u/FrostyTheSnowChad

How do these fights go?

  1. Ken'ichi vs. Meatman or Pengulu Sankan: Ken'ichi at the start of HSDK2. Meatman from the Tag Team arc and Pengulu from from the Tidat Kingdom arc.
  2. Miu vs. Kajima: Eternal Sunset arc.
  3. Odin vs. Unnamed Kuremisago Duo: Eternal Sunset arc. This is the unnamed female duo that Miu fought.
  4. Takeda vs. Berserker: Eternal Sunset arc.
  5. Renka vs. Hermit: Eternal Sunset arc.
  6. Siegfried vs. Rachel: Eternal Sunset arc.
  7. Chikage vs. Ethan: Eternal Sunset arc.
  8. Tirawit vs. Lugh: Eternal Sunset arc.
  9. Kisara vs. Freya: Eternal Sunset arc.
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u/FrostyTheSnowChad — 1 day ago

What exactly was the Eternal Sunset?

To my understanding, Yami was trying to wage a world war ... so martial artists could take over society? They deemed peace to be detrimental to the advancement of martial arts, so they wanted to start an apocalypse? That's awfully selfish, and it seems out of character for the One Shadow, Nine Fists. Aren't most of them supposed to be honorable?

Even Ogata seemed to cross the line at hurting innocent civilians; he deeply regretted killing Tanaka's unborn child. Obviously, plenty of unborn kids would die in the Eternal Sunset. And why would someone like Hongoh even consider it? I thought the reason Senzui killed Saiga's wife (Miu's mom) was to end the Kuremisago war because too many people had died during it. He wanted to end war, now he wants to start it?

Senzui is such a crappy character, btw. Popping up right at the end like Kaguya from Naruto. I would've preferred Saiga to have killed Miu's mom himself because she was evil and he had no choice. Ken'ichi vs. Kajima was cool, but the manga was going off the rails by the time it ended in 2014.

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u/FrostyTheSnowChad — 6 days ago

Anyone else feel Ryuuto was a terrible antagonist?

I don't mind the idea of Ken'ichi's childhood friend being the leader of Ragnarok, even though it's a little too convenient. The issue is that his reason for being an antagonist was stupid. Like, Takeda turned to delinquency because of his injury that crippled his arm and ended his boxing career. Kisara turned to delinquency because she was discriminated against for her gender as a martial artist. Tanimoto turned to delinquency because his stepfather's employees tried killing him after his sister died from disease. They all had understandable reasons for becoming delinquents and joining gangs.

But Ryuuto turned to delinquency because ... Ken'ichi beat him in a play-fight they had as kids? Ken'ichi took the badge he wanted? It's so stupid, I can't take Ryuuto seriously at all. He had a lot of potential as a foil for Ken'ichi, too. Both of them were bullied as kids, right? Bullying made Ken'ichi want to protect the weak, so in Ryuuto's case, it could've had the opposite effect by making him lust for power and control instead. That should've been the reason he started Ragnarok; to assemble the strongest gang of fighters around and rule over others.

He'd want to recruit Ken'ichi, who'd refuse and they would be at odds with each other due to their opposing views (on top of the fact Ken'ichi is a member of the Shimpaku Alliance, one of Ragnarok's enemies). Ken'ichi believes the strong should protect the weak, while Ryuuto believes the strong should crush and rule over them. It's a logical foil for two victims of childhood bullying, much better than that stupid "Ken-kun beat me in a 'fight' we had as kids and took the badge I wanted" crap.

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u/FrostyTheSnowChad — 6 days ago
▲ 37 r/Kenichi

I'm pretty sure he first reached Miu's level by the D of D Tournament, as shown by how he could fight alongside her as a team. When he unlocks Ryuusui Seikuuken and defeats Shoh, I'm pretty sure that was the first time he surpassed her. Shoh immediately knocked out Miu when they fought, and didn't even have to use Seidoh Gouitsu to keep up with her when she went berserk. Ken'ichi beat Shoh's Seidoh Gouitsu, so that should put him above Miu.

By the Sakaki and Hongoh arc, Ken'ichi seems to be pretty clearly above her; he one-shots Shoh's friend who was capable of hurting Miu, and he could keep up with Sakaki and Hongoh's fight better than she could.

It's not until Miu trains under Jenazad and reaches the second Ki stage (Kaihoh, how to release Ki) that she becomes stronger than Ken'ichi again. But Ken'ichi should have surpassed her again when he reached the third Ki stage (Shouaku, how to hold Ki) and beat Kajima, who was clearly greater than or equal to Miu. By the end of the manga's original run, Ken'ichi's Ki is so intense that some skilled skilled martial artists mistake him for being a master.

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u/FrostyTheSnowChad — 1 month ago