Head vs Hand. Who will win? Read the summary to find out!

This is the episode where a new enemy hits Kenichi after he dispatches the boxer sent by the fighting clan in Episode 11. Kenichi is once again in a pinch, not unlike any normal shounen series, and it seems that for this time, he is fighting someone way stronger than he can manage. What will happen? Read on to find out (But you know how shounen series end each episode, they leave you in a bloody cliffhanger).

Note: I might get the names wrong slightly, I hope you forgive me since I am generally bad at listening to names in Japanese.

---

Episode summary

We started with a recap of the boxer getting the treatment from Koetsuji, who gave him the treatment of hell. Back at Kenichi’s home, Kenichi’s dad was trying to open a tomato can and he tried his best without being able to do it. However, Kenichi did it easily and his father checked what was wrong with him as the weak Kenichi suddenly became so much stronger. Kenichi then tried to read some books to find out how to date Miu. His father then said how his mother gave him love letters to him, until we realize that it was in fact his father who gave all the love letters and her mother devilishly threatened his dad to tell the kids. It seemed that the Ragnarok gang found out that the boxer was defeated and wanted to destroy him. However, Zuji from another squad wanted to defeat him instead.

In school, Kenichi asked for forgiveness from the two friends who were rescued by him (which seriously made no sense) as he felt that he was the one who had caused them the trouble (obviously not). Miu and Kenichi then trained to fight and during the fight, Kenichi wanted to ask Miu something but Miu denied him the chance, telling him to concentrate on the training fight as she swiftly dispatched him with a kick.

As he asked the teachers on how to date Miu, Shio gave almost zero advice, Akisame gave him some complicated algebra on the blackboard as he could not find anyone to find for advice. Kensei then tried to display himself right in front of Kenichi, only to be given the cold stare. He then tried to convince Kenichi that he was the proudest girl chaser in China. Kensei then tried to sell Kenichi the “unofficial photo album” of Miu in very compromising pictures at 3200 yen. For a while, it seemed that Kenichi was angry, but he then praised Kensei that he was the greatest Chinaman in Japan for selling him the “beautiful book”.

With that, Miu came over as Kenichi quietly hid the books, as Miu asked Kenichi to join her for a date. It seemed that the date was to help her carry a mountain of goods since the other masters were busy. Zuji then appeared, asking Kenichi to have a manly talk and Miu could leave. One of the compatriots (the kid who can kick very well in a previous episode) said that the arrangement was different as he attacked Zuji, only for Zuji to grab his leg attack with one hand and threw him into the rubbish dump. Kenichi then left with Zuji as Miu called back to Ryouzanpaku, telling them that she left the goods around the convenience store and was going to save Kenichi.

Kensei then tracked up with Miu, telling her that if she was to save Kenichi outright, his pride would be shattered as they followed stealthily, saying that they would help him tactically. Kenichi then asked what Zuji’s intentions were and Zuji actually wanted to recruit Kenichi. However, Kenichi refused to be a delinquent. Zuji then said what men wanted was freedom but Kenichi said that they were hurting people and it was merely violence. Zuji got insulted and he was clearly stupid as Kenichi tried to talk his way out of it but eventually went to a tongue-swearing competition and called Zuji a violent idiot. That made him snap.

Kenichi was then analyzing his opponent as he realized that Zuji’s stance was filled with weaknesses as Kenichi punched Zuji’s face beautifully. Kenichi continued to punch the man but it seemed that there was no effect whatsoever. He then taunted Kenichi, saying that he was a coward, as Kenichi charged up, punching the man on the forehead but Kenichi’s hand was bruised instead. Kensei then said that Kenichi would probably lose this fight.

---

Thoughts

Ok, the humor level of this episode is still there, making this a wonderful comedy shounen. Usually, as many of the frequent visitors know, I do not watch Shounen and in fact, I sometimes diss shounen but here am I, blogging about a very pure shounen series. It did not seem too difficult to blog it at least, even though I think I didn’t do too well at all. Ok, this is a series that I do not know whether to keep up or not. For now, this will be a short entry as a tribute for some of the animesuki forum members.

Still, I will try to blog it when I do have the time, especially since there is a dire of series coming out due to the nice holiday in Japan. Yes, I am ALMOST keen to make a “How to spend time when anime is on holiday in Japan” post but I decided against it because most of the people who are that desperate will probably turn to watching One Piece dubbed. Ok, bad joke.

I found that this fight displays the strength of Kenichi. The character definitely improves by a steady rate, never having a totally powerful move that will suddenly beat the opponent. In fact, the battle with the boxer is hardly a true win for Kenichi, since the man was injured. This battle is also clear to be a watershed since it is clear that he cannot do any damage to the man. Even Kensei mentioned that Kenichi is currently not strong enough to fight the man, who is like a fricking tanker for Christ’s sake.

To add, it is strange that Miu never thought about giving face to Kenichi. Even though it is not emphasized, it seemed that Kenichi is getting a little tired of being protected by Miu all the time, and in fact he has that righteous feeling (don’t all shounen characters have righteous behavior) that wants to protect people. He even hates people calling him a coward, which Zuji happily calls him a few times. That is perhaps why Kensei stopped Miu from doing anything to help him out, which is a rather sensitive thing to do from an old lusty man like him.

Next episode seems to be the continuation of the fight between Zuji and Kenichi. Sounds like great fun and I can’t wait to see if I will be motivated enough to blog this series continually or simply give up.

Browse Timeline

• « Genshiken 13 - Otaku ga kirai no Ogi-chiiiii~n
• » How about going on a date with T.H.A.T anime blog?

Comments (7)

Add a Comment