of Bando's shoulder presaging a side-on blow.
He's wrong.
There's a full page spread of the blow, faster than the eye can properly resolve, colliding with Hatsumi's head. It becomes a blur, Hatsumi's teeth gritted, as Nogi clenches and Soryuin blurts out his name. Fortunately for everyone involved but Bando, there's no shower of blood, but instead to all outside observers Hatsumi seems to do a spontaneous forward flip. Whizzing in place like a catherine wheel (the firework, not the band or the torture device).
Look at this fucking guy, trying to bluff all his fear away while wearing half a lake's worth of sweat and with eyes like dinnerplates. Bando doesn't buy it either, just calling him reckless. Hatsumi survived by going limp immediately before the moment of impact, dispersing the damage. If his timing were even slightly off, he'd be dead. Bando means to ensure he isn't so lucky next time.
Hatsumi's evened out though. With a smooth, calming breath he declares that he knows the trick now. He may have failed to neutralise Bando's technique in the first exchange, but Bando's failed to kill him in much the same way. The lost opportunity exposes the trick, and while we've been over how that's not the end of a technique's utility many times before, that loss of surprise factor still isn't nothing. Especially for someone who isn't actually much of a fighter. And that's Bando. The ultimate gimmick contestant. He's smart, but his tools are very limited, and his adaptability more so. Those tools are just sufficiently strong that it usually doesn't matter.
Hatsumi Sen, though, is a first rate fighter. And it's time to see that in action. End chapter, let's move on.
Into the same moment, heyoooo.
Yeah, when Hatsumi ends the chapter by telling Bando that he's done for, the next one begins with him asking if he's joking. Hatsumi insist he isn't though. He always means what he says! Which we know is a lie, but hey. He isn't talking to a woman he's trying to schmooze into bed right now, maybe he really is serious. He leaps back into it, and Bando responds. His raised arm doesn't move, instead his left slices the air. A feint? No, a double layered feint. The raised arm remains chambered, ready to descend as Hatsumi charges in. Bando compares it to a guillotine. Hatsumi manages to dodge again, but it's a close thing.
We pull back out now to another wide angle panel of Bando flailing, the ground exploding, and Hatsumi sprinting for his life. But this time with the addition of much more audience reactions, including one credulous fellow expressing fear of a terrorist attack. The referee, who's been visible in a lot of these panels so far hovering uncertainly out of the way, is getting shit from the audience too. They want to know why he isn't stopping the match, Bando's clearly using a weapon. Nice to know noone else cares for the twist of the Kaburagi match from way back when, but this is more about how they can't actually see what's happening. Besides, it's not up to them. The ref is in contact with the man in charge, after all.
As if you've ever given a shit about good taste, you walking strip of dessicated jerky. Still, he's not wrong to not call off the match, no rules are actually being broken. It'd probably still be a good idea to let people know what was going on afterwards though.
Back down in the arena, Hatsumi evades under another whiplash to make an approach. He uncorks a battery of punches that batter Bando's guard. To no harm, granted, but the counterattack it provokes is clearly the goal anyway. Aikido master, remember? He almost casually catches the punch and converts it into a joint lock. A Joint lock, against Bando.
Yeah, you already know how this goes.
Bando's arm snakes around Hatsumi and takes tight hold, and it would probably have been over right there if hatsumi didn't shed his upper gi. Bando identifies the style and reminds us that it won't work on him, asking in the process if Hatsumi even watched his first match. Which we know he did, he went to the trouble of violating police confidentiality laws to get information on this guy. So what was he thinking? Bando drops the question fairly quickly, to instead muse on the tragedy of the situation. Hatsumi was simply unlucky. A bad matchup is why he'll be killed by someone he outclasses in every way. Hatsumi doesn't try to argue the point. And yet, relative to earlier, he still seems calm as still water.
They return to the previous status quo of explosions and evasions, just minus a shirt, as we return briefly to the infirmary. Hanafusa and Sekibayashi feel Hatsumi's dodges are on point, but Haruo's having other thoughts. He's remembering back before his current lifestyle, back in the mountains. When they hunted tough prey they didn't necessarily go for the kill quickly, they'd chase the beast. Persistence predation, you know. And this is accompanied by a flashback panel of him and a bunch of the lads chasing a bleeding bear. He doesn't need to finish for Sekibayashi to twig to the suggestion that Bando is pulling the same act. He's on a manhunt. And sure enough, as we return to the arena this is exactly Bando's thoughts. He doesn't need to rush, Hatsumi will fuck up a dodge eventually, and then it'll be over. In a really rather gruesome panel of a potential future, Hatsumi struck from the side so hard his torso bursts. Disgorging his intestines over the arena floor. Hatsumi's figured that out, though. It's obvious, really. So, he takes the only option available. Leap back in. Both of bando's arms are extended in his whiplike assault, but one pulls back with instantaneous ease, his joints locking back together like something out of a cyborg action movie. Everything proceeded exactly according to Bando's plan.
Right up until the moment Hatsumi breaks his fucking arm.
He looks down at his fist, dangling uselessly from his mangled forelimb, in abject confusion. He doesn't find an answer before Hatsumi finds his grip.
Hanafusa laughs his sinister chuckle. He hadn't thought of that. Hatsumi's using joint locks, but not against Bando's joints. With a repositioning of his hands and slightly different distribution of force he's exerting his throw against Bando's bones. It doesn't matter how wide your range of motion is, you can't flex your bones around a throw or lock. Bando's forearm is already gone, so Hatsumi shatters Bando's humerus. That entire arm is now completely useless.
Still able to flex, Bando tries to twist around and lash out with his other arm, but from his position he just can't exert the force required. Hatsumi casually deflects the blow and begins slamming Bando's face, even as the larger man begins to understand what happened. This is why Hatsumi tried a joint lock before. To inflame Bando's assumptions. Highlight his invulnerability to joint locks and throws, to disguise the possibility that Hatsumi would ever find a way around it. Bando's guard got dropped firmly, and this time Hatsumi isn't going to flub the follow through.
