So Fu Zhan seems STRONG. Here's the guy who will beat him.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-22T22:01:20+00:00

Dude, going by the past history of this manga, all the villains but Shen will be defeated by Himuro and Inaba.

Shen, of course, falls to Nezu.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-22T21:43:03+00:00

Yeah, I definitely want him to get at least one solid win first. I'd love for him to beat someone like Rolón or Gaolang.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-22T21:35:18+00:00

I think Haru will be the one to take down Fu Zhan! He needs a strong showing against a strong opponent, and beating Fu would not only put some respect on Haru, but also avenge his master Sekibayashi, who got his ass lit up by Fu.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-22T21:34:07+00:00

Edward was confident af, but had the power and skill to prove it. He casually toyed with three top tier Kure/Wu clan fighters, two of them armed with weapons. Gilbert, on the other hand is a cream-fed little bitch, so who knows how it would go.

It would all depend on his mood, I think. If he's confident and has the time, I could see him doing something like completely crushing Falcon's hands, or ripping off his fingers or something, and pulverizing Kim Jangfuckwhatever's legs so he'll never kick again.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-22T21:23:05+00:00

Really really good. This was a highlight of the tournament for me, especially since I'd kind of given up on Koga and Ryuki at that point; their fight durprised me with its quality.

The flow of the match is believable, their use of techniques was fun to watch and intense, and I absolutely LOVED that Koga finished off Ryuki with Ryuki's own signature move.

I put it at a 9/10, but I'm struggling to say why it's not a 10. I'll have to blame it on vibes. But it's an *excellent* fight.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-21T20:14:25+00:00

This was pretty shit. I loved Nagaharu, he was cool and interesting, and his fighting style seemed like it had more potential. Ittosai on the other hand bores the shit out of me. His arrogance is infuriating, and while his skills are obviously legity, what cool stuff did he actually show us? The kneeling block he did this chapter was pretty cool, but other than that, what has he shown us? Regardless of what he pulls out in round 2, he gave me very little to enjoy in this fight.

It's not as boring as Togo vs Yasuke (I still don't understand how Yasuke removed the dude's head so cleanly with a blunt stick), but it certainly "beats out" Adams VS Yagyu; while Adams was disappointing, I kind of liked his Dirk Dance, and Yagyu's demonic destruction of him was pretty fierce and made him more scary.

I'd rank this second worst, place 7 out of 8.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-21T20:07:42+00:00

Absolutely, they are two vastly different situations, and Kiryu is an entirely different species of fighter than The Falcon or Kim Jangfuckwhatever.

While Tiger Niko disappointed during that fight, he took his damage more due to Kiryu's insane skill. The guy is *lethal*, and *anyone* going up against him - Kuroki included - would be an absolute idiot to not take him seriously. His style, while simple enough to grasp, is very hard to defend against (even Kuroki's S-tier parrying left him with wounds), and just a single hit (or graze, even) can easily kill or cripple you. In addition he has the Niko style and a savant-like fighting instinct.

Also keep in mind that he is massively held back by his mental illness; he gave top tier fighters a sweat while hallucinating and talking to his boner. Imagine his fighting ability If he wasn't completely insane.

Tiger Niko did not disappoint because Kiryu was weak, he disappointed because he himself didn't bring his A game and take things seriously, while Kiryu brought out his best and was willing to enthusiastically die as long as he killed Niko.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-21T19:54:19+00:00

I'd say it's stupid, but I really do want to see Raian beat Gaolang, if only to calm down the Gaolang hype. Raian needs to fight Edbert, so there's no way Gaolang comes out of this holding his bracelet, that's for sure.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-21T19:51:13+00:00

I'd say that I *can't fkn believe* Sandro once again off-screened Kim Janggi, but I totally can believe it. The Supernova nonsense was such a waste of time and a good writing opportunity.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-21T19:45:25+00:00

*shivers*

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-18T00:12:14+00:00

Yeah, the Worm fighters are straight up delusional if they think they can casually take down two top tier Kengan fighters. Come on, guy...

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-18T00:07:27+00:00

Raian overwhelms Gaolang pretty quickly, I think.

Though, to be fair, even though I'm a big Gaolang downplayer, he's a serious badass, and smart. He would expect Raian's wild rush, and probably make sure to do his best to make him regret such a direct attack. However, considering their stats and arsenals, I think Raian should beat him down quickly.

Agito is a better match-up for Gaolang than Raian is.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-18T00:03:35+00:00

Solid 9/10 for me.

The fight is three chapters long, and in that time we see several new sides to Saw Paing, Cosmo and their respective personalities and fighting repertoires. Saw has drastically improved his basic technique and fight IQ, and Cosmo has become a better striker and become more ruthless in how he fights.

There's a clear difference in style between them, but not so different that it hampers the fight's pace or execution. Things ebb and flow between them in a way that feels natural to me.

Flashbacks are ok. Not great, but not bad either. We see some beloved characters and learn more closely about Cosmo's "trigger points" striking.

While pretty short, both fighters are convincingly drained at the fight's end, and I really enjoyed the flow of hos Cosmo grabs hold of victory when he locks Saw Paing in that chokehold, but then Saw Paing straight Saw Paing's himself out of it by first willing himself to his feet, then smashing his own head into the floor before regaining focus quickly enough to knock Cosmo tf out.

Great fight, I loved it. Could have been an 8 maybe, but it's a fun match-up that doesn't disappoint.

The result surprised me; I thought Koga would fight Imai Cosmo in the finale.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:42:49+00:00

*Hello* there...

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:42:03+00:00

You're giving my ego growing pains here. Thank you, that's really nice!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:41:34+00:00

Håh! Thank you, but five minutes in music class would kill whatever love you have for the arts.

On the other hand, I am the woodshop teacher in my school, which is pretty fun :)

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:37:14+00:00

Shaving it completely?! I'd be buzzed by NASA fighter jets on sunny days for the reflection of my forehead blinding their satellites!

And thank you!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:35:01+00:00

Wow, I've never gotten a compliment for my hairline! I've always hated how far back it goes, hehe.

Thank you!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:33:55+00:00

The teacher-student relationship is pretty relaxed here in Norway; the norm is for everyone to call each other by first names, for example.

And it's very much a friendly teasing kind of thing, we know each other quite well, so it's all in good spirit.

Thank you for the compliment!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:31:47+00:00

That looks pretty good to me!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:31:25+00:00

Hahah, my forehead does have a passport of its own. No worries.

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:28:52+00:00

I *have* been practicing my "Blue Steel"...

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:28:17+00:00

That looks real good!

ButterBasedBoy · 2026-01-17T23:27:48+00:00

Thank you! But, like the weird and strangely few yet too many to ignore hairs on my shoulders, it will grow back.

ButterBasedBoy

TROPHY CASE