Hatsumi Style Aikido: Hundred Meetings Throw.
I'm not usually one to enjoy grappling much. It's not an aesthetic I find particularly interesting, in contrast to more mobile striking styles. But that is one sick-ass throw, I tell you what. And all the characters watching seem to agree, eyes wide in shock. Hatsumi, chin cupped contemplatively, grants fully that Bando was his least compatible opponent in the tournament. But that actually turned out pretty well for him. Remember what he was talking with Nogi about, immediately before the match?
Chapter end. And Match over.
This is the match that sells Hatsumi, I think. Match 1-13 wasn't terrible, but it was basically all about how Hatsumi falls for a trick and then his opponent hands him the win on a silver platter. Not a terrible match for selling how good he is at Aikido, the instant his opponent stepped into the same playing field the guy evaporated, but not the best for highlighting Hatsumi's overall strength. This one though, is much better for that.
As I noted earlier, Bando is the purest essence of a Gimmick Fighter in this whole tournament. He has a special quality and sheer physicality, beyond that he has no martial skills. And yet, that gimmick is phenomenally dangerous. Slightly cartoonish, granted, but the presentation and tone does a lot to sell it as a serious threat regardless. Stack that with said gimmick being the hardest counter one could imagine to Hatsumi's style, and even without specific training you have a legitimate wall.
The measure of a contender isn't really in how they perform in their good matchups, I reckon. A real first-class figure, be it in a game or a fight, can handle their bad matchups as well. That's where real consistency happens. The ability to clutch out a match regardless of context or situation doesn't happen if you only perform at an advantage. And this match is essentially Hatsumi proving he has that clutch factor, at least when he's on form.
And honestly, I do think it does a good job of disguising that's what it's about, at first. Even as it sets the seeds for his process. The highlighting before the match of Hatsumi's fickle temperament, set up throughout his appearances in the whole manga, feeds nicely into the way his expression wavers throughout most of the match. Especially early on, when he's feeling out Bando's reach. It does feel like he might be having an off day. And it all comes together nicely in the end, as his plan goes off without a hitch, playing on Kengan's usual respect for mental and the particulars of physiology.
Match 2-7 isn't really one of the ones that leaps immediately to mind, and there are flaws that do hold it back. It's got some pacing problems, especially in how repetitive the wide-angle shots got, and how long the middle draws out Hatsumi figuring out what's honestly a very simple moveset. Compressing a lot of that down into some more singular, high impact panels might have kept things a little breezier without losing threat factor on Bando. All that said, I certainly don't think this is a weak match, and it successfully sells Hatsumi as the top level contestant he claims to be. Once his plan comes together and he's in a position to decisively win he dismantles Bando with a ruthless efficiency and complete, serene dominance that we don't see often in this tournament.
But we aren't done with this round yet. There's still one more match to go, and by god you oughta buckle your asses. I've been pretty effusive about a lot of the Second Round, but I promise you. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Let us prepare for the Fang of Metsudo vs the God of War.
Side note before I sign off properly, being an end-of-volume chapter, there is of course a Gaiden chapter to cap things off. I won't go over the whole thing, but know that it covers the history of Hatsumi and Soryuin's relationship, and I can basically summarise it by giving you a single panel.
That's all, folks. See you next time.
Anyway, the reason why they're here should be obvious. Bando is a high profile criminal, still alive if imprisoned, of course the police will have a dossier on him. And with the help of Nogi's corrupt little friend, they're browsing that file for stuff that might help Hatsumi in his match. Presently, autopsy reports.
Gruesome! And also pretty telling that there's something fucky going on. Nogi goes on to note that the testimony matches exactly to the ones from Bando's later cop killing, but in neither case is there any sign of explosives. Hatsumi takes a moment to think, before declaring he's figured it out. Or rather, he thinks he has. He's narrowed it down to a couple of possibilities at least. To confirm, he needs one thing.
The records of Bando's medical exam, taken the day he was arrested.
Aside from the base level strangeness of the testimony, the major thing that leapt out to Hatsumi was the lack of defensive wounds. Not so strange after an ambush or whatnot, but by all accounts Bando walked up to the victims bold as brass. The records of Bando's 45 failed executions then provided Hatsumi the evidence he needed to be sure of Bando's inhuman flexibility. These he combined with the facts at hand. The victims were taken by surprise, without an ambush and at a distance. Did he use his super flexibility to dislocate his arms and do a Mister Fantastic? The very thought seems ridiculous. And yet.
It's right on the money. The very next page is Bando doing exactly that, snapping his arm at Hatsumi like a whip with all the amplified acceleration and bomb-like momentum that implies. Hatsumi evades, and jabs him in the eye, just as last chapter ended. Of course it's not that easy. Hatsumi backs off again and Bando's eye is red and bleeding, but not ruptured (we get a little cut in of Muteba calling Hatsumi an amateur. He's in his sapeur drip, it's great). Even with his aim thrown off Bando tries again, and we get a nice little wide angle shot of how the missed blow tears up the ground where Hatsumi was standing. Notably, Sayaka can't seem to tell what's happening, and Nogi confirms in his own little cut in panel that he can't see it. Even knowing ahead of time what to look for, Bando's arms are just too damn fast for normal people to see. And the last panel draws on that in another visual trope I'm super fond of.
It's a bit like impact frames in an anime, this visual. An all black panel, broken only by painterly white streaks suggesting the course of dozens of blows, so fast they seem simultaneous. It's a great little prelude to a more complete action beat, and sure enough that's what we get in the next page. Bando stood there whipping his arms about like a demented Doom Octopus, tearing apart the arena floor with each grenade-like impact, as Hatsumi condescends at Sayaka in his head. "No wonder little miss sayaka hasn't noticed" come on, man. Are you just pissy because she shot you down hard?
The rest of the page is better than that, though. Hyping up the power of Bando's Arm Whip, first by noting that only a handful of fighters could have figured this technique out on the fly, with the handy example of Jerry in the panel struggling to parse what he's seeing. Followed quickly up by a comfortable assertion that obviously none of the spectators could see it, accompanied by some guy in a suit shocked that Bando's arm seems to be disappearing. And in a moment of humility Hatsumi admits in the safe confidentiality of his own mind that he's not sure he could have dodged it if he hadn't known ahead of time. That got close. And yeah, given the smoking tear in the front of his gi, I do buy that.
But before we go on, time to take a moment away while Bando and Hatsumi feel each other out with all cards on the table. Let's see what's going on down in the infirmary.
That's the face of someone with a growing pile of questions. And at the top of the pile, as someone who fought him last round, Hanafusa has one question in particular. Why didn't Bando do this last round? Sekibayashi's eyes widen in understanding as Hanafusa notes that not even the professional fighters could properly identify what Bando is doing at first glance, as more of a casual warrior Hanafusa would have been the next best thing to helpless. And in that scenario it's essentially a win button. So why didn't he use it in the first round? Because he didn't want to…or because he couldn't?
Now, it's obvious what this little bit is going for, but ironically the manga's own previous strengths kind of hamper it here. Sandro seems to have forgotten the multiple prior occasions where characters were keeping things under wraps for the surprise factor of unleashing them as an unknown. Which is a perfectly valid excuse for Bando too! Especially with the understanding that, as someone who doesn't necessarily fight like this for his living, Bando can afford to hold back like that against Hanafusa. This isn't a structural problem so much as just an issue within this page, I think. The obvious alternate answer makes the question feel insincere and forced, even if the reader picks up what he's going for. Just a little more awareness to cover that option would have made this all flow much nicer.
Anyway, back to the fight.
Genuinely kind of funny that noone's even letting the announcers in on what's going on.
Anyway, the first thing we get is a cut in from Muteba, highlighting what a problem Hatsumi has made for himself. Fucking up that eyepoke is going to sting. Bando's arms take precise, subtle motions to direct, if he'd lost his depth perception the technique would be near useless in an aggressive posture. Left unsaid is that Bando is going to be wary of it now, making it much harder to get an attack like that off in future. Hatsumi's had a chance to neutralise his opponent's most dangerous strength and flubbed it, and now he's still in that dangerous position but with less space to try neutralising it again. It's a good, ominous beat, with Kengan's previous treatment of mindgames and mid-fight adaptation supporting it.
Bando's not stupid, either. His perceptiveness, established in his first match, continues here as he accurately picks apart Hatsumi's behaviour over the match so far. Hatsumi was feeling out Bando's range. Risky shit, and thus the weird face and sheets of sweat he was making. It was tension. Fear. He was in a position where he'd die instantly if he fucked up, and that takes its toll. In his usual, stoic way, Bando is in awe. He openly congratulates Hatsumi on his courage, and despite it being a classic arrogant "I know I'm about to win so I'll give you some token praise" move, a part of me believes it's genuine. It's hard to tell, the man emotes like a brick.
Hatsumi isn't listening anyway, he's focused on the actual mechanics of what's happening in front of him. Bando's technique isn't that complex, he's only got so many directions of attack, and Hatsumi's beginning to parse out what motions lead into each. The two men stare each other down, Bando's whirlwind approaching step by ponderous step.
Hatsumi catches it. The flick of Bando's shoulder presaging a side-on blow.
He's wrong.
There's a full page spread of the blow, faster than the eye can properly resolve, colliding with Hatsumi's head. It becomes a blur, Hatsumi's teeth gritted, as Nogi clenches and Soryuin blurts out his name. Fortunately for everyone involved but Bando, there's no shower of blood, but instead to all outside observers Hatsumi seems to do a spontaneous forward flip. Whizzing in place like a catherine wheel (the firework, not the band or the torture device).
Look at this fucking guy, trying to bluff all his fear away while wearing half a lake's worth of sweat and with eyes like dinnerplates. Bando doesn't buy it either, just calling him reckless. Hatsumi survived by going limp immediately before the moment of impact, dispersing the damage. If his timing were even slightly off, he'd be dead. Bando means to ensure he isn't so lucky next time.
Hatsumi's evened out though. With a smooth, calming breath he declares that he knows the trick now. He may have failed to neutralise Bando's technique in the first exchange, but Bando's failed to kill him in much the same way. The lost opportunity exposes the trick, and while we've been over how that's not the end of a technique's utility many times before, that loss of surprise factor still isn't nothing. Especially for someone who isn't actually much of a fighter. And that's Bando. The ultimate gimmick contestant. He's smart, but his tools are very limited, and his adaptability more so. Those tools are just sufficiently strong that it usually doesn't matter.
Hatsumi Sen, though, is a first rate fighter. And it's time to see that in action. End chapter, let's move on.
Into the same moment, heyoooo.
Yeah, when Hatsumi ends the chapter by telling Bando that he's done for, the next one begins with him asking if he's joking. Hatsumi insist he isn't though. He always means what he says! Which we know is a lie, but hey. He isn't talking to a woman he's trying to schmooze into bed right now, maybe he really is serious. He leaps back into it, and Bando responds. His raised arm doesn't move, instead his left slices the air. A feint? No, a double layered feint. The raised arm remains chambered, ready to descend as Hatsumi charges in. Bando compares it to a guillotine. Hatsumi manages to dodge again, but it's a close thing.
We pull back out now to another wide angle panel of Bando flailing, the ground exploding, and Hatsumi sprinting for his life. But this time with the addition of much more audience reactions, including one credulous fellow expressing fear of a terrorist attack. The referee, who's been visible in a lot of these panels so far hovering uncertainly out of the way, is getting shit from the audience too. They want to know why he isn't stopping the match, Bando's clearly using a weapon. Nice to know noone else cares for the twist of the Kaburagi match from way back when, but this is more about how they can't actually see what's happening. Besides, it's not up to them. The ref is in contact with the man in charge, after all.
As if you've ever given a shit about good taste, you walking strip of dessicated jerky. Still, he's not wrong to not call off the match, no rules are actually being broken. It'd probably still be a good idea to let people know what was going on afterwards though.
Back down in the arena, Hatsumi evades under another whiplash to make an approach. He uncorks a battery of punches that batter Bando's guard. To no harm, granted, but the counterattack it provokes is clearly the goal anyway. Aikido master, remember? He almost casually catches the punch and converts it into a joint lock. A Joint lock, against Bando.
Yeah, you already know how this goes.
Bando's arm snakes around Hatsumi and takes tight hold, and it would probably have been over right there if hatsumi didn't shed his upper gi. Bando identifies the style and reminds us that it won't work on him, asking in the process if Hatsumi even watched his first match. Which we know he did, he went to the trouble of violating police confidentiality laws to get information on this guy. So what was he thinking? Bando drops the question fairly quickly, to instead muse on the tragedy of the situation. Hatsumi was simply unlucky. A bad matchup is why he'll be killed by someone he outclasses in every way. Hatsumi doesn't try to argue the point. And yet, relative to earlier, he still seems calm as still water.
They return to the previous status quo of explosions and evasions, just minus a shirt, as we return briefly to the infirmary. Hanafusa and Sekibayashi feel Hatsumi's dodges are on point, but Haruo's having other thoughts. He's remembering back before his current lifestyle, back in the mountains. When they hunted tough prey they didn't necessarily go for the kill quickly, they'd chase the beast. Persistence predation, you know. And this is accompanied by a flashback panel of him and a bunch of the lads chasing a bleeding bear. He doesn't need to finish for Sekibayashi to twig to the suggestion that Bando is pulling the same act. He's on a manhunt. And sure enough, as we return to the arena this is exactly Bando's thoughts. He doesn't need to rush, Hatsumi will fuck up a dodge eventually, and then it'll be over. In a really rather gruesome panel of a potential future, Hatsumi struck from the side so hard his torso bursts. Disgorging his intestines over the arena floor. Hatsumi's figured that out, though. It's obvious, really. So, he takes the only option available. Leap back in. Both of bando's arms are extended in his whiplike assault, but one pulls back with instantaneous ease, his joints locking back together like something out of a cyborg action movie. Everything proceeded exactly according to Bando's plan.
Right up until the moment Hatsumi breaks his fucking arm.
He looks down at his fist, dangling uselessly from his mangled forelimb, in abject confusion. He doesn't find an answer before Hatsumi finds his grip.
Hanafusa laughs his sinister chuckle. He hadn't thought of that. Hatsumi's using joint locks, but not against Bando's joints. With a repositioning of his hands and slightly different distribution of force he's exerting his throw against Bando's bones. It doesn't matter how wide your range of motion is, you can't flex your bones around a throw or lock. Bando's forearm is already gone, so Hatsumi shatters Bando's humerus. That entire arm is now completely useless.
Still able to flex, Bando tries to twist around and lash out with his other arm, but from his position he just can't exert the force required. Hatsumi casually deflects the blow and begins slamming Bando's face, even as the larger man begins to understand what happened. This is why Hatsumi tried a joint lock before. To inflame Bando's assumptions. Highlight his invulnerability to joint locks and throws, to disguise the possibility that Hatsumi would ever find a way around it. Bando's guard got dropped firmly, and this time Hatsumi isn't going to flub the follow through.
Hatsumi Style Aikido: Hundred Meetings Throw.
I'm not usually one to enjoy grappling much. It's not an aesthetic I find particularly interesting, in contrast to more mobile striking styles. But that is one sick-ass throw, I tell you what. And all the characters watching seem to agree, eyes wide in shock. Hatsumi, chin cupped contemplatively, grants fully that Bando was his least compatible opponent in the tournament. But that actually turned out pretty well for him. Remember what he was talking with Nogi about, immediately before the match?
Chapter end. And Match over.
This is the match that sells Hatsumi, I think. Match 1-13 wasn't terrible, but it was basically all about how Hatsumi falls for a trick and then his opponent hands him the win on a silver platter. Not a terrible match for selling how good he is at Aikido, the instant his opponent stepped into the same playing field the guy evaporated, but not the best for highlighting Hatsumi's overall strength. This one though, is much better for that.
As I noted earlier, Bando is the purest essence of a Gimmick Fighter in this whole tournament. He has a special quality and sheer physicality, beyond that he has no martial skills. And yet, that gimmick is phenomenally dangerous. Slightly cartoonish, granted, but the presentation and tone does a lot to sell it as a serious threat regardless. Stack that with said gimmick being the hardest counter one could imagine to Hatsumi's style, and even without specific training you have a legitimate wall.
The measure of a contender isn't really in how they perform in their good matchups, I reckon. A real first-class figure, be it in a game or a fight, can handle their bad matchups as well. That's where real consistency happens. The ability to clutch out a match regardless of context or situation doesn't happen if you only perform at an advantage. And this match is essentially Hatsumi proving he has that clutch factor, at least when he's on form.
And honestly, I do think it does a good job of disguising that's what it's about, at first. Even as it sets the seeds for his process. The highlighting before the match of Hatsumi's fickle temperament, set up throughout his appearances in the whole manga, feeds nicely into the way his expression wavers throughout most of the match. Especially early on, when he's feeling out Bando's reach. It does feel like he might be having an off day. And it all comes together nicely in the end, as his plan goes off without a hitch, playing on Kengan's usual respect for mental and the particulars of physiology.
Match 2-7 isn't really one of the ones that leaps immediately to mind, and there are flaws that do hold it back. It's got some pacing problems, especially in how repetitive the wide-angle shots got, and how long the middle draws out Hatsumi figuring out what's honestly a very simple moveset. Compressing a lot of that down into some more singular, high impact panels might have kept things a little breezier without losing threat factor on Bando. All that said, I certainly don't think this is a weak match, and it successfully sells Hatsumi as the top level contestant he claims to be. Once his plan comes together and he's in a position to decisively win he dismantles Bando with a ruthless efficiency and complete, serene dominance that we don't see often in this tournament.
But we aren't done with this round yet. There's still one more match to go, and by god you oughta buckle your asses. I've been pretty effusive about a lot of the Second Round, but I promise you. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Let us prepare for the Fang of Metsudo vs the God of War.
Side note before I sign off properly, being an end-of-volume chapter, there is of course a Gaiden chapter to cap things off. I won't go over the whole thing, but know that it covers the history of Hatsumi and Soryuin's relationship, and I can basically summarise it by giving you a single panel.
That's all, folks. See you next time.
Honestly, I get it. His build's a bit away from my type but a confident muscular bishie is pretty hot still. A pity about the rest of him.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yo dawg, I heard you like flexibility, so I put joints between your joints so you can flex while you flex.He looks down at his fist, dangling uselessly from his mangled forelimb, in abject confusion. He doesn't find an answer before Hatsumi finds his grip.
Obviously, Bando using whip-fist with a broken arm would be bad for his new joints. But using whip-fist with an unbroken arm coudn't be good for his old joints, either. Which is probably what the "Maybe he couldn't do this round 1?" thing is trying to hint at. Painkillers or something that let him fuck up his arm without fucking up his aim.
(I read the manga, but I don't actually remember anything about this fight.)
Bando is one of my favorite sorts of gimmick fighters: the type where the gimmick is, appropriately, flexible. You start with hypermobile joints and work outwards towards what kind of wacky shit you could do with that, especially when it's at the disposal of a very intelligent fighter.
It's a real solid scrap, a great exploration of what both fighters do well and do poorly. Hatsumi's martial mastery, hampered by inconsistency, against Bando's physical monstrosity, hampered by inexperience. Just a good, well-executed fight.
Just a shame it has to be compared to what's next.
It's a real solid scrap, a great exploration of what both fighters do well and do poorly. Hatsumi's martial mastery, hampered by inconsistency, against Bando's physical monstrosity, hampered by inexperience. Just a good, well-executed fight.
Just a shame it has to be compared to what's next.
- Location
- USA
I also like that Bando's gimmick is 'serial murderer'. He isn't like the rest of the combatants, who get in fights all the time. He has a whole different set of strengths and weaknesses. Basically Cosme's opposite, Bando will kill without compunction, but doesn't know a thing about grapple locks and how they can work. It lets us get cool scenes with the evidence locker, puts heat on his boss for employing such a vile guy...just an all around good character.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I've read this fight twice so far and I have come to the conclusion that it is rather different when read as popcorn and read with analysis and attention in mind. This fight shoots by when read as popcorn and when I turn my brain off the fight just kinda slides right through it, with the things sticking out in memory afterwards being the expressions Hatsumi makes, Bando's arm stretchy thing (also the logic from Hanafusa doesn't register as unusual), and Hatsumi's cool-ass throw at the end.
Like, its a cool fight in a popcorn mode, but it doesn't penetrate very deep. Not in comparison to Kuroki vs Kiryu and Fang vs God of War. These fights that do reach deep end up being hard to read in full popcorn mode. In my reading experience they pull me out of popcorn because they have extremely good fights in them that reach deep and demand full attention. Though I will add that between the two Kuroki vs Kiryu is not as well executed in this maneuver to stoke engagement, because it uses Kiryu's backstory as a really gross Shock Factor. While Fang vs God of War is just an insane fight from top to bottom. Thinking about it this might be the fight where Agito's Gu Jar backstory is explained, so there is still an element of Shock Factor, but it frankly comes off different than Kiryu's for obvious reasons.
Like, its a cool fight in a popcorn mode, but it doesn't penetrate very deep. Not in comparison to Kuroki vs Kiryu and Fang vs God of War. These fights that do reach deep end up being hard to read in full popcorn mode. In my reading experience they pull me out of popcorn because they have extremely good fights in them that reach deep and demand full attention. Though I will add that between the two Kuroki vs Kiryu is not as well executed in this maneuver to stoke engagement, because it uses Kiryu's backstory as a really gross Shock Factor. While Fang vs God of War is just an insane fight from top to bottom. Thinking about it this might be the fight where Agito's Gu Jar backstory is explained, so there is still an element of Shock Factor, but it frankly comes off different than Kiryu's for obvious reasons.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
The thing this bit is failing to set up for, I believe, is what is mentioned at the start of the next chapter (Very small spoiler all things considered but I'll still put it behind one): That Bando has discovered his own competitive side, as opposed to just having a hidden trick. Hanafusa, in my interpretation, is more confused because he doesn't see a reason Bando would keep this trick hidden. But it feels like the manga is questioning its own established commonplace tactic, because it conveys its meaning poorly.
And speaking of which. I don't really like this fight. It's not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, we've had worse, but ultimately it's quite boring to me as a match, and more dangerously, I don't think it does all that good a job of establishing Hatsumi when following his previous fight. The guy's had two matches now, both against gimmick fighters, and neither one established either Hatsumi's actual behavior in a normal fight, nor gave him a particularly good showing. Certainly we're told that he's now in peak condition, but... what does that mean, contextually? We saw him dismantle a copycat in a couple of seconds, after getting suckered into his gimmick, and then we saw him fighting someone so out of the usual wheelhouse of the tournament that it doesn't really tell us as much as it should about someone who is, by the manga's own description, one of the powerhouses of the tournament.
This is a big problem with Hatsumi's writing that I think is better explored at the end of his next match, but consider that next round he's going to fight whoever comes out of Gaolang vs Agito. And we have very little info on him; he gets talked up a lot, yes, and has some big wins in his past, and everyone seems very sure that Hatsumi at peak power is one of the scariest motherfuckers around... but we haven't gotten to see that yet. Defeating gimmick fighters is fun but it doesn't give you much information that can be applied for more straightforward matches, and given the role Hatsumi is about to have in this tournament, that could become a big problem, because we might never see that hype giving results. While I greatly enjoy that the manga has so far refused to actually enforce the substitution rule, I do think this fight would have been better served if a fighter we'd already seen had been Hatsumi's opponent here.
I don't recall if it's here that they mention it, or if it's somewhere else, but I feel it merits pointing out that their relationship started when he was 21, and she was in the middle of high school.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
In theory, Hatsumi's credentials were established before the tournament started. He casually schooled Ohma in his introduction, after all, and that was when he was just warming up.
In practice, we don't see much of him (as a fighter or in general), so a match or two more firmly establishing his skill and fighting style would have been nice.
In practice, we don't see much of him (as a fighter or in general), so a match or two more firmly establishing his skill and fighting style would have been nice.
You know, maybe not seeing him more isn't such a bad thing.
Chapter 163 - Forfeiture
Manic Dogma
This, I can't deny.
- Location
- The far side of tired
- Pronouns
- Whatever
Spooky name…but god, what a panel. Hatsumi actually looks pretty cool with his tall, planted stance, tits out and hair drifting in the breeze. And Bando. You look like a goddamn looney tune man, I actually kind of love it. And it gets diegetic reactions too, given the context and how blatantly unsurvivable that is. The man's head is just gone, crushed to nothing by his own weight. The President of Teito University is in some mild awe by his expression, and relief going by his thoughts. At last, he thinks. I suppose he's done his mourning a while ago. Takada Seisuke, the CEO of Juoh Communications and Bando's…employer? Is that the right word, given the deal and kinda/sorta extortion at play? Whatever, he's mad as hell and seems to think this is impossible. Which is very funny, given the sort of manga we're in, but come on. He can't be expected to know that.
Anyway, Hatsumi looks down, smug satisfaction transmuted to grim stoicism. Come on, he says. You're not actually dead, are you?
I love this, it's so fucking funny. The man's a fucking cockroach, he just refuses to die. He retracted his vertebrae into his chest cavity, absorbing the impact of his fall and preventing it from splitting his head like a watermelon or snapping his spine. And, incidentally, leaving him looking like a shy tortoise. Or possibly other, lewder things, if that's your preference. Hatsumi notes as much (the spine thing, not the lewd implications thing) and Bando grants the point. He does seem to have taken some nerve damage though, and he's basically paralysed for a bit. Which is nice, it's not implied to be permanent, but it's more consequences than some people got for even more severe hits to their neurological system. Isn't it Hanafusa. I said isn't it. Look at me, you fucking sorceror.
Anyway, ever the graceful loser, Bando points out to Hatsumi that now's a good chance to kill him. Hatsumi immediately waves it off, he's not cool with killing. Bit of an odd thing to say after dropping a man six feet onto his own head, but given Bando's everything I guess he assumed he'd survive. But then why learn the technique to begin with? Anyway, confused but fine with not dying, Bando asks about the deal they have with Dazai and Hatsumi basically shrugs and dumps it on Nogi. Which is fair, the man's pretty ruthless when he wants to be. Then Bando has the sheer fucking nerve to call Hatsumi odd. Which is true, but also uh…glass houses, my guy.
While he has the opportunity, Hatsumi changes the subject to another question. Why didn't he use that arm technique in the first round? And the answer basically doubly confirms his suspicions from before the match started. That attack strains the shit out of Bando's muscles and joints. He's bulked up since he was imprisoned (what? Really? I didn't notice) so he can keep up with it better than he used to, but it's still not good for him. He wasn't planning to use it at all, really, but something in the first round prompted odd feelings in him. He doesn't go deeper into those feelings in the specifics, but does come to a broad conclusion on what they were. Competitiveness. He started wanting to win. Something in him decided it was worth it to beat Hatsumi. The man himself accepts that as an honour. I guess even Hatsumi has some personal grace when he wants to.
Of course then he shoots Bando down flat when he asks for a rematch and I don't blame him a bit, that shit's just not sustainable. And Bando's on death row anyway, so yeah. Hatsumi Sen moves on to the third round.
We see a few quick celebrations. Wakatsuki's probably doing one of his mental rituals to prepare for coming matches and work through his anxiety, fist clenched before him. Sekibayashi's giving a big, celebratory hug to Haruo and Hanafusa. Don't worry, he'll be fine, he's magic. And finally Soryuin wipes some relieved sweat off her brow and probably prepares to deny to her dying breath she ever felt a thing.
And then one of Hayami's guardians, Long Min, approaches Takada Seisuke to invite him to speak with "my master" in private. He says it that way too, a very pointed and intentional turn of phrase with quotation marks to highlight the…falseness. Or deception, I suppose is a better word. Takada is supposed to take it to mean one thing, but we're supposed to notice he means someone else. It's as subtle as a brick to the nose, but it fits this sort of melodramatic series. There's shenanigans afoot. Finally.
Hard cut.
We seem to keep meeting here, don't we Yamashita? This empty, sucking void clawing at the edges of your heart. This manifestation of your smallness in the face of a world that keeps picking away at parts of you that you can't afford to lose.
Hanafusa approaches him and asks how things are. Yamashita offers a pleasant look. Something almost like a smile. Before turning back to where he was looking. Still no change, he says.
Match 2-2 fucked him up something fierce, huh. It's funny, in so many other series a powerup like the Advance would be minorly spooky, but probably not mean much. A bit of coughed blood here, some period cramps there, maybe it'd cancel in the middle of an especially dramatic fight. Stuff like that. Stuff that effectively communicates something's wrong, but not much in the way of real consequences. Not so here. When Kengan Asura calls its powerup a poisoned chalice it fucking means it. The way he was bleeding after round one was gruesome, but this is worse, if less immediately visceral.
Quite something, for a character the earliest parts of the manga wouldn't have dared show the slightest hint of weakness in.
Hanafusa shares some of Yamashita's concerns, but really he's just as concerned for the man himself. We see a little flashback to immediately after match 2-2. Ohma seemed to be in convulsions, some kind of aftershock effects of overusing the Advance, his flesh darkening and blood flowing freely. Yamashita had a minor meltdown. His brain rejected reality and he ran off, insisting he had to find Ohma. Embarrassing, and he says as much, but really he's more ashamed of himself than anything. Initially his logic seems a bit strange, he talks about the lengths Ohma pushed himself too and contrasts them with his own passivity. He's sick of himself, he says, but how many people could do more than cheer Ohma on in that situation, even assuming something other than an official, competitive 1v1? Adorably, a few of the fighters in the infirmary take the interpretation that Yamashita's thinking himself into knots with worry for Ohma. Sawada, Inaba and Murobuchi all talk up how Ohma's going to be okay, how tough fighters are. Yamashita thanks them for their kindness but…well, obviously it has no effect, that's not what this is about. At least, not entirely. Yamashita's certainly worried for Ohma's health, there's some rusty old fatherly instincts kicking into gear, but as much as anything I think those White Void moments I raised before are more relevant than I thought. Some of the first insights we got into Yamashita were about his helplessness, his isolation, the way the world has battered him back and forth and he's had no option but to be dragged by the tide. We've seen him change bit by bit over the course of the series, from the hollow wreck he was when we began. Not as fast as chapter 13 would have us believe, but still. And here we see the next step of that. Without a son in danger, all he can think about is how hard Ohma is pushing himself, to the brink of death. So, he's making a decision, fighting back against the helplessness that's defined his life so far, rejecting any further harm being suffered for his sake.
…Well, it's character development of a sort. He's not there yet, but at least he's making decisions, even if they're not quite as well thought out as he thinks they are. Or for the reasons he believes.
This is actually good character writing, I believe. A person overcoming their foibles at steady pace is fine, but I think the real spice is when a person changes for the better, but the plotting of the story acknowledges how incremental and incomplete these improvements are. This keeps the pacing of the story up, while also allowing that character to make decisions that are frequently new and interesting flavours of bad on their way to making some crucial good decisions. And regardless of your personal feelings or judgements, within the context of Kengan Asura and its values, I feel like this is clearly meant to be a dramatic and poor decision on Yamashita's part.
After a brief aside to see Kenzo and Yasuo land on the island, the younger son still to this moment completely baffled by everything happening, we move on. To it. The thing we're all here for.
The arena shakes under the rhythmic, thunderous drumbeat of stomping feet. Accompanied by every voice raised in chorus to those cascading impacts. Fang! Fang! Fang! Fang! The chant goes and does not stop, even as Sayaka announces the final match of the second round. And sure enough, the first to enter is the man himself. The living legend of underground martial arts. Who has already broken the crown of the king of public MMA. It is the Fang of Metsudo, Kanoh Agito.
And then. The chant stops. The jubilant motion ceases, and the bloodthirsty smiles of an audience eager to see the Fang's next victory are struck from their faces. All sound dies.
Smothered. By him.
The clenched fist of Rama. The God of War.
Gaolang Wongsawat.
The fight hasn't even begun, and lightning visibly courses up Agito's spine. His face contorts, teeth bared, grin as childishly gleefully as it is inhumanly predatory. I don't want to wait another second, he says, and Sayaka recoils. She recognises the shift in demeanour, and language. Agito's already fully engaged. There'll be no warmup this time, like with Okubo, as he waited for the King of Combat to prove himself worthy of attention. Gaolang's presence is immediately fierce, self evidently overwhelming.
Agito invites him to enjoy himself. Gaolang refuses. He will simply win, for the sake and glory of his King.
End chapter.
A few bits and bobs, before I sign off though. This chapter actually ends with the profiles of Rama the 13th and the CEO he's lending Gaolang to, Iida Tadashi. Iida isn't super interesting, he mostly seems like a fairly normal CEO for the context, but Rama has a few interesting points. We already know he's a peer to a financial juggernaut like Metsudo, and while Sandro tries to phrase it like it's impressive that he's in that kind of position at the age of 20 this bit also includes the delightful tidbit that he's a massive nepobaby. Because of fucking course he is, are you crazy? He literally just succeeded his father not long ago, and while the implication is he's smart and charismatic enough to not feel the strain, he also hasn't had long to fuck up. Especially since he's regularly away on holidays. Because again, of course. And he apparently knows how to swordfight, and pretty well. I don't know if Krabi Krabong is a real style, but go him I guess.
Amusingly, Daromeon notes he didn't put much effort into Rama's design, assuming he'd be a bit character. Who'd have guessed the shirtless twink would be so popular, eh?
See you all next time, as we answer the question. What is a king to a god?
It is. Pretty accurate in what little detail was presented, Thai style, known to be used by Rama IX's bodyguard corps.
Opaline Dreams
Virenina's handler
- Location
- Tei Ura
- Pronouns
- Any
Wish I had something coherent to say, but my brain is largely occupied by the thoughts BUCKLE UP LET'S FUCKING GOOOO and Gaolang Gaolang Gaolang Gao -
AHEMhemhem. Excuse me. Anyway yeah really looking forward to this fight
AHEMhemhem. Excuse me. Anyway yeah really looking forward to this fight
That's the thing I really like about the Fang. He never effortlessly wins. We get actual power scaling out of him because we're not being told he's an invincible monster; we're seeing him go up against characters we'd outright consider invincible monsters, and he Shonen Powers his way into a fucking win, showing how he can adapt to circumstances and peel an enemy apart. He's not scary because he's Frieza. He's scary because he's Goku, and he's coming to beat your ass into a crater in the pavement because he's the antagonist right now.
And how do you achieve that? Simple. By measuring the man against the quality of his enemies. That phrase is a touch more literal in this case, but Okubo had a damn fine chance of winning the entire tournament if he kicked Kanoh's ass, and Gaolang is terribly, clearly in the top three most dangerous opponents in the entire tournament. And once again, should he manage to beat Kanoh... the only real people standing in his way would be Wakatsuki and Kuroki Gensai. Nobody else compares.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
"Yeah, that's right!" says Kiozan, unaware that he died of a concussion a rough 100 chapters ago.
Now I may be misremembering this. But I'm pretty sure this is actually the last time we ever see this plot point come up. I don't recall Sandro ever tying this one up. I think he just straight-up forgot about Bando.
In fairness to you, he did say he only bulked up a little bit, it's very easy to miss.
Now we're talking. Upcoming, we have hands down one of the best fights in the tournament. Pick up your Sekibayashi fights, your Agito vs Okubo, your Cosmo vs Akoya, cuz this is about to try and sweep them off the board, and ye gods, is it going to do a good job of that. This intro panel alone already fucks more than some entire fights in this manga, and that's not shade on them, just look at that shit.
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- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
I love how well the manga sustains this, by having him be absent for all the matches after, slowly building up the tension and the question in the back of your mind, only to finally now answer it, and what an answer it is.
The protagonist, seemingly at death's door.
It's the rare fighting manga - the rare manga in general - that would be willing to do this, and it's great.
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
I believe I've mentioned this before, but there's a class of fighter in this tournament that's just head and shoulders above everyone else, who have to be removed from fantasy tournaments or else they'll just win every single time and there's no tension to the tournament at all, because there's nobody outside of that group who can defeat them. The list of these super top tier fighters is Agito, Kuroki, Wakatsuki, and Gaolang, with Peak Hatsumi making a guest appearance if he ever deigns to show up.
And aside from himself, with no upset wins (let's be real Rei is kinda fucked vs Kuroki) Kanoh Agito has to go through literally every single one of them in order to win the tournament. And Okubo, who isn't on the list because someone outside of it could concievably defeat him, but is very close to it. His list of opponents is literally the best of the best in the entire Kengan scene.
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- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Also, he's a king. Princes are the most extreme, straightforward nepobabies humanity has yet invented.
I want to come up with a Watsonian explanation, but the real answer is transparently "The author didn't want the final boss's preliminary matches to be boring".
And possibly Ohma, if he can unknot his tragic past and polish his plot armor before the finals.
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
There's already been a Watsonian explanation. The positions on the bracket were placed by the CEOs, remember? It wasn't a random draw (aside from who'd pick first). They put Agito down first, and everyone who thought they were tough enough to take him arranged themselves to take him on. This was explicitly why Okubo got put as Agito's first match, even.
The entire right side of the block is basically the Kanoh Agito Fight Club. And some poor out of their depth bastards who didn't manage to escape to the significantly safer left block.
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I think the Watsonian explanation came up earlier with the seed lottery. If you believe that was fair and unrigged, then the Watsonian explanation is to ask if your suspension of disbelief can accept that the strong guys mostly got unlucky. Personally, I think it isn't much of a stretch that after a few fair goes to sell the illusion, Metsudo himself gave his buddies the chance to stack the deck against Agito for his own amusement.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
There's also a pretty straightforward narrative explanation besides "Agito's fights shouldn't be boring", in that as is his nature as a grown-up shonen protagonist, Agito is following a similar path to Ohma: he's taking on fights that challenge him and make him grow stronger, so that we get to accompany his trajectory through the tournament as he becomes more and more an engaging character. He's not simply giving a good showing to prove to us he's strong, he's going through his own narrative arc by repeatedly being bounced off of people who can and do challenge him on a meaningful level, starting from a position of arrogance thanks to his power and growing match by match.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I am unconvinced that the CEOs of the strongest fighters would all independently assume their fighters had better odds of beating Agito when both fighters are relatively fresh than in the finals. That's not an invalid assumption, but it feels a little contrived that nearly all of them would reach that conclusion, especially because it becomes less tenable the more strong fighters are in that sector of the tournament.
The idea that "the strong guys mostly got unlucky" is not physically impossible, it's definitely a valid result of the processes described. But again, it would be a bit contrived. If we're blaming Agito's opponents on random chance, the minuscule odds of nearly all the strongest fighters being forced into that position make that seem extremely artificial.
Metsudo actively stacking the deck for his own amusement is also not impossible, but there's nothing that suggests it might be the case. It wouldn't be out of character, but all signs point to Metsudo not caring about the seeding and being confident that his Fang would win no matter what the tournament looks like.
The idea that "the strong guys mostly got unlucky" is not physically impossible, it's definitely a valid result of the processes described. But again, it would be a bit contrived. If we're blaming Agito's opponents on random chance, the minuscule odds of nearly all the strongest fighters being forced into that position make that seem extremely artificial.
Metsudo actively stacking the deck for his own amusement is also not impossible, but there's nothing that suggests it might be the case. It wouldn't be out of character, but all signs point to Metsudo not caring about the seeding and being confident that his Fang would win no matter what the tournament looks like